Letters to Veterans

In the spirit of Veteran's Day and Thanksgiving, we are writing letters to Veterans thanking them for their services.  Today students worked with partners writing letters that will be delivered to the Veteran's Hospital of Des Moines.

MACKIN VIA

Today, students used guided reading time to explore Mackin Via website, that can be found on my moodle page.  This is a library of eReader books that students can use to read at school and at home.  This way, students can choose good fit books, with the help of the Guided Reading identifier on the webpage.  You'll need to check your e-mail for the username and password.  If you have any questions, let me know.  Please, use this resource for reading minutes at home! It's such an awesome resource! http://www.mackin.com/viaenter.aspx

COUGAR DENS- RESPECT!

Today, students participated in our monthly Cougar Dens.  Here's the youtube video we watched on RESPECT http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGuT9-_Y5J4

Layers of the Earth!

Today in class, students took half and apple and drew a picture of it.  We measured the peel, the middle, and the core.  Then, we discussed how the Earth has three layers (crust, mantle, and core).  Students had to write three sentences to share with the class about how the apple is like the Earth.  Students really enjoyed this activity, especially eating the apple.  Thank you for sending those in!   Colin enjoying his apple while writing sentences.  

  Jordan and Sanja hard at work drawing the Earth and its layers. 

Alexia's awesome learning in her science notebook!

Math Flowchart

Students are moving through the addition/subtraction chapter in math at their own pace and following a flowchart.  I'm hoping to wrap up addition and subtraction by the middle of next week.  Take a look at an example of the flowchart students see during math, right now...

Proud Teacher

Fourth graders impressed me as they spoke tonight at the Urbandale School Board meeting.  Their poise and enthusiasm was overwhelming.  I was so very proud to be called their teacher.

BOOK COMMERCIALS

As part of the fourth grade Realistic Fiction book report, students are asked to give a book commercial about their book.  In the book commercial they talk about the plot and characters from the book they just read, without giving away the ending.  They also say whether they recommend the book or not for reading.  It's a quick 30 seconds and they are allowed three seconds at the end.  It's a great way to get students interested in reading books that their peers have already read.

Pinwheels for Peace

We read a book today about September 11- Then and Now.  Students were very interested on what happened and the affect it had on our country.  I could tell they were emotionally impacted by what they learned.  It was really neat to see how passionate they were about learning! After we read, we made Pinwheels for Peace.  Students wrote what they dream and hope for the world on the pinwheel and then decorated it.  We planted them out front in the garden beds for all to see.  If you weren't able to come by Karen Acres after school here are a few pictures from our work.

Online Planner

Thanks to Mrs. Kerr's genius I have created an online planner.  If you have questions about your students' planner, they forgot it at school, or you're sitting at their extra curricular activity wondering what they need to finish for school today, you can now see the planner online:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1n8SJfrVBUJqmYYjGIcSujjwANzf0_2MfreQmq0qTTMg/edit

I will create a link to this site from my school webpage and blog as well.  I would love feedback on what you think of this idea:  good, bad, what should I add?

REALISTIC FICTION BOOK REPORT

Students have been given the task of choosing a realistic fiction book to read through the month of September.  I'm trying to help students find books that interest them and are good fits for them.  All students will have a chapter book to read by Friday, September 7.

As students are reading  their books they will be filling out a story map.  We have been doing them in class as well, so they should understand the different components as we go.  After they are done filling out their story map, they will be making a mobile project to hang in the room.

Please encourage your student to read and work on their story maps outside of school as well.  If you have any questions, let me know.

Read With Somone

As I blogged about earlier, we are practicing the components of our Daily 5 time.  These are the five things students will do during our literacy block everyday to become better readers and writers.  Students are practicing read to self every day, and now we are practicing read with someone.  This is a FAVORITE for students in years past.  Students get to choose a partner to read with to practice their fluency and expression.  We talk about how everybody books and poetry are wonderful books to share with a friend.  Students sit EEKK (elbow, elbow, knee, knee) and read with each other taking turns and helping each other as they go.  Pictured are a couple of fourth grade friends who found a cozy spot to read together.

First Computer Lab

Students are working in the computer lab for the first time in fourth grade! They are working tirelessly on using their home row keys.

Birthday Pictograph

In efforts to learn about each other in class, we made a birthday balloon pictograph representing when everybody's birthdays will be throughout the year.  Feel free to send treats, and we will celebrate at the end of the day.  Remember, the treats have to be store bought and NO PEANUTS according to school policy.  Each student will receive a birthday bag that day, we will sing, and celebrate by running around the "sun" (flashlight) 10 times (if the student turns 10).

KA Family Picnic

What a fun night! It was wonderful to see many familiar fourth grade faces last night and meet many new families.  I know my little Sarah had a great time going to "school"!  Here's a picture below that Mrs. Justmann was able to get.  I believe we had over 300 people attend.  Have a wonderful weekend!

READ, READ, READ!

Ask your student why we read in fourth grade?  We've discussed this a lot as we have started learning about the part of our Daily 5 Literacy Block called "Read to Self".  Read to self time is when students do independent reading.  As we work hard on learning, reading is a HUGE part of that.  Students are working on building their stamina (another vocabulary word we've been talking about), to become readers in class.  When students are doing read to self in class they are supposed to move around the room and get comfy, cozy as you will see pictured.  

In addition to reading at school, part of their DAILY homework is to read EVERY NIGHT!  Right now I"m only asking that students read 10-12 minutes at night, but we will build up to 25 minutes daily.  

It's the first day of school and we're off to a terrific start! Our assembly was a great success where we learned that learning is JOB 1 at Karen Acres.  We took a picture showing that learning is JOB 1 in our room by making an L with our right hand and showing the number 1 with our left hand!

Monday is the big day- FIRST DAY OF 4TH GRADE! Just a few quick reminders:
                             
1) If you didn't bring supplies to Open House please bring those on Monday, as we will be organizing desks.

2) There is an assembly from 9:30-10:00, and all families are welcome.  Additionally, PARENTS are welcome to attend a coffee time in the library between 9-9:30

3) Feel free to bring a healthy snack, as we don't go to lunch until noon.

4) Bring a sweater/sweatshirt to put on if you get chilly in the classroom.

Looking forward to seeing you all on Monday at 8:45!

Open House was an incredible success! Thank you for coming and participating in our classroom last night! As we continue throughout the year communication will be important.  It was so nice to meet you all!

Tomorrow is Open House! It's hard to believe that on Monday the new school year begins, but I always find this time of year so exciting! I am looking forward to meeting everyone between 4:30 and 6:00 PM tomorrow, August 16th.  My classroom continues to be in room 112 of the 4/5th grade wing.  If you are coming from the office follow the directions below:

Head past the office on your right (remember to sign up for parent/teacher conferences sometime this evening)
Take a left at the hallway
Take a right at the next hallway
At the end of the hallway turn right into the first door on the right
Take another right and head into Mrs. Cole's 4th grade!

If you cannot make it tomorrow for some reason feel free to give me a call (457-5732) or send an e-mail (colem@urbandale.k12.ia.us) and we can try and squeeze in a time between now and Monday.  Also, know that we are in meetings all day at another building tomorrow so if you come early I will not be there.

Looking forward to meeting you all!

Welcome to Fourth Grade!

Greetings fourth graders and fourth grade families! I'm excited to introduce a classroom blog this 2012-2013 school year.  This will be my first time blogging, and using a blog in the classroom so hang in there with me as I work through this process.  On this blog you will find the amazing things fourth graders are working on in our classroom at Karen Acres, pictures of students working in class, updates on curriculum and things going on, videos of student learning, and more!  Here's to an incredible year of learning!