Thank you to all of you for attending conferences.  I hope you found them as helpful as I did.  Also thanks to those who sent in items for our kitchen basket.  Our basket is overflowing!  If you are still interested in donating, we are now in need of oyster crackers for the chowda’ table.  Also thank you to of you who signed to work the day of the Holiday Fair.  Thanks in advance!

Wed. Nov.26 Early Release

Thurs. Nov. 27 & Fri. Nov. 28 Thanksgiving break

Thurs. Dec. 4 SRS Holiday Fair 9:00-5:00Baked goods needed.  Please just send them the morning of the fair.  Also if you are interested in volunteering that day please email me.  It’s really loads of fun, and it means so much to the kids.  Many will be able to do their holiday shopping that day.

Literacy- We are reading like mad to finish our books in the next few weeks.  We have been meeting in literature circles and having great discussions about the stories.  We are working very hard on memorizing the definitions of the Word Master Words for the quiz on Thurs.  Students were to focus on writing compound sentences as they each wrote about their favorite place.  Next week we will write about being thankful.

Math- In the next week we will wrap up unit four on decimals and the metric system.

Science- We are now discussing conservation of our water. 

Social Studies-Maine is the next unit of study.  We are already talking about the geography of our great state.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!

Greetings!

We have a very busy month coming up! 

Wed. Nov. 5- Book reports due

All week- Food Drive  Thanks to those who already donated.

Thurs. Nov. 6 Field trip to KKW Water District  (No permission slip needed.)

All next week parent/teacher conferences  I will be sending reminder notes home about conference times.

Tues. Nov. 11 No school- Veterans Day

Wed. Nov. 12 Early Release

Holiday Fair Thurs. Dec. 4, 9:00-5:00  We need your help!!

• Our class is collecting items for a kitchen basket to be raffled off.  Please help us out by sending in any new donated items that would be used in the kitchen.
• We are looking for parent volunteers to work the day of the fair at the wrapping paper or raffle tables.  Please let me know if you can help out.

Literacy- We are now reading three different books and doing comprehension checks and literature circles as we move through the books.  We are also working on our Word Masters words and tomorrow is the first quiz.  We have just finished writing our immigrant letter as if  they were on Ellis Island getting ready to start a new life in America.  We are continuing some work with verbs.  We will next be writing about our favorite place,

Math- Today the group did the Checking Your Progress to complete unit 3. Please encourage your child to work on their multiplication facts at home. Next we will investigate decimals.

Social Studies- As we wind down the unit on immigration, we are getting ready to start our unit on Maine.

Science- We are discussing how we get our water at home and the importance of taking care of our water supply.

Upcoming Events

Wed. Oct. 22 and Wed. Oct. 29 – Teacher Workshop- Noon dismissal

Thurs. Oct. 30 Mock Election

Fri. Oct. 31 Immigration Event- Students are asked to dress as immigrants when they come to school that morning. Girls should wear long skirts or dresses with a shawl or wrap.  Boys are to wear knickers (pants tucked into high socks), collared shirts and vests or suspenders if possible. They will be taking part in a simulation of what it might have been like to pass through Ellis Island between 1880-1910. Students are asked to bring a basket or sack also.   Parents are invited to attend the activities which start at 8:45.  Students may also bring in food from the country they are researching.  This part is totally optional.

 Thurs. Nov. 6, our class will be traveling by bus for an in-district field trip to the Kennebunk/Kennebunkport/ Wells Water District Water Treatment Plant. This is in conjunction with our current science unit, Watery Earth. There we will tour the drinking water plant. Our class will be in two groups, and the entire visit will last about 45 minutes. We will learn about the Branch Brook Watershed, how the groundwater aquifer works, and the process by which water from the river becomes our town's drinking water. We thank the water district for sharing their time and expertise with us, as we learn first hand where our water comes from. We're looking forward to an informative and interesting trip!

Literacy- We are currently beginning our work with Word Masters.  Along with that we are studying different types of analogies.  We are also practicing our Ellis Island skit that we will be putting on for the other 4^th graders. 

Math-We are finishing up our multiplication unit.  Please encourage your child to work on memorizing the basic facts.  This is extremely important for upcoming math units.

Social Studies- We are very busy researching individual countries, getting ready for the Immigration Event and working on our Ellis Island skit.

Science- We are discussing the water cycle and its importance.

Thank you to Ms. Legere (Caleb’s mom) for going on our field trip to the Wells Reserve.  Also thanks to all of you who participated in the recent fundraising event.

Upcoming Events

Early Release- Wed. Oct. 8 and Wed. Oct. 15

No school Columbus Day- Mon. Oct. 13

NWEA testing-Mon. Oct. 20 and Tues. Oct. 21

Literacy- We are almost done with our classroom novel, In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson.  Students will be working with partners to create mobiles about the story. Next individuals will be researching different countries. We are finishing a writing piece about their favorite fall activities, and next they will be writing a Halloween story.  We also are talking about nouns and verbs.

Math- We will be testing on unit 2 on Thursday or Friday of this week.  Students have been working hard on multi-digit addition and subtraction.  We will be starting unit 3 which focuses on multiplication next week.  I encourage students to practice, practice, practice the basic multiplication facts.

Social Studies- We are talking about the experiences the immigrants had at Ellis Island. We will be doing a skit for other 4^th graders about this topic.  Lastly students will be beginning their country research.

Science-  We are now discussing glaciers and the frozen water here on Earth!

I want to thank all of you who have been signing the assignment books every night.  If you have not been doing so I encourage you to start now.  It is a great way to keep tabs on what is going on here.

Upcoming Events

Ice Cream Social-Thurs. Sept. 25 KES 4:30-6:00

Book report due Wed. Oct. 1

Field trip to the Wells Reserve- Tues. Oct. 7

Early release Wed. Oct. 1 and Wed. 8

Literacy- We are more than half way through our book In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson.  Spelling homework is Mon.-Thurs. and tests are on Fri.  We are now reading a weekly current events magazine.

Math- We are investigating place value and adding and subtracting whole numbers.

Science- Surface water and ground water are the main focus of our discussions lately.  We have a field trip planned for Tues. Oct. 7 to the Wells Reserve.  We are in need of chaperones. If anyone is interested please contact me.  The science worksheet on observing rain is due Mon. Sept 29 after this weekend's storm.

Social Studies- We have finished working with world maps, and now we are talking and reading about immigration.  Students may be asking what countries their ancestors came from.

Thank you for signing up for our classroom blog.   The biggest help you can be to your child is to check the assignment book each night for homework.

Upcoming Events:

Parent Open House- Monday September 15 6:30-7:15.  I hope to see you all there.  If you can't make it do let me know and I will send home the handouts.

Guest Speaker Kim and Fran Peek on living with a disability and brillance.  Thursday September 18

 Field trip to the Wells Reserve- Tuesday October 7

Literacy-We are starting a book about a young girl who immigrates to the US in the 1940's from China.  We are also working on spelling.  There will a spelling test each Friday.  We will also be working with root words and reading a weekly current events magazine. There monthly book reports due the first Wednesday of each month. Please encourage your child to read nightly for 30 minutes.

Math- Geometry is the first unit of study. We also working with basic facts.

Science-  The group will studying the Watery Earth as our first unit. 

Social studies- We are looking at world maps, the continents and the oceans.