4th Grade Field Trip- Discovering Arizona!

Early Morning Start Time

Tombstone... Stagecoaches and cowboys!

Ed Schieffelin... founded Tombstone and named it for what the Army soldiers teased him was the only thing he'd find out in the desert!

Tomstone Courthouse Gallows

Bisbee... Home of Queen Copper Mine

Getting the right outfit is so important...!

Fourth Grade Miners!

Washburn's Class

 Patton's Class

Mountain Lions and Organ Pipe Cacti at Arizona Sonora Desert Museum

$50 Challenge- Fractured Words!

Since we're nearing the end of the year,
let's sweeten the deal and make this challenge worth
$50 instead of only $20. Earn an additional $25
if you email me your answer!
Challenge: What do these sets of words mean?
1- Hum barker rend fringe frights
2- Pennant pay purr

A Couple of Reminders for the Next Couple of Weeks:

*** NO hot lunches for the rest of the year. Please have your student bring a sack lunch

Week of 5/7
1- students need to bring their materials to work on their Arizona's 5 C's Project in class on Tuesday. It is DUE THURSDAY. A one page(ish) summary needs to be included with their project of what they chose to do, why, and how it answers all of the required questions.
2- Wednesday will be our All Day Write for the 4th Quarter Benchmark. Please remind them to bring a book for when they're done and are confident in their final draft.
3- Friday is our spelling test.

Week of 5/14
1- Monday at 1:30 is our "Pirates! The Musical" performance in the cafeteria. 1:30pm
2- Wednesday is our All Day Math Benchmark & Cummulative Test for all chapters studied.
3- Wednesday night at 6:30 is the PTO meeting. Please come!
4- Thursday is our spelling test 5- Friday, ALL GRADES ARE DUE, so any and all assignments must be turned in by then.
6- Also on Friday is our Talent Show! We haven't been told an exact time, but I'm assuming 8:30, as this is the usual time for our assemblies.

Week of 5/21
1- Monday Night is the Penny Carnival
2- Tuesday is a half day and the last day of school. Thank you!

AIMS Math Review Packet

The AIMS Math Review packet that came home on Thursday, April 5 is what we're affectionately calling "The Honker" because it's pretty big! :) It is comprised of the reteach worksheets for each of the lessons the students said on their self-assessments this week that they needed extra help with. It also includes a few extras lessons that we struggled with as we've gone through our program this year. I've gone over each page and added notes to many that show other ideas and ways to solve that we've discussed in class.

PLEASE NOTE: The pages are SHORT, and this will be their ONLY homework for next week, as we're reviewing and playing practice games all week in class.

Also, this packet is OPTIONAL, but I have not told the students this. I want them to use their HW time next week reading through the examples and practicing the things that they need help on. If they're comfortable after a few practice problems of a lesson, please don't push them to do more as "busy work". I simply want to re-expose them to anything that they need extra help on. If I can see that the student made an effort at practicing their needed lessons, then they will receive a full credit effort grade for math. A reasonable expectation would be to review and complete/attempt 5 pages a day, with the packet due on Monday, April 16th- the day we begin AIMS. I want them to have every possible minute to review and get extra comfortable with everything that they are not yet feeling confident in.

As always, thank you for all of your help and support. We're working hard!

Penny War!

Student Council is hosting the Cambridge Academy Penny War this week! This is a fabulous fundraiser that will help us pay for end of the year activities for our students. Here's how it works:

"Each classroom will have a plastic gallon jug outside their classroom to hold the coins. Students in each room want to put pennies in their own container. However, students from other classrooms will want to put silver coins into other rooms' containers. The goal for each class is to have a larger total with pennies than of silver coins. When the Penny War is over, the money will be counted. The total for each room will be the total dollar amount of pennies MINUS the total dollar amount of silver coins. The class with the most money left after subtracting all the silver coins will win an ice cream sandwich party."

Our class had a "War Council" this morning to discuss how we plan to win... the students came up with the following ideas:



***Each student saves all of the pennies that they collect as individuals at home until Thursday or Friday morning and then put them all in at once when we get to school those days.



***Plan to do the same with the silver coins too... save them up at home and come before school Friday morning and "sabotage" the other classrooms' collection jars. We will have "spies" going around all week paying attention to who has the most pennies so that we can "attack" on Friday morning. That way, they have no time to "fight back" against us. :)



Please participate and help us WIN the Penny War!

Book Report Link- Repeat Post for Convenience

All students are required to read at least one of the Battle of the Books books listed and complete a diorama and book report on the form cited below. This form was given out Friday, January 13 and the final projects are due Wednesday, March 7th. Happy Reading!

Books to Choose From:

Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

Cricket in Times Square by George Selden

Shoeshine Girl by Clyde Robert Bulla

Link for Book Report: Information/Handout:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IBrwh8_H_DW0F9iIFarP6pZce3fAMglj2po3pZXqX38/edit

What We've Been Up To... :)

All Day Write-
Quarter 3

Happy 100th Birthday Arizona!

Will Becker was voted by his peers as the Arizona Centennial Bench Design winner.










Our Resident Newspaper Reporters- Social Studies Mining Town Newspaper Assignment

Studying

Electricty in

Mrs. Patton's Science Class

Important Test/Project Due Dates Through Spring Break- REVISED

Thursday, March 1
Math: Chapter 19 Test

Friday, March 2
NO Spelling Test
NO Reading Test for the week
Gradebook Closes for 3rd Quarter

Wednesday, March 7
Book Report and Diorama DUE in class- based on one of the Battle of the Books selections
BATTLE OF THE BOOKS

Thursday, March 8
Social Studies: Government Basics Test

Friday, March 9
Math: Chapter 14 Test
NO Spelling Test
NO Reading Test for the week

Homework- Feb 6

Wordly Wise Lesson 20 Link
http://www.wordlywise3000.com/word_lists/?book=04&lesson=20

5 extra words:
muscular
generous
bulged
versions
legend

Science Tests Study Guide Link

Copy and paste this link into your address bar to access Mrs. Patton's Science study guide for Chapter 13's tests.

https://docs.google.com/open?id=166pAuO1gMNrFc3_uVFk6Ok0yOuJqWf6LggsW0BMhc5SKTSJJ1v5WW1KBrqX_

$20 Challenge Question #3

What are the 5 C's of Arizona?

Email your answer for an extra $10

Happy Hunting!

Test / Important Projects Dates Through Spring Break

Friday, February 3
"The Golden Spike" Comprehension Test
Wordly Wise Lesson 19 Vocabulary Test
Spelling Test (WW 19 words)
N.A.M. Checkpoint 2- Title Page Rough Draft Due

Monday, February 6
SCIENCE: Vocabulary Test

Wednesday, February 8
MATH: Chapter 13 Test- Adding and Subracting Decimals
SCIENCE: Chapter 13 Test- Electricity & Magnetism

Thursday, February 9
"John Henry Races the Steam Drill" Comprehension Test

Friday, February 10
Wordly Wise Lesson 20 Vocabulary Test
Spelling Test (WW 20 words)
Writing Assignment Due: Persuasive Essay: "More Allowance Please!"

Wednesday, February 15
Checkpoint 3- N.A.M. Bibliography Rough Draft Due

Thursday, February 16
"Immigrant Children" Comprehension Test
MATH: Chapter 6 Test- Patterns and Expressions (Pre-Algebra)

Friday, February 17 (NOON RELEASE)
Spelling Test- Word List from weekly reading story (see handout sent home previous Friday)
Writing Assignment Due: Persuasive Essay: "_____________ Makes the Best Kid's Meal because..."

Monday, February 20 (NO SCHOOL)

Wednesday, February 22
Battle of the Books books must be read by today to be eligile to participate
Night at the Museum Final Project Due
-Title Page
-Summary (Newspaper Article Style)
-Bibliography
-Posterboard Collage

Thursday, February 23
Night at the Museum Performance; 5-6pm at Cambridge Academy

Friday, February 24
Spelling Test from list sent home previous Friday

Thursday, March 1
Math: Chapter 19 Test

Friday, March 2
NO Spelling Test
NO Reading Test for the week
Gradebook Closes for 3rd Quarter

Wednesday, March 7
Book Report and Diorama DUE in class- based on one of the Battle of the Books selections
BATTLE OF THE BOOKS

Friday, March 9
Math: Chapter 14 Test

WW 18 Spelling Words Link

Wordly Wise Lesson 19 this week
Study the words at the address below if you forgot your book at school.
NO Spelling homework, just study for the spelling and vocabulary test on these words on Friday.
http://www.wordlywise3000.com/word_lists/?book=4&lesson=19

Night at the Museum Assignment

Assigned week of January 17-20, Due February 22

Complete a biography written as a newspaper article on the life of an assigned person who has been important to Arizona's history. Please include a graphic organizer, at least a one page summary with a title page, a headline, a posterboard sized collage reflecting the influence they had on Arizona, as well as a biography citing your sources of research (at least one book and two websites).

Important Dates to remember:
Checkpoint 1 (Graphic Organizer)- Fri., January 27th

Checkpoint 2 (Title Page, Rough Draft)- Fri, February 3

Checkpoint 3 (Bibliography)- Wed., February 15

Final Project (Historical Summary with a Title Page and Bibliography, Newspaper Collage Posterboard for desk decor the next night) ***See Handout for Specific Typing Guidelines***
Due Date: Wed., February 22

Performance: Thurs., February 23, 5-6pm at Cambridge Academy

Spelling/WW 17 Homework

Here is the link to the Wordly Wise Lesson and a list of the additional 5 spelling words, as I forgot to send home the information! Oops...
Have a great long weekend!

http://www.wordlywise3000.com/word_lists/?book=04&lesson=17

or

http://www.wordlywise3000.com/games/book04.cfm

Additional words:
energy
transferred
soar
release
eventually

Also, we begin DECIMALS on Tuesday. :)

Book Report and Diorama

All students are required to read at least one of the Battle of the Books books listed in the previous post and complete a diorama and book report on the form cited below. This form will be given out Friday, January 13 and the final projects are due Wednesday, March 7th.
Happy Reading!

Link for Book Report Information/Handout:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IBrwh8_H_DW0F9iIFarP6pZce3fAMglj2po3pZXqX38/edit

Battle of the Books- Spring 2012

The Battle of the Books will be held on Wednesday, March 7, 2012 on campus.
The Books this time are:
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
Cricket in Times Square by George Selden
Shoeshine Girl by Clyde Robert Bulla

To be eligible to participate in the Battle, students must have read all three books by February 22, when they will receive a study guide and form into randomly drawn teams to study and compete with.

Championship rounds will be held in the afternoon at 1pm on Wednesday, March 7.

Social Studies: Mining Town Newspaper Assignment

In Social Studies, your student has been assigned a group effort project in which they will be creating a newspaper about an 1800's mining town. We've been studying the Arizona Silver Rush and the California Gold Rush in class, as well as newspaper article writing and reading, and the students seem really excited to get started. This will be an opportunity for them to learn more as they research the topic they've chosen for their article (ex: Mine Accident Claims 12 Lives; New Stagecoach Line Begins Service in Town; etc.) and to work in a group to create a finished product.

The topics they choose to write their articles about may be based on factual happenings or completely made up, so long as they are things that reasonably could have happened in an 1800’s mining town. The more creative, the better! The example that I wrote an article about was of a man who had a lost bag of silver returned to him after he left it on the stagecoach he was riding from Tucson to the town that I made up. I continued that the man and the lady that found and returned his bag had begun courting. I included a picture that I had Googled "1800 Wedding Pictures" to find. I've attached a copy of it below as well. Hopefully this will be a chance for them to have some fun!

Each student's final grade will be an average of two grades: A group grade from their work together and the finished product, and an individual grade based on their individual pieces of the newspaper. Please see the attached file for a breakdown of what an 'A' grade requires. This paper was handed out in class the day when students chose the group they wanted to be in and divided up the articles and wanted ad assignments, as well as chose their newspaper title and date. Ask your student what they are assigned to do via their group and feel free to help them get started. :)

Assignment Sheet:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1o7nMOftIiN4g_7UfytKFidXZZxANM919wA463TgJtC4/edit

Article and Title Example:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QvsuiQY4yCtFMYu7UyBd_GHpnTtQlXUtp43p4f_-w_U/edit

The final products are due as follows:
PATTON: by the end of class Wednesday, January 18
WASHBURN: by the beginning of class Thursday, January 19

Electricity and Magnetism Science Unit Information

Please use the links below to access the handouts given in Mrs. Patton's Science class for the 3rd Quarter Unit.

Vocabulary
https://docs.google.com/open?id=1cCNAyUS3T4fBl-qrOVlw1oKjF37F02B2xFnnKqAQ2CesE1J5xNB_aOi3aMl7

Calendar
https://docs.google.com/open?id=1VZ7UjgPIihV-lrFg3X62ySYgTpCq7g6Z-rCCRUJDGCdyMf5faoM56cTCpXU9

Persuasive Writing- In Action!

Parents,
This quarter we'll be working with persuasive writing. I showed this video in class about how we can use persuasive writing in our daily lives (creatively!) and they really enjoyed it. You've probably seen it on television too :) Enjoy!

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/showcase/details.aspx?uuid=0d78d0a2-942f-4a0d-96a4-c94509df0092