Edible Rocks

This past week we learned about the 3 types of rocks and how they are formed. We learned a song about the Rock Cycle and made some yummy edible rocks as models of the different types of rocks. For our igneous rocks, which are formed when molten rock cools and hardens, we microwaved chocolate until it melted and then each student got a sample that they watched cool and harden. For our metamorphic rocks, which are formed when heat and pressure are applied, we stacked 3 starbursts and used our hands to apply heat and pressure, causing the 3 starbursts to combine as 1 "rock". Last, for our sedimentary rocks, we used graham crackers as our layers of sediment and layered them using icing as our clay that holds the sediment together. We had a lot of fun with this activity and enjoyed eating our tasty creations!

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Super Six Reading Comprehension Strategies

super six

Book Sale!

Warehouse Book Sale 2B9264[1]

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You

Thanks so much to all the parents and students who came out to Open House tonight! We appreciate your support:)

Open House

Open House will be held this Thursday night at 6:30 PM. We have made many changes in our classrooms this year and would love the opportunity to tell you all about them!
If you are unable to attend, please make sure to read the information that your child will bring home on Friday. Your child will also bring home a sheet with a list of many great web resources and their login information for all of these sites. Keep this paper near your computer at home!

Looking forward to seeing you on Thursday!

Check out our most recent newsletter to see what we're working on -

September 6

Science ROCKS!

Our first two weeks of science have been full of hands-on exploration of different minerals. As we have been learning about “what good scientists do”, we have also been using our observation skills to collect important data about different minerals by observing their physical properties using hand lenses. Our first exploration allowed us the use of hand lenses to observe actual minerals in our classroom- we identified their color, streak, luster, and hardness. We found that some minerals seem exactly alike, except for 1 property. Next week we'll continue this exploration and follow up with a fun online simulation on the gizmos website!

Place Value Assessment

Just a head's up - our first math assessment will be next Wednesday, September 7th! We have been working on Benchmark MA.4.A.6.1 - Use and represent numbers through millions in various contexts including estimation of relative sizes, of amounts, or distances. This benchmark is a review of many skills we learned in 3rd grade, but uses numbers into the millions.
Since we have no school Monday (Labor Day), we will review for the assessment on Tuesday by working in Math Centers and completing a Study Guide. If you would like the study guide to review this weekend, let me know and I can e-mail you a copy!

Enjoy the long weekend!

Great first Day

Wow!! What an amazing first day we had! We will continue to practice ritual & routines this week. Your learners are doing a great job! Be prepared this week for Mrs. Bone's surprise fire drill practice-- waah waah waah

Welcome Back!

Students and Parents -

We are so excited to welcome you back for another great school year! Mrs. Bone and I are both so excited to be working with such a great bunch of students for another year. We are also looking forward to getting to know some new friends :) We have had a great summer spending time with our families and hope that you did too! We will be using this blog to post information about what we'll be doing in class, reminders about upcoming events, as well as extra practice opportunities. Our hope is that parents and students will stop by often.

Your 1st challenge: Leave a comment on this post telling us something fun you did this summer. Each student who leaves a comment by Friday will get 10 Math Bucks! Want even more? Have a parent comment too and you'll get double - that's 20 Math Bucks!

Looking forward to a wonderful 1st day of school!

P.S. Newsletters will be going home bi-weekly - check out our 1st one!

August 22

Reading Comprehension

Parents -
As we begin a new school year, I wanted to share a great article about reading comprehension. This article gives information on the main components of reading as well as 9 steps to comprehension, which will give you ways to help your learner. You play a huge role in your child's literacy development. Please take a moment to read.
http://www.readingrockets.org/article/12376/

Thanks,
Mrs. Bone

Orientation

Tomorrow is orientation and we are so excited to see a lot of familiar faces and some new ones too! We have been working to get our rooms ready for a great new school year! I can't wait for you to see the new building and all the cool new stuff we got! Looking forward to seeing you all soon!