Hey parents,

Last week was a great start to the new unit.  The 1800s are one of my favorite times to learn about in American history.  We talked about the Louisiana Purchase, the War of 1812, Andrew Jackson, James Monroe, and many other topics concerning the early 1800s.  Next week we will talk about the gold rush of 1849, Texas’s war with Mexico, slave rebellions, and some events leading up to the Civil War.

Like last week, we will not have spelling or vocabulary.  We are using this time to do some test prep for the upcoming Stanford Achievement Test.  Last week we talked about ways to prepare for this test such as going to sleep at a good time, eating a health breakfast, and not over-thinking or stressing about the assessment. 

The students really love our book The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg.  I think it may be many of the student’s favorite book we have read so far. 

 Instead of doing our typical grammar study time, we have been focusing on phonics study.  We will continue this week by observing letter patterns of words.

In math this week we are going to finish the topic on multiplying and dividing decimals and start on the topic on area and perimeter. 

I know the students are excited about Spring Break, but please remind them that this is an important week for finishing up our studies in several topics before our time off, so we will need just as much focus from them as a normal week.   

Hey Parents,

Our book for the next unit is The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg, by Rodman Philbrick.  I am placing an order on Wednesday so please let me know if you would like me to order yours for you.  Here is the link to the Amazon page.  http://www.amazon.com/Mostly-Adventures-Homer-Newbery-Honor/dp/0439668182/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329777946&sr=8-1 

Thanks,

Trent 

Hey Parents,

Next week we will have our Valentine’s Day party.  The fourth grade class is responsible for the Valentine’s hot potato game.  Also each student needs to bring a cake, pie, or cookies for the cake walk.  The party starts at 1:45 and all parents are welcome. 

This week we began our new unit on decimals.  They have been doing fantastic with this topic.  On Wednesday we will take our test.  Thursday we will start topic 13.  It centers on operations with decimals. 

In language arts we are moving on the subject and object pronouns and pronoun-verb agreement. 

Let me know if you need anything,

Trent 

A New Way to Study Vocabulary

I am going to try this site out as a way for you to better help your child prepare for tests.  This week I am going to try it out with our vocabulary words.  The site has many cool features including word pronunciation, studying tips, and quizzes.  Explore the site and let me know what you think and if you think it is helpful.  The username is trentholliman.  The password is BDSbulldogs.  Here is the link: http://quizlet.com/

Hey Parents,

The kids had a great time during our Colonial Day this past Friday.  I hope you were able to see some of their crafts.  This is our last week of the Explorers Unit.  On Friday we will have our culmination performance.  As always the students are really excited to share with you some of what they have learned this unit. 

We will finish The Witch of Blackbird Pond this week.  Before we started reading the book the students wrote predictions about what they thought was going to happen in the book based only on the title and the cover art.  It will be interesting to see them compare their predictions with the actual content of the story.  On Friday the students will complete a comprehension quiz on the text.

This week for grammar study we are discussing proper adjectives, adjectives that compare, and spelling adjectives that compare. 

In math this week we will continue topic 10.  We will finish this topic by discussing improper fractions, mixed numbers, and ordering fractions.  The test will be on Wednesday.  Topic 11 will begin on Thursday.  This topic covers adding and subtracting fractions. 

Thanks,

TRENT

The first week of the new year was great.  I know that we will have many more great weeks at BDS in 2012.

The students are really enjoying the explorers theme.  Last week we learned about two of the most famous explorers: Christopher Columbus and Leif Erickson. 

I think the students are enjoying our book very much.  All of the books that were ordered are now in.  This week the students will be reading chapter 10 for homework on Tuesday night.  On Wednesday we will be completing a special activity.  In the novel Kit, the protagonist, makes candles.  We will attempt to do this on Wednesday.  We need crayons for this activity, so please send any your family is not using anymore.  We will have a grammar quiz on Thursday.  This quiz will cover adjectives, articles, and prefixes.    

On Tuesday the students will complete the topic nine test.  Make sure you remind your child to bring their journals home on Monday so they can study.  We will begin topic 10 on Wednesday.  This topic covers fractions.  I am planning on having a pizza party to introduce this concept to the students.  The pizza will serve as a fun and tasty manipulative to reinforce the concepts.  Please send four dollars with your student early this week for the party. 

Thanks,

Trent

Hey Parents,

I hope you had a fantastic break.  I was so glad to see my class again today and hear about all of the fun things they did during their Christmas vacation.  We jumped right back into our studies today.  The kids seemed really excited about the second half of the year and I know it is going to be just as fun and enlightening as the first half.  

Today in math we reviewed what we had covered before we left for break.  I was very pleased with how much they remembered.  I was able to move through the review material and plan on discussing polygons on Wednesday.   Please ask your child if they have a protractor at school.  They will need one for the test next week.   

The students are exhibiting qualities of good readers.  I am encouraged by the discussions that take place during our reading time.  The Witch of Blackbird Pond is a fun and interesting read.  I encourage you to talk with your child about our book.  One of my goals as a teacher is to ensure that my students become lifelong readers.  One way to do this is to allow the students to share and discuss what they’ve read with you.  This week during our grammar study we are learning about articles, prefixes, and adjectives. 

*I need the students to bring in an example of a triangle for math on Thursday.   This does not have to be elaborate.  Any household object with a triangular shape will work.

Thanks,

TRENT