Author's Book Corner

First, I just wanted to say a "Thank You" to all the parents and students who came out to "Meet the Teacher" night. It was great to meet everyone and showcase what we have been working on! The students have all been working so hard and we've been getting a lot accomplished in class!

Recently, we started a new program in the classroom. Many of the students have been creating their own books and working really hard on them, so I opened up our "Author's Book Corner". Students can work on creating any type of book they like (fiction stories, fairy tales, non-fiction books, "buddy" books etc.) when they have completed their in-class work. There is a sign up board in our classroom where students can share the topic/title of their upcoming book. Once a book has been completed (written and illustrated), they can get another student to be their "editor" and edit their writing for any mistakes etc. Once this has happened, they can see me (the "publisher") and get their book published! We will be learning how to make book covers for our books and then they will be displayed on a magazine rack for other students to read during silent reading.

This will be a great opportunity for students to practice their writing and share their work with others. We worked as a class to generate some guidelines and steps in creating the books. Students are welcome (and encouraged!) to work on these at home in their spare time, so please feel free to encourage any sort of writing at home!

Once we have a few books published, I will post some photos of the finished products! I can't wait to read them!

The 33rd Annual Terry Fox Run

Our school will be participating in the annual Terry Fox Run this coming Wednesday (September 25th) at 1:15 in the afternoon. In class, we will be learning about Terry Fox and his heroic run to raise money for cancer research. The students will also be participating in a province-wide poster contest. Students will do their best to complete posters that raise awareness of the Terry Fox Run and cancer research, while also demonstrating goal setting and reaching our dreams. The top ten posters from each classroom will be sent in and one winner from the province will be picked! The winning poster will be put up in various locations next year to raise awareness for the 34th annual run.

If anyone is interested in donating money towards cancer research in Terry Fox's name, or if you would like to get any additional information about the Terry Fox Run, please visit www.terryfox.org.

Math Quiz

On Thursday we have our first quiz in class! It will be on Place Value in math. I believe that when we do quizzes (or tests), nothing on the quiz should be a surprise. So I will always let students know what to expect (and study for). Tests are meant to assess what we are learning in class, not to stump them or surprise them. Therefore, as often as I can, I will try to post about upcoming quizzes/tests so that parents and students know what to expect! Of course, we will also go over it in class!

For this quiz, students are expected to know numbers to 10,000 and be able to show them in a variety of ways (with pictures, numbers & words). Here are what the questions are based on:

1. Show a number using pictures (and give the number that a picture represents)

2. Write the number in words (i.e. 234 = Two hundred thirty four)
**Remember! We don't use the word "and" when writing out our numbers!

3. Write the numberals for given words (i.e. Three hundred two = 302)

4. Write a number out using numerals & words (i.e. 6235 = 6 thousands + 2 hundreds + 3 tens + 5 ones)

5. Be able to give the standard and expanded form of numbers
*Standard Form = 4572
*Expanded Form = 4000 + 500 + 70 + 2

6. Be able to tell me the place value for the underlined digit (i.e. 6543 = The 5 stands for hundreds)

To study at home, I would recommend making up a few of each question based on questions we've already done (in our math duotangs). If students can answer them quickly and correctly, they probably have a good understanding of the math and should be confident they will do just fine on the quiz!

Happy Studying!

Meet the Teacher BBQ

Just wanted to remind everyone that the "Meet the Teacher" BBQ is coming up on September 26th (Thursday). It will begin around 5:00 and end at 7:00. This night is meant to be an informal meet and greet for everyone. If parents would like to set up a meeting with me to talk one-on-one about any questions or concerns, I would be happy to arrange one at a later date.

Also, parents & students can order dinner through McMillan's new online ordering system (information was sent home in a notice or can be found on the school website). This is definitely not a requirement, but a tasty option! Just a reminder that all orders MUST be made by September 19th!

I am looking forward to seeing everyone there!

P.S. Just another quick reminder that Monday, September 23rd is a Pro-D Day!

Welcome!

Welcome to the Grade 4 Blog! I feel that a blog is a great way to help students connect to school from home. It's also a good tool for parents to see what has been happening in class. This blog will be used for a number of things. Students and parents can visit the "Home" page to read posts about our learning goals or special events/activities. The "Homework" page will be updated daily with the current homework and due dates. The "Spelling" page will be updated weekly with our new spelling words, so that students can still study even if they forget their books at home. Lastly, the "Websites & Games" page will have explanations about some educational games that students can play to help reinforce skills that we are learning in class. I really hope that the blog will be a useful tool for all of us! Enjoy!