Weekly Update, Sunday, December 13th, 2015

This is my last post for the year!!!  The next time your receive an update will be in 2016!  There is a lot going on this week, I'll start with Spirit Week!

Monday: Ugly Holiday Sweater Day (I just wear a regular sweater and put decorations on it.  Or a tee shirt if it's going to stay 70 degrees!)

Tuesday: Bell Day (Until the teachers go crazy)

Wednesday: Winter Wear (scarves, hats, gloves)  - I don't know how long those will stay on though if the weather says this warm!

Thursday: Winter Pajama Day

Friday: Holiday Bling Day  

Other important dates ahead:

Monday, December 14th: Interims go home.  Please check your child's agenda, if your child receives an interim, it will be stapled into his or her agenda and need to be signed and returned to me Tuesday.

Monday, December 14th: PTA Meeting @ 6:30

HOMEWORK OVER THE HOLIDAYS!!!  Each teacher will be giving her math students a math packet on Thursday that is to be completed over the holidays.  It IS optional.  Each teacher will discuss the reward for the students who complete the packet in class.  

This week in...

READING: We will be learning how to research nonfiction this week and applying what we learned about summarizing nonfiction to a group research project.  Students will be put into groups and given a natural disaster to research.  Students will apply what they've been learning about the main idea and supporting details to highlight relevant information.  Students will be assessed on their ability to summarize nonfiction, work in a group/team environment, and present information to a small group of students.

WRITING: Students will finish their Resolutions Essay this week during writing and edit and revise their own work.  Students picked three goals for themselves, and are working to write a five-paragraph essay that explains what their resolutions are, why they chose each goal, and how they are going to accomplish them!  There is no Word Study this week.    

VA STUDIES: Students will have their Colonial Life Unit Test on Wednesday, December 16th.  We will review over the next two days and students are encouraged to use their study guides and solpass.org to review.

SCIENCE: Students will have their Clouds Quiz on Thursday, December 17th.  Students will be expected to match descriptions of the following clouds: cumulus, stratus, cirrus, and cumulo-nimbus.  Students are also expected to know how clouds are formed and what type of clouds produce precipitation.

If you share these posts with your child, you can let him or her know that the Elf on the Shelf went on to join forces with the Union army and defeated the Confederate States of America to win the Civil War.  

  

Weekly Update, Sunday, December 6th, 2015

Request: Does anybody have the DVD "The Polar Express" and/or the book "The Polar Express" that I could borrow until Winter Break?  Also, any hand sanitizer is welcome!
                                                    

Picture day retakes: Please email me to let me know if your child will be getting his or her school photo retaken on Wednesday, I need to send you home a new form.

I made a boo boo, please forgive me!: On the Jamestown Unit test I goofed on the grading for standard related to the House of Burgess and the General Assembly, I've corrected the error in Phoenix and bumped everyone up to make up for this mistake.  My apologies!

Grading Update:  Pinebrook has adjusted the grading of formative assessments so that the highest grade a student may earn is a 3+ for formatives.  This change is effective for December, however I went back in to adjust the grades for November as well.  The reason for this change is so that the "3's" won't pull final grades down.  For the first quarter, I had to adjust about 85% of grades and overide what Phoenix calculated because of the new averaging progression and formula.  

Please send in any photos of your darlings!  Please also feel free to send in photos of any pets you have!

This week in...

Science:  Students did very well on the weather instruments quiz, things are going to get a bit more challenging as we begin to learn about fronts and clouds.  There will be a quiz on fronts on Thursday, December 10th.  Students should feel confident defining the following to feel prepared for the quiz: air mass, air pressure, cold front, warm front, and atmosphere AND how to label a cold and warm front.  We will discuss these topics this week.  The quiz on clouds will be on Wednesday, December 16th.   

Virginia Studies:  Students will continue to learn about Colonial Life in Virginia this week, specifically the economic terms debt, credit, money, savings, and barter.  The test on the Colonial Life unit will be  Tuesday, December 15th.  

Writing:  Students will continue to work on their Resolutions essays and will work to provide supporting details for each paragraph, as well as write strong topic and conclusion sentences.  200 Total Points of Word Study are due Friday, and the Word Study test will be on Friday, December 11th as well.  

Reading: Students will continue to identify the main idea in non-fiction by first identifying text structures in order to write a cohesive summary of nonfiction texts.

Mid-Week Reminders and a Request!

Attention!: Please make sure you are checking your student's Thursday folder, and other days as well! I have noticed several students have stacks of papers in their "Stay at Home" side of their home folder, many from SEVERAL weeks ago! Please make sure to empty them at home and read all important papers! Additionally, please review any questions that your student missed with them so they understand their error.  This is especially important for the Scholastic News Weekly reader questions.  

Just a reminder of a few upcoming events/dates:

Friday, Dec. 4th - VA Studies Weekly Due and Open Note Quiz, 100 Points of Word Study Due

Saturday, Dec. 5th - Pancake Breakfast and Holiday Shop 8-11am

Monday, Dec. 7th - Family Bowling Night

Wednesday, Dec. 9th - Picture Make-Up Day

Friday, Dec. 11th - Movie Night 6:00pm hosted by Teachers Makin' Tracks - Flyer coming home today!!!

Lastly, can anyone contribute Purell or any other hand sanitizer to the class?  I'll give you a Puma Paw ;)

Weekly Update, Sunday, November 29th, 2015

I hope you all had a wonderful time with your families over the last few days and made it back safely if you traveled!  As always, please feel free to send me any photos of your fourth grader from the holiday weekend!  We have three great weeks ahead of us filled with lots of learning!

This week in...

Science: We will begin our weather unit this week by learning about weather instruments and their functions.  Students will have a quiz on these five weather instruments (anemometer, thermometer, weather vane, barometer, and rain gauge) on Thursday, December 3rd.  The weather unit will last the three weeks in December and a study guide will go home with your child tomorrow.  The unit test date has not been determined as yet, but will be the week of December 14th.  

Virginia Studies: The Jamestown forts have been built and presented and the unit is over!  Students will begin learning about Colonial Life in Virginia and will be expected to complete their VA Studies Weekly by Friday, December 4th.  They will have an open-note VA Studies Weekly quiz on Friday, December 4th as well.  

Writing:  Students will receive new Word Study Words tomorrow, 100 points are due by Friday.  Students will begin to work through the writing process as they write an informational essay.  The Word Study test will be next Friday, December 13th.  

Reading:  Students will be working on differentiating between supporting details and the main idea in nonfiction this week, as well as identifying problem and solution statements and recognizing problems and solutions within informational text.  Students, as always, are expected to read a minimum of 20 minutes nightly and record the amount of pages read, and the minutes read in their reading log.  I will distribute new reading logs on Tuesday!  I will be sending home several Scholastic News Book Flyers this month, if you are ordering books as presents and would like me to withhold the books, please let me know!  

Math:  As always, students should be on Reflex Math at least twice a week unless told otherwise by your student's math teacher.

Weekly Update, Sunday, November 22nd, 2015

We have a short week ahead so there isn't too much news to give you!  I am thoroughly impressed by the amount of hours students read over the past month so that they could earn so many votes for the Turkey of the Year competition!

This week in....

Reading: We will finish reading Blood on the River and students will continue to learn strategies to help them read nonfiction texts.

Writing: We will finish our "That for which we are thankful" essays!

VA Studies: Students will finish their Jamestown forts and present them to class!

Science: Students will preview their Science textbook and set up their interactive notebooks for our upcoming Weather unit which we will start next week!

(No Word Study this week!)

American Education Week Schedule Update!!!

Parents!  My apologies, I gave you the wrong date and time for our Jamestown Fort construction!!!  We have a speaker from the Jamestown foundation coming to speak with the children on Thursday, and I accidentally mixed up the two!  Please come volunteer or visit students while they build a replica of the original Jamestown Fort on Wednesday, November 18th from 11:00 - 12:05.  The email sent out from Mr. Thiessen indicated a 10:50 start time, students come in from recess at 10:50 and take a few minutes to get water, wash their hands, and transition back into work mode - so 11:00 am would be the ideal time to arrive.

THANK YOU!

Weekly Update, November 15th, 2015

Happy Sunday!  Tomorrow begins American Education Week, parents are invited to volunteer or watch students complete their Jamestown forts on Thursday, November 29th from 11:00 - 12:05.  Stick around and have lunch with your child from 12:05 - 12:35.

Thank you to those of you have provided supplies for the fort building!  The list again of welcome donations includes:

• Posterboard
• Straws
• Pipe Cleaners
• Anything else your child thinks would be helpful in building a fort!!!

This week in...

Reading: Students have selected their nonfiction books and are about to become experts in their field!  We will be learning how to read nonfiction to become experts and knowledgeable, and not just reading nonfiction to learn trivia.  

You may have heard, I'm now a finalist for the Turkey of the Year competition!!!  Please encourage your child to keep reading to earn more votes!!  I'm so elated and proud of all the students for increasing their reading this month so they can earn more voting tickets!!!  I've agreed to do a cartwheel in high heels in a turkey costume if elected, as well as wearing an Indian sari if elected as well!  Whatever your child wants to see me do in a turkey costume, I'll do it if it means the amount of time they spend reading goes up!!!

Writing: Students will finish their "That for which I am thankful" essays this week.  As I glanced over the brainstorms, some fun topics have included, "Wayde Byard and the person who invented hot chocolate."  200 points of Word Study are due on Friday.  Students' Word Study Test will also be on Friday, November 20th.

Virginia Studies: Let the Jamestown fort planning begin!  For American Education Week, students will build a replica of Jamestown Fort.  They will be graded on their ability to work in groups.  I will be grading students on the following VA SOL Language Arts standards:

4.1 b: The student will contribute to group discussions in a content area.

4.1 c: The student will seek ideas and opinions from others.

4.1 d: The student will use evidence to support opinions.  

4.1 f:  The student will communicate new ideas to others.

4.1 g: The student will demonstrate the ability to collaborate with diverse teams.

Students will also have their Jamestown Unit test on Friday, November 20th.  Please encourage your child to use solpass.com as well as their study guide and VA Studies Notebook to prepare for this test.

Math: Please make sure your child is on Reflex Math AT LEAST twice a week!

As always, please feel free to send me photographs of your child!  The class looks forward to seeing some of you on Thursday, November 20th for American Education Week!!!

(As soon as I receive the calendar of events from Mr. Thiessen, I'll send out another email with upcoming important dates and times.)  

Quick Reminder!

Please have your child wear red, white, and blue tomorrow for Veteran's Day!

ALSO: If you DO NOT want the school photos that were sent home last week, they need to be returned to me ASAP!

Weekly Update, Monday, November 9th, 2015

I apologize for the delayed update, but I have a good reason!!!  If your fourth grader has not already told you, I got engaged this weekend!  Please forgive me for being a day late with the weekly update.

This week in...

Science: We will have our Earth, Moon, and Sun Test on Thursday, November 12th.  Students completed a vocabulary sort today and they should review these words to prepare.  Additionally, students received a study guide a few weeks ago, this is also accessible on www.solpass.org.
*Students should know how to explain revolution and rotation and how they are different
*Students should know how the tilt of the Earth causes the seasons,
*Students should know the phases of the moon in order and what they look like
*Students should know the beliefs of the historical contributors.  (Students do NOT need to know what their ethnicity was!)

Virginia Studies: We will finish our unit on Jamestown this week, and learn about the government in the Virginia Colony.  The VA Studies Weekly given out today will help students understand the different parts of the Virginia government.  The VA Studies Weekly will be due Wednesday!  Students will have time to complete it in class tomorrow if they have not already completed it.

Writing: Students received new Word Study words today, 100 points of assignments are due on Friday, November 13th.  We will begin the first stages of our "That for which I am thankful..." essays as well, ask your child, "What three things do you appreciate most?"

Reading: Students are diving into nonfiction and will begin a research paper in the next coming weeks.  They are on their way to becoming experts on a topic of their choosing!

Upcoming dates...

Wednesday, November 11th: Veterans Day program from 8:30 to 10:30, Parade at 9:15
Wednesday, November 11th: Report cards will go home. Please sign the bottom portion on the last page and return it in the envelope it comes in!
Friday, November 13th: Basket Bingo!
Monday, November 16th: PTA Meeting at 6:30
Wednesday, November 18th from 11:00 - 12:00: American Education Week in fourth grade!  Come watch the kids use their engineering skills and knowledge of history to build the Jamestown fort!  A letter will go home in Thursday folders this week with a request for supplies, any contribution is appreciated!

I'll be Mrs. Bernstein next year!

Two BIG items!

1. Fall student pictures are coming home with your child.  All students should be receiving a picture package if their picture was taken.  A student may keep the package if they have paid for it.  Students who did not purchase will have the option to buy the pictures.  Instructions for purchasing are inside each envelope.  Please have the student return if they are not interested in purchasing the proof.

If you do NOT like the pictures, there is a makeup picture day on December 9^th.  More information will follow closer to December 9^th regarding the makeup picture day. 

2.  2015 Impact Aid Program Survey Forms are coming home TOMORROW in "Thursday" folders!

We must have a signed and dated form returned by each student. If not, please return home with student as we can’t accept without signature and date.

All families, regardless of where parents work, should complete this form.

Weekly Update, November 3rd, 2015

Are your children enjoying their four day weekend!?!
PLEASE SEND ME ANY PHOTOS OF YOUR CHILDREN IN COSTUME!!!

Because this is a short week, we will not have Word Study, I will give out new words next week.

This week in:
Reading: We will continue to look at nonfiction texts and how we can become experts on a topic.
KEEP ENCOURAGING YOUR CHILD TO READ, I'VE BEEN NOMINATED FOR TURKEY OF THE YEAR AND NEED THEIR VOTES TO GET ELECTED!  Wouldn't it be fun for your children to learn from a turkey for a day?!  Ugly turkey in the photo says, "VOTE FOR MS. AKBAR!"

Writing: We will work on grammar this week and focus on homophones.
Students will have a quiz on the following common homophones THIS FRIDAY, November 6th: 

two, to, and too

your and you're

their, there, and they're

it's and its

Virginia Studies: We will continue to learn about the relationships between the Native Americans and the English as the colonists make Jamestown a permanent settlement.  Students will have an open note quiz using their VA Studies Weekly Newspaper on Thursday, November 5th.  

Science: We will wrap up our Earth, Moon, and Sun unit and learn more about the age, composition, and size of the Earth, Moon, and Sun, as well as historical contributions of Aristotle, Ptolemy, Copernicus, and Galileo.  Stay tuned for the test date!

Important Upcoming Dates:
Wednesday, November 4th: First day of the 2nd quarter!
Monday, November 9th: Phoenix Parent Night Information Meeting!  It will be at 6:30 in the Pinebrook Library.
Wednesday, November 11th: Veterans Day celebration from 8:30 to 10:30 am AND report cards will be sent home
Monday, November 16th:  PTA Meeting @ 6:30
Week of November 16th: American Education Week
Friday, November 20th: Basket Bingo, doors open at 6:00 pm!

A few Fall Party Photos!

Here are some photos I snapped during the Fall Party yesterday!  Thank you to Mrs. Sullivan for planning everything and all the volunteers who came to help with the activities.

Ms. Akbar REALLY wants to be Turkey of the Year!

If elected, I will get to wear a gigantic, embarrassing turkey costume ALL day!  I was nominated last year, which was an honor, but I'd really love to be in the top three this year.  Turkey of the Year forms went home in LAST week's Thursday folders, but I'm going to send another form home today!  For every hour your child reads, they get a vote!  Just cut off the bottom strip from the form each week,  write in the hours your child read, and sign it.  Thank you for supporting my crazy desire to be a turkey.

ALSO!  The phases of the moon quiz is tomorrow, students took a practice "quiz" today, and these will go home today in Thursday folders.  Remind them that the moon gets BRIGHTer from the RIGHT side!  Students are also expected to know how long it takes for the Earth to make a WHOLE trip around the sun, how long it takes for the moon to revolve around the Earth, and how many hours it takes for the earth to Rotate on its axis.

Weekly Update, October 25th, 2015

What a lovely fall weekend, I enjoyed seeing many of you at the Fall Festival yesterday!  This is the last week of the 1st quarter, and we have an eventful Thursday!  Thanks to those of you who sent photos of your darlings, I always appreciate them, and feel free to send me photos even if you've already sent some.  I LOVE posting Halloween photos!

The Week Ahead in Academia...

Science: Students will continue to learn about the Earth, Moon, and Sun relationships, specifically the eight phases of the moon and the reason for the seasons.  We will have a quiz on the eight moon phases on Friday, October 30th.  Students chorally read the poem "The Moon Cycle" every day last week, and learned most of the phases last year in third grade.  I will send home a study guide tomorrow for the Earth/Moon/Sun Science Unit, however, the quiz on Friday will only cover the moon phases.

Virginia Studies: It's 1607 and the British colonists have landed!  We began learning about the Jamestown settlement at the end of last week and will continue to learn about the reasons colonists settled in Jamestown, the hardships they faced, and everything else that comes along with this economic venture.  Ask your child what an economic venture is and if they can give you an example!  Students will have an open-note VA Studies Weekly Quiz on Jamestown on Wednesday, October 28th.  Students as usual will be able to use the VA Studies Weekly that I gave them last week to find their answers.  

Writing: Students are learning subject and verb agreement, as well as how to use pronouns correctly and began writing an opinion piece presenting their opinion on whether or not Minecraft should be played in schools.  Hopefully these will be completed by the end of the week!  The Word Study Test will be given on Friday, October 30th.    Students are expected to spell their words correctly, use five of the words given in a sentence that is a minimum of 7 words, come up with two words that would fit in their sort, and explain their sort to me.  Please refer to the previous graded Word Study test if you feel your child needs to be refreshed of the format of the test!  There shouldn't be any surprises!

Reading: Students appear to be captivated by Samuel's new adventure as he lands in the New World in our Read Aloud, Blood on the River.  This historical fiction book was actually written by a Virginia Studies teacher, and reinforces all the content we teach regarding the Jamestown unit.  Students will be focusing on non-fiction reading this week and identifying non-fiction text features.

The Week Ahead, Important Dates:

Monday, October 26th: NO PHOENIX PARENT MEETING!  It was cancelled!
Thursday, October 29th: Family Life Education begins
Thursday, October  29th: Fall Party from 10:50 - 12:05
Friday, October 30th: Last Day of the Quarter

Monday, November 2nd and 3rd: Conferences!  I will email you individually to remind you of your conference time!

PHOENIX Questions: Regarding grading, we were hoping to have some questions answered tomorrow by our Phoenix contact at a meeting tomorrow, however this has been cancelled.  The LCPS staff is still learning this system and if you are frustrated, please know that we are too!  I will do my best to answer your questions at our conferences, but please make sure you are looking at every page of what I send home in Thursday folders to familiarize yourself with how your child is doing in each subject.  There are often a variety of grades tied to one assignment, which is a new expectation of the grading system.  

Weekly Update, October 18th, 2015

Among drinking pumpkin flavored coffee and sleeping in on the weekends, I also enjoy checking Word Study homework.  Although the word was used incorrectly, I love this drawing too much not to share:

Don't we all?

Please don't forget to send me a photo of your child if you did anything noteworthy this weekend, the kids love seeing themselves on the front board!

Here's what's coming up this week in:

Virginia Studies: Students will have their test on Native Americans on Tuesday, October 20th.  A study guide went home with students on Friday.  Great resources to use to study always include the study guide, their notebooks, and solpass.org.  The study guides I provide are straight from solpass.org if you ever need to print another one!  We will begin learning about Jamestown following the Native Americans unit.

Science: We're sticking with astronomy and will be learning more about moon phases this week.  The quiz/test on this unit will be next week.

Reading: Students are LOVING our new Read Aloud book Blood on the River by Elisa Carbone.  It is a historical fiction novel about a 10 year old boy who is the servant to John Smith and how the British colonized Jamestown.  This week we will continue to learn about characters and how to describe their traits.  Ask your child about it!

Writing: Students will receive new Word Study words this week and their next Word Study test will be on Friday, October 30th.  Thank you for reviewing their work and making sure students are doing the assignments correctly!  This week we will continue to incorporate adjectives into our writing and editing our work.

Upcoming Important Dates:   

Monday, October 19th: PTA Meeting @ 6:30
Wednesday, October 21st: Picture Day
Wednesday, October 21st: Parent Homework Help Workshop @ 6:30
Saturday, October 24th: Fall Festival from 4:00 - 7:00 pm
Monday, October 26th: Parents Night for Phoenix Grading @ 6:30
Thursday, October 29th: Family Life Education begins
Thursday, October 29th: Ms. Akbar's Class Party from 10:50 - 12:05
Friday, October 30th: End of Grading Period
Monday, November 2nd and 3rd: Parent Teacher Conferences

As always, if you have  any questions, concerns, or information you think I need to know - please email me!  

Important Thursday Folder Items!

Parents - in addition to graded papers in today's "Thursday Folder,"  there are two items I need to point out.

1) Recorder forms - these went home in last week's Thursday Folder, there will be another form in today's Thursday folder if I haven't received one back yet.  Please sign it even if your child already has a recorder and have your child bring it back in tomorrow.  They are due tomorrow!
2) Picture Day Form - I received the following information:
    Ordering instructions: 
1. Pick a Pose and 2.  Pick A Background Selection 
3. Insert Payment or online payment information
4. Return envelope.  
Please make it clear to your students that they must bring back their picture envelopes for fall pictures with payment inside or online payment information.  
Parents can pay online, but the photographers will still need the payment envelopes to know which background the pictures require.

The Planets quiz and Word Study test are tomorrow!  Please refer to my previous email regarding what is covered on these tests.

Weekly Update, October 12th, 2015

I hope everyone enjoyed the three-day weekend and the lovely weather!  If you have any photos to share with me of your kiddos from weekend activities, I will proudly display them on our morning message - thank you to those parents who have already sent me a fun photo of their child in action!


The Week Ahead:
Have your child bring a blanket or towel to school tomorrow!  They have earned a picnic lunch outside for positive behavior in the cafeteria!  (Students who do not want to eat outside may still eat in the cafeteria.)

Science: Students will begin to learn about our 8 planets. (When I was a kid there were 9!)  This is a brief unit and students are responsible for knowing the planets in order from the sun as well as the order of the planets from largest to smallest.  We will learn this tomorrow in class and some fun ways to remember the orders. The quiz on the planets will be this Friday, October 16th!

Virginia Studies: Students will finish learning about the Native Americans that first inhabited Virginia this week.  They will be expected to complete Virginia Studies Week 5 which explains how the Native Americans used natural resources to survive.  This Newspaper will be due on Friday, and as always, the crossword puzzle must be completed, questions must be answered, and newspaper must be highlighted to show where the student found his or her answers.  The Native Americans Test will be on Tuesday, October 20th.

Reading: Students had mixed emotions about the ending of The Tiger Rising.  They may have shared with you that they wrote eulogies for the tiger!   This week we will begin Blood on the River, a historical fiction novel about the establishment of Jamestown.  We will begin to look really closely at characters and how the author includes specific details to really teach us about characters.  As your students read their 20 minutes nightly, ask them follow-up questions like, "What can you tell me about the character in your book?"  Make sure they give you specific examples from the book!  (We describe characters through their actions and dialogue.)

Writing: Students will have a review about plagiarizing and paraphrasing tomorrow.  We will review adjectives and begin writing a quick persuasive "Book Buzz" about their independent reading in class and try to get another classmate to read their book through some strong writing!  Their Word Study Test will be on Friday, October 16th!  Students will be expected to spell their words correctly, use five of their words in a meaningful sentence, come up with two other words that would fit in their sort, and explain the rules of their sort to me.  

Other Calendar Events:
Tomorrow, Tuesday, October 13th: MONDAY Schedule
Wednesday, October 14th: Earthquake and Fire Drill in the afternoon
Saturday, October 17th: Stone Ridge 5K
Monday, October 19th: PTA Meeting @ 6:30 PM
Wednesday, October 21st: Picture Day!
Saturday, October 24th: Fall Festival at Pinebrook 4 - 7 PM
Monday, October 26th: Parent Night for Phoenix Grading at 6:30 PM
Thursday, October 29th: Family Life Education, Fall Party
Friday, October 30th: End of 1st Quarter

Pajama Day is tomorrow!

It was announced late, so I'm not sure if parents got the message - but we are having another Pajama Day tomorrow!  Please make sure the pajamas are school-appropriate (no spaghetti string tops), and that your kids still have appropriate footwear.  They will have PE first thing in the morning and will need their sneakers!

Ask your kids about the archaeology dig today and what they learned!  I'll post photos soon!

Responsible Fourth Graders!

As I mentioned during Back to School Night, I expect STUDENTS to be responsible for getting their agendas signed.  When a child tells me, "my mom forgot to sign my agenda," I remind the student that it is HIS or HER responsibility to ask you to sign it, not the parents!

This being said, students will unfortunately have to face the consequence if they don't get their agendas signed and fill out their reading log... ask them what that means!

As you saw, new reading logs went home yesterday.  Students are STILL expected to read a minimum of 20 minutes nightly, but I told students that if they only read 15 minutes one night, they should be honest, and be sure to read 25 minutes the next night so their reading will average out to 20 minutes a night!

Thanks for helping your child study tonight for their science test tomorrow, I'm confident they'll do well!

Weekly Update, October 4th, 2015

Happy Sunday!  Thank you in advance for reading the lengthy email ahead :)

Pinebrook sent home interims on Friday, why didn’t my child get an interim?  As you know, LCPS rolled out a new grading system called Phoenix.  The county has been learning this system since August and the fourth grade team received its first training from the county on Friday.(The day interims were due!) I personally did not feel as though I could portray an accurate snapshot of your child’s progress without going back into the system and entering more data.  Students who currently have a 2 or below in any subject area will receive an interim tomorrow, please cut off the bottom portion of the interim, sign it, and have your child return it to me on Tuesday.  If your child does not receive an interim, he or she is meeting expectations and will not receive an interim.

Here's a brief overview of what went on last week and what's coming up.

Last week in...

Science: We wrapped up our resources unit and learned about Virginia’s native species and how trees provide us with so much more than wood!  Ask your child if he or she can name 5 ways trees help us!

Virginia Studies: Students showed me what they know about our regions, waterways, and bordering states last week and began our One to the World project.  Students are expected to create a commercial or poster “SELLING” the benefits of their region.  The challenge given to them was, “Create a poster or commercial to show/persuade kids how to be healthy in your region, be creative!”  We will finish this project this week.

Writing: Students finished/ are finishing up their fictional narrative about the journey how a raindrop makes its way through a watershed. Students also took their first Word Study Test, those will go home on Thursday!

Reading: Students were assigned reading partners this week and learned what it means to hold their reading partner accountable for their thinking!  Ask your child what kind of questions they ask their partner to explain their thinking.  (Why do you think that? What evidence do you have in your book that makes you say that? Can you explain your thinking more?)  Students are learning the importance of EXPLAINING their answers in reading. 

Next week in...

Science: The NATURAL RESOURCES TEST will be on Wednesday, October 7^th!  Please make sure you review all the notes in your child’s green, science notebook and review the study guide that went home last week!

Virginia Studies: We will begin learning about Virginia’s first, true citizens, the Native Americans!  Students will receive the next edition of their Virginia Studies Weekly, as a reminder, they need to complete the crossword, highlight where they found their answer within the newspaper, and complete any other assignment given in the newspaper.  They will have an open-note quiz on this newspaper on Friday, October 9th. Students will also become archaeologists on Thursday, I wonder what they’ll find!

Writing: Students will receive their new Word Study words tomorrow.  They will continue to learn how to write persuasively and include evidence in their writing. 

Reading: We will finish reading The Tiger Rising this week and students will start responding to their reading more intensely.   Also, new reading logs will go home tomorrow as well, please make sure your child is reading at least 20 minutes a night!

Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, or anything you think I need to know!  

Homework and Next Week

Good evening parents.  I just wanted to remind you to check your son or daughter's homework folder nightly.   On Thursdays all the graded papers and information sent out by the school will be in this folder.  Please send back any correspondence you want me to see in this folder.

Here's a brief overview of what went on this week and what's coming up.

This week in...

Science: Students had a great time building and creating a watershed!  We polluted our watershed models with glitter, confetti, and food coloring - ask them what each of these materials represented during this project and what they learned about where the pollution goes!  We also had a great time with our 1st grade STEAM buddies, ask your child about it if they haven't already told you!

Virginia Studies: Students continued learning about Virginia's waterways.  Students will have an open-note quiz on the waterways and may use their Virginia Studies Weekly to complete it.  The Virginia Studies Newspaper is due tomorrow.  The newspapers were assigned on Monday, and students are expected to complete the crossword on the back, highlight where they found their answers within the newspaper, and complete the "Let's Write" section on the back page.  (They may use a blank sheet of paper for the "Let's Write" part.)  Students who completed it early were rewarded today for being responsible!

Writing: Students are writing the second draft of their expository essay on the five regions of our state.  We learned about editing marks and how to correct capitalization, indenting, and so on.  You'll be impressed when these essays go home!  Word Study is due tomorrow, students were expected to complete assignments totaling 100 points for the week and were given time in class to complete this.  The Word Study test will be next Friday.

Reading: Students have worked hard to think deeply about what they're reading and respond to their books.  Please make sure your child is reading at home nightly and practices reading aloud for a few minutes using expression.  Ask you child about his or her goal this week!

Next week in...

Science: We will finish learning about Virginia's natural resources (trees and minerals) and I will distribute the study guide for the first science test.  This test will be the week of October 5th, I'll keep you posted about a definite date.

Virginia Studies: We will have our first test on Virginia's bordering states, regions, and waterways on Wednesday of next week.  I will send home the study guide tomorrow.  A great resource to study with is www.solpass.org.  The password is Pinebrook.  Students used this resource last week and should be familiar with it.  Students will also receive another VA Studies Weekly on Monday, this is an excellent resource to use to study.

Writing: As we finish writing our essays, students will begin to write persuasive pieces which will tie into our next big project: creating an advertisement to use Virginia's many resources!

Reading: Students will begin writing me letters to tell me about their reading and we will finish up DRA testing!

Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, or anything you think I need to know!  

Weekly Update, Sunday, September 20th, 2015

My day started with meeting Washington Capitals' superstar Nicklas Backstrom at breakfast!  Anything interesting to share with me?  Any photos you share, I'll be able to put on our morning message to share with the class - feel free to send me any photos throughout the year!

Here is an overview of what's going on in class, and what's coming up:

Science: We learned about our watershed address, which is the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, and why it's important to keep it clean.  This week we will build our own watersheds in a STEAM project, pair up with Ms. Syme's 1st grade class (they're our STEAM Buddies), and continue to learn about Virginia's natural resources.

Virginia Studies: Students did well demonstrating their knowledge of the regions and their land forms, this week we will learn about Virginia's waterways.  Ask your student what, "Please Remember Your Jacket" means!

Writing: We began writing an expository essay on Virginia's five regions, which we will finish next week.  Tomorrow we will begin Word Study.  I will provide ample time for students to complete their Word Study in class over the next two weeks to ensure they are completing assignments correctly.  After this period of word study, students will be expected to complete these assignments at home.

Reading: Students are LOVING The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo.  We've been "talking back to books," ask them what that means!  Please make sure your child is reading and filling out his or her reading log every night, and ask him or her to read out loud for a few minutes each night too.  Last week students set a weekly goal for themselves as well, please discuss the goal your child chose for him/herself and if he or she was able to meet it.

Math: Fourth grade wrapped up its Place Value unit and will begin adding and subtracting larger numbers next week, as well as estimating sums and differences.  Please make sure your child is going on Reflex Math at least twice a week.

Please make sure you look at the flyer sent about Ellie's Hats in this week's Pinebrook Message and Spirit Week.  

Also, please sign up for a conference if you have not done so already.  If the available times do not work for you, please email me directly with a date and time that you'd prefer.  I can meet before school!  Click here to sign up for a conference!

Regions Quiz MOVED to THURSDAY!

Good evening!  After class today, I feel confident that the class is ready for their quiz on Virginia's regions so I am moving it up a day to Thursday!  Students are expected to be able to locate the region on a map of Virginia and know its land structure.  For example, they need to know the Coastal Plain is the eastern most region and has flat land, the Piedmont region has rolling hills, and so on.   All the information is in their notebooks!  If students want to review more, they should visit www.solpass.org, select "Elementary School," select "Virginia Studies," then "VS.2 Geography" on the left hand side of the screen.  (If you are prompted for a password, it's "pinebrook."  They can play the "Regions and Borders" game, quiz, and drag and drop activity.  Although we  discussed each regions products and industries, they are not required to know that for this quiz... maybe it will come up in a bonus question!?  To sum up, the Regions of Virginia Quiz is Thursday, September 17th!

September 13th, 2015 Weekly Update

September 13th, 2015 Weekly Update
Thank you to those of you who came to Back to School Night on Thursday!  If you were unable to come, I sent home the overview of the information  that I discussed that evening with your child on Friday, it should be in his or her silver homework folder.  If you need a copy, please email me directly!

Parent Teacher Conferences
If you have not already signed up, please visit Akbar Parent Teacher Conference Sign Up and sign up for a conference!  Please note that I accidentally made myself available for two slots for each time, please only sign up for a time if nobody else has signed up for that time. If you are unable for the times listed on that sign up, please email me to let me know your availability and some dates and times that work better for you.

Scholastic News and VA Studies Weekly Newspaper Subscriptions
There are a few of you who have not yet submitted the $12 needed for the yearly subscriptions of Scholastic News and VA Studies Weekly Newspaper subscriptions.  For those of you have not sent in money yet, I sent home a copy of the letter that explains these two publications and how the fourth grade team uses them to support the content we teach this year with your child on Friday.  Please check his or her homework folder and return the money tomorrow!  Thank you!

Upcoming Dates
September 14th @ 6:30 PM: PTA Meeting
September 21st to the 24th: Spirit Week to Raise Awareness for Childhood Cancer
September 28th through October 2nd: After School Enrichment Programs (ASEP) begin
September 29th @ 6:30 PM: Watch Dog Dad Sign Up Night
September 30th: Believe Kids Fundraiser Ends

As always, please feel free to email me with any questions at aakbar@lcps.org.

Week of September 8th, 2015 Update
Thank you for a great first week!  Here are a few important reminders:

• BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT is Thursday, September 10th.  This is an event for parents only and is an opportunity for you to learn about student expectations, classroom information, and general fourth grade information.  The first session is from 6:00 - 6:45 pm and the second session is from 7:00 to 7:45 pm.  This will be the first opportunity for you to sign up for Parent-Teacher conferences.  I look forward to seeing all of you!
• BOX TOPS and LABELS for EDUCATION are due on Friday, September 11th.  Please turn in whatever you have, our class has an opportunity to earn a prize this year for most labels and box tops collected!
• If you have any other documents, forms, or payments for the Scholastic News/ VA Studies Weekly subscription, please have your child bring them in as soon as possible

I hope your students enjoyed their first week as fourth graders!  Now that I know them a bit better, I will be changing the seating arrangement to provide them with an ideal learning spot!  As always, please feel free to email me at aakbar@lcps.org with any questions.

The Big Day!

The Big Day!
I'm sure your fourth graders are exhausted!  We had a great day unpacking all our school supplies, learning a little about one another, and reading two books!  Students even had music and are very ready to get their recorders! We have a great group of students in our class - everyone was respectful, helpful, participatory, and genuinely excited to get the year started!

I hope they weren't too overwhelmed by tonight's homework - reading 20 minutes, and completing "The Big Day" assignment.

I know this won't be the last time I give the parents homework, for which I apologize - but please complete both sides of the blue form that is in your child's homework folder.  For those of you who have not completed or returned the first day packet (large manila folder), please do so and send it in with your child tomorrow.

Students will have PE tomorrow (Tuesdays), Wednesdays, and Fridays, please make sure they are wearing appropriate athletic shoes.

Lastly, make sure you subscribe to this blog by entering in your email address at the bottom of the webpage to receive all updates.

Thank you, I look forward to a great year with your kids!!!

2015 - 2016 School Year, 1st Class Update for Ms. Akbar's 4th Grade Class!
Welcome to the new school year!  It was a pleasure meeting everyone who came to the Open House on Thursday.  Thank you for bringing in supplies and your blue transportation forms.
If you didn't have a chance to make it on Thursday, BLUE TRANSPORTATION FORMS MUST BE TURNED IN ON THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!  Please make sure your child brings it in with them when they walk in at 7:30 am!  For those of you who were concerned about bus number changes, all students grades kindergarten through fifth grade will receive a sticker as they exit the bus with their bus number, I will record it and make sure they know what bus they are going to get on in the afternoon!
Please make sure all necessary forms from the "First Day Packet" are returned with your child on Monday!  
That's actually all I have for right now, I hope everyone is excited for a new school year!!!