Mrs. Plunkett's Grade 4 Classroom Blog

A note from Miss Ryan

This is my last week as a student teacher in class 4P (tear!). I have really enjoyed my time here, and plan on volunteering in the classroom to finish off the school year. It has been a pleasure getting to know the students and staff at Greensville.  It is a remarkable school that has such a wonderful sense of community, and I have been very fortunate to be a part of it. I am grateful for the positive and rewarding learning experience that I’ve been given at Greensville and look forward to the teaching profession! 

Much thanks to the students, families and Mrs. Plunkett for contributing to my learning this term!

All the best,

Heather Ryan

May News

Every year at this time I can’t help mentioning how quickly time flies. Spring is upon us and the students have only 2 months left of grade four!  

Fun Fair Basket

Our class’s theme for this year’s fun fair basket for the silent auction is Beach and Picnic. Donations are kindly requested to create a fun-filled basket which will be bid on during the fun fair coming up at the end of May. 

Fun Fair Volunteers

Home and school is in need of volunteers to help with the fun fair. If you are available to help set up, run an event, clean up, etc. your time would be much appreciated!

Track and Field

This year’s track and field day will be held Tuesday, May 22^nd, the day after the Victoria Day weekend. Please ensure your son or daughter comes to school prepared with the proper supplies/equipment (sunscreen, lots of water and food, proper shoes and attire, and a change of clothing, sunglasses, etc). This will ensure that the day will be fun, safe and successful for all those participating!

Mrs. Kosempel is also looking for volunteers to help out on this day (running an event, leading a group, etc). Please refer to this month’s school newsletter for more information on how you can be part of this day.

Coming up:

Miss Ryan’s Last Day: Friday, May 4th, 2012

Open House: Thursday, May 10^th, 2012

Victoria Day: Monday, May 21^st, 2012

Track and Field Day: Tuesday, May 22^nd, 2012

Fun Fair: Friday, May 25^th, 2012

Math

Over the past few weeks students have been having a great time measuring the Mass, Capacity and Volume of various containers with a variety of substances (Thanks Miss Ryan!). They will complete this unit shortly and from there they will move on to learning about Probability. In this unit, students will complete experiments and play games using dice, cards and coins. These can be done at home as well for extra practice and to solidify concepts. 

Language

This month students will begin writing their own stories. They have full creative licence for this assignment, the expectations being that they write with a distinct “voice”, their story contains all the elements of a story (setting, character, problem, solution) and that their main character be a hero. I am also expecting logical organization of the story, making it easy for their audience to understand and follow along.

 Miss Ryan

We are very sad to see Miss Ryan’s teaching block come to an end. She has been a wonderful presence in the classroom and has made a great impact on students in terms of academics as well as student learning skills. We are very lucky to have had her and look forward to her continued presence in the classroom as a volunteer. Good luck with your future career in teaching Miss Ryan!

 As always, if you have any questions/concerns, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Thanks for reading!

April News

Happy Easter! Besides the inconsistency of the weather and the never-ending supply of dried mud to cover the classroom floor, I absolutely love this time of year. Spirits are high with the coming of sunny days and the students’ cheeks are flushed pink from the crisp spring air. The school is abuzz with positivity that can be felt as you walk down the hallway… 

Coming up:

April 3^rd-5^th – Easter Basket draw tickets on sale during nutrition breaks

April 4^th – Healthy Eating Goal assignment due

April 5^th – 4P Poetry Cafe!

April 10^th – May 4^th – Miss Ryan’s teaching block

April 11^th – Fractions Test

April 11^th – Wear pink (bullying awareness)

April 12^th and 13^th – Tour Across Canada Presentations

April 18^th – Volunteer Tea

Math

Using the knowledge learned from our Division unit, students have spent past weeks learning about Fractions; drawing pictures of a given fraction, putting them in order from least to greatest, naming equivalent fractions, etc. Students will be tested on their knowledge after the Easter long weekend. Please see student agendas for a complete list of test expectations.

Poetry Cafe

Every year right before Easter I take advantage of the “special food day” and hold a Poetry Cafe, a chance for students to share poems they have written with the rest of their peers. For this event our classroom is transformed from a regular grade four class to a small cafe in Paris. Thank you so much to all who have given us permission to use table cloths, flameless candles, vases and fake flowers to help create the proper atmosphere for this event.

As already mentioned, this is a special food day and contributions of nut-free snacks are very welcome! Families in charge of snacks for this event are Matt, Emily H. Emily S. and Molly.  

Tour Across Canada

This assignment once again allows for a transformation of the classroom, however instead of jumping across the ocean to a Parisian cafe, we will be whisked on a cross-country tour of the provinces/territories of Canada. The students have been very eager little beavers (get it?) and have been diligently researching various attractions and features that they wish to highlight from their chosen province/territory. I am really looking forward to seeing the final outcome of all their hard work!

Happy Easter.

February News

Ahhh….The month of love. And muck. Lots and lots of muck!

Here’s what’s happening this month:

February 7^th – Lice Check

February 14^th – Valentine’s Day (class party treat duty: Justin, Aidan, Ashleigh, Curtis - nut free of course!)

February 15^th – Report Cards go home

February 17^th – P.A. Day

February 20^th – Family Day (have fun!)

Math

Mondays and Tuesdays this month, Miss Ryan will be teaching geometry of 2-D shapes to the class. She has a lot of great activities prepared and I’m sure the kids will respond positively to her “hands-on” style of teaching. Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays the students will be working on division. As I’ve mentioned before, the more comfortable the students are with their one-digit by one-digit multiplication facts, the better they will do with division. Please continue to drill your son/daughter at home with flashcards, or have them teach you one of the card/dice multiplication games that we play at school to practice these facts.

Reading and Writing

Students have been working on writing speeches based on facts that they have gathered from a variety of sources (library books, websites, interviews, movies, etc.) as well as their own ideas and opinions about a topic of their choice. Several students have expressed that they would like to bring their speeches home as homework. I am encouraging students to bring their research books home and read them to/with their parents and to discuss what they have learned about their topic with family members. When it comes time to present their speeches, students will be bringing their completed speech home and will need an audience to practice in front of. I have asked that students do not ask their parents for help with the writing process until after they have handed in a copy of the work they have completed on their own so that I can assess this work accurately. 

Science

Learning about light has been sooo much fun (how many of you have broken out flashlights and mirrors at home and tried to hit the bulls-eye after requests from your son or daughter?). We are now shifting focus to learn the about the various properties of sound. Despite my occasional wish for earplugs, this is also a great, hands-on unit that students really enjoy.

As always, if you have any questions/concerns, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Thanks for reading!

Miss Ryan

Dear Parents/Guardians, 

My name is Heather Ryan and I am a teacher candidate from Charles Sturt University-Ontario’s Faculty of Education.  Mrs. Plunkett has agreed to be my Associate Teacher and I am grateful for the privilege of learning alongside your child. I will be in your child’s classroom on Monday and Tuesday each week.  In addition, I will be completing a full four-week teaching block from April 9^th to May 4^th.  I eagerly anticipate the opportunity to get to know you and your child.  I also look forward to the learning that I will be doing with them.

As a Registered Early Childhood Educator, I have taught preschool and kindergarten children, and have enjoyed some experience teaching a Montessori curriculum to young children. I treasure a piece of my own grade four work that says “When I grow up, I want to be a teacher.” I am proud to be achieving that goal and am very passionate about teaching and learning.

I look forward to learning new things from your children, Mrs. Plunkett, and the school community. Please feel free to contact the school if you have any questions or comments. 

Sincerely,

Miss Ryan                                              

January Newsletter

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and were able to enjoy spending time with loved ones, eating good food and getting outside (my favourite things to do over the winter break!). I spent several days visiting my in-laws in Parry Sound where they actually had some decent snowJ. We did lots of toboganning, skate skiing and going for long winter walks. Our active time outdoors was well balanced by board games, reading by the fire and making great food. Needless to say, we had a great time!

Math

For the month of January students will be working on a unit in measurement. They will be using different units of measurement (mm, cm, m, km), to estimate and measure lengths, will need to know conversions (ex. 1 cm = 10 mm), and will be finding perimeter and area of various shapes.

Reading and Writing

The focus in reading continues to be on finding the main idea in a text, and then finding the details that support it. In writing the students are working on summarizing and putting ideas from the text into their own words.

Light

In Science students will be learning about the different properties of light by running a series of experiments each week. This is a fun, hands-on unit that is well enjoyed by students - they really light up (sorry, had to do it…)!

Healthy Eating

We will be discussing everyday foods versus sometimes foods, why we eat, and the different nutrients we get from foods. There will be a small at home component to this unit so please stay tuned. Students will be asked to make their own healthy eating goals.

Student Teacher

Once again our class will be hosting a student teacher. Miss Ryan will be with our class Mondays and Tuesdays from now until April, when she will be with us for a month straight. The students and I look forward to getting to know her!

January Dates

Monday January 23^rd – P.A. Day

Friday Januray 27^th – Family Literacy Day 

December!

Medieval Times

If you haven’t already heard from your son/daughter, we began our Social Studies unit on Medieval Times a few weeks ago. The students are absolutely fascinated by this era and can’t get enough learning about life during that time. Several students have taken the initiative to do independent research projects to add to our classroom library – very cool! 

We had a great time doing the Brass Rubbings last week and I was very proud of how the students presented themselves to our guest, Mrs. Carothers. She had nothing but great things to say about the class. Great job! 

Grade Four Medieval Feast: Stay tuned for more information about the upcoming Medieval Feast…. 

Math

We are currently in the middle of our unit on Data Management (reading and interpreting tables and graphs, creating a graph to shows information that students collected).

We will be coming back to multiplication for the few weeks before the break. Please continue to support your son/daughter with their times tables – the better their understanding, the easier the next part of the unit will be.

Winter Concert

This year’s theme for the Winter Concert is “Winter Celebrations through Time”. Our class has been chosen as the super lucky class to do Elvis’s “Blue Christmas”. Students are asked to dress up as Elvis for this event. If you don’t have a pair of white bellbottoms with a sparkly cape tucked away in the back of your closet (what’s that you say? you don’t?), value village is great for this type of thing. Please let me know if this is going to be a problem and I will offer more suggestions/ideas about creating this costume.

Miss Smith

Our student teacher is now finishing the second week of her three week block. She has been coming up with lots of creative activities to keep the students engaged in Social Studies and will be introducing the culminating assignment to the students in Math next week. We have appreciated having her with us in class and all the energy and positivity that she brings to our environment. 

Kleenex

We are out of Kleenex! If you haven’t yet contributed a box of Kleenex to the class, our runny noses would be ever grateful… Tis’ the season!

 December Dates

Dec 6^th – Mrs. Plunkett away: Peer Mediation Champion Meeting (coming soon to Greensville School!)

Dec 8^th – Mrs. Plunkett away: Math Workshop

Dec 9^th – Miss Smith’s last day L

Dec 12^th – Trip to the R.O.M.

Dec 15^th – Mrs. Plunkett away: Assistive Technology Workshop

Dec 19^th – 23^rd – BookFair

Dec 21^st – 22^nd – Winter Concert

Dec 23^rd – Skating Trip

November News

A quick note about Reading Refrigerator Calendars:

I had a large number of students this past month who either lost, didn’t do or claim they never got their Reading Refrigerator Calendars for the month of October. I am asking for help from the parents to ensure their child is reading at least 4 times a week (ideally, every day) and that they are recording it on their calendars to hand in at the end of the month. I believe filling out the calendar with reading times, recording the specific books they’ve read and meeting a due date to hand in the calendar teaches the students responsibility. I appreciate your support on this!

Report Cards/Interview Times

I have sent home a request for interview form for the 17^th and 18^th of November. The sooner these come back, the sooner I can let you know the date and time that we can meet!

Language/Science/Social Studies

Curriculum focus this month:

Reading: Non-fiction texts, finding the main idea

Writing: Writing a letter, Organization, The Writing Process

Science: We will be finishing up our Habitats Science unit talking about interactions between habitats and human populations (the good and the bad)

Social Studies: To the delight of the class we will be starting our Medieval Times unit in the next week or so. This is a fun topic to teach and like the students, I can’t wait!

Math

In addition to honing their mental math skills with addition and subtraction, the students have also been working on different strategies with 4-digit addition and subtraction. Practice at home, particularly with 4-digit subtraction that requires regrouping would be very beneficial for all students.

Next week we will be starting Multiplication! As I mentioned in the last newsletter, the more confident they are with their single digit by single digit times tables, the better they will do in this unit. Although the students will be learning various strategies to get the answers at school, it is important that they spend time going over these facts at home as well. Practice, practice, practice!

Next up in Math: Data Management

Coming up this Month:

November 11^th – Remembrance day assembly

November 17^th and 18^th – Parent/Teacher Interviews

November 18^th – P.A. Day

Mrs. Plunkett

Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone has a happy and safe Halloween!

Stay tuned for November Newsletter coming later this week…

October News

With September having come and gone, the majority of the students have settled into classroom routines and are aware of what is expected of them on a daily basis. As a class we are working on several goals: being kinder to each other, not yelling out during lessons, and making faster and quieter transitions from subject to subject (and place to place).

Coming up this Month:

October 10^th – Thanksgiving! Eat, rest, enjoy family time

October 12^th – Math Quiz re-test for select students

October 25^th – Puppet Workshop (after school –  details coming soon…)

October 28^th – School-wide Halloween activities and parade

October 31^st – P.A. Day

Language/Science

Students have been working on several expectations this past month:

Reading: visualization and making connections

Writing: descriptive writing and sticking to the main idea

Science: habitats and animal adaptations

These will be assessed in a final task of creating a new creature that students have “found” in a specific habitat while they were out exploring. They are asked to write a paragraph describing this creature and the adaptations that help it survive in its habitat. So far, we have been having a lot of fun with the assignment and the creative juices are a-flowing. I am looking forward to the final outcome!

Math

Our first Math Quiz of the year in Numeration ended with a lower class average than expected. As a result, select students will be re-tested on Wednesday October 14^th. A note has been attached to the Math test informing parents what concepts will be re-tested. I will be reviewing concepts with select students on a daily basis and ask that in the evenings parents review what was learned at school to strengthen students’ knowledge of concepts and help boost their confidence in this area.

Next up in Math: Addition, Subtraction and single-digit by single-digit multiplication facts.

As always, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask!

Mrs. Plunkett