Ms. Culver's Group
Ms. Huntley's Group
Mrs. Bertelson's Group
Friday, October 28, 2016
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Weekly Update (Week 8)
Happy Friday! I am getting the news out a little early. What a busy week we've had! We are right in the thick of our Expo project preparation and things are sure coming together.
Math: This week we finished up our math unit by taking our Unit 2 math assessment. The plan was to take the test on Friday, but after some dialogue and debate, we moved it to Friday. The students did not think they could do their best on Halloween. :) Please look for the new study links coming home today.
Math: This week we finished up our math unit by taking our Unit 2 math assessment. The plan was to take the test on Friday, but after some dialogue and debate, we moved it to Friday. The students did not think they could do their best on Halloween. :) Please look for the new study links coming home today.
Reading: We got back into the swing of guided reading and read an article about the different sensory organs of the body. The students focused on their specific sensory organ and taught the other members of the group the ins and outs of that sense.
Writing: We began planning, creating, and publishing an informational paragraph that will go on our Sensory Models (more about this below).
PBL: We continued our learning this week by diving deep into one of the sensory organs. Students were placed into their Expo groups and are working on researching about, planning, and creating models that represent their sensory organ. You will get a chance to see these beautiful creations at Expo on November 17th.
Forms to Return: DTE Energy Forms - We need ALL 24 back to get our 100 grant for classroom supplies and fun! We are getting so close!
Upcoming: Conferences are coming up this week or next. On Sunday, I will send a reminder to parents who will be meeting with me this week. Then two days before the conferences, I will send another reminder. :)
Morning Meeting: We are stretching a little beyond Mindup to focus on Growth Mindset! We learned the difference between fixed and growth mindset and created a wordle to help us remember those growth mindset terms.
I can't believe we are already heading into November! Please continue to ask your child what they are learning about the brain this week.
Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
PBL: We continued our learning this week by diving deep into one of the sensory organs. Students were placed into their Expo groups and are working on researching about, planning, and creating models that represent their sensory organ. You will get a chance to see these beautiful creations at Expo on November 17th.
Forms to Return: DTE Energy Forms - We need ALL 24 back to get our 100 grant for classroom supplies and fun! We are getting so close!
Upcoming: Conferences are coming up this week or next. On Sunday, I will send a reminder to parents who will be meeting with me this week. Then two days before the conferences, I will send another reminder. :)
Morning Meeting: We are stretching a little beyond Mindup to focus on Growth Mindset! We learned the difference between fixed and growth mindset and created a wordle to help us remember those growth mindset terms.
I can't believe we are already heading into November! Please continue to ask your child what they are learning about the brain this week.
Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
Monday, October 24, 2016
From Ms. Huckabone...
Dear 4th Graders and Families,
Next week we will start playing the recorder in music class! Every student has been assigned a school recorder. They may take their school recorder home with the understanding that it will return undamaged to school for the next music class. If students purchased a recorder or are bringing one from home they may leave it at home and use their school recorder at school or bring the home recorder back and forth to school. Students also have the option is bring their home recorder back and forth to school and home. Students are responsible for having a recorder in music class. I will hand out purchased recorders and school recorder assignments next week. If you are bringing in a recorder from home, please do so next week.
We will use the Recorder Karate curriculum, which is a sequential program that introduces new recorder notes and songs to students. After students have practiced and perfected playing the correct notes and rhythms for each “belt song,” they can play the song for me to “test” for that belt. (Students will be allowed to test multiple times for one belt, as long as they take time to practice in-between tests.) When a student has earned a belt they will receive a piece of colored yarn to go on their case. I am requesting that the yarn is attached to the recorder case and not the recorder itself.
The fourth graders will attend the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra concert in March at Hill Auditorium. They are invited to play their recorders and sing with the orchestra from their seats! To prepare for the concert we will also be working on another curriculum alongside Recorder Karate called “Link-Up” from Carnegie Hall. The theme for this year’s concert is “The Orchestra Sings”. We have already started exploring some of the concert repertoire through singing and listening. I am looking forward to exploring it with recorders! Each student has been provided with a book containing all the repertoire for the concert. They will get to take the book home and keep it after the concert.
Students are encouraged to practice at home or outside of music in order to earn their belts. All our
recorder repertoire from Recorder Karate and the Link-Up Curriculum will be available on the vocal music website in the “fourth grade” section (a2steamvocalmusic.weebly.com) and hard copy.
Here are the three ways students can “test” for their Recorder Karate Belts:
1. Designated times at lunch recess. (Days to be announced)
2. During testing days during music class (students will know dates prior to testing day)
3. Students may e-mail me a video (with parent permission) of themselves playing the song/belt in
which they would like to test. I will watch the video, and if they earn their belt, I will give them the belt at their next music class. Students can record themselves playing on any video device you have at home.
Please remember that the video must be recorded outside of school and can then be e-mailed to me, Ms. Huckabone, at: huckabone@aaps.k12.mi.us
The fourth graders will be performing (without recorders) in the Thanksgiving Assembly on November 22.
There will be two performances, 1:15pm and 2:00pm. Parents are welcome to attend, but space will be limited.
Thank you! Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. I look forward to a great year in fourth
grade.
Fondly,
Ms. Huckabone
huckabone@aaps.k12.mi.us / a2steamvocalmusic.weebly.com
Next week we will start playing the recorder in music class! Every student has been assigned a school recorder. They may take their school recorder home with the understanding that it will return undamaged to school for the next music class. If students purchased a recorder or are bringing one from home they may leave it at home and use their school recorder at school or bring the home recorder back and forth to school. Students also have the option is bring their home recorder back and forth to school and home. Students are responsible for having a recorder in music class. I will hand out purchased recorders and school recorder assignments next week. If you are bringing in a recorder from home, please do so next week.
We will use the Recorder Karate curriculum, which is a sequential program that introduces new recorder notes and songs to students. After students have practiced and perfected playing the correct notes and rhythms for each “belt song,” they can play the song for me to “test” for that belt. (Students will be allowed to test multiple times for one belt, as long as they take time to practice in-between tests.) When a student has earned a belt they will receive a piece of colored yarn to go on their case. I am requesting that the yarn is attached to the recorder case and not the recorder itself.
The fourth graders will attend the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra concert in March at Hill Auditorium. They are invited to play their recorders and sing with the orchestra from their seats! To prepare for the concert we will also be working on another curriculum alongside Recorder Karate called “Link-Up” from Carnegie Hall. The theme for this year’s concert is “The Orchestra Sings”. We have already started exploring some of the concert repertoire through singing and listening. I am looking forward to exploring it with recorders! Each student has been provided with a book containing all the repertoire for the concert. They will get to take the book home and keep it after the concert.
Students are encouraged to practice at home or outside of music in order to earn their belts. All our
recorder repertoire from Recorder Karate and the Link-Up Curriculum will be available on the vocal music website in the “fourth grade” section (a2steamvocalmusic.weebly.com) and hard copy.
Here are the three ways students can “test” for their Recorder Karate Belts:
1. Designated times at lunch recess. (Days to be announced)
2. During testing days during music class (students will know dates prior to testing day)
3. Students may e-mail me a video (with parent permission) of themselves playing the song/belt in
which they would like to test. I will watch the video, and if they earn their belt, I will give them the belt at their next music class. Students can record themselves playing on any video device you have at home.
Please remember that the video must be recorded outside of school and can then be e-mailed to me, Ms. Huckabone, at: huckabone@aaps.k12.mi.us
The fourth graders will be performing (without recorders) in the Thanksgiving Assembly on November 22.
There will be two performances, 1:15pm and 2:00pm. Parents are welcome to attend, but space will be limited.
Thank you! Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. I look forward to a great year in fourth
grade.
Fondly,
Ms. Huckabone
huckabone@aaps.k12.mi.us / a2steamvocalmusic.weebly.com
Sunday, October 23, 2016
Weekly Update (Week 7)
Happy Sunday! What a fantastically pretty day. As I begin my Sunday routine, I am pleasantly anticipating another great week! Because of my absence on Friday, homework folders, logs, and fact fluency tests will come home tomorrow. Sorry for the delay.
Math: This week we continued multiplication. We spent most of the week on a new term: multiplicative comparison. We now know that this means how two or more things compare using a multiplication equation. Its pretty complicated, but students worked hard to understand. We now have 5 students totally finished with fact fluency skill practice!
Math: This week we continued multiplication. We spent most of the week on a new term: multiplicative comparison. We now know that this means how two or more things compare using a multiplication equation. Its pretty complicated, but students worked hard to understand. We now have 5 students totally finished with fact fluency skill practice!
Reading: We took a break from guided reading this week to do data conferences to get ready for conferences. During these data conferences, we looked at our previous data and then our goal for this year. The students looked at their scores to make some decisions on things they could do to help make that growth possible. You will get a chance to hear all about this at conferences in a few weeks.
Writing: We finally finished our letters to Governor Snyder. We are now turning our attention to another opinion writing piece for Expo. We can't wait to share those with you.
PBL: Wow! We have learned a lot about the brain. We started the week with guest presenters giving us new and important information about the brain. As the week continued, we focused on how brain processing information and we began to think about how that processing can be interrupted for a variety of reasons. This will lead to this week where we begin really thinking about concussions.
Forms to Return: DTE Energy Forms - We need ALL 24 back to get our 100 grant for classroom supplies and fun!
Upcoming: Please let me know if you are a coach or an athlete that would be willing to make a short video. If you are interested, please contact me at bertelson@aaps.k12.mi.us
Morning Meeting: We are stretching a little beyond Mindup to focus on Growth Mindset! Ask your student to talk about what it means to be gritty. :)
I’m looking forward to another great week! Please ask your child what they are learning about the brain this week.
Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
PBL: Wow! We have learned a lot about the brain. We started the week with guest presenters giving us new and important information about the brain. As the week continued, we focused on how brain processing information and we began to think about how that processing can be interrupted for a variety of reasons. This will lead to this week where we begin really thinking about concussions.
Forms to Return: DTE Energy Forms - We need ALL 24 back to get our 100 grant for classroom supplies and fun!
Upcoming: Please let me know if you are a coach or an athlete that would be willing to make a short video. If you are interested, please contact me at bertelson@aaps.k12.mi.us
Morning Meeting: We are stretching a little beyond Mindup to focus on Growth Mindset! Ask your student to talk about what it means to be gritty. :)
I’m looking forward to another great week! Please ask your child what they are learning about the brain this week.
Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
Sunday, October 16, 2016
Let's Use Our Fantastic Resource!
Please use these IXL practice/extension logs to help focus your IXL work for the next few weeks.
Unit 2 IXL Extension Links
Unit 2 IXL Practice Links
Unit 2 IXL Extension Links
Math Concept
|
IXL Focus:
|
Score (Must be Above 90%)
|
Area of complex figures
| ||
Greatest common factor
|
F6 (5th)
| |
Find multiples of fractions
|
M3 (5th)
| |
Prime and Composite Numbers
|
F1 (5th)
| |
Converting units of time
| ||
Properties of triangles and quadrilaterals
| ||
Rotational symmetry
| ||
Inequalities with multiplication
|
Friday, October 14, 2016
Week 6 Update
As the weather turns colder, our focus and workload is increasing. We are going to really work the next few weeks on timely and efficient work and study habits!
Math: This week was a full week of multiplication. We began the week with factors and multiples and then ended with prime and composite numbers. There are SO many vocabulary words in this unit and it is so important for students to be able to manage those. We spent much of Friday catching up on unfinished pages. If this habit continues, we may begin bringing our math books home. We have so much work to do and we have to make sure we are keeping up. We now have 5 students totally finished with fact fluency skill practice!
Math: This week was a full week of multiplication. We began the week with factors and multiples and then ended with prime and composite numbers. There are SO many vocabulary words in this unit and it is so important for students to be able to manage those. We spent much of Friday catching up on unfinished pages. If this habit continues, we may begin bringing our math books home. We have so much work to do and we have to make sure we are keeping up. We now have 5 students totally finished with fact fluency skill practice!
Reading: Our guided groups continued this week and we really focused on our reading response letters. Every week students will write a reading response letter to me about a book they are reading. At some point, we may share these letters with you.
Writing: We are almost finished with our first drafts of our letter to Governor Snyder. Next week, we will offer a rebuttal to a counterargument and then wrap up those letters. The next step will be to publish those and get them sent off. It was sad for many of us to know that our persuasive letters had turned to opinion letters, but we talked about how relevant PBL topics sometime don't work out in the perfect way. :)
PBL: We left our government unit behind (mostly) and began a new and exciting unit on the brain. We began with a fun entry event where students attempted to save Mr. Egghead from a wild ride. We then spent the next three days rotating between the 4th grade teachers who expertly shared some new information with us on the brain.
Forms to Return: DTE Energy Forms - We need ALL 24 back to get our 100 grant for classroom supplies and fun!
Upcoming: Please let me know if you are a coach or an athlete that would be willing to make a short video. If you are interested, please contact me at bertelson@aaps.k12.mi.us
I’m looking forward to another great week! Please ask your child what they are learning about the brain this week.
Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
PBL: We left our government unit behind (mostly) and began a new and exciting unit on the brain. We began with a fun entry event where students attempted to save Mr. Egghead from a wild ride. We then spent the next three days rotating between the 4th grade teachers who expertly shared some new information with us on the brain.
Forms to Return: DTE Energy Forms - We need ALL 24 back to get our 100 grant for classroom supplies and fun!
Upcoming: Please let me know if you are a coach or an athlete that would be willing to make a short video. If you are interested, please contact me at bertelson@aaps.k12.mi.us
I’m looking forward to another great week! Please ask your child what they are learning about the brain this week.
Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
Thursday, October 13, 2016
It's time to use our brains. :)
October 2016
Dear 4th Grade A2 STEAM Families,
This week we began an exciting new unit in our classrooms! As you might know, in our school we use the teaching method of Project Based Learning, or PBL, to help students learn better. A project motivates students to gain knowledge, and they remember it longer. Projects give students the chance to apply the skills they learn in school to personally relevant and real-world situations. Your child also learns skills in PBL such as how to think critically, solve problems, work in teams, and make presentations. These skills will help students succeed in the future, both in school and in today’s work world.
Our project is based off of the Project Lead the Way curriculum, and is called “Human Brain: Input and Output” This project will last through the middle of November.
In this unit, students will learn about:
- Regions of the brain
- Sensory input to the brain
- Impacts of trauma or injury to the brain
- Raising awareness about concussions in everyday life
Our driving question for this project is, “How can we, as students at A2 STEAM, raise awareness and prevent concussions in school aged children?” They will spend extensive time learning about the brain, the impact of concussions, and ways to raise awareness in both parents and students. The end result will be three-fold. They will create a PSA to a specific audience around preventing or determining the symptoms of concussions, a physical model of brain, and a persuasive writing piece about an activity that could lead to a concussion. All of these will be shown off at our EXPO on November 18th.
More details will be sent home as we get closer to Expo. We hope you will be able to attend!
As parents, you can support the project by:
- Sending in a video about your prior experience with concussions. Please email Mrs. Bertelson at bertelson@aaps.k12.mi.us for more information
- Talking with your student about how they can stay safe in their everyday life
- Reading articles about the brain/concussions with your student
E-mails, websites, and newsletters will keep you updated throughout the unit. If you have any concerns or questions about your child’s project, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Bertelson, Ms. Culver, and Ms. Huntley
4th Grade Teachers at A2 STEAM
Tuesday, October 11, 2016
Need Help Choosing Books?
Here are a few places to find great, 4th grade appropriate books!
Great Schools List
GoodReads List
Imagination Soup List
The Reading Nook List
Great Schools List
GoodReads List
Imagination Soup List
The Reading Nook List
Friday, October 7, 2016
Week 5 Update
Can you believe that it is Week 5 already? Where did the time go?
Math: This week we took our Post test for Unit 1 and the kiddos did fantastic! We also spent a few days learning/reviewing how to make arrays and how to find the area of a rectangle. They also took Unit 2 pretest, which came home in their Friday folders. If you noticed that your son/daughter struggled with any of concepts on the pretest, these would be great things to practice on either IXL or the home links. These are on top of the math fact fluency practice that they should be doing. There are now 4 students completely finished with fact fluency!
Math: This week we took our Post test for Unit 1 and the kiddos did fantastic! We also spent a few days learning/reviewing how to make arrays and how to find the area of a rectangle. They also took Unit 2 pretest, which came home in their Friday folders. If you noticed that your son/daughter struggled with any of concepts on the pretest, these would be great things to practice on either IXL or the home links. These are on top of the math fact fluency practice that they should be doing. There are now 4 students completely finished with fact fluency!
Reading: Our guided groups went swimmingly this week. We created names for our groups and read several articles about the branches of government. We focused on the strategies of prediction, using prior knowledge, previewing a text, and asking questions of texts. We did this with both our informational texts AND our independent reading books.
Writing: We published our personal narratives and finished publishing our Bio Poems. These will be up in the hallway outside of our room so stop by and check them out. This week will begin writing our letters to Governor Snyder about HR Bill 4822.
PBL: We spent this week diving into a unit on the government. Our driving question is, "How can we as students make sure our voices are heard at A2STEAM? We are learning about a House Bill that is being sent to Governor Snyder that states that those who are not reading by 3rd grade do not move to 4th. We are having some very interesting discussions around this.
Forms to Return: None at this time. :)
Upcoming: Our next unit on the Human Brain will be starting next week. Please let me know if you are a coach or an athlete that would be willing to make a short video. If you are interested, please contact me at bertelson@aaps.k12.mi.us
I’m looking forward to another great week! Please ask your child what they are learning about the brain this week.
Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
PBL: We spent this week diving into a unit on the government. Our driving question is, "How can we as students make sure our voices are heard at A2STEAM? We are learning about a House Bill that is being sent to Governor Snyder that states that those who are not reading by 3rd grade do not move to 4th. We are having some very interesting discussions around this.
Forms to Return: None at this time. :)
Upcoming: Our next unit on the Human Brain will be starting next week. Please let me know if you are a coach or an athlete that would be willing to make a short video. If you are interested, please contact me at bertelson@aaps.k12.mi.us
I’m looking forward to another great week! Please ask your child what they are learning about the brain this week.
Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
Tuesday, October 4, 2016
Let's Play Some Games!
The kids are super excited about a fun website we are using called icivics! Please follow the link below to play. You don't need to make an account. When you get to the homepage, just press play!
iCivics!
iCivics!
Sunday, October 2, 2016
Week 4 Update
We accomplished a lot this week!
Math: This week we had a full week of five math lessons. We focused on subtraction, converting lengths, some geometric concepts around lines, and perimeter. Whew! It was a lot. If you noticed that your son/daughter struggled with any of these concepts on the pretest, these would be great things to practice on either IXL or the home links. These are on top of the math fact fluency practice that they should be doing. We want to work on everyone getting 90 percent or better on their first math assessment that we will take on Tuesday.
Reading: We know have our reading block time down. Last week, every group met and discussed our goals as a group. This week we will begin reading together articles about the US government.
Writing: This week we continued our personal narratives. We wrote for an extended period of time, added description and details, and wrapped up our stories with great conclusions. We are beginning to publish these and will have them available for you at conferences.
PBL: We spent this week diving into a unit on the government. Our driving question is, "How can we as students make sure our voices are heard at A2STEAM? We are learning about a House Bill that is being sent to Governor Snyder that states that those who are not reading by 3rd grade do not move to 4th. We are having some very interesting discussions around this.
Forms to Return: Recorder Form and money, Blue DTE Form ONLY if you wan to OPT out.
Upcoming: Our next unit on the Human Brain will be starting next week. Please let me know if you are a coach or an athlete that would be willing to make a short video. If you are interested, please contact me at bertelson@aaps.k12.mi.us
I’m looking forward to another great month! Its hard to believe that we are already a month in!
Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
PBL: We spent this week diving into a unit on the government. Our driving question is, "How can we as students make sure our voices are heard at A2STEAM? We are learning about a House Bill that is being sent to Governor Snyder that states that those who are not reading by 3rd grade do not move to 4th. We are having some very interesting discussions around this.
Forms to Return: Recorder Form and money, Blue DTE Form ONLY if you wan to OPT out.
Upcoming: Our next unit on the Human Brain will be starting next week. Please let me know if you are a coach or an athlete that would be willing to make a short video. If you are interested, please contact me at bertelson@aaps.k12.mi.us
I’m looking forward to another great month! Its hard to believe that we are already a month in!
Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
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