Rieke Elementary SchoolRoom 20: In The News
2/13/2012: A bit about work samples. In fourth grade students are responsible for four work samples. These include math, writing, science, and speech. The speech work sample will be covered with their current research report, which culminates in a speech and a poster presentation. These will be held in class next week. Sorry, but the speeches are closed to the general public. The math and writing work samples will occur after spring break. Writing will involve an on-demand sample, with three choices of topics. Students will have a week to write their paper. Math will look a lot like a POW (wink, wink). The science work sample will take place before spring break and will be based on the circuits and pathways science we have been learning about since mid January. All work samples will be graded by me and the grades will be submitted to the state as part of your student's permanent record. They are scored on a 1-6 scale, with a 4 as passing. Generally everyone passes the work samples, but not everyone exceeds. Falling behind in class work or refusing to take part in lessons usually means that the student will not have enough knowledge to pass these work samples. But trust me, I want everyone to pass them because I am never asking them to complete something that they do not know how to do. They are well prepared!
1/10/2012 Happy New Year! So we are back at it in room 20, working away in 2012. Things are progressing nicely in here and everyone seems well rested after the break. The biggest thing happening right now is the Oregon state testing. So far we are half way through reading, and will start the math on Friday. Our last testing day will be next Tuesday until after Spring Break. I believe that we will send home scores with report cards in February, but don't quote me on that!
With January comes a whole new lot of learning in here. Next week we will begin our new science unit on electricity, called Circuits and Pathways. The week after that I will introduce our new writing piece, which will be a research paper. We will also celebrate Chinese New Year with some poetry, math, and art activities. At the end of January the science fiction/fantasy book report is due (and I am curious to see how they come out since I have never assigned this kind of report before). In early February we will begin our Lewis and Clark social studies unit. Throw in our math and reading routines and, well, we are busy as can be. Lucky for me I enjoy teaching all of these things so school is a lot of fun.
Homework, including the POW, is still due each week. Book reports are still due each month. I still am seeing old patterns with some students, unable to turn in their work on time (or at all). This really is not OK with me, since I don't think I am asking too much from my class. Please check in with your kid and give them help with managing their time.
We will be throwing a Valentine's Party on 2/14--watch this space for details.
We have two more field trips: PSU on 12/9, and Willy Wonka on 12/13. Students will need to bring a lunch to school on both days!!
We are wrapping up our Native American study, Mr. Long is in deep with his Civics and Speaking work sample, and our Imaginative stories are coming together.
In math we are now working on fractions and I am already seeing how hard it is for some of the students. Please communicate with your student and ask how they are doing with fractions. Many are 'getting it', but many are still in the dark and I can see the confusion on their faces. I will do my best to give each kid what they need, but please check in with your own student with how they feel they are doing with fractions. We will continue fractions and division into January.
11/7/11 It has been a while since I have corresponded on my web page. Now that it is November and there is a time change please be aware of how your student chooses to dress at school. If it is not raining out we have outdoor recess and it can be very cold out. We also go out in light rain, so proper coats are a lot of help. As I type this I see how dark it is and the clock says that it is not very late, so students should not linger around Rieke after school if possible. Conferences are coming up next week, so if you have forgotten your conference time just send me an email and I will look it up for you.
MATH: Things are looking up for these students as they have really embraced the new math curriculum. The results in class and in the homework have been very promising. Plus it is a lot of fun to teach. We are still working on multi-digit multiplication, and will be studying fractions after the Thanksgiving break.
WRITING: Students finished their personal narratives, and now we are working on imaginative stories. The enthusiasm for writing whimsical tales is high in here, but students also know that there are rules to these kinds of stories. We are also really working on how to write for an audience other than ourselves, meaning that their stories have to make sense to someone other than the writer.
SCIENCE: We have finished our Bones and Skeletons unit and will be taking our final test this Wednesday. Students have all the answers and their study guide to this test, as they brought this information home today. Seek it out and help them to prepare for the test. The test is not hard and the kids will do fine. I will teach a small science unit after Thanksgiving up to Winter break, details to follow.
SOCIAL STUDIES: We have just begun our Native American unit, which will carry us up to Winter break. Most of what we will be doing will center around story telling and studying their artistic heritage. The field trip on 11/8 is a great way to start.
STUDENT TEACHER: Our student teacher, Mr. Long, will be in the room full time from after the Thanksgiving break until Winter break. He will be assisting me and the kids in class with my curriculum, as well as teaching his own work sample. I am sure that he will contact parents about what he will be teaching and what his expectations for the students are.
10/10/2011 Welcome October! At the end of the month we will be having a Harvest Festival in our classroom. We have decided to hold it on Friday the 28th, as parties tend to work better on a Friday. Field trips for the Fall will begin in early November. I actually have too many chaperons right now, so some of you will be alerted to this. I try and spread chaperons out so that I can get a variety of parents chaperoning the trips. Also, the date for our PSU and Art Museum field trip will be changing. Seems that we cannot have three classes visit the museum at the same time, so we will make some adjustments. The trip will still occur in December.
In class we just completed the first volume of eight in Bridges, our new math curriculum. We are currently building up our multiplication and division skills, which are leading us up to working on larger math problems. Hopefully all families got a chance to read through the math booklet I sent home last week, which should help explain what I will be showing these kids this year. In science we finished dissecting our owl pellets, and are moving into a study of the human skeleton. If you have any human bones laying around, or work in the field of health science, please let me know and maybe we can schedule you in for a lecture! With writing we are finishing up our personal narratives. All in all the year has gone by great and I see a lot of discovery going on in room 20.
9/16/2011: What a week! We are accomplishing a lot in room 20. This class really seems to respect each other and the goals that we are all trying to achieve, and the atmosphere is fun. The new math curriculum is fun to teach and the kids like the manipulatives they get to use in problem solving. In writing we are working on personal narratives, trying to find the best stories about ourselves to write about. One writing goal this year is writing for an audience other than ourselves. We also rolled out the Reading Street reading program and worked on reading strategies such as sequencing and summarizing. Throw in some handwriting practice and learning about Van Gogh and you have a full week.Next week has a late opening Wednesday, so don't come to school too early. We will also continue to work on our sunflowers, celebrate the changing of the seasons, and begin our performing arts class with Mr. D.
8/12/2011 The news is that if you are reading this you or your child is registered to be in my classroom this year. Congratulations! I am expecting another fun year teaching fourth grade at Rieke out in room 20.
The biggest news concerning school this upcoming year will be our district's new math adoption, called Bridges in Mathematics. I have already taken the introductory classes for the adoption and I like what I see. It is very hands on, with lots of manipulatives. These allow all students of all learning levels to literally get a hands on feeling for math, as well as work with the traditional pencil and paper. Bridges will give each student two (or three) practice books to use in the classroom. The math is broken into two sections. The first is the daily math, which takes about 50-60 minutes of our day learning math skills. The second part is called Number Corner, and this takes at least 20 minutes a day. Number Corner is teacher monitored but student led. All of this is new to me, so as a whole group we will learn Bridges together.
The other big change in fourth grade is the elimination of the state writing test for fourth graders. I am disappointed by this, but I understand cost cutting measures. For me, writing is close to my heart. The class will still learn to write at the highest level possible by practicing every day.
