My favorite Green Meadow tree is in bloom so of course we had to go outside for a class picture. Here are our LUCKY DUCKS for the week... Next week Student Council is sponsoring a supply drive for Brinley's Bags. We hope you will participate. Also, Friday is "Ball Caps for Babies" and students can wear hats to school. Here is a look at what we are learning...In ELA this week we finished our book "Love that Dog" by Sharon Creech. It was fun learning about different styles of poetry and the love the main character, Jack, had for his dog. We also read an article about how we can help to save birds. We focused on flamingos and the dangers they face with live near the ocean. In science, we wrapped up our unit of Structure and function by learning about plants and how their structure helps with pollination. We had fun with a Kahoot on Thursday and Anastasia got to add her name to our trophy cup. Next week, we will be starting our study of the American Revolution. This a project-based unit and we will be creating lots of fun activities as we learn about this interesting time in our nation's history. It's always a student favorite! This week in math we wrapped up topic 16. We have now completed all of the topics that are needed for the NYS test. We will spend the next two weeks working on review activities. The NYS math test will be given on May 7-8. Please let me know if you have any questions. Important Dates:
4/26 - Hat Day! (Ball Caps for Babies) 4/26 - Half Day of School 5/7-5/8 - NYS Math Test Have a wonderful weekend! Mrs. Kusche Congratulations to this week's LUCK DUCKS! I hope you had a nice long Spring Break! We came back on Tuesday and started preparing for our busy week of NYS ELA testing. I am very proud of the kids on their hard work! Thank you for sending in special notes for your child to read before the test. The smiles were priceless. Miss Almon even popped in and left a special note for our students. Add a smiley eraser, good luck pencil, and a peppermint to wake our brains up and we were ready for two days of testing! Friday morning we took a break and played LOTS of different games! The kids were so amazing. Everyone was kind, inclusive, and so happy to have this chance with their classmates. We said we'd like to do it again before the year is through! This week in science we are learning about the structure and the function of the brain. We did an experiment to test our brain's response time. The kids worked very well in collaborative groups. We are excited to continue learning about other structures and functions of our body. April is poetry month. We started reading "Love that Dog" by Sharon Creech. We will also be trying our hand at writing different types of poems next week. Important Dates:
4/19 - Popcorn Sale 4/26 - Half Day of School 5/7-5/8 - NYS Math Test Have a wonderful weekend! Mrs. Kusche Thank you to all who wore purple on Wednesday to raise Epilepsy awareness. Take a look at our LUCKY DUCKS from this week... Congratulations to all who participated in the Project Showcase on Monday night! Thank you to all who wore purple on Wednesday to raise awareness Important Dates:
3/28-4/8 - Spring Recess 4/10-4/11 - NYS ELA State Tests Days Have a wonderful spring break! Mrs. Kusche Every day in March we are picking a LUCKY DUCK! Here are the winners from this week: We had fun this week in science learning more about the structure and function of the eye. We created models of the eye and learned about how vision impacted based on the structure of one's eye. On Tuesday we had a girls lunch! It was fun! This week we continued familiarizing ourselves with the format of the NYS ELA state test. The kids did a great job of working on their bubble sheets to record their answers. As a reminder, if you would like to submit a letter for your child to open before the first day of the state test. Please send it to my before spring recess. Thank you!
This week in math we learned how to use protractors. We practiced measuring angles and drawing angles. Keep continue practicing these skills! We will have a test next week on topic 15!
Important Dates: 3/26 - Half Day of School 3/27 - Wear Purple for Epilepsy - Purple snow cones will be sold at lunch for $1 3/28-4/8 - Spring Recess 4/10-4/11 - NYS ELA State Tests Days Have a wonderful weekend! Our next newsletter will be sent after April break! Enjoy your week off! Mrs. Kusche It was a wonderful week in 4th grade... It's been an exciting week with our new LUCKY DUCK desk. The kids were sad to get rid of Miss Almon's special desk so we gave it a new purpose...the Lucky duck desk. Each morning I pick a new student to "move in" to our special desk for the day. The kids love it! Speaking of Miss Almon, we had a chance to do a Google Meet with her on Wednesday. She showed us her new 1st grade classroom at Bell Top. It was so nice to see her! We loved the beautiful weather this week! Here is a look at what we are learning: ELA - This week we started talking about the NYS state ELA test. Students are now familiar with the format of the test. We've also started talking about test-taking strategies and next week will practice using a bubble answer sheet. Remember, if you would like to write a note of encouragement to your child for your their first day of testing, send me your note in a sealed envelope prior to spring recess. Writing - This week we read a lot of poetry. We even tried writing some limericks. This was fun as we celebrated St. Patrick's Day. We also learned about the Blarney Stone in Ireland. Math - We wrapped up Topic 14 this week and tested on number patterns. Quizzes will be coming home next week. Science - We started our new unit of structure and function. This week we learned about owls and the many adaptations they have for hunting. We also learned about the structure and function of the eye. To learn more we watched a virtual dissection of a cow's eye! On Monday, we will be traveling to Columbia High School for the instrumental festival. Students will be watching instrument demonstrations from high school students to help with the selection of their instruments for 5th grade. Please note that we will be leaving at 9:30. Important Dates:
3/18 - Field Trip to CHS for the Instrumental Fest 3/20 - Bus Driver Appreciation Day 3/26 - Half Day of School 3/27 - Wear Purple for Epilepsy - Purple snow cones will be sold at lunch for $1 3/28-4/8 - Spring Recess 4/10-4/11 - NYS ELA State Tests Days Have a wonderful weekend! Mrs. Kusche Here is a look at our week...As you are aware, today is Almon's last day in our class. The kids have grown very attached to her and we are all sad to see her go. We wish her well at Bell Top! We celebrated by using Mrs. Kusche's popcorn air popper and watching a movie based on another one of Kate DiCamillo's books: The Magicians Elephant. You can watch the special video that Miss Almon made for the class here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3MmKeaOSxg Here is a look at what we worked on this week: ELA - Students worked on writing pieces related to "The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane". We worked on point of view writing. We also reviewed nouns, verb, adverbs, and adjectives. This is a skill we will continue to practice. In Math we worked on line plots. Miss Almon had a very fun hands on activity to help us practice this skill. The kids loved it! Here are some pictures. We started a new science unit this week on structure and function of living things. We specifically focused on the eye. The kids are excited about this new unit. On Tuesday, we had our boys lunch bunch. They enjoyed their turn to have a break from the lunchroom and eat in the classroom. This happens every other Tuesday! Today marks the end of our second marking period. As a reminder, parents are no longer required to sign homework agendas. We are looking to practice independence as we move closer to becoming 5th graders. Important Dates:
3/8 - End of Marking Period 3/14 - Picture Day 3/15 - No School - Professional Development 3/18 - Field Trip to CHS for the Instrumental Fest 3/26 - Half Day of School Have a wonderful weekend! Mrs. Kusche & Miss Almon Thursday was Leap Day! Miss Almon had fun teaching the kids fun facts about Leap Day and why it only occurs every four years. Mr. Garab joined us for a fun lesson and we finished off by making Leap Day frogs. Be sure to ask your child what new information they learned about Leap Day! Here is a look at what we are learning: ELA: We finished reading, “The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane” this week. On Wednesday, students got to read chapter 22 as a play! We were impressed with the students’ excitement and participation in this fun activity. One of the most exciting things that happened this week is that Room 35 received some special mail! During the first week of February, our class wrote letters to Kate DiCamillo and we heard back from her! Our class received two postcards from her. Throughout the past six weeks, we have enjoyed reading this book together. Next week, we will do a post-reading writing assignment about Edward Tulane. Math: On Monday we began Topic 10- multiplying fractions by whole numbers. This was a shorter math unit, so we tested on Friday. On Monday, we will begin Topic 11 which covers line plots. This is another shorter unit, so we will have another math test next Friday. Writing/Social Studies: Students have been working hard on their, “Would you like to live during colonial times” writing pieces. We completed our final copies and we finished reading “If You Lived During Colonial Times.” We have enjoyed reading this book as well the past couple weeks. Mrs. Fontaine, our school social worker, came to our classroom on Wednesday to do a lesson on respect. She discussed what respect looks like, sounds like, and what feelings we get when being respectful. She will return next week for part two of this lesson. We are looking forward to it! You may have seen one of these orange notes in your child's folder this week. Every time our students leave the room to go to lunch, special, chorus, and recess our clipboard goes with them. Special area teachers are asked to make note of students who are going above and beyond when they are outside of the room. It's a nice way for us to reward students who are serving as role models for others! Our second marking period ends on Friday, March 8th. For the third marking period, parents will no longer be required to sign student agendas each night. If this is something you would like to continue to do, you may however, it is no longer going to be checked each day. We are working to be responsible, independent students as we approach the last marking period of the school year! Miss Almon started her solo week on Wednesday. She's doing a wonderful job! We are sad that next week is her last week with us. She has done a great job during her time with us! Important Dates:
3/8 - End of Marking Period 3/14 - Picture Day 3/15 - No School - Professional Development 3/18 - Field Trip to CHS for the Instrumental Fest 3/26 - Half Day of School Have a wonderful weekend! Mrs. Kusche & Miss Almon We had lots of fun this week during our Valentine Party. Special thanks to Mrs. Mocerine and Ms. Tedford for helping at our party. After we handed out Valentines and ate our ice cream sundaes we enjoyed played a few rounds of Hot Seat! Check out our fun blindfolds. Here is a look at what we are learning: ELA: After the break, we will wrap up reading, “The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.” Today we finished Chapter 21 and left off on the biggest cliffhanger! We are all excited to continue reading when we return. Writing: We are working on opinion writing piece. The question is "Would you want to live during colonial times?" We will work to complete these after break. Math : This week we tested on Topic 9. After break we will be moving on to Topic 10 and work on multiplying fractions. Social Studies: We continue to learn about life during the colonial days. We will be wrapping up this topic after we return from break. We ended our week by visiting our Kindergarten buddies! For National Kindness Day, we read, “Have You Filled a Bucket Today?” by Carol McCloud. We learned about different ways we can show kindness towards others. With our buddies, we made crowns that say, “I am a bucket filler.” The fourth graders did a wonderful job helping their Kindergarten buddies assemble their crowns. We had a great visit and are looking forward to seeing our buddies again next time. Important Dates:
2/19-2/23 - Winter Recess - No School 3/8 - End of Marking Period 3/13 - Picture Day 3/15 - No School - Professional Development 3/18 - Field Trip to CHS for the Instrumental Fest 3/26 - Half Day of School Have a wonderful break! Mrs. Kusche & Miss Almon We had a great week in 4th grade and lots of fun on SPORTS DAY! Thank you to everyone who donated soup cans to CoNSERNS you last week. Student Council's goal is 2024 cans. Cans will be totaled tomorrow after school and winners will be announced on GMTV on Tuesday. The student who brings in the most cans in our school will become PRINCIPAL FOR A DAY. The top class that will win a pizza party, second place will win an extra PE class, and the third place class will win a Munchkin party! This week in math we focused on mixed numbers and improper fractions. We also practiced adding and subtracting fractions with like denominators. Our Topic 9 math test is planned for Thursday. A message from Miss Almon:We are officially halfway through reading “The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.” The kids do not want to put the book down! We continue to map Edward’s journey on our bulletin board and are excited to reveal the remaining posters. Students are showing great effort with their comprehension questions, as well as in their contributions to class discussions. We are continuing to work towards our February goals. So far we have achieved “great hallway behavior” and “perfect morning routine.” As we maintain these achievements, I encourage the class to keep working towards the remaining goals. Students are eager to figure out what the prize will be. Mrs. Chrzan from the high school visited Green Meadow on Thursday with her Chamber Orchestra. We had a chance to listen to some beautiful music and hear instrument demonstrations from all of the 4 string instruments. Please remember to send in Valentines this week! Our ice cream sundae party will be Wednesday after lunch!
Whether you watch the Super Bowl or just show up for food, I hope you enjoy the game! - Mrs. Kusche Important Dates: 2/14 - Valentine's Day Party 2/19-2/23 - Winter Recess - No School February is here and the class was very excited to hear that Punxatawney fill predicted an early spring on Friday! This week we performed for the entire school as we prepared for our first evening performance at Genet School. We also enjoyed traveling to Columbia High School on Thursday for the district-wide choral festival! Here is a look at what we are learning: A message from Miss Almon, our student teacher : We have continued reading, “The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.” Students are loving the book so far and have great enthusiasm about the story and our main character, Edward. In our classroom, we are mapping Edward’s journey and making predictions of what will happen next. The class continues to show great effort in class discussions, activities, and comprehension questions regarding the book. This week we finished writing our letters to the author of the book, Kate DiCamillo, and will be sending them in the mail. Students did a wonderful job with this assignment and we hope to hear back from her during the weeks to come. In Math we began Topic 9 : adding and subtracting fractions with like denominators. We also learned how to simplify fractions. This week we will be working on adding and subtracting mixed numbers and improper fractions. Students will have a test the week before break. In Social Studies, we are learning about New Netherland and colonial life in NY during the 1600s. This week we will be doing an opinion writing piece on whether or not students would've like to live during colonial times. On February 1st we switched seats. We also took some time to set some goals for our class. Here are some things we are going to be focusing on in the coming weeks. Once the goals are reached, the sticky notes will be removed, and a prize will be revealed! There is a lot of excitement! Important Dates:
2/1-2/9 SOUPerBowl Begins - canned soup collection for CoNSERNS-U 2/9 - Half Day for Students 2/14 - Valentine's Day Party 2/19-2/23 - Winter Recess - No School I hope you're having a great weekend! -Mrs. Kusche |