Happy Friday! Once again I'd like to thank you for coming to Open House on Tuesday night. Your support means so much. This week we had our first "alternating library" class. This is a change from last year at Green Meadow. We now will have library every week instead of once every two weeks. On A week we will have library first thing on Monday morning at 9:25. On B week library will be during our normal special time at 1:50. Your child has been told that book exchange will be done on B week. (B for books is a great way to remember!) If you're unsure about what week it is, it is listed on our school lunch calendar. (click here) In ELA we started reading "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing" by Judy Blume while we begin focusing on story element skills. The class is loving this book. We have had several laugh out loud moments. The story is about a 4th grade boy named Peter who gets himself into all sorts of crazy situations because of his two year-old brother named Fudge. The kids are really enjoying it. This week in writing we made summer memory books. I loved reading about the wonderful things the class got to experience this summer! We have some excited things coming in math! Green Meadow fourth grade teachers have been chosen to pilot a new math program called Envision 2.0. I was out of the classroom on Wednesday morning so I could receive new program training at Genet school. Previously, my math lessons had come from a combination of Envision lessons as well as modules from Engage NY. With this new program, there is no need to use the modules. Those skills are included in this new program and presented in much more kid-friendly way. Also, our workbook pages are in color and offer a reteach page of that day's lesson as well as vocabulary as it was presented in class. Students will begin each math lesson with a Solve and Share which builds independence, higher level thinking, and problem solving skills to start each lesson. There is also a new online piece where students can review the day's lesson, practice their skills, and even complete some math fluency practice. I am very excited to get started with this new program. I know the kids will love it. Today we have completed our last lesson with place value for Topic 1. On Monday, we will be doing some review in class and giving a quiz on Tuesday in class. A review sheet will be coming home for homework on Monday night. This review sheet will look very similar to the test the following day. If your child is struggling at home with a certain concept, please bring it to my attention as soon as possible. I appreciate your support! We dove right in this week with learning about the different animal characteristics of our adopted dolphin "Shimmer". We studied her habitat, environment, diet, and anatomy. We even had a chance to do an online drawing tutorial of the Bottlenose Dolphin. The kids LOVED it. Their drawings were amazing! Our first science quiz will be on 9/29. Your child will be coming home with a study guide tonight. STEM Fridays continue! Our challenge this week: Using only folded paper and scissors, create at least 2 paper people linked together. Check it out! It is more challenging than it sounds. Have a wonderful weekend! If you still need to sign up for a fall conference, please use this link. - Mrs. Kusche
0 Comments
Dear Parents, We had a wonderful first FULL week of school. In Science we began our first unit of study. We will be learning about roles of living things. Students were excited to hear that we adopted a Bottlenose Dolphin from the World Wildlife Fund. Next week we will begin doing our own research on these animals and starting to make Google slides on our classroom Chromebooks. Students will be taking their first science quiz on Friday, September 29th. You can look for a study guide to come home on September 22nd. Speaking of science, the fourth grade teachers were sent to Genet on Wednesday morning to talk about some exciting things that are happening with STEM and science. Check out the picture below of the teachers trying to build a working flashlight out of things found around the house. We can't wait to try this out with our class later in the year. During our electricity unit. This week we also celebrated International Dot Day. The kids really enjoyed the book "The Dot" by Peter Reynolds. We asked the students: What can you create with just one dot? They were encouraged to "make their mark" and see where it takes them. In the Art room the entire school was given a chance to make their mark. Look for this on display during Open House next week. We also incorporated this theme into our STEM Friday today. (See photos below). Students had to create their own "dot" and come up with a way to put all of their dots together as a team. The results were impressive! In math we continued our study of place value. The children learned about finding the values of numbers, how to compare them , and how to read large numbers. I'm very proud of the class for successfully completing their online homework and taking their spelling tests online today with our Chromebooks. They are getting the hang of logging in to a variety of sites. Thank you for your help and support with this. A few reminders...
As always, please don't hesitate to reach out for any reason. Have a wonderful weekend! - Mrs. Kusche Welcome back to school, parents! We have truly had an amazing first week of school. I am thrilled to be able to work with your children this year. The enthusiasm, kindness, and teamwork that I've seen from your children this week tells me that it is going to be a terrific year! Each week, I will be sending the link to our newsletter via Remind. (Thank you for signing up!) This is a great way for me to send announcements, reminders, photos, and other information to you instantly. You can also read our newsletter by going straight to our classroom website. While I do plan to send newsletters every Friday, sometimes you may receive news on a day other than Friday. Thank you for your understanding and patience. Our first day of school went by in a flash. Students were busy with getting to know you activities. We played an interactive game of Mrs. Kusche: True or False to learn some things about their teacher. Thank you for sending your children with all of the necessary supplies on the first day of school. I gave the kids a scavenger hunt so they could tour the room and sort their supplies at the same time. It was fun! (see slideshow above) Thursday students got to meet the rest of the 4th grade team of teachers. We rotated to learn more about STEM Fridays, our Recycling Club, and GMTV. We also tried out our new Chromebooks while practicing to login for Techy Thursday homework. The kids did a great job of logging into their Google accounts! Friday was our first day of STEM Fridays! The kids were given a task to work together to build the highest, free-standing tower possible using only toothpicks and marshmallows. They did a great job of working together. See the slideshow below! While most of what we do everyday will be presented during Open House (9/19 @ 6:30), here are just a few things that I thought you may like to know: Our Special Schedule: Working Snack: 10:30 Lunch: 12:05 - 12:45 Monday: Library (A week) 9:25 - 10:05 Physical Education 1:50 - 2:30 Tuesday: Art 1:50 - 2:30 Chorus: 2:35 - 3:15 Wednesday: Music 1:50 - 2:30 Thursday: Library (B week) 1:50 2:30 Physical Education (A week) 1:50 - 2:30 Friday: Physical Education 1:50 - 2:30 *Please make sure students come to school with sneakers everyday. Birthdays: Birthdays are very special days. However, due to many allergies we will not be celebrating birthdays with treats or goody bags in school. Students will have their names announced on GMTV and will be given a night without homework to celebrate their special day. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding. Homework Club: Homework club begins next week. Students start each marking period in our club. If they continue to complete their homework and hand it in on time, they will remain in the club. For the first marking period only , each student will be given one "freebie". Those students who remain in the homework club at the end of the marking period will be invited in during lunch for an ice cream celebration. Please remember to check and sign your child's agenda each night. Thank you all for a great week! I look forward to working with you this year. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or concerns. Have a wonderful weekend! - Mrs. Kusche |