Week of Tuesday, September 4th

Happy Labor Day weekend!  It can be tough getting back into a routine, so a 3 day weekend will be nice for all of us! Hope you enjoy yours!!  Here is what we will be doing next week:

Language Arts:
    Reading - Finish Mouse and the Motorcycle and check for comprehension
    English - Plurals
    Spelling - Long /e/ patterns (Remember, my spelling lists are on spellingcity.com)
    Writing - Personal Journals (We only had time this past week to do journals once, so this week we will make sure to do better!)

Math: Place Value, Comparing and Ordering, Rounding

Social Studies: Maps including grids, road maps, product, and weather maps

Science: We will look at 2 more biomes and then begin researching an animal from one of the studied biomes.  We will begin an animal report which will count as an English grade as well.

Look for Scholastic Book orders to come home next week.  We will only be able to order online this year.  I will send home a letter about it.  It is actually pretty easy.  I had parents in prior years actually prefer to order online even when they had the option of paying by check or cash. 

Don't forget to allow your children to bring water and a snack.  They get very hungry in the afternoon, since they eat so early this year. It is fuel for the brain and really helps with stamina to end our day with as much work ethic as when we began! Ha!

Week of August 27th

Hi Families! It has been a great start to the new school year! I am so enjoying your cuties! They are a super group of kids! I wanted to let you know what we will be studying next week. :)

Reading: We will begin a unit on The Mouse and the Motorcycle.  It is a great 4th grade story!  The children will be doing comprehension checks after each chapter.  We will also work on the skills of visualizing and predicting. 

I will send home a 100 minute reading chart each week.  This is not a requirement, but I encourage it.  Research has shown that children who read, or are read to at home have larger vocabularies and are usually more successful in school. We will keep track of minutes read by read beads.  For every 20 minutes your child reads, he/she will get to add a bead.  When 15 beads are earned, your child will earn a prize. :)

Spelling: We will be looking at consonant blends this week.  It is List 1 on spellingcity.com if your child wants to practice at home.  I will send home a list on Monday.  This list will have 20 words.  Two of the words will be special words.  One word will be the school word of the week, and another word will be our class word of the week.  If your child knows and writes the definitions of the special words, he/she will earn 5 extra points.  We will also be memorizing quotes every week for at least the first semester.  If your child memorizes it and writes on the bottom of his/her spelling test, he/she will get a sticker on a sticker chart.  After 5 stickers, he/she will get a treat. :) Memorizing is good exercise for the brain!  Test 1 will be on Thursdays and if an A is made, then your child will be able to skip Test 2 on Friday. :)  If you have a great speller and want more challenging words, we will be starting enriched spelling in a few weeks. Enrichment spelling is optional and not for a grade.  I do give rewards for it.  I will let you know when we start this.

English: Nouns, Journal Writing

Math: Place Value.......The children will be studying place value to the millions place.  We will work on expanded form, written form, as well as standard.  They will be determining the value of  a digit in a number and work on saying a large number correctly.

Social Studies: We will begin a Map Unit.  This week we will be looking at directions, scale, boundaries, and hemispheres.

Science: We will begin a unit on habitats and animals this week.  We will be reading nonfiction passages working on comprehension as we learn about 4 habitats this week.

Quote of the week: Everyone makes mistakes, that's why pencils have erasers. Anonymous

Don't forget your important information paperwork, as well as the permission slip (signed yes or no) about your child's picture being on our class blog or class Facebook page. 

Don't forget to "Friend" our class Facebook page under Gina Corderman's Class.

I am sending home a note I would love for you to fill out about your child, so that I may better understand your child.  Please take the time to fill that out and send it to school.  Thanks so much!

Is anyone available to come once a week for about 30 minutes to copy for me?  Please let me know if you can.

Thanks for sharing your beautiful children with me! I know it is going to be a great year!!

Week of May 14th

Last post for this school year.....bittersweet.

We will be quite busy this week as we have been. I had wanted to host a career day, but our calendar filled up quicker than I anticipated and the end is here quicker than I realized. Here is the week's agenda:

Academic wise, we will be reviewing math, doing science and Spanish, and reading.

A to Z Countdown and Events scheduled are:

Monday - Tall Tales

Tuesday - Unusual Talent Day, Kindergarten Switch Day, and Awards Assembly at 1:30

Wednesday - Fiesta (Reward for getting at least 50 AR points this year! The good news is that EVERYONE GOT IT!!!) Monster Game and Feed - Your child can bring a special drink/snack and game(electronics included).

Thursday - Roald Dahl video and discussion, Yearbook signing, and AUCTION

Friday - Cleaning Day (Be sure to bring your backpack/bag to take home most of your things.) Haircut Day!!(Don't worry parents, the haircut is for our grassheads!!)

Don't forget, if you signed up to bring an auction item, please send by Wednesday. Thank you to all that have sent in something or will be sending in something. I so appreciate your support! Thank you too, to those that said they could help with our Fiesta by providing an item and/or helping out. Our Fiesta is Wednesday at 10:00. Thank you again for your support!!

Monday - Grizzly Day (Wear clothes and shoes that can get wet and dirty.)

Tuesday - Last Day - I will sure miss your sweet babies! You have no idea how much! Please cherish them, because they are gifts. I wish them lots of happiness in their future. I hope to keep updated about them. Have a great summer!

Week of May 7th

Hello Families!! We have another busy week ahead: Reading - Finish Leveled books; Math - Subtracting Fractions with unlike denominators and Review; Spelling - List 25 open syllables (Last week was the last week for spelling enrichment and this week will be the last week for regular spelling.); English - We will finish our poetry unit as well as do some grammar practice online in computer class.; Science - Butterflies/Plants; Spanish - Mexico Unit - Numbers, body parts; Things to remember this week: Little Olympics(Monday) - The children can bring money for the concession stand. They might want to wear a hat/sunglasses and sunscreen, as well as a Glenwood shirt if they have one. They can also bring their own water bottle and snack. We will eat an early lunch and leave school before noon and get back before the end of the day. Leonardo's(Tuesday) - We will leave Glenwood around 8:40 and return around 2:30. Please send a sack lunch and drink unless your child signed up for a school lunch. There is a gift shop if your child wants to bring money.

Week of April 30th

Hi Families,

Here is this week's agenda:

Reading -  Leveled novels

Spanish - Thematic Unit - Colors, Numbers, A to Z Book, Aztecs/Mayans

Spelling - Spellings for /shun/

English - Poetry

Math - Adding Fractions with Unlike Denominators

Social Studies - Pony Express, Alaska and Hawaii, West Location Test on Thursday, West Capital Test on Friday  I will send home a study guide on Monday. :)

Science - Plant and Butterfly Units

Don't forget that Friday is our Egg Drop!  We will be doing it at 1:45!

Week of April 23rd

Hello Families!  Hope your weekend was a good one!  Here's a look at the week ahead:

Reading - We will work on 2 story element projects and begin new leveled novels.

Spelling - Silent letters

English - We will begin a poetry unit this week.

Math - Equivalent Fractions, Improper Fractions and Mixed Numbers

Social Studies - Native American Struggles in the Southwest and Gold Discoveries

Science - Fossils to Fuel experiments (Oil and Natural Gas)

Don't forget that our Science Museum Field Trip is this Tuesday! We will leave promptly after our class pictures (around 8:15) and return around 4:00.  If you are a class volunteer and haven't paid your admission fee of $5.75, please do so tomorrow.  Thank you!

Week of April 16th

Hi Families!  It's here!  Testing week is finally here!  We are ready!!  Your children have worked so hard and they are so smart!! I'm very proud of them!  Please make sure your child gets adequate rest and a good breakfast.  Please send them a good snack and water as well.  We will be testing in the morning and doing our pull outs in the afternoon.   The only subjects we will be doing are independent reading time and social studies. Please look for handouts on: our ABC Countdown to the last day of school, a list of important events, and a special project coming up. 

Week of April 9th

Hi Families!  Hope you've had a wonderful Easter weekend with your families!  Ours was wonderful, but too short! LOL!  This week we will be concentrating on reading and math the entire week.  Next week is testing week and I'm trying to review the children on all that we've learned this year.  We've been gearing up for the past 2 weeks and the children have been working SO VERY HARD!! I've been so proud of them!!  We try to take a break here and there to relieve them, by reviewing through games instead of paperwork. We also had our March Madness Reading Celebration last Tuesday afternoon to reward all the reading they have done and also to celebrate having the most AR points in the entire school!!!!  This week, instead of a spelling test, the children will have a reading vocabulary test.  We will be going over the reading vocabulary words on Monday and Tuesday.  They may take home a study sheet on Tuesday and will have 2 chances on the test just like spelling......the first one being on Thursday and the second one being on Friday.  The test will be over 27 reading related terms and will be "fill in the blank". 

Don't forget to send in your child's pictures and/or money for them if you haven't done so. 

The Spring Fling is this Friday!!  Thanks to all who have sent in pop and/or volunteered to help out!