It's Not Over!!

Yes, it's been awhile since the last post, but we've had testing and are finally getting back to normal. We're in the middle of writing our own class newspaper. We've finished reading The Black Stallion and went to see an awesome Arabian Horse show at Harper Stadium last Monday. We've got our last spirit say tomorrow, Field Day on Friday, trip to Northridge Middle School, and lots of other things going on including...Fourth Grade Camp!! We leave next Wednesday. The last day of school is on June 1st and it will be here before you know it!

Hooray for February!

There's lots going on this month! Today we just took the NAEP test and the kids did great. We have Ms. Grace in our class for our literacy block for this month. We are beginning personal essay, which is the best, since we can give our opinion of the idea and let our voices be heard!

We have Jump Rope for Heart with Coach Blake. The Book Fair will be coming soon too! There's lots of reading going on in our class. It's wonderful!

Update

Hey, we're on our last week of Realistic Fiction and getting ready to start publishing. I think we're ready to get started on another genre. We have even more books to add to our class library! We will be having Ms. Grace, our 3rd and 4th grade curriculum coach joining us for the month of February. She will be teaching with me for Reader's and Writer's Workshop.

We will be having our Valentine's Day party on Friday, Feb. 12. I can not send home a class list, so your kids will have to do their very best to remember their classmates, probably by where they sit in class.

My Teacherspace

Yes, it's like MySpace, but for teachers! You can access our class by either going to vbsd.us and looking me up at teacherspace along the right margin or you can click on this link: http://teacher.vbsd.us/klbrown

News

We are beginning the third nine weeks! I can't believe it's already here. We are currently studying realistic fiction in reading and writing workshop. We're reading a great book called Schooled by Gordon Korman, author of Swindle. We're really discussing the main character named Capricorn Anderson, a hippie-child who has lived in a commune with his grandmother and is made to live in the outside world. The kids can tell you all about the story.

We're also wriiting realistic fiction, where they have created their own character, based on personal experiences, and they are using that character in a longer story than the narratives before. We're just about to start mapping out the draft.

We're in the middle of Unit 5 in Math. I sent home on blue paper, the activities and benchmarks taught in this unit. It's a little different than the way we were taught in addition, but definitely a new way at looking at it.

Since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was just observed, we have timed our civil rights unit just perfectly. We've also studied other individuals, such as Rosa Parks and Cesar Chavez.

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone's having a great break! I know I am. Read a great book and have visited with family and friends. See you soon!

Merry Christmas!

We had quite the week before we left. Hopefully, you all are having a great week off. I wanted to let you all know how proud I am of your work on your "All About" books. I have really learned what you're are experts at. I can't wait to finish all of the published books. Your family should be very proud.

Thanks for the wonderful Christmas presents. That was very thoughtful of you! I hope you enjoy playing with the games at inside recess. I also think we had a great time at the party. We're pretty low-key in the fourth grade. I hope you liked the nachos. I wanted to post a few new pics from our celebration on Friday. I won't post any pics of you kids, but I will post what you wrote, as you reflected on this experience. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!