February+6,+2011

February 6, 2012

WOW! Has it really been two months! So many things have gone on with us such as our three week vacation, our field trip to the Opera, and now White School. Please allow me to get back into updating you more often here on our wiki. I'm hoping to get someone (one of the teachers) to show me how to upload pictures to this website so they show up faster! I have so many to show you!

First, a great big thank you to all the parents that came to the Opera House with us. The students all thought it was so cool that you were coming with us (even though you didn't get to sit with us). They wrote some very interesting reflections regarding the Opera and you coming!

Secondly, what a fantastic White School!!!! As cold as it got, the kids didn't give up. How wonderful it was to watch them get better and better each day. I went down a few times, too. Then the kids said to me, "Ms. Marcet, you don't ski so well!" Hahaha! Guess they tell it like it is!

And finally, what is happening in class:

//**Unit 3:**// How we express ourselves is still being finalized. Ms. VanSice is helping me put it together into the three commercials. You will be the first to see them when they are finished!


 * //Unit 4://** How the world works is well under way. The students are very excited about this unit since it's our first real science unit. Please check out the Unit 4 homepage to see what's in store! It's all about the parts of the Earth, earthquakes, volcanoes and how it all is still changing our planet. Please ~ don't hesitate to tell your child anything you might know about your own country regarding this stuff! It would be wonderful for them to come in with stories you've told them.


 * //Math://** We've completed our unit on **//numbers//** and had a test right before White School. Students will see their grades on the test Monday. You will see them Monday night in the homework folders, so please look them over and sign the top so I know you saw it. Thank you very much for your support helping them with homework questions. I don't ever mind if the students want to call me regarding homework. Sometimes, it helps them to hear an explanation one more time when they're at home trying to do it.

//**New Math Unit:**// We're diving into **// fractions, decimals and percents //**. This will evolve throughout the next three units. I have a way to teach the three topics together so students quickly learn to exchange each of them simultaneously. I'm sure you will have your own ways to help them with homework, but there are a lot of things to understand about these topics before the students are able to add, subtract, multiply and divide fractions, decimals and percents. Have patience with them for now, but by the end of fourth grade, they'll all be wizzes! Math vocabulary is always placed into their math notebooks they keep in school, but you are welcome to ask your child to bring them home for you to see.

//**Language Arts:**// Our **// reading //** has gone crazy! The students are really enjoying the Literacy contest we have going at school. Please make sure there is time for reading at home and sign their reading logs often! The children's //**writing**// has evolved nicely. I'm very impressed with the student's thoughts and effort to organize their writings. You may stop by the bulletin board at the staircase and see their "vacation" essays. The students also **// presented //** their vacation essays out loud to the class. I have found, however, the students are not always **// listening //** to each other. I've been regularly asking students to repeat what other students have said so they pay more attention. **// Spelling //** has been given in small groups for particular needs such as the long "ai" vowels, "ure" words, and short vowels. You may ask students about spelling rules, but understand that vocabulary and spelling are taught separately. //** Vocabulary **// is found in their class notebooks for Units of Inquiry, math, and composition notebooks.

In Music we have been singing two songs for different performances: "Are You Sleeping?" ("Frere Jacques") in students own languages for Mother Tongue Week, and "100th Day of School" for an assembly on February 14. We also have been learning how to play these tunes on the recorder and how to sing in harmony.
 * //Music://**

Grade 4 students are working on Proportion. They are learning facial proportion during art class. At the moment, they are learning how to draw each part of the face. The students had some homework to practice. The students will start to draw and practice with a proportion rule. They will draw their classmates for the final art work. PYP Visual Arts Mrs. Thompson
 * //Art://**

Thank you for your time and support, Ms. Nancy Marcet