Winding it down....

Hello everyone!
A few notes for this week:
My classes will meet in the cafeteria on Tues, Wed, and Thursday due to 5th grade testing. This is not ideal but we must be adaptable during testing and we want the 5th graders to have a nice quiet environment when they test. Mr. Thompson's class will move for us next week when we take our EOG's.

Speaking of which, our EOG's are next Tuesday and Wednesday. All 4th grade classes will test in their homerooms but 6th grade teachers will administer the tests. Mrs. Brindle will test 4B and she has already come by and introduced herself and made them laugh.

This is the last week for graded work. If your student has missing work, it must be handed in this week, no later than Thursday. Missing work was listed on progress reports. I do not have a list of what your child is missing! I have a pile of papers and assignments to grade! At this point in the year, your student should know if they handed something in or not. If they are not sure, I will post a list of things due on the board, and they can ask me. Homework will end on this week and I will not grade or accept it past Thursday.

EOG review this week.

Rita Pierson's Funny and Inspiring TED Talk | TED Talks Education | PBS

Rita Pierson's Funny and Inspiring TED Talk | TED Talks Education | PBS

Here's the link for CNN Student news that features students from NCS!!!!
http://www.cnn.com/studentnews/

Week of May 5

Hello all and Happy Cinco de Mayo! I hope you are all enjoying a festive weekend with family, friends and, of course, food!

This week I will administer another standardized test in an effort to gauge where we need to focus our attention as we turn to real EOG prep. This should take a couple days. Last week, I looked through the released Reading test to get some vocabulary words that we could focus on for this week. We will not have a test this week on these words but we will use them and practice them in class for the next couple weeks. I may decide to have a test next week on some of them, depending on how our work goes this week. I will let you know in plenty of time. There are many :) If you have a few minutes, go over some of these words with your student, especially the ones with an asterisk, most are review.
Vocab for all groups, for the next 2 weeks:
there, they're, their (many still struggle with these)
to, two, too (and these)
hesitation
symbol *
selection *
tousle
irritated *
fortunate *
assistant *
circulatory *
summarize *
mentioning
represent *
simile *
submission *
outcome *
rejection *
statement *
punctuation *
considered
grammatical *
unfamiliar
illustration *
heaping
insisted
eerie
hideous
impressive
confident
devices
narrator *
humorous *
general *
element (meaning a part of something) *
enchanted enthusiastic
successful *

I feel pretty confident about the vocab this year, but we need to begin to review and sharpen our grasp of many of these words.

A friend of mine sent this to me this week and I loved it! I thought I'd share, please watch!
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/ted-talks-education/speaker/rita-pierson/
I also posted a link above!

Progress reports go home this week, please look for them.

Almost forgot: Book report and project are due!!!! The project is a poster based on the information in the non-fiction book your child read!

Vimeo Videos

Hey all! Here is the link for many of the videos students created last week:
https://vimeo.com/album/2360923

Make sure your student has his or her settings to "anyone" and not "private", so I can add them to this album!
Enjoy!

Week of April 22

Note!!! If you have a Vimeo account, make sure you go to settings and enable "Anyone" to see your video. I am having a very difficult time accessing films and I think this is why. Also, if you can add your video to my group "4th grade movies", that would really help! My vimeo is called "Quest for Learning" search by date to find it! Good luck!
 Copy and paste for "4th grade movies"
https://vimeo.com/album/2360923


Hello all,
By now, I am assuming your students have told you I will not be returning to Neuse Charter School next year. I leave with a very heavy heart. I have grown to love and respect so many of my students, parents and co-workers, current and former. I cannot express how grateful I am for all you have done and been in my life over the past 4 years. I am a better person and teacher due to the time I have spent at NCS.  I will seek new adventures and experiences in the educational world, but I will carry you all with me in my heart. Thanks for everything, your kindness and acceptance has meant the world to me.

I have asked students to create a free Vimeo account to download their movies from the Ipad. (4b and 4c) If this isn't possible, students can download a couple to their account and we can share them that way. They will need the e-mail address and a password to access  the account at school.
  https://vimeo.com/

Reminder: 4th book report, non-fiction, focusing on a topic connected to the earth or elements is due May 6th. Students should hand in a book report and an informational poster.

Social Club will meet after school tomorrow, please send a note with your student. Thanks!

 The 4th Grade Social Club, nut section.

Week of April 15

I hope everyone is enjoying the wonderful weather. I got sunburned on Saturday and during spring break, we had snow in Boone! Gotta love North Carolina!

A couple quick notes about this week:

-Awards on Friday at 10:00

-Picture day Wednesday April 17th.  We will be taking the whole class picture.

-No vocab this week

-4A will begin books on tape, 4B and 4C will create movie trailers to sell a product this week. We will continue with poetry and EOG review.

-Morehead Planetarium is coming to NCS and will offer a program on Tuesday, April 23, they will not allow students in without a permission slip. Please make sure you have filled one out and returned it. I have some extra copies in the room, if you need one.

-

Week of April 7

        I trust everyone had a restful break and is ready to come back to school raring to finish out this wonderful year we've all shared together. My family and I spent most of the break in Boone, NC where we redid the bathroom shower of our house. It was  major undertaking, but we did a great job and it looks amazing. Never again though... until the next time  :) 

 The family of two of our students at Neuse suffered a terrible tragedy during the Easter break.  We (the 4th grade team) would very much like to offer our condolences and prayers to the family of Lenny Holland. Her father died in a terrible automobile accident. Mrs. Adams was able to go to the service and offer support to the family during this terrible and sad time in their lives. Miss Vicky requested that we make sure Lenny and Krista know they are loved during this emotional and trying time. They very much are. The Holland family are asking for donations to be sent to the Raleigh Vet Center, see address below.  If you would like to contribute, please do. The obituary from Parrish Funeral Home: 

Selma – Christopher Darius “Chris” Holland, age 34, died Sunday night March 31, 2013. Born July 21, 1978 in Johnston County he was the son of Vicki Black Holland of Selma and the late Larry Elbert Holland. Chris was a member of Sharon Baptist Church and an avid guitar player.
A memorial service will be conducted at1:00 p.m. Wednesday, April 3, 2013 in the chapel of Parrish Funeral Home with Minister Will Roland officiating. The family will receive friends following the service.
Surviving in addition to his mother are his wife, Jessica Holland of Goldsboro; son, Lane Holland; daughters, Krista Holland, and Lenny Rae Holland; sisters, Patience Maynard and husband Jonathan of Smithfield; and Beth Holland of Clayton; grandfather, Shirley Richard Black of Smithfield; Uncle, Richard Black of Raleigh; and nephews, Jordan and Jamie Maynard. Memorials may be made to the Raleigh Vet Center, General Post Fund, 1649 Old Louisburg Road, Raleigh, NC 27604.

As you all know, the 3rd quarter is coming to a close. Report cards go home on the 12th of April and awards day is April 19th. Our focus in the last quarter will be to prepare for the EOG test, consolidate everything we learned this year and tighten up some loose ends. We will begin this week with a mini-poetry unit, focusing on reading and writing poems in the Common Core for 4th grade. In addition, 4A will enjoy literature circles. Listening to a book on tape and discussing the book in small groups. I will circulate daily from group to group, facilitating discussion and working on vocabulary. 4B and 4C will engage in center activities independently. All classes will review test taking skills and strategies. The poetry unit will require about 2 weeks time. 

The next unit will focus on persuasive writing. We will listen to and read famous political speeches and documents and write some of our own. We will learn the basics of persuasive writing. This unit will also require about 2 weeks.


Vocabulary 4A
Week of April 8
Vocab test on Friday. Students must use words in a sentence that tells me they understand the word. Example: The soldiers unfurled the flag, or unrolled it and ran it up the flagpole.
unfurled-to unroll or spread out something, or be unrolled or spread out
foe-an enemy or opponent of somebody or something
embattled-under attack or subject to controversy
redeem-to make something acceptable or pleasant in spite of its negative qualities or aspects-
crimson-a deep rich  red color
forlorn-lonely and miserable, as though deserted or abandoned
perceive-to notice something using your senses, esp. something others don’t notice
earnest- intensely or excessively serious and grave in manner or attitude
mystery an event or situation that is difficult to fully understand or explain -
sage- a wise person
steadily-fixed, stable or not easy to move; staying the same;
commercial- related to the buying or selling of goods or services
logic- sensible, rational, reasonable thinking
courage- ability to face danger, difficulty, uncertainty, or pain without being overcome by fear
repetition-repeating something: saying it over again (as in poetry)
rhyme- a similarity in the sound of word endings, especially in poetry
  
Vocabulary 4B/4C
Week of April 8
Vocab test on Friday. Students must use words in a sentence that tells me they understand the word. Example: The soldiers unfurled the flag, or unrolled it and ran it up the flagpole.
unfurled-to unroll or spread out something, or be unrolled or spread out
foe-an enemy or opponent of somebody or something
conqueror-winner, or victor, over an enemy
 redemption-to make something acceptable or pleasant in spite of its negative qualities or aspects-
crimson-a deep rich  red color
forlorn-lonely and miserable, as though deserted or abandoned
perception- to notice something using your senses, esp. something others don’t notice, or an attitude or understanding based on what is observed or thought
earnest- intensely or excessively serious and grave in manner or attitude
mused-thought about something
mystery an event or situation that is difficult to fully understand or explain -
sage- a wise person
commercial- related to the buying or selling of goods or services
logical- sensible, rational, reasonable thinking
courageous-ability to face danger, difficulty, uncertainty, or pain without being overcome by fear
repetition-repeating something: saying it over again (as in poetry)
rhyme- a similarity in the sound of word endings, especially in poetry