20

Snow Work Today!

What a wonderful day to complete a little snow work and have some relaxing time to "chill" at home.




I sent you home with your Snow Work Sheet of Activities. Please complete them some time today.

1. Practice your poem "My Favorite Pajamas". If you are ready to recite, you may do that on Tuesday. If you would like more practice time, you may recite on Friday.

2. Please complete half of the questions for 9 E in your Wordly Wise Workbook. If you have already completed some, please continue and work for about 15 minutes.

3. We will begin exploring Persuasive Writing. Your first assignment will be discussed in class tomorrow. Please go to google classroom and watch the Persuasive Writing Videos. We will fill out the Persuasive Writing Map in class. Just watch the videos.

4. Quizlet and Spellingcity games. Be ready for Test 9 on Friday.

5. Math: If I gave you the hand out please work on that, otherwise practice multiplication facts 11,12, 13.

19

Once Upon a Time

Things to Know

Special Week Share: 
Monday, January 14th: Kate Williams

Carpool Helpers: Lillie Mayer
Class Ambassadors: 
Natalie Richards and Betsy Spalding
How To Videos for Parents
Author Visit: January 28th

The girls have taken on the task of retelling a fable or inventing their own with relish. They have shared their tales, peer edited, double checked for accurate spelling and are now in the throes of creating an illustrated title page.These fables will be coming home soon and I have asked the girls to read them to you.

Students have been engaged in converting improper fractions  into mixed fractions and have been practicing in their math journals. Fractions are a daily venture in class and we will complete this unit by the week's end. We will begin reviewing Unit 3 next week. Click below to find out more about fraction conversion.
https://www.mathsisfun.com/improper-fractions.html

Gold/White Spirit Day and Cheer Rally will be held on Friday, January 25th, so dust off your team colors and all of your great costume gear and get ready to show your gold and white school spirit. Wednesday, January 16th, there will be Gold/White Cheer Practice from 7:30 - 7:55 a.m. Practices for the Gold Team will be held in the Lower School Assembly Room and practices for the White Team will be held  in the Multipurpose Room. There will be more practices on January 18th and the 23rd.

If Monday is a Snow Day, I have sent your girls home with a Snow Day Sheet which gives them their work for the day. I will also post it on the blog tomorrow before 8:30 a.m. 

The girls went to the library on Tuesday and were asked to look for a fiction novel to read for a Book Report Project this month. Reading and notes should be completed by Thursday, February 7th.

The 1900s were an interesting time period in history. The girls learned about the invention of the Oreo cookie and they wrote out the step by step procedure for eating one. Of course, they tasted a few along the way as well. Students also found that the first crossword was invented during that time  and each student created her own crossword as well.

18

It's A Brand New Year

Things to Know:

Special Week Share: 
Monday, January 7: Parker Birdsey

Carpool Helpers: Parker Birdsey
Class Ambassadors: 
Natalie Richards and Betsy Spalding
How To Videos for Parents
Author Visit: January 28th

The Fourthies had a special opportunity on Thursday to meet the Reverend Sigmund Collins, who runs Shepherd's Way Relief Center. The Fourthies from St. Christopher's joined the girls in the LSAR to learn more about out upcoming community service project. We will be going as a class to Sheperd's Way on the morning of January 23rd. Thank you to the many of you who have volunteered to send in food. 

There are still many opportunities to sign up for helping create breakfast for the many poor and homeless people in the community. Please click on Information to see how you can help.

Mary Poppins Returns!

What fun we had... It was a great movie!

We will be working with a tangible number line this coming week  

finding smaller, larger, and equivalent fractions. The girls are 

increasing their knowledge

 of mixed and improper fractions.

Author Visit  Information from Mrs. Irving, the Librarian

Author Russell Ginns is coming to St. Catherine's School on Monday, January 28th. 

He is visiting to celebrate both the paperback release of Samantha Spinner and the 
Super-Secret Plans and the upcoming March release of the next book in the series, 
Samantha Spinner and the Spectacular Specs. bbgb, our local bookshop, is offering 
the opportunity to purchase autographed copies of Russell's books. See the information 
under Things to know for ordering books.

Order online to pay with a credit card at  http://bbgbbooks.com/book-buzz/. 
We are receiving a 15% discount
on the books. When ordering online, use coupon code cat15.  
Please place your order by Friday, January 18th. 
Note: the new Samantha Spinner book (Samantha Spinner at the Spectacular Specs) 
releases on March 12th, so Russell will sign customized book plates during his visit 
and these books will be delivered to your child's classroom 
on release day. You may call bbgb with any questions at 804.353.5675.   

17

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

Things to Know!

Carpool Helpers: Cora Coulbourn and Meredith Ford

Ambassadors: Maisie Nelson and Madison Rector

Christmas Gift Service Information

Gift Service at Reveille UMC Wed. Dec. 19, 9 a.m. Dismissal at St. Catherine's Immediately Following. Extended Day Students will go on the bus to St. Christopher's. Please make sure you have signed up for this at Extended Day if you plan on using their services.

January Community Service Class Project for Shepherd's Way Information

The girls are busy hustling and bustling to practice readings, dances, getting costumes and choreography for the Gift Service, but we still have a little time for the academics as well. 

We are just

as busy adding and subtracting like fractions and beginning to look at whole numbers and mixed numbers in fractional terms as well. For some it has been an eye opener to remember back to when looking at the whole number 1, and seeing that it can also be seen as the fraction 5/5 or 2/2 or 27/27. This has been a moment of great realization for some.

The classroom has been a virtual winter wonderland as students have been creating their frosty baggie wreaths for the holidays. 

Our Magazine Cover Illustrations and personal interviews are complete and ready to be shared next week with Mrs. McCallum's class.

 

We had a remarkable Personalized Learning Presentation by two of our very own classroom polar bears, Carter Torrence and Madeline Taliaferro. They presented information, a kahootit game and fascinated us with incredible researched information on polar bears, all done in full polar bear costume. It was sensational!

*There will be no homework this week. We will work on Spelling and Wordly Wise in class, but we will not test on these lessons.

   Rehearsal Schedule for The Gift Service

      Dismissal begins at St. Catherine's School directly after buses return to campus.

16

Another Snow Day!

Dear Girls,

It looks like we are in for another Snow Day! I will have some snow work for you and have taken homework off of the homework site today.

     We will be practicing a new poem that most of you are familiar with and we will be working on it in class as though it were a readers theater piece, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. Please read it aloud two times. We will be practicing it daily in class and you will be assigned particular parts as soon as we are together again.

'Twas The Night Before Christmas

     Create a fresh googledoc and title it First/Last Name WordlyWise 8

On the Document Page Title it with your Name in upper left hand corner date below: 12/11/18, Title in Middle and in Caps, Something about Adventure with Snow Day Friend, feel free to create your own title. Your story must have wonderful adjectives, please use some abstract nouns, and make sure the beginning, middle, and ending are strong. How long? Long enough for a good story... 3 fourth grade paragraphs sounds great, 2 if you are aching to go outside. Don't forget to add your pic from yesterday. Remember to do this last, as googledocs can be persnickety about adding photos. If you have problems click below photo to keep it from floating.

 
 Go to visit my friend at Math Antics and watch the video about like fractions. 

Mathantics Like Fractions

     Now, get a piece of paper and add 5 like fractions and subtract 5 like fractions for a total of 10 equations in all. If this is new and seems difficult, please do a couple of each. Bring to school tomorrow and we will put some on the smartboard and discuss them.

*Enrichment Activities: If you would like to do some invisible homework, please practice your 13s basic facts, read a newsela article and take a quiz, no summary, go on to spellingcity and quizlet to practice flashcards for spelling and vocabulary, matholia practice C with fraction games, or enjoy a good book.

     

In the Lane, Snow is Glistening!

Things to Know:

Carpool Helpers: Madeline Taliaferro and Ada Mathews 

Special Week Share: Clare Coleman

Ambassadors: Maisie Nelson and Madison Rector 

Big/Little Gathering: Tuesday, December 11, 8:30-9:10 for Holiday Poem and Craft

Christmas Gift Service Information

This was a whirlwind week! The girls earned their 25 compliments and we took a trip to the Cafe and purchased a few treats and watched a short video in celebration of their good manners and hard work!

We have been comparing fractions, finding missing numerators and denominators, putting fractions in order from greatest to smallest and smallest to  greatest. Students are becoming more adept at finding equivalent fractions and will have a quiz this Friday. We will be practicing all week in class. 

BigHugeLabs is a great site that the girls are using to create magazine covers for their collaborative

interviews with Mrs. McCallum's class. They will be completing  interviews and sharing them with their partners this week.


The girls have been watching papercut videos of a variety of fables on the smartboard. We are in the midst of preparing to choose one to retell and illustrate.

Friday, the girls truly surprised me with the most magnificent birthday party! It was such a wonderful day and they showed such great spirit, organization, and love. I was awestruck!

First official Snow Day, Monday, December 10th!

School Work: Enjoy your First Snow Day!

 Homework: No Homework today!

14

The Season of Cool Weather and Warm Hearts!

Things to Know:

Ambassadors: Ada Mathews and Lillie Mayer

Carpool Helpers: Kate Williams and Natalie Richards

Special Week Share: Meredith Ford

   *The girls have earned twenty-five compliments from Special and Classroom Teachers and I am very proud of them. They have agreed that they would like to go to the St. Catherine's Cafe 2020 this Tuesday and may bring $3.00 to spend. We will celebrate in the classroom and watch an episode of "Just Add Magic".*

We have begun to read our new classroom novel, Fish in a Tree, which is teaching the class that people are smart in so many different ways and that the impossible suddenly can become possible when a teacher is willing to help a student explore these possibilities.

The students in 4-C have been working with classmates to develop interviewing skills. We have recently partnered with Mrs. McCallum's class to interview students in her class and are in the process of creating posters of  students being interviewed as part of a collaborative project during personalized learning time.

Students have just begun taking a look at finding numerators and denominators in equivalent fractions and are enjoying searching and finding patterns in math.

A few students are finishing up Presidential Reports and others will be presenting theirs this week and next.

 

Our Outreach Project this week is to find gifts for a fifteen year old girl and we have done some good brainstorming in class. The girls came up with nail polish, costume jewelry, make up, a sweater, and so much more. Please know that these gifts and contributions are always greatly appreciated by Outreach and the children who receive these gifts during the Holidays!