Week of Jan 28

I hope everyone stayed safe and warm! I must apologize for Friday's dismissal. The intercom was off in my room (I must have hit the wrong button) and I didn't realize we were dismissing earlier than the planned 12:30 until Mr. Gahagan came to my room looking for students! So, if you were anxiously wondering where your student was, and they were with me, well...we were rearranging furniture and having lunch! I wish I'd known because my ride back to Raleigh that day was treacherous and scary, and very sloooow (it took me over an hour to get home). No fun, hopefully, we'll have a much less eventful week:)

Two Neuse Charter School students lost their mother last week after a long battle with cancer. This is very sad news for all and the family is in need of our support. This week, NCS will be collecting donations for the family. They are in need of monetary donations, food, and or donations (in lieu of flowers) for funeral expenses. If you would like to donate towards the funeral, the check will need to be made out to Parrish and Underwood Funeral Homes. Please put in the memo line the mother's name (Tracy Hausler Tataranowicz). Gift cards are another great way to donate. There will be boxes for food donations and the Booster Mailbox in the front office Monday morning. No monetary donation is too small...Please feel free to drop in to bring dry or can goods or gift cards to Food Lion or any items that you may feel necessary to support. And please take a moment to offer a prayer for the family, I'm sure they would appreciate it. Thanks.

In class this week, we will ramp up our reading of "Out of the Dust" and begin a new research project. Our next research paper will focus on the 1930’s. Students will select one of the following topics and research and write a 5 paragraph research paper. We will follow the same pattern for this paper as we did the last one. Students will create a list of researchable questions about their topic. They will narrow the questions down to 3 solid options. Then they will turn the questions into topic sentences (one for each paragraph of research). I will borrow the Ipads for 1 day and students will find the answers to their questions as well as one fun-fact with which to open their paper. We will practice saying the same thing 3 times in 3 different ways. (Tell ‘em what you’re going to tell ‘em.  Tell ‘em .Tell ‘em what you told ‘em.) In an effort to maximize our learning experience, I will only allow 2 students to do the same topic in a class. Each student should select 3 topics they are interested in, if there’s a conflict, we’ll draw from a hat.

GREAT DEPRESSION

THE NEW DEAL

POLITICS

FAMOUS PEOPLE

ART

 ARCHITECTURE

 FADS

FASHION

LITERATURE

POETRY

WOMEN IN THE THIRTIES

BLACK AMERICA IN THE THIRTIES

DUST  BOWL

 MUSIC

RADIO

 SCIENCE

 TECHNOLOGY

THEATER

FILM/MOVIES

We will also make homemade applesauce in class! Please send in an apple or two (or three) this week,  classes will enjoy making a batch of applesauce! 

Vocab words this week:

Spelling/Vocabulary 4A

From “Out of the Dust”

Week of Jan. 28

parched

squirreled

stupor

fidgety

loiter

lurking

astounded

aghast

forsaken

glower

rogue

enticed

scoundrels

rapscallions

bleary

 

Spelling/Vocabulary 4B

From “Out of the Dust”

Week of Jan. 28

squirreled

stupor

loitering

loping

astounded

aghast

succulent

forsaken

conjuror

glower

parched

rogue

enticed

scoundrels

rapscallions

bleary

Spelling/Vocabulary 4C

From “Out of the Dust”

Week of Jan. 28

squirreled

stupor

biding

loitering

parched

lurking

aghast

succulent

forsaken

conjuror

glower

resplendent

rogue

enticed

scoundrels

rapscallions

bleary

Awards Ceremony is this Friday, Feb. 1

Money

Also, remember to send in $8 for the play that will be coming to Neuse Charter on Feb. 13th! This is exciting cultural opportunity for students. The letter that was sent home:

On February 13, the 4^th and 5^th grade student s will have the pleasure of watching a theater production by Touring Theater of North Carolina, called Birds of a Feather.  The show takes children on a multi‐cultural ride through the ages and around the world.  Highlighted with rhymes, rhythms, songs and dances, this original collection of fabulous fables offers glimpses of European, Chinese, Mayan, Indian, and American cultures while demonstrating that while manners and expression vary, human follies and foibles remain the same. 

Also, please look for an order form for a Common Core EOG workbook to come home soon. I recommend everyone buy on of these books, as the test is much more comprehensive and challenging this year. I very much encourage donating a couple extra bucks with your order for those students who cannot swing the cost of this right now. Students will be allowed to complete for homework, although I encourage every student to read, read, read. It is the absolute best thing you can to for success in school, and not just Language Arts!

We will begin Black History Month lessons a week late, and they will probably run into March. The end of January kind of snuck up on me!

Keep practicing for Talent Show auditions, Feb. 11-14th! Show us what you got Neuse Charter School!

 

Week of Jan. 22

My property in Boone on a snowy day.

 IMPORTANT NOTICE: Neuse Charter will release students at 12:00 on Friday, Jan. 25, due to inclement weather concerns. Please be sure to pick up your student on time!!



I hope everyone had a wonderful little mini-vacation. My family and I were in Boone, enjoying the beautiful snowy mountains! I took some really nice pictures, and since we didn't get much snow here, I thought I'd share!

This week we continue learning about the 1930's in the United States. I plan to play a little of the music from the time and show some artwork. Students really seemed to enjoy tying history to their reading and writing. I know I always did, I guess that's why I studied both English and History! Most students will begin writing a narrative historical poem using a mixture of fact and imagination in the next week. We will begin reading 'Out of the Dust" (finally:) this week as well.

I was pleased with our first foray into research and writing an informative essay. Most students understood the format and what we were doing. It was a decent start :) There is much work to be done, however, and we will continue to fine-tune our skills throughout the next few months. I expect everyone to be able to write a short informational essay with no problem before they graduate to 5th grade.

Talent Show auditions are Feb 11-14 after school. Please be advised, this is a quality show, and we want to show the world how much talent we have at Neuse Charter. It is not a time to be silly or unprepared. If you want to be on stage, come prepared with about 2 minutes of the act you want to share. Creativity counts! Talent Show is on March 15, tickets will go on sale in February.

The new quarter begins tomorrow, the 3rd quarter already!!! 4th grade will have some changes to our schedule. The order of classes will change for some, not homerooms. 4B will now have Math 2nd period (from 10:15-11:30) and Language Arts at the end of the day (1:55-3:10). This means 4B will have less time in Language Arts daily. I will probably utilize homeroom and our study hall for additional instructional time.

 Many students in 4A (and some in the other classes too) are not completing homework. It is essential to read everyday. The EOG tests will be more strenuous this year and students will need to be much more fluent readers than many currently are. The only way to become a good reader is to read. It is really that simple. In 4A, I will be focusing much more on reading fluency and using the textbook in class.

Report cards go home this week. Please remember, report cards are based on more than vocab tests and homework. I try very hard to make sure report cards are a reflection of all the language arts, including group work, participation, writing and completing and handing in work. This quarter, I decided to drop the lowest classroom grade for each student. This did not include any tests or assessments, nor did I drop a homework grade. I think we did some very difficult work this quarter and students earned a bit of a break, so kudos to the hard-workers in 4th grade!. :) I was unable to post all my grades until Friday, which means I was unable to send home notice if your student earned a "D" or "F" in class. I will tomorrow, so look for agendas if you are concerned. Awards are Feb.1.

Mrs. Harris (Delaney) has created a wonderful sight for 4th (and 5th )grade classroom needs. Here is the link:
www.SignUpGenius.com/go/4090849A8A92FA13-4thgrade
Thank you very much, Mrs. Harris!

Also, I could use some help grading Words Their Way assessments and filling out cards for all of 4th grade students fro MAPP binders. I must assess each student twice a year and fill out a progress chart for them. It is tedious and boring. I figure if several parents and I break it up, thus spreading out the work, it will go quicker and less painfully. If you can lend a hand, please e-mail me. This can be done at home, and obviously, counts towards volunteer hours!

Week of Jan. 14

I hope everyone got outside on Sunday and enjoyed the wonderful weather. My husband and I took a long walk around the lake near our house. Gotta love North Carolina in January!

This week we begin reading "Out of the Dust" by Karen Hesse. I will teach the history of the Stock Market crash of 1929, the Great Depression, the dust-bowl and the migration west of many farmers during the 1930"s. We are in full swing of the weather unit and studying literature and informational texts. "Out of the Dust" is a historical novel with many of the events in the book based on facts. It is a sad book that takes place in hard times, although it does have a hopeful ending. The book is written in poetic form and we will read it aloud in class.

As it is a 4 day week, we will not have vocab this week.The quarter ends on Thursday. Make sure you check with your student and their agenda for any missing work. Many students have been telling me they do not have their agenda with them lately. I will post absent work in agendas, but I will not send home a class grade before report cards unless your student has either a "D" or "F". Makeup work loses at least 5 points, more if it is later than 2 weeks overdue.

Reading homework is due this week. Also, keep in mind the 3rd book report is either a biography or autobiography. Correction: The project is an epic or narrative poem about the person featured in the auto/biography and a portrait.. This can be a lot of fun! Costumes encouraged! This project can either be live or on video.

Report cards go home next week, Jan 25, awards is the following week on Friday, Feb. 1.

Talent Show auditions will be in about 2 weeks (I will post the date asap), this year, for the first time, 4th graders are allowed to audition! If you child wants to show off their skills, make sure they start rehearsing now. The show is competitive and we don't have space for everyone who auditions, so make sure your child has a polished act to share!

New Info: Talent Show Auditions are Feb.11-14. Sign up sheets will be posted soon!

Link for the American Experience video we watched in class today about the Dust Bowl:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/dustbowl/

Week of Jan. 7

I will be short and to the point this week, because I am posting a little later than I usually do (it's football's fault, really:) I hope everyone had a great weekend. I was finally able to meet my friends' baby water buffalo, my goodness they are cute when they're little, well, relatively little at 500 pounds!Here's a picture of Otis giving me some sugar.

This week we will continue to fine tune our haiku, learn some background for the novel "Out of the Dust" about the great depression and the 1930's. We will have vocabulary this week and a test on Friday. Reading homework resumes and is due daily for all students. Thursday evening students are expected to practice for the test on Friday and therefore, no reading summary is due on Friday.

In addition, we will begin writing our research paper about the weather or earth system we have chosen. I have reserved the Ipads for Wednesday and Thursday so we can complete all research. There will be no other time given for research in class. Students will be expected to have 3 topic questions on their subject prepared before Wed. to begin researching.

Last week, students turned in a final draft of their Florence stories, their book reports and projects and a couple Haiku. I will be grading and returning these things this week. If your student did not turn in a draft to be edited of their Florence story before the Christmas break, they will be docked a minimum of 2 points (out of 32). 

Vocabulary/Spelling

Week of Jan. 7

From “Out of the Dust” by Karen Hesse

4A

wager
ignite
riled
grime
distracted
knoll
drought
duster
maggoty
fester
hoard
spindly
gaunt
wince
mottled
chaos

Vocabulary/Spelling

Week of Jan 7

From “Out of the Dust” by Karen Hesse

4C

excavating
ignite
riled
distracted
knoll
drought
maggoty
festered
hoarding
spindly
gaunt
wince
mash
mottled
sorghum
chaos

Vocabulary/Spelling

Week of Jan. 7

From “Out of the Dust” by Karen Hesse

4B

wagering
excavate
ignite
riled
grime
divining
distracted
drought
maggoty
fester
hoarding
spindly
gaunt
wince
mottled
chaos

The New Year is Here! Week of Jan.2!!!

Happy New Year! Well, that went by fast, didn't it? I trust you all had a wonderful and restful break and are ready and prepared for the next phase of 4th grade Language Arts! I enjoyed my time off tremendously. My family and I spent Christmas in Boone where it was cold and blustery, just like the mountains are supposed to be in winter! (no snow, though, which was a little disappointing). We also traveled to Washington, DC and visited museums, ate too much wonderful food and did a (very little) shopping. It was cold and blustery in DC too, but we had a great time. I love the city...in short doses:)

Our next unit will begin this week, next week in earnest. This unit is "Literature Settings: Weather or Not" and it asks the guided question " How does the author's setting affect the plot of a story?". We will explore poetry, setting, art an d geography with this unit. Students will be completing a research paper in class based on a weather related idea, for example: hurricanes, earthquakes, clouds, etc...  We will read poetry that relates to weather and focuses on setting, comparing and contrasting different ways of viewing the weather.We will continue sharing weather in the form of  news in class daily. Students share the local weather and the weather from a place in the world of their choosing, finding it on the map for their fellow students. We also share a news story from the Scholastic News. We will be reading a vast array of different genres this unit. We will read the novel "Out of the Dust" aloud in class later in the month. The book is written in poetic form and tells the tale of a young girls struggles with life and death during the dust bowl in the Midwest. It is a very touching story, I think students will enjoy it. We will focus on learning similes and metaphors during the reading, as well as writing our own poems based on our research project. We will examine great works of art to determine how artists tell stories using setting in their paintings. This should be a great month of growth and learning!

I have read and edited the "Florence" stories and will be returning them (the ones I received anyways...) for students to correct this week. In fact, homework this week will be to edit and resubmit your completed and polished final draft. Please do not be alarmed by the amount of ink on some of the papers! Just work through corrections from the beginning to the end. Most of them are pretty simple and straightforward, most ask for more details and explanation. I will give students time to go to the computer lab before school daily. If I did not receive a paper, or it was incomplete, I will not edit them this week. I was very clear I needed those papers before break, it is extremely time consuming to edit those stories, I will be grading  book reports this week, not Florence stories. Students who failed to get me a draft of their story, and there were many, will need to make corrections and hand in the story by Friday. Papers submitted without an edited version will be docked 5 points. Learning to hand things in on time is a very important skill to develop. Mrs. Jenkins did send me some over the break but several did not have names on them. I expect to read stories that have a clear character and setting in the beginning with all characters introduced from the start, a clearly developed rising action with a brief bit of dialog (some of these stories are entirely made up of dialog!), a clear climax or action scene and then falling action with, again, a brief amount of dialog and a sentence of denouement ("they lived happily, or not, ever after").  Vocabulary, properly used, is also a requirement. Most students are traveling in the right direction, they just took a wrong turn and need to get back on track during one of the above areas. Some of them were awesome!

The Book Report and project are due tomorrow! The 2nd book and project were student choice. There is a link on this blog called "Book Report Info" that has all the necessary info.

Report cards go home soon! Make sure you keep an eye on your students agenda. I will put any missing work in their agenda. Students may make up work but I will deduct points if work isn't made up in a timely fashion.