In Language Arts, we will cover reading, writing, vocabulary, spelling, and grammar. We will read from our Treasures text as well as share novels, poetry, and other short stories. We'll read many types of fiction and nonfiction as well as practice many comprehension skills and strategies. In writing, we'll study what great authors do as well as write for a variety of purposes. This page will keep families updated on the stories we're reading and writing, as well as other important classroom news.
May 15, 2015
Wow! I can't believe we're getting ready for the last full week of the year! It's been great and fast! I'm so proud of all these students have what they've accomplished this year. I've grown to love them and will miss them!
This week we'll finish up our novel, Little Bo and continue to discuss character traits and plot. We'll also continue to work on brochures in our functional writing unit. We will not have spelling homework this week. We just have too much going on!
Important End-of-Year Dates
May 19- Fun and Field Day
May 21- Reds Hall of Fame Trip (letter coming home with reminders)
May 22- Fourth Grade Awards, 9:30am (letter sent home Thursday about specific awards, but all will be recognized)
May 25- NO SCHOOL, Memorial Day
May 26- Fourth Grade Social (Thanks for returning permission slips!)
May 27- Last Day for Students
I think that wraps up the important dates! I have enjoyed working with and getting to know all of you. I can't thank you enough for trusting me with your children. I love them and hope to hear all about their successes in the future! I wish you all a wonderful summer and great fifth grade year! I hope to see you around town. Thanks so much again for making this such a great year!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
May 8, 2015
I want to thank you for the sweet cards, gifts, and words of encouragement during teacher appreciation week! You all make me feel special every day, but this week you really went overboard! Thanks so much for all you did for me! I'm so grateful to know each of you!
We had a great week finishing the poetry novel, Love that Dog. Students also wrote poetry inspired by the book! They are so creative and did a great job!
In the coming week, we'll be studying character traits and plot development through the novel Little Bo. We'll also tie in some nonfiction articles and work on summarizing.
Spelling Words for this week: (Each list has 20 words.)
Regular List: to, too, two, a lot, there, their, they're, where, were, we're, our, are, I'm, won't friendly, American, use, when, threw, through
Challenge List: to, too, two, a lot, there, their, they're, where, were, we're, our, are, I'm, won't, friendly, American, useful, whether, thoughtfulness, thorough
The homework is a little different. Students should choose three of the four activities from the following list:
1. Use each word in a sentence.
2. Write each word and draw a picture to show its meaning.
3. Write story, article, or journal entry using each word.
4. Write each word and its definition.
In writing we'll begin a short unit on functional writing, such as brochures, instructions, etc.
Coming up . . .
May 19- Field Day
May 21- Reds Field Trip
May 22- Fourth Grade Awards
May 26- Fourth Grade Social
May 27- Last day for students!
Wow! We are really getting close to the end of the year! I am enjoying these last few weeks, and I'm so grateful for each of you! Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
May 1, 2015
I can't believe it is already MAY! This year is flying by! The coming week will be busy with the first two rounds of PARCC testing for math plus all of the other day-to-day happenings at North.
In reading this week we'll wrap up our reading and discussion of Love that Dog, the novel-poem. The students have enjoyed reading the book, and I love the discussions we have because of it. We should also be writing some poetry based on the novel this week. Be sure to ask your child about this touching story.
Spelling words for this week are:
robin
button bacon
reason
cotton
sunken
eleven
cousin
woven
raisin
cannon
muffin
widen
wooden
ridden
common
proven
often
penguin
skeleton
violin
vitamin
medal
pupil
paddle
Goals/ I CAN . . .
-explain characteristics of poetry.
-describe how an author develops the characters, setting, and plot of a story.
-correctly use quotation marks.
-identify parts of speech including nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, and conjunctions.
Coming up . . .
-May 19- Field Day
-May 21- Reds Field Trip
-May 22- Fourth Grade Awards, 9:30am
-May 26- Fourth Grade Social
-May 27- Last Day for Students
I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
April 24, 2015
We had a great week studying nonfiction and poetry! We also managed to work on some parts of speech and letter writing!
Next week we plan to start a novel written as a poem, Love that Dog. This is a sweet story that most students love! We'll continue our study of poetry and also talk about how a setting, plot, and character(s) can be developed in poetry.
Spelling words for this week are challenging, so there's no challenge list.
All should study: burrow, furnace, concert, lantern, thirsty, disturb, alert, perhaps, purchase, nervous, modern, capture, merchant, survive, concern, service, eastern, whirlwind, surprise, persuade, really, handful, goodness, survey, emerge
In writing we'll continue review of letter writing as well as poetry. Students will have the chance to write some poems in a style of their choice. I love reading their poetry!
I CAN/ Goals . . .
-write poetry of different styles.
-explore character, setting, and plot.
-identify parts of speech- noun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition.
-use context clues and word parts to understand new words.
Coming up . . .
We have lots of events in May!
May 19- Field Day
May 21- Field Trip to Reds Hall of Fame
May 22- Fourth grade awards, 9:30am (You'll be notified if your child is getting a specific award as the date approaches. All receive certificates of graduation from fourth grade.)
May 26- Fourth Grade Social
I'll keep you posted as I learn more important dates! Have a great weekend, and please contact me with questions or concerns. Thank you for being so wonderful to all of us!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
April 16, 2015
The students worked very hard on the PARCC test for Language Arts, and I am proud of them! We had a short but busy week studying the Hindenburg disaster as we worked to answer multi-part questions. Students are mastering this skill!
This coming week we'll work on a mix of poetry and nonfiction. Students will be writing feeling poems, which are always fun! We'll look at figurative language used in poetry as well.
Spelling Words for this week:
All should study: grocer, pepper, barber, grader, polar, tanker, singer, enter, odor, collar, zipper, powder, danger, cheddar, popular, harbor, anchor, elevator, daughter, victor, cancel, behave, tender, conductor, waiter
I didn't make a challenge list this week as the er/or/ar/endings tend to be confusing for most students.
Also, please encourage your child to continue independent reading nightly for about 20 minutes. Our last reading counts store visit will be April 29th!
Goals/I CAN . . .
-write about nonfiction to summarize what I have learned.
-write a poem following a pattern.
-correctly punctuate sentences, and write in complete sentences.
-identify characteristics of poetry.
-understand figurative language in poetry: simile, metaphor, personification, etc.
Coming up . . .
There is no school tomorrow, April 17th, for teacher inservice.
Have a wonderful weekend, and please don't hesistate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
April 10, 2015
We had a great week discussing cause/effect and theme this week. I feel like this school year is flying! In the coming week, we'll take the next section of the PARCC language arts test on Monday. I appreciate your help getting your child a good night's sleep and a good breakfast. In reading, we'll look at some nonfiction and practice main idea/details as well as summarizing. We'll also review text structure.
We had technical issues this week, and I had a meeting Friday morning, making me unable to copy the homework packet to send today. Here are the words, and if you'd like to get started on homework over the weekend, just feel free to choose any three activities as listed under the homework tab above.
Spelling Words: (All have the same words this week.)
discourage, disappoint, disbelief, distrust, disloyal, misplace, mislabel, mislead, misstep, misnumber, nonfat, nonfiction, nonsense, nonstop, unable, unplug, uncertain, uncomfortable, uncover, unclean, prince, weighed, bolder, mishap, unravel
In writing, we'll be working on poetry and following a pattern within a poem.
Goals/I CAN . . .
-identify the main idea and important details.
-summarize a selection.
-identify a text's structure.
-explain characteristics of poetry.
Looking Ahead . . .
There is no school Friday, April 17th for teacher inservice.
Have a wonderful weekend, and don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
March 20, 2015
Happy Friday! This coming week is a review week for unit 5. There is no spelling, but a review packet/study guide was sent home today. It is due Thursday, although we may start the test as early as Tuesday. The students should be well-prepared, but I wanted to give you a heads-up. The test will cover paragraph/essay writing, comparing and contrasting, character feelings, suffixes, and simile/metaphor. These should be review skills, and I think the students will do well.
In writing we'll finish our country papers just in time for Spring Break. The students have finished research and are now editing and revising.
We also have a visit from a Red's representative Thursday and Friday. He'll talk about the history of radio broadcasting, which should be lots of fun!
Goals/I CAN . . .
Combine information from two texts to write an essay.
Compare and contrast as I read.
Describe the characters, setting, and plot of a story.
Identify similes and metaphors.
Organize a research paper and edit my writing.
Coming up . . .
We visit the book fair Monday during our library time.
Spring Break begins at the end of the day Friday! School resumes April 6th.
Have a wonderful break with your families!! I may do a quick newsletter next week, but I won't send a homework packet until we return.
Thanks for sharing your children with me! They are wonderful! Please feel free to contact me with questions and concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
March 13, 2015
We've had a busy week! We covered nonfiction (cause and effect) as well as a little bit of drama as we worked on performing a scene from a play. The students did a great job! We also read Me and Uncle Romie and discussed character traits. In the coming week we'll be reading a nonfiction story, "Wild Horses," and working to combine information from multiple texts. We'll also continue to study cause and effect.
In writing this week we're hoping to finalize our country papers! Students will be revising and editing. They're doing a nice job organizing their papers.
Spelling words for this week are:
Regular List: uncle, turtle, total, pencil, oral, pebble, channel, local, paddle, pupil
Challenge List: irresponsible, unreliable, believable, annual, definitely, desert, dessert, carnival, recycle, feasible
All should study: symbol, medal, bubble, settle, vessel, bugle, pedal, special, ankle, docile, barber, anchor, cheddar, animal, snorkel
Goals/I CAN . . .
-understand and explain cause-effect relationships.
-describe characters, setting, and plot in a story.
-write an organized research paper.
-use complete sentences when I write.
-combine information from two texts to write about a topic.
Coming up . . .
-Book Fair is March 23rd. We'll visit during our regular library times.
-Spring Break is March 28th- April 5th.
We'll have a visit from a Cincinnati Reds representative on March 26th and 27th to teach us about the history of communication and radio broadcasting. We did this last year and it was lots of fun as well as very informative.
Have a wonderful week, and don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
March 6, 2015
Happy March and Happy Carnival Day! I hope to see you there tonight!
In the coming week, we'll focus on character, setting, and plot as well as cause and effect through Me and Uncle Romie. We'll also take a look at cause and effect throught some nonfiction materials. We'll continue to refine written response to our reading. Students are doing better and better with this skill!
Spelling words for this week are:
Regular List: walker, chalk, laws, stalk, bald, caught, drawn, halt, strawberry, fought
Challenge List: gawking, Australia, Equator, applause, sausage, awfully, fraught, daunting, faucet, nautical
All should study: caller, half, straw, small, thought, talking, awe, shawl, false, squall, south, pouch, annoy, wallpaper, awkward
In writing we are completing research on our countries and beginning to write our research papers using our outlines. Students are getting very skilled in writing thoughtful, well-organized paragraphs! They are also enjoying their research!
Goals/I CAN . . .
-understand and explain cause-effect relationships.
-describe characters, setting, and plot in a story.
-write an organized research paper.
-use complete sentences when I write.
Coming up . . .
-The carnival is March 6th from 5:30-9:00. Hope to see you!
-The Multi-cultural Fair is March 12th from 6:00-8:00. Hope to see you there as well!
Have a wonderful weekend, and please contact me with questions or concerns!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
February 27, 2015
Happy Friday! We had a great full week! Students worked hard on testing, and I think we all found it to be less stressful than we had thought! Good work, everyone!!
This week we will complete the last set of Performance Based Reading Assessments on Tuesday. This is the narrative section. Students should do very well! I'm so proud of their efforts. In reading we'll be catching up on what we missed during the snow week. We'll read a drama and discuss the characteristics of this genre: lines instead of quotes, cast of characters, scenes, made for performance, etc.
Spelling words for this week . . .
Regular List: dinner, blanket, willow, plastic, welcome, summer, dipper, foggy, thriller, ticket
Challenge List: enrichment, complications, ghastly, unconstitutional, marvelous, rhetorical, pharmacy, frequently, historical
All should study: swallow, picket, witness, slender, nodded, planner, member, fossil, rumbles, blossom, talking, drawn, shawl, cupboard, friendly
In writing we will work on our nonfiction research papers. Students will be writing about a country of choice after completing some research, as time allows. We've modeled an outline and paper of this type as a group. Students are ready to work on their own and in small groups!
Goals/I CAN . . .
-combine information from multiple sources to write about a topic.
-research a topic to write a paper.
-use an outline to organize my thoughts.
-write an organized research paper.
-identify the characteristics of a drama.
Coming up . . .
-We'll have another round of testing for language arts Tuesday, March 3.
-Carnival is Friday March 6th! Hope to see you there!
-Multicultural Night is rescheduled for March 12th from 6-8pm. Hope to see you there as well!
Have a wonderful week, and feel free to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
February 23, 2015
Welcome back! What a crazy week last week was! I'm glad to be back in a routine!
Of course, our routine is not typical with the testing schedule! Our language arts assessments will be on three days coming up: February 24th, Feb. 26th, and March 3rd. These are performance based assessments that will involve reading and written response to reading. They will cover narratives, nonfiction, and fiction. Each day's test will last approximately 50-75 minutes. I appreciate any help you can give in getting your child a good night's rest and healthy breakfast. We'll all work to make sure this is a comfortable as possible for the students! They will do a great job!
We will not have spelling homework this week. Students should read twenty minutes each night.
This week we'll focus on theme and combining information from two texts to write an essay. We'll look the an excerpt from Because of Winn-Dixie if time allows. We'll also work on completing our five paragraph research paper about Israel. As you can see, it will be a busy week of catching up!
Goals/I CAN . . .
-combine information from multiple sources to write about a topic.
-research a topic to write a paper.
-use an outline to organize my thoughts.
-write an organized research paper.
-write about the theme of a story or poem.
Have a wonderful week, and don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns. It was great to see all of your children today!!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
February 13, 2015
Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you all enjoy the weekend with your families. Thanks so much to Mrs. Rexhausen and all of the parents who helped with our class party! We appreciate you so much!
This week we'll continue to refine our essay writing skills by combining information from multiple sources including text and videos. Students are becoming experts at writing to answer multi-part questions. We will also take a look at a drama, Ranita and the Frog Prince, if time allows.
Spelling words for this week:
Regular List: river, level, never, talent, radar, limit, diver, finish, famous, spoken
Challenge List: liquid, portrait, parakeet, inflatable, privately, spectacular, oppose, nuisance, quotation, headache
All should study: cabin, wiper, habit, bison, cider, stolen, promise, razor, pity, easel, swallow, plastic, rumbles, sequence, vivid
In writing, we're still focusing on modeling a class paper about our class' Multi-cultural Fair country, Israel. The fair will take place the evening of February 19th, and we'll be writing a paper to display in the hall among other things. Eventually students will be researching a country and writing about it.
Goals/I CAN . . .
-combine information from multiple sources to write about a topic.
-research a topic to write a paper.
-use an outline to organize my thoughts.
-write an organized research paper.
-explain characteristics of a drama (lines, stage directions, scenes, etc.)
Coming up . . .
Multi-cultural Fair is the evening of Thursday, February 19th.
As we get closer to the PARCC assessments, I wanted to share some important dates. Our language arts assessments will be on three days coming up: February 24th, Feb. 26th, and March 3rd. These are performance based assessments that will involve reading and written response to reading. They will cover narratives, nonfiction, and fiction. Each day's test will last approximately 50-75 minutes. We will also have an end-of-year language arts assessment later in the year. If you are interested in seeing examples of these tests or practicing them with your children, there is a great website: http://nextgen.apps.sparcc.org/home
Have a wonderful weekend! Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
February 6, 2015
We completed a full week this week! It was busy and full! The African American Inventor projects have been great, too!
We're focusing more and more on written response to what we read this time of year, and we've even had a couple of opportunities this week to do that in the computer lab. This week we'll wrap up unit four, and take a unit assessment. I know this unit has flown for me, but many of the skills are now being repeated and refined at this point in the year. Students are ready! Their homework for the week is a review packet without spelling, and it will act as a study guide for the test. The test will most likely be Thursday, but I can adjust that if needed. Homework is still due Thursday.
In writing, we're focusing on modeling a class paper about our class' Multi-cultural Fair country, Israel. The fair will take place the evening of February 19th, and we'll be writing a paper to display in the hall among other things.
Goals/I CAN . . .
-make inferences.
-compare and contrast.
-choose the correct homograph.
-identify a poem's pattern.
-write a short essay about my reading.
-organize a five-paragraph research paper.
Coming up . . .
-Our Valentine's Day party is Friday, February 13th. Your child is welcome to bring Valentines for everyone that we'll distribute on the 13th. Class lists should be coming home this weekend. Thanks to Mrs. Rexhausen for coordinating the party! If you signed up in the fall, she has your contact information. Thanks so much to all who are willing to help!
As we get closer to the PARCC assessments, I wanted to share some important dates. Our language arts assessments will be on three days coming up: February 24th, Feb. 26th, and March 3rd. These are performance based assessments that will involve reading and written response to reading. They will cover narratives, nonfiction, and fiction. Each day's test will last approximately 50-75 minutes. We will also have an end-of-year language arts assessment later in the year. If you are interested in seeing examples of these tests or practicing them with your children, there is a great website: http://nextgen.apps.sparcc.org/home
This site has links to different subject areas by grade level. Please let me know if you need additional information. We'll be looking at the sites at school as well.
Thanks so much for sharing your children with me! They are wonderful! Don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns. Have a great weekend!
Maria Balfour
January 30, 2015
We had a busy week! As we get closer to the PARCC assessments, I wanted to share some important dates. Our language arts assessments will be on three days coming up: February 24th, Feb. 26th, and March 3rd. These are performance based assessments that will involve reading and written response to reading. They will cover narratives, nonfiction, and fiction. Each day's test will last approximately 50-75 minutes. We will also have an end-of-year language arts assessment later in the year. If you are interested in seeing examples of these tests or practicing them with your children, there is a great website: http://nextgen.apps.sparcc.org/home
This site has links to different subject areas by grade level. Please let me know if you need additional information. We'll be looking at the sites at school as well.
Spelling Words:
Regular List: flower, voices, tower, mound, cowboy, gown, frown, south, howling, annoy
Challenge List: boisterous, corduroy, employee, annoyance, announcement, bountiful, pronounce, paramount, encounter, flounder
All should study: noises, pound, hound, pouch, thousand, wound, grouch, cough, grown, voyage, cookie, zoom, huge, drought, downtown
In writing, we are looking at nonfiction features as well as beginning to write nonfiction about countries. We'll focus on text features and organization of writing.
Goals/I CAN . . .
-identify a text's structure.
-use computer tools to understand a text.
-use computer skills to enhance my writing.
-combine information from multiple texts to write a paragraph or essay.
Coming up . . .
Our Valentine's Day party will be February 13th from 2pm-3pm. I'll be sending information about this home soon.
Thank you so much for all you do for your students and to support us here at North! I'm so grateful!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
January 16, 2015
Well, we made it through a whole five day week! It was good to get back into a routine! Now we have a four day week ahead with Martin Luther King Day on Monday.
This week we'll read the humorous fiction story, Dear Mrs. LaRue, and focus on making inferences/drawing conclusions. We'll also tie in some nonfiction and look at text structure. We're really working hard to write about what we read, and students are working to be specific and detailed in their answers. This skill was shown well by them on the unit three test this past week. I'm excited to see how well everyone did!
Spelling words for this week are:
Regular List: tasted, ripping, forced, flipping, tapped, flipped, cared, flagged, ripped, skipped
Challenge List: exaggerated, privilege, worrying, license, absence, separated, interesting, beginning, exhausting, escaping
All should study: tapping, saved, skipping, caring, flagging, discussed, saving, tasting, forcing, discussing, bedspread, desktop, snowstorm, outwitted, underscoring
This week students should have brought home information on an African American Inventor project. This is due February 6th, and it involves writing and science. The writing part will be mostly completed in class. We've started our research, and we've started rough drafts of the paragraphs. This coming week we plan to head to the computer lab to type our final copies.
Goals/I CAN . . .
-combine information from multiple texts to write a paragraph.
-edit a paragraph for spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
-make inferences/draw conclusions as I read.
-identify the structure of a nonfiction text- compare/contrast, chronology, cause/effect, problem solution.
Coming up . . .
NO SCHOOL Monday January 19th.
Have a wonderful weekend, and please feel free to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
January 9, 2015
Our first week back was broken by the snow and cold, but we managed to accomplish a lot! We completed (most students) MAP testing, and we learned a lot about Martin Luther King Jr. and other important African Americans. We compared what these people did for the world, and we got started on writing some essays about them. We'll have to finish that next week! Next week we'll also review for our unit three assessment, but I want to hold off on choosing a date until I see how much we accomplish (and what the weather does!).
There is a homework review packet this week, but there is no spelling or spelling test. The homework packet will act as a unit three study guide, and it is due Thursday as usual.
In writing we'll begin working on research papers. We'll look at different types of nonfiction to get ideas for how we might organize an nonfiction paper. Eventually we'll be writing about countries with a partner. The students typically love learning about different countries, so I'm excited to see where this unit takes us.
Goals/I CAN . . .
-combine information from two texts to write an essay.
-identify the parts of a dictionary entry.
-identify the correct meaning of a multiple meaning word.
-explain similes and metaphors.
-explain how a prefix changes a word.
-sequence important story events to write a summary.
-compare and contrast using a Venn diagram.
Coming up . . .
-Winter conferences are February 5th. We'll let you know if we would like to meet with you, but please feel free to contact us if you think a conference is necessary. If we request a conference, we'll send a letter home in the next week or so. Thanks!
-January 19- No School in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
As always, feel free to contact me with questions or concerns. Have a wonderful week!!
Sincerely
Maria Balfour
January 5, 2015
Welcome back and Happy New Year! I hope all of you had a wonderful and relaxing break with your families! I'm happy to see all of the students back in school!
This week we'll read My Brother Martin, a biography about Martin Luther King Jr. We'll use this story along with other texts about famous African Americans to work toward the goal of combining information from two texts to write an essay. This skill is challenging, but the students are ready to tackle it! We'll continue to do this throughout the year.
Spelling is due Thursday this week, and the test is Thursday as usual.
Regular List: hour, lambs, knew, wrench, kneel, thumbs, honest, answer, honesty, plumber
Challenge List: knowledgeable, weight, volunteer, fascinating, wreath, knight, heirloom, segregation, numerous, ancestors
All should study: honor, known, combs, wrapper, knives, doubt, knead, wriggle, heir, wrinkle, curl, pearl, shirt, knuckles, wrestle
In writing we'll wrap up our opinion paper unit. We also have MAP testing in the computer lab on Tuesday (reading) and Thursday (math). Students will show growth, I'm sure! They've been working hard! There is really nothing to do to study for this, but a good breakfast and good night's sleep will help!
Goals/I CAN . . .
-combine information from two texts to write an essay.
-revise and edit an opinion paper.
Coming up . . .
-Winter conferences are February 5th. We'll let you know if we would like to meet with you, but please feel free to contact us if you think a conference is necessary. If we request a conference, we'll send a letter home in the next week or so. Thanks!
-Jan. 7- Dine and Donate at Bridgewater Falls Chipotle
-January 19- No School in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Have a wonderful week and stay warm! Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
December 12, 2014
Our week was busy, busy, busy! We began The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, which we'll finish next week. Students are enjoying the characters in the story. We'll explore characters, setting, plot, and theme next week. We'll also be busy with our holiday party and other school holiday activities! There is no spelling next week, but I did send a reading packet for homework. It is due Thursday.
In writing we'll continue our opinion papers. Students are researching whether or not children should be allowed to participate in extreme sports. Their opinions are changing the more they research! Be sure to ask which side they take. We'll edit and complete these papers before break.
I CAN . . .
-describe the characters, setting, and plot of a story.
-write and edit an opinion piece with facts and research.
-identify nouns and pronouns.
Coming up . . .
-Winter Break begins December 20th, and school resumes January 5th.
-Our holiday party is December 19th from 2-3pm. Thanks so much to all who are helping with this exciting event!
I want to wish all of you a very safe and relaxing break with your families! I love your children and appreciate all you do to support us.
Please don't hesitate to contact me with concerns or questions, as always.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Dece
mber 5, 2014
Happy December to all of you! We had a great week studying Snowflake Bentley while we covered main idea, summary, and theme. We also discussed text features which we'll continue to do throughout the year.
Next week the all fourth graders in the district will begin reading the novel The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. We'll cover character, setting, and plot as well as character traits and compare/contrast. This novel will take us up to winter break which is only two weeks away! The students typically enjoy this humorous and touching novel. We'll also use it to compare a drama and prose version of the same story.
In writing, we'll begin opinion pieces. Students will analyze information on both sides of an argument and write a paragraph stating their opinion. We'll work to support our opinions with research.
Spelling words for this week:
Regular List: center, once, dance, germs, spice, bridge, badge, circus, cement, glance
Challenge List: pageant, manger, contribution, ordinarily, pestering, congregation, sympathetically, gorgeous, whole, hole
All should study: strange, police, certain, orange, ounce, ginger, wedge, arrange, sponge, village, combs, kneel, wrench, general, ceremony
Goals/I CAN . . .
-describe the characters, setting, and plot of a story.
-compare a drama and prose form of the same story.
-write an opinion piece supported with facts.
Coming Up . . .
We visit Santa Shop this week! All items are two dollars. Mr. Thompson's class goes Monday afternoon, and Mrs. Balfour's class goes Tuesday afternoon. Thanks to our PTC for this awesome opportunity!
We'll receive a visit from COSI on Wheels on December 10th.
Our holiday party is December 19th from 2-3pm. Thanks to all who are helping and to Angie Neal for coordinating!
Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns. I love working with you and your children! Have a wonderful weekend!
Maria Balfour
November 21, 2014
These students really love mythology! This week we read about Pandora, Achilles, Persephone, and Demeter. We also read an African folk tale and compared that to myths. We've even done some reader's theater which we've all enjoyed! Your child should know the characteristics of a myth well. I'm excited about how well they're doing with this topic! We'll continue to study myths next week during our two day week.
There will be no homework in the short week for language arts. I will send home the next packet Tuesday in case you'd like to work on it over break, but it is not due until Thursday December 4th. During that week, we'll cover main idea and text features. These include title, captions, headings/subheadings, photos, diagrams, graphs, etc. All of these are items many students overlook, but they add so much to our understanding of a text. We'll be taking an in-depth look at their importance the first week of December.
Spelling words for the first week of December are:
Regular List: fishbowl, lookout, backyard, desktop, campfire, overheard, waterproof, grandparent, railroad, snowstorm
Challenge List: weathervane, overboard, elsewhere, headquarters, commonplace, underachieve, granddaughter, drawbridge, whatsoever, foreshadow
All should study: loudspeaker, bookcase, bedroom, blindfold, newborn, bedspread, yourself, overdo, clothesline, undertake, berries, dresses, arches, eyesight, paperweight
In writing we'll continue to hear strong examples of fiction. We'll work on developing setting and plot. The students should have brought home a graded personal narrative by now. These were awesome!
Goals/I CAN . . .
-explain characteristics and themes of mythology.
-explain the main idea and important details.
-understand and use important text features.
-explore characteristics of fiction.
-use correct verb tense in writing.
Looking Ahead . . .
-Grandperson's Day is Monday from 2-3pm in your child's homeroom. We look forward to meeting your special people!
-There is no school November 26-30 in observance of Thanksgiving.
-"Be a Dear" starts Monday December 1-December 12. This is an opportunity to help North families in need with holiday gifts. A letter will come home next week. Thanks so much if you're able to support this!
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families! I'm so thankful for all of you!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
November 14, 2014
We had a great week wrapping up our novels and reading the legend, Mystic Horse. Mr. Thompson and I also enjoyed meeting with those of you who had conferences last night. It's easy to see why you have such wonderful children!
In the coming week and a half, we'll study mythology. We'll cover characteristics of mythology as well as common themes across myths. The students typically love this unit! We'll cover several major mythological characters including Achilles, Hercules, Athena, Medusa, and Zeus. We'll also learn some common Greek phrases or allusions. Hopefully your children will enjoy sharing those with you!
We finished our personal narratives this week, and next week we'll explore fiction. Hopefully I'll get the personal narratives graded in the next few days so you can see how well your child did. I've seen lots of improvement from our last pieces! These kids are great writers!
The homework packet for this week consists of words with Greek word parts. It's just a short spelling list and tic-tac-toe board. I may send home some extra work on myths if we get behind in class, but for now the only homework for me is the spelling packet in addition to reading each night.
Regular Words: telephone, biology, hydrate, meter, microscope, sympathy, television, polygon, democracy, crypt
Challenge Words: geography, hydraulic, cardiology, orthodontist, microscope, telegram, empathy, thermometer, democracy, cryptic
Greek word parts and their meanings are listed on the spelling sheets.
Goals/I CAN . . .
-identify characteristics of myths.
-explain common themes of myths.
-identify common Greek word parts.
-explore characteristics of fiction.
-use correct verb tenses.
Coming up . . .
-Grandperson's Day is November 24th from 2pm-3pm. Each student can invite up to two guests, who do not have to be grandparents. We'll have visiting time and refreshments.
-Thanksgiving Break begins on November 26th, and we return to school on December 1st.
Have a wonderful weekend, and please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
November 7, 2014
We had a great week as we read and wrapped up most of our novels. Some still have a chapter or two to finish before they can take a Reading Counts test, but we'll fit that in over the next few days. I think students enjoyed their discussion groups!
This week we'll focus on sequence and inferring as well as theme as we read the Native American legend, Mystic Horse. This will be a great lead into our upcoming mythology unit. We'll discuss how different cultures hand down stories from generation to generation to explain how things work or why things happen. In vocabulary we'll study homophones, i.e. bare/bear. We'll also work to write a paragraph combining information from two different texts.
In writing we'll continue revising personal narratives. We're working to help our readers feel our emotions so they'll be hooked into our stories. Students have some great memories to share in these narratives! We'll also review quotation marks in grammar as we write.
Spelling words for this week are:
Regular List: clams, mints, props, arches, dresses, parents, caves, glasses, hobbies, engines
Challenge List: strawberries, celebrities, families, awkward, mysteriously, loosened, injustice, elementary, cemeteries, realization
All should study: couches, arrows, enemies, babies, ranches, patches, mistakes, berries, mosses, armies, circus, germs, spice, batteries, compasses
Goals/I CAN . . .
-identify the theme of a story.
-make inferences and support them with story details.
-sequence important story events.
-combine information from two texts to draw conclusions and write about the texts.
-use quotation marks for dialogue.
-revise a personal narrative to add emotion and sensory details.
Coming up . . .
Monday November 24th from 2-3pm we'll have Grandpersons Day. We'll have refreshments and other fun activities. An invitation should have come home. Each student can bring one or two grandpersons. It should be a fun way to share what we do in school with special guests.
Conferences are Thursday, November 13th. Please let us know if you need a reminder of your time. We look forward to talking with you!
Thanks for sharing your wonderful children! I enjoy them every day! Have a great weekend, and feel free to let me know if you have questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
October 31, 2014
What a week we've had! We worked hard on novels, reviewed unit two, and wrote personal narratives! Then we topped it off with our walk-a-thon and fall party! What fun we've had, but we need to rest this weekend! Thanks so much to all of the volunteers for these exciting events. They really do create wonderful memories for all of us.
In the coming week we'll continue to read novels in small groups. The students are making inferences and reviewing the year's skills as they enjoy dicussing literature with each other. It's fun for us to do, and I see the students deepening their thinking as they read and discuss. We'll focus on making inferences, differentiating between first and third person, and reviewing story elements. We'll also tie in some nonfiction and continue to combine information to write about two texts. It will be a busy week!
In writing we'll continue to draft personal narratives, hopefully choosing one to publish. We'll work to add sensory details and remove unnecessary ones. I love reading what the students write about themselves.
Spelling is the only homework in our packet for this week, outside of nightly reading.
Regular Words: beam, tea, chief, squeak, peep, weep, sleek, heal, tease, thief
Challenge Words: volunteer, replied, supportive, mature, there, their, they're, summarize, finally, frightened
All should study: deal, please, leak, league, reef, deed, feet, breathe, speech, wheeze, neigh, pale, bail, freedom, appeal
Goals/I CAN . . .
-make inferences and support them with story details.
-describe in detail the characters, setting, and plot of a story.
-explain the difference between first and third person point of view.
-add sensory details to my writing.
-use context clues to determine the meaning of unknown words.
Coming up . . .
-There is no school Tuesday November 4th due to Election Day.
-Friday November 7th will be our Human Growth and Development health DVD and talk. Boys and girls will be separated for this activity. Our nurse sent a letter home about this on October 31st. If you have questions about this talk our nurse (Ms. Hughes) will give, please feel free to contact her at 868-0070. Thanks!
-Our last fall conference night will be Thursday November 13th. We look forward to meeting with you!
Have a wonderful, safe weekend! Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
October 24, 2014
I hope this newsletter finds all of you enjoying the fall weather! We had another great and busy week here in room 56! Students did a great job making inferences and supporting them with story details! We'll continue that skill as we prepare for our unit 2 assessment over the next week or so.
Speaking of our unit two assessment, that will most likely take place this coming Thursday or the following Monday. A review packet came home this week, and it covers the skills that will be on the test. We'll also review those skills in class this week as well as begin reading some novels: The Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, Frindle, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, and Stone Fox. These novels will help us with making inferences. Be sure to ask your child which one he/she is reading. Due to the novels and unit two review, we will not have spelling this week. The homework packet is due Thursday.
In writing, we'll continue to draft personal narratives. I love hearing and reading these stories about the students. It's a fun way for me to get to know them, and I love how much they enjoy telling and sharing their stories. This week we'll focus on sensory details and emotions, as those add so much to our stories.
Goals/ I CAN . . .
-make inferences and support them with story details.
-explain the differences between a first and secondhand account of the same event.
-explain the difference between first and third person point of view.
-use a map or chart to find information.
-explain the meaning of a simile or metaphor.
-explain the meaning of common idioms.
-determine which resource to use to find a specific type of information (ex: diary, dictionary, encyclopedia, atlas, thesaurus).
Coming Up . . .
-Our walk-a-thon and fall party are this Friday! The walk-a-thon will happen during lunch/recess- 12:30-1:10. The party will take place from 1:30 to 2:30, immediately followed by a school-wide assembly. We'll make some great memories! Thanks for you support of these events!
Have a wonderful weekend! Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
October 17, 2014
I can't believe how the weeks are flying! I'm enjoying your children more every day, and they bring so much creativity and excitement to our classroom! They are growing so much, and I am thrilled with what they're accomplishing! Thanks so much for supporting them at home from helping with homework, to talking about what they're reading, to encouraging good choices. It's so nice to see the great character traits you've instilled in them. They really are wonderful.
This week we'll read the humorous fiction story Dear Mr. Winston with a focus on making inferences. We cover this skill quite a bit as it's one that we find in everything. This week we'll be working to think more deeply about how characters connect. We're also working to combine information from two texts to write essays. This is a complicated skill, but students are ready to do it. They're doing a great job! Some will also continue a new novel, From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. This group will cover the same skills as the rest of the class, too.
In writing we'll continue to discuss personal narratives as we begin to draft our own. We'll work to choose life changing events that will interest our readers. You can talk with your child about personal narrative ideas to help them remember events they might want to use for their stories.
Spelling Words:
Regular List: gear, scare, fear, cheer, spare, hear, rear, stair, airfare, career
Challenge List: irresponsible, indecisive, grateful, then, than, candidate, sincerely, argument, weather, whether
All should study: compare, spear, beard, area, appear, yearly, tear, lair, mere, snare, sincere, staircase, fort, dart, worn
Goals/I CAN . . .
-make inferences as I read.
-combine information about two characters or two texts to write an essay.
-use context clues to define new words.
-draft a personal narrative.
Looking Ahead . . .
-Our Fall Party and PTC Walk-a-thon are approaching on October 31st. I'll be in contact Monday (Balfour Homeroom) with our party coordinator. More information will follow shortly after that. I can't believe it's almost here! Thanks so much for being willing to help! You are appreciated!
-Our last GREAT training with Sergeant Shobe will be this week on Thursday (Thompson) and Friday (Balfour).
Have a wonderful week, and please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
October 10, 2014
We had a busy week studying first and secondhand accounts as well as first and third person narration. Most students are now experts at these skills, which is great! We'll revisit all of this as the year continues.
This week we'll begin to study the structure of nonfiction texts as we read How Ben Franklin Stole the Lightning. We'll also talk about idioms- words that don't have the same meaning as their actual dictionary definitions. If you want to send a favorite idiom with your child, we can talk about it in class. Those who had been reading Frindle are now finished with that novel. We will start a new novel shortly, and I'll keep you posted on that.
In writing this week we'll begin a unit on personal narratives. We'll discuss that these are stories written from an important life experience, and we'll hear several examples by professional authors. I always feel like I learn so much about the students when they write about themselves. This is a fun unit!
Spelling Words:
Regular List: door, dart, fort, morning, carpet, ford, core, cord, spark, award
Challenge List: genuine, undecided, scientific, unpredictable, melancholy, fortunately, specifically, realistic, to, too
All should study: smart, charge, worn, argue, stormy, bore, guard, ward, warp, barnyard, charcoal, fo
recast, screech, shrimp, throat
Goals/I CAN . . .
-explain the problem/solution structure of a nonfiction text.
-explain the meaning of common idioms.
-explain the characteristics of a personal narrative.
-use apostrophes to show possession.
Coming up . . .
-CogAT testing is Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. We'll test for approximately 45 minutes each day after specials (10:45). Please come well rested and well fed. These tests will be used for fifth grade placement purposes along with several other measures including MAP scores.
-Our second conference night is Thursday, October 16th. We look forward to seeing you and discussing your child's progress!
Thanks so much for sharing your amazing children with me! Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
October 3, 2014
I can't believe it's October! The year is flying! Thanks so much to all who came for our first round of conferences. We enjoyed meeting with all of you! We look forward to seeing more of you on our upcoming nights, October 16th and November 13th.
In reading this week, we'll focus on first and secondhand accounts as we read My Diary from Here to There. Students should be able to explain that firsthand accounts are told by a narrator who was present for an event, while secondhand accounts are based on research after an event. I always remind them that the narrator will refer to him or herself as "I" in a firsthand account. We'll also continue to make inferences and work on written response to our reading. If time allows, we'll begin to combine information from two accounts to write about an event. It will be a busy week! In vocabulary, we'll discuss the origin or history of a word. Whew!
In writing, we'll wrap up the publication of our first stories and begin a short unit on the writing process. We've covered the writing process, but this will allow us to deepen our understanding. The students' stories are so creative!
Spelling words are:
Regular List: rush, northern, brush, shed, thanks, washer, photo, graph, whole, these
Challenge List: various, dimension, personality, characteristic, possibilty, necessary, assessment, motivation, curiously, cautious
All should study: fifth, whisk, thirty, bother, shove, phrase, headphone, width, nowhere, whirl, arch, ketchup, cheap, theater, wherever
Goals/I CAN . . .
-explain the difference between a first and secondhand account.
-find and explain a word's origin.
-publish my writing using the writing process.
-make inferences as I read.
Coming up . . .
-The 3rd Grade OAA is Tuesday, October 7th. This affects our lunch schedule. We'll be eating at 11:35 instead of 12:30.
-CogAT tests for 4th grade are the week of October 14th. Please come well-rested and well-fed! We'll do a few tests each day.
-October 16th is our second conference night.
Have a wonderful weekend! Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
September 26, 2014
Hello Families,
We finished our first unit today! It's hard to believe we've been in school long enough to do that, but we have! Unit tests are now completed, and I'll have them graded by Monday. We'll spend time analyzing them in class to see which skills are our best and which may still need work. Often on this first test, I'll give students credit for a mostly correct answer, but I'll write a note to explain how it could be better the next time. If you see a note like this on your child's test, I just wanted you to know that I sometimes do that.
This week we'll study how an author creates mood, making inferences, and first/third person point of view as we read Mighty Jackie. Some students will also study these skills through Frindle. Mighty Jackie is a fun historical fiction story about female pitcher, Jackie Mitchell. Be sure to ask your child about this exciting story!
In writing this week, we will publish our first stories of the year. We've been editing, and students are ready for publication! I love seeing their creativity as they write!
Spelling words for this week are:
Regular List: choose, kitchen, marching, touch, chatter, sketched, chant, chance, branch, hitch
Challenge List: occasionally, intention, responsibility, determined, laughable, suggested, sketched, physical, legendary, snickered
All should study: ketchup, cheap, chopped, latch, chef, patch, snatch, arch, stretching, pitcher, stove, goal, mows, chemical, checkers
Goals/I CAN . . .
-explain how an author creates a mood in a story.
-make inferences as I read.
-explain the difference between first and third person point of view.
-publish a piece of writing.
-correct run-ons and fragments.
Coming up . . .
-Tuesday September 30th is our Art Museum field trip! Please pack a lunch as we'll be eating in Cincinnati.
-Our first conference night is October 2nd. We look forward to meeting with you!
-Book Fair is October 6th during our regular library time.
Thanks so much for sharing your awesome children with me! They are working hard and making me smile every day!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
September 19, 2014
Hello Families!
We had a great week studying character, setting, and plot! We accomplished so much! Great work, students! Thanks for all of your support at home too. You are wonderful!
This week is a review week. There is a homework packet, but it does not have a spelling list. There is no spelling test this week so that students can focus on reading and vocabulary for the unit test. This packet contains practice sheets for the main skills covered on our unit test: character traits, main idea/details, simile/metaphor, and conflict/resolution. The packet acts as a study guide, but we'll also review in class before the test. The test will take place Wednesday or Thursday depending on our readiness.
We'll also complete some fun student goal-based reading extension projects in class this week. Students will choose these based on the skills they either need to perfect or to be challenged with. We'll look at our goals from the last four weeks for this. We'll do the work in class, but students may bring in materials from home if they would like. Most students choose to complete these projects with their independent reading material, but I will provide articles or other sources if needed. A rubric will come home so you can see how well your child does! This is always a fun way for students to extend their learning as well as incorporate other forms of art or media. I'm excited to see what they do!
In writing, we'll be editing our first round of stories. We'll look at spelling, punctuation, grammar, run-ons and fragments. Students will conference with me and with their peers to edit their stories.
Goals/I CAN . . .
-identify the conflict and resolution of a story.
-explain the main idea and details of a selection.
-identify and explain similes and metaphors.
-identify and support character traits.
-edit my writing for clarity.
-use context clues to define unknown words.
Coming up . . .
September 25th is Literacy Night from 6-8pm.
Our Art Museum trip is September 30th. Thanks for getting those permission slips and the 3.75 fee turned in. I really appreciate it, and I think only a few are still out.
Conference confirmation letters will come home early next week. Thanks for meeting with us! We're excited to discuss your child's progress!
Have a wonderful weekend, and don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
September 12, 2014
Hello Families,
Our week was great! These students are adjusting well to fourth grade, and I am enjoying them!! We covered main idea and details, and overall students did very well. This week's test was difficult, and most students handled the challenge well. I did go over the test individually with students who struggled, and those students had the chance to earn back extra points. If you see two grades on your child's test, this is the reason. The higher of the two is the one in Progress Book. We'll revisit main idea before our unit test which is coming in about two weeks.
This week in reading we'll look at character, setting, and plot through The Raft. Some students will continue to read Frindle as well, focusing on the same skills. When we discuss character traits, students are always asked to support traits with story details. In fact, supporting answers with story details is something we'll talk about all year. If you talk about what your children are reading at home, it's great if you can encourage this. You can ask them what they're reading, what the character's traits are, and how they know.
In writing this week we're working to complete a draft of choice with a beginning, middle, and end. We'll begin the revision process, working to make sure our writing makes sense and has all the appropriate details. We'll also look at combining sentences with commas as well as using commas in a series.
Spelling words for this week are:
Regular List: goal, mole, stone, stove, chose, own, fold, flow, mold, toll
Challenge List: beautiful, potion, magician, accidentally, unusual, eerie, carefully, experiment, detail, useful
All should study: groan, stole, foam, mows, roasting, lower, sole, blown, bolt, quote, kite, shy, climb, coaster, motor
If your child is struggling with the challenge list, please feel free to switch to the regular list. I would rather have students focus on reading challenges than spelling challenges.
Goals/I CAN . . .
-analyze the characters, setting and plot of a story.
-determine character traits and support them with story details.
-answer literal and inferential questions as I read.
-use context clues to determine the meaning of unknown words.
-revise my writing to make sure it makes sense.
-use commas and conjunctions to combine sentences.
-use commas in a series.
Looking Ahead . . .
-Literacy Night is September 25th. Please RSVP if you'll be coming! A form was sent home last week. Thanks!
-Fall conference forms are being sent home today. Please return those by Wednesday if at all possible. Thanks so much!
Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns. I am happy to talk with you! I love working with your children!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
September 5, 2014
Hello Families,
We've had another great week! I'm so excited about the progress students are making. They are working hard and being respectful, so I couldn't ask for more! Thanks so much for all you do to support us at home. We appreciate it!
In reading, we focused on the mystery genre this week as we studied conflict/resolution, plot, and inferences. All students read The Mystery of the Missing Lunch and some started the novel, Frindle. Just to clarify, we all study the same standards, but if I see that a student has mastered a standard, I'll often give that student a more challenging book or activity. This could change with each skill covered, so students move in and out of those groups based on individual needs. Please don't hesitate to ask if you have questions.
In writing this week we focused on types of sentences: statement, question, command, exclamation. This will continue this week through our writing unit. We're working to build a base of writing ideas this week. Students are starting several stories and will eventually choose one to publish. They'll conference with peers and with me to become better writers.
Spelling words for the coming week are:
Regular List: pale, face, crate, clay, stray, cane, slate, today, bail, rail
Challenge List: painstaking, adaptation, frustration, climate, academic, creature, accomplish, system, millionaire, weird
All should study: break, ache, drain, faint, flame, claim, steak, neigh, mane, graze, grim, plum, cash, neighbor, railway
Goals/I CAN . . .
-explain the main idea and important details in a selection.
-identify the types of sentences and use correct end punctuation.
-spell long a words.
-build a writing community.
Coming up . . .
-MAP testing is Tuesday and Thursday. Please come well-rested and well- fed :).
-G.R.E.A.T. starts with Sergeant Shobe (Gang Resistance Education and Training)
-Picture Day is September 11th.
-Literacy Night is September 25th. (flyer sent this week)
Thanks for sharing your children with me! Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns. I'm so happy to work with all of you!
Maria Balfour
August 28, 2014
Hello Families!
Our second week has been a great one!
We’re beginning to feel more settled, and we even learned some reading
comprehension strategies! We discussed how good readers make connections,
visualize, and predict among other things. We practiced these skills with Thank You, Mr. Falker and our
independent reading books. We also completed a vocabulary and comprehension
activity that made for our first grades. Overall, students did a great job, and
I’m so excited to see how far they’ll go this
year!
Our first spelling test was today, and I’ll have that graded by
Tuesday when we return. The new homework packet is coming home today as well,
and that is due next Thursday. Thanks for having your child read nightly for
twenty minutes as well.
Based on a spelling pretest, I’ve decided to do a regular and
enrichment list this week for spelling. Your child received the appropriate list
today based on his or her pretest
score.
Regular spelling words include: sum, flat, plum, bell, grim,
plot, band, bluff, dock, blot, odd, left, cash, mill, past, shelf, wealth,
crunch, hint, build, snack, step, pond, heavy,
shovel
Enrichment words include: materials, communication, suspicious,
community, attendance, absent, excited, their, there, they’re, odd, left, cash,
mill, past, shelf, wealth, crunch, hint, build, snack, step, pond, heavy,
shovel
Looking Ahead . . .
There is NO SCHOOL Friday (the
29th) due to teacher in
service, and there is NO SCHOOL Monday due to Labor
Day.
Thanks so much for sharing your amazing children! I’m enjoying
getting to know all of them, and I know we’ll have a great
year!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Tuesday May 27, 2014
Hi Families!
We had an AMAZING time at our Cincinnati Field Trip last week! I am so impressed with how well each and every student behaved on the trip. They were polite, respectful, and had a GREAT time learning about baseball and statistics. We also had some fun eating lunch at a nearby park and touring the stadium. We couldn't have asked for better weather OR a better game! Most of all, I felt such a sense of community as 300 North students, family members, teachers, and Mrs. Hayes gathered in our section to cheer our Cincinnati Reds to victory! It was just awesome, and the smiles on the faces of your children were priceless. Many, many thanks to all of you who entrusted your children to us for this trip, and many, MANY thanks to our incredible chaperones! We could not have done it without you! I hope it's a day everyone will remember fondly forever; I know I will!
This week will be BUSY and fun! Our Fourth Grade Social is Tuesday! Please remember sunscreen, bathing suits (one piece or full-coverage tankini for girls), snacks to share (fruit for Balfour/Bergen homerooms), and a change of clothes if you want to be sprayed with the fire hose! Thanks so much to Mrs. Splawn and all of the parents who are working so hard to make this day fun! We're excited! Also, please wear your t-shirts!
This week we also have fourth grade awards on Friday at 1:15 pm. If your child is receiving a specific award, a letter came home last week. Everyone will receive a completion certificate.
Academically, we'll spend some time with our novels. Most students should be able to finish before next week, but those who don't will have some great summer reading material :)! We'll also have a visit from WCPO meteorologist Mr. Larry Handley this Wednesday. This is always a fun and educational presentation. Mr. Ed VonBargen presented for us about chemistry last week, and the students thoroughly enjoyed that too! There is no spelling or homework this week for language arts.
This will probably be my last official newsletter for the year. I can't thank you enough for sharing your beautiful, smart, amazing children with me. I'm not ready for them to move to fifth grade, but they are ready! They'll make super fifth graders! I hope to see all of you around town this summer as well as next year to visit! If there's ever anything I can do to help your children or you, please let me know. I have been so blessed to spend this year with all of you. Thank you for supporting your children, our school, and me. I am so incredibly grateful!
I hope to see all of you at one or more of our activities this week, but if I don't, have a safe and fun-filled summer!
Sincerely and Gratefully,
Maria Balfour
Monday May 19, 2014
Welcome back to our last five-day week! I can't believe it! We have a full week this week, four days next, and one day the following.
This week there is no spelling or reading homework packet. We just have too many events and field trips! In between all of that, we will work on the novels which some are finishing. I think they're really enjoying the opportunity to learn from and discuss these books.
I think what will be most helpful for this newsletter is to give you upcoming dates. Here they are!
May 19th is our Intermediate School Field trip. Permission slips will come home
soon! Parents are welcome to meet us at FIS at 9:30 and tour with the students.
Students will take a bus to FIS.
-4th Grade Field Day- May 22nd
-Also on May 22nd, we'll have a tree planting ceremony in
honor of Emmee Kauffman. This is at school at 4pm.
-Cincinnati Field Trip- May 23rd! Chaperone letters came home as well as information letters to parents.
-4th Grade Social- May 27th- Permission slips were sent home this week.
-4th Grade Awards May 30th
Hopefully this helps! I hope everyone has an amazing week! I know I'm excited about it!
Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday May 12, 2014
We made it through OAA week, and I am so impressed with the effort of these students! They worked hard!
Now we get to spend time enjoying some novels! We have quite a selection with students reading novels including Because of Winn-Dixie, Frindle, The Bad Beginning, The Mysterious Benedict Society, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, The Castle in the Attic, and The Lightning Thief. Students are working through a combination of teacher and student-created questions. We'll use these novels to cover all of our fourth grade reading comprehension skills in preparation for fifth grade. This will most likely take us through the end of the year.
Spelling words for this week are:
Regular List: robin, button, bacon, reason, cotton, sunken, eleven, cousin, woven, raisin
Challenge List: popular, confusion, tomorrow, abbreviation, performance, dedicated, devoured, majestic, science, miniscule
All should study cannon, muffin, widen, wooden, ridden, common, proven, often, penguin, skeleton, medal, pupil, paddle, violin, vitamin
Our list of important dates is as follows . . .
-May 12th is the evening performance of Annie Jr. at North. It starts at 6:30pm. We saw it this past week, and it's wonderful!!
-May 19th is our Intermediate School Field trip. Permission slips will come home
soon! Parents are welcome to meet us at FIS at 9:30 and tour with the students.
Students will take a bus to FIS.
-4th Grade Field Day- May 22nd
-Also on May 22nd, we'll have a tree planting ceremony in
honor of Emmee Kauffman. This is at school at 4pm.
-Cincinnati Field Trip- May 23rd! Chaperone letters came home as well as information letters to parents.
-4th Grade Social- May 27th- Permission slips were sent home this week.
-4th Grade Awards May 30th
With so many events coming up, the rest of the year will fly! It's always bittersweet for me. I'll miss these students so much, but I know they're ready to be successful fifth graders!
Have a wonderful week, and please don't hesistate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincererly,
Maria Balfour
Monday May 5, 2014
I can't believe it's May!! I'm going to start this newsletter with dates because there are so many!
Looking Ahead . . .
4th Grade Parents mark your calendars for
May 8th to attend the Intermediate
School Orientation. Event is at FIS
from 6-8pm.
-4th Grade Reading OAA is May
5th
-4th Grade Math OAA is May 6th. Thanks for helping your
child to come to school well-rested and well-fed on those days and every
day! Due to elections, we will eat lunch in our rooms on May 6th. Students can buy cheese and crackers and fruit if needed.
-May 19th is our Intermediate School Field trip. Permission slips will come home soon! Parent are welcome to meet us at FIS at 9:30 and tour with the students. Students will take a bus to FIS.
-4th Grade Field Day- May 22nd
-Also on May 22nd, we'll have a tree planting ceremony in honor of Emmee Kauffman. This is at school at 4pm.
-Cincinnati Field Trip- May 23rd!
-4th Grade Social- May 27th- Permission slips will come home soon about this as well.
-4th Grade Awards May 30th
Election Day is Tuesday, May 6!
Every vote counts, so don't miss this
opportunity to cast YOUR vote!
Our big event this week is the OAA! Students are ready!! We'll test Monday and Tuesday. Your child will be given a Nutri-grain bar before testing, but a great breakfast is appreciated as well! Anything you can do to make sure they're well-rested is wonderful, too! We are so blessed to have such great kids with such supportive parents. We are going to rock this test and it's going to be great! Thanks so much for all you do!
There is no homework this week. After testing, we'll have Junior Achievement and will start new novel groups. Students are excited about this!
Have a great week, and please contact me with questions or concerns.
Monday April 28, 2014
We had a busy week! Congratulations to the entire fourth grade on a wonderful musical and chorus concert! I thoroughly enjoyed it!!
This week we'll spend time reviewing a variety of skills in preparation for next week's OAA. The students know the skills! Now it's just a matter of reading carefully and answering exactly what is asked. I have complete faith that they'll put their skills and strategies to work and do an amazing job! We'll read a variety of fiction and nonfiction this week to prepare.
In writing, we'll work more on our opinion pieces, discussing whether or not kids should watch TV on school nights. Students who finish this piece will have the opportunity to choose a topic of their own.
Spelling words for this week are:
Regular List: above, cancel, remind, gather, between, unfold, tender, action, monster, chamber
Challenge List: reinforcement, capability, extraneous, elementary, intermediate, habitat, business, capital, structured, repetition
All should study: petal, woman, weeder, frosty, clipper, tutor, poster, behave, relate, excite, diver, finish, spoken, another, remember
Goals/I CAN . . .
-show my understanding of fourth grade reading skills!
-write an opinion piece.
Looking Ahead . . .
4th Grade Parents mark your calendars for May 8th to attend the Intermediate
School Orientation. Event is at FIS from 6-8pm.
-4th Grade Reading OAA is May 5th
-4th Grade Math OAA is May 6th. Thanks for helping your child to come to school well-rested and well-fed on those days and every day!
-4th Grade Field Day- May 22nd
-Cincinnati Field Trip- May 23rd!
-4th Grade Social- May 27th
-4th Grade Awards May 30th
Election Day is Tuesday, May 6! Every vote counts, so don't miss this
opportunity to cast YOUR vote!
Wow! The end of the year is a busy time!
Have a great week, and don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday April 21, 2014
I hope all of you enjoyed this beautiful weekend!
This week we'll review compare/contrast through the story At Home in the Coral Reef. Students usually enjoy this nonfiction article that takes place under and around the ocean. We'll also tie in some additional nonfiction articles and work to read closely for details.
In writing we'll take a break from functional writing to write an opinion piece. Students will be asked to support opinion pieces with facts and feelings. All of this writing will take place in class. We'll also head to the computer lab to continue our keyboarding program. If your child has been practicing a lot at home, he/she may have completed the program. If that's the case, we'll put those skills to work typing an individual piece.
Spelling words for this week:
Regular List: walker, laws, chalk, stalk, bald, caught, drawn, halt, strawberry, fought
Challenge List: gawking, Australia, Equator, applause, sausage, awfully, fraught, nautical
All should study: caller, half, straw, small, thought, talking, awe, shawl, false, squall, south, pouch, annoy, wallpaper, awkward
Goals/I CAN . . .
-compare and contrast as I read.
-write an opinion piece, supporting it with facts and my feelings.
-demonstrate knowledge of fourth grade reading skills.
Looking Ahead . . .
-OAA dates are May 5th (reading) and 6th (math).
-4th Grade Concert Tuesday evening!
Also, here's a reminder from Fairfield Intermediate School:
-Cincinnati Field Trip May 23rd
We're entering that time of the year when we have a mix of testing and other events that often change our schedule. I'll do my best to let everyone know when everything is happening, but I wanted to especially let our parent volunteers know. It will probably be best if we don't have parent volunteers the week of the OAA. Our schedule will be altered that week, so I wouldn't want to have someone come in and then not be able to work with the students. I can't say enough how much I appreciate our volunteers! You help the students and me more than I can ever express!
Have a wonderful week, and please contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday April 14, 2014
We had a great and productive first week back from the break! Now we have another short week! Students have school on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday only due to teacher in-service and Good Friday.
We'll spend our short work reviewing one of the tougher skills of the year, text structure. Students are working to understand how an author has structured a text such as problem-solution, cause-effect, compare-contrast, sequence (ordered steps), or chronological (timeline). An entire text may have a solid structure, or different paragraphs within a text may have a set structure. We'll read a nonfiction article, The Life and Times of an Ant, to practice this skill. Then we'll take a short quiz over it. We'll also be looking at Greek word parts this week. There are two homework papers about this in the packet, and students should know the meanings of the word parts in the packet. We'll take a short quiz over those as well.
There is no spelling this week due to the short week. Students should still be reading 20 minutes nightly. They have set fourth quarter reading counts goals of a minimum of 25 points or 15 points for reading center students. Students who attend intervention two or three times a week have a goal of 20 points. Of course students can always set a higher goal if they would like! I have offered an incentive as well for students who meet their goals, and they are given regular reminders of where they are. Thanks for encouraging this at home!
Goals/I CAN . . .
-identify the structure of a text.
-define Greek word parts: astro (star), ology (study), bio (life), dino (terrifying), tele (far), scope (see), naut (sailor), saur (lizard).
-review fourth grade skills through Mario World.
Looking Ahead . . .
-NO SCHOOL for students this Thursday or Friday.
-OAA dates for fourth grade are: May 5th- Reading and May 6th- Math. Thanks for helping your child to be well-rested as well as get a good breakfast on those dates.
-Spring Pictures are Tuesday the 15th.
Don't forget you can vote early at the Butler County Board of Elections, open daily from 8-5.
Have a wonderful week! Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday April 7, 2014
Welcome back! I hope all of you had a wonderful break!
This week we'll explore theme through an excerpt of A Cricket in Times Square. Students usually love this story! We always remember that the theme is the lesson in the story, and of course we have a song to help us. :)
As we continue our Reading Skills Challenge, I've been reminding students that they should have finished four challenges at this point. That would leave three weeks to complete the remaining six challenges. Students are allowed to work on the challenges any time they complete classwork early, and there are days when I carve out time for this as well. All students who complete the challenge will get a special treat after the challenge in May. The challenges help students to prepare for fifth grade as well as the OAA.
Spelling words for this week are homophones, so the homework packet looks a little different. Students are to choose three out of four activities to help them learn the words and their meanings: 1. Write each word and its definition. 2. Write a story using each word. 3. Write each word and draw a picture to help you remember what it means. 4. Use each word in a sentence that shows its meaning, and underline the spelling words.
Regular List: root, tale, wade, tail, prince, dough, moose, prints, we've, weave
Challenge List: break, brake, merry, marry, bazaar, bizarre, bridle, bridal, affect, effect
All should study: whose, route, who's, boulder, weighed, patience, bolder, doe, mousse, patients, cotton, muffin, eleven, straight, strait
In writing, we'll wrap up poetry this week. If time allows, we'll begin a unit on functional writing. Some examples of this include brochures, recipes, lists, and flyers.
Goals/I CAN . . .
-identify a story's theme.
-explain the meaning of homophones and spell them correctly.
-review fourth grade reading skills.
-revise/edit a poem of my own choice.
Looking Ahead . . .
-Spring pictures will be taken April 15th.
-There is no school for students April 16th or 17th due to teacher inservice and observation of Good Friday.
The district Bond Issue information to be shared for this week is as follows: Fairfield Bond Issue replaces Freshman/Central and builds a new elementary. Kids stay in their elementary grades K-5. Smaller enrollment grades 6-8.
Thanks so much for sharing your children with me! I hope everyone has a wonderful week! Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday March 24, 2014
Hello Families,
Welcome to this week leading up to Spring Break! We will be busy with a review of main idea and summarizing! We finished unit five last week, and overall students did very well on the assessment. Those should have come home Friday. After each assessment, I talk with students individually to review their misunderstandings. If you're able to do that at home too, it would be so helpful.
This week we'll read some nonfiction articles to review main idea and summarizing. Students will be asked to identify important information in the articles and summarize that information in sequence. We may also take a closer look at text structure if time allows.
Spelling words for this week are the same for all students. I think the regular list is a challenge itself, so I decided not to add a challenge list.
All should study: discourage, disappoint, disbelief, distrust, disloyal, misplace, mislabel, mislead, misstep, misnumber, nonfat, nonfiction, nonsense, nonstop, unable, unplug, uncertain, uncomfortable, uncover, unclean, prince, weighed, bolder, mishap, unravel. These words are also a good opportunity to review how prefixes change words. Students should understand that mis= wrongly or badly, un= not, non= not, and dis= lack of.
In writing, we'll edit and publish our feeling poems. We'll also conference with partners to make sure we're including all of the right items in our pattern poems.
Goals/I CAN . . .
- determine the main idea of a passage.
-summarize what I read in correct sequence.
-understand how prefixes change words.
-edit a poem.
Looking Ahead . . .
-Book Fair is Monday for the Balfour homeroom and Tuesday for Ms. Bergen's class.
-We will receive a visit from the Red's Museum Friday to learn about broadcasting and statistics!
-Spring Break begins at the end of the day Friday! School resumes on April 7th.
-Spring Pictures will be taken on April 15th. More information will follow.
The district will be sharing some voter information in the upcoming weeks. The Bond Issue for Fairfield Schools will be on the May 6
ballot. Register to vote by April 7.
I just want to say again how much I love working with your children and your families! I am so grateful to know all of you! Please have a safe and relaxing break with your families. I probably won't write another newsletter until we return on the 7th of April. In the meantime, don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday March 17, 2014
Hi Families! Thanks so much to all who have returned the slips and final payments for our May 23rd field trip. Hopefully you received the letter last week explaining what you have paid and what you still owe for your child, if anything. Thanks for returning those by Thursday! If you have questions, please ask! I also indicated whether or not you are a chaperone on the form. Thanks so much, chaperones! We'll be having a chaperone meeting as the trip gets closer.
This is a review week for reading. We will cover the skills of making inferences/drawing conclusions, cause/effect, simile/metaphor, and combining information from two texts to write about a topic. We'll test over these skills Thursday if our week goes as planned. Your child's homework for this week is a review packet that also acts as a study guide.
In writing we'll continue our poetry unit. We're finalizing our "feeling" poems through conferences. We'll also continue exploring other types of poetry. Your child should be able to list several characteristics of poetry as well as identify those characteristics in a poem. A few of these include: rhyme, rhythm, stanzas, use of incorrect grammar, and repetition.
We'll also be starting a class-wide, friendly competition this week in reading! Students will complete a series of reading challenges to earn points and the chance to win prizes. This will help students to refine fourth grade skills in preparation for fifth grade and the OAA. All students who complete the entire challenge will receive a special treat in May. This reading challenge will last through the end of April, and all of it will be completed in class.
Goals/I CAN . . .
-describe characters in detail.
-make inferences/draw conclusions as I read.
-explain cause/effect relationships.
-identify and explain similes and metaphors.
-use context clues to define unknown words.
-write a poem that follows a pattern.
-combine information from two texts to write about a topic.
Looking Ahead . . .
-Book Fair is March 24th for my homeroom and March 25th for Mrs. Bergen's homeroom.
-Friday the 21st is "Dress-up/Fancy Day."
-On March 28th our classes will get a special visit from a Red's Museum employee. He'll help to prepare us for our field trip by talking about broadcasting and statistics, two things we'll experience at our May trip.
-Spring Break is March 31st-April 4th!
-OAA dates have changed. The OAA will be May 5th (Reading) and 6th (Math) for fourth graders.
Have a wonderful week, and don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday March 10, 2014
Hi Families!
Last week we practiced character inferences and began to study cause and effect. This week we'll spend more time with cause and effect as well as work to integrate texts on a topic to write about that topic. We'll read the narrative nonfiction story, Wild Horses as well as a variety of other cause and effect articles to help us practice these skills.
In writing we'll continue our poetry unit as we begin to write our own poems. Be sure to ask your child about our group "feeling" poems. They came up with some creative ways to describe feelings through poetry! We'll also continue to examine the characteristics of poetry.
Spelling words this week are:
Regular List: uncle, turtle, total, pencil, oral, pebble, channel, local, paddle, pupil
Challenge List: irresponsible, unreliable, believable, annual, definitely, desert, dessert, carnival, recycle, feasible
All should study: symbol, medal, bubble, settle, vessel, bugle, pedal, special, ankle, docile, barber, anchor, cheddar, animal, snorkel
Goals/I CAN . . .
-explain cause and effect relationships.
-combine information on a topic from two sources in order to write about that topic.
-use context clues to define unfamiliar words.
-explore characteristics of poetry.
-follow a poetry pattern to write poetry.
Looking Ahead . . .
-The second installment of our Red's Museum/Cincinnati History field trip payment is due March 20th. If you need a reminder of how much you owe, please let me know. If you paid $25 the first time and didn't request additional tickets, the remainder would be $25. Thanks so much! We had enough parents request extra tickets that we are checking with Great American Ballpark to see if we can purchase additional seats. As soon as we know, I'll let you know who will be getting tickets. We are working to accommodate everyone. Thanks so much for your patience as we finalize numbers and try to get those tickets.
-The MadCap Puppets are coming for a visit Monday the 10th! We can't wait to see their show!
-Book Fair is approaching the week of March 24th! The Balfour homeroom will visit Monday of that week and Ms. Bergen's class will visit Tuesday. More information will follow soon!
Finally, thanks so much to all who helped to make North's Carnival a success! I enjoyed seeing many of you there, and it looked like everyone had a great time! I know my kids had a blast eating pizza and winning prizes!
I'm looking forward to another great week! Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday March 3, 2014
Wow! It is March!?! How did that happen? We had a very busy week with lots of action and activity! As we studied drama, we had four plays presented in class. Students should be able to name the characteristics of a drama in their sleep by now: cast of characters, lines for dialogue, scenes, and stage directions to name the big differences between drama and prose. Most of all, we discussed that plays are written with the intent of performance. The actors and directors have to make inferences in order to portray a character on stage. I loved this short unit, and I think the students had a great time too. Many said, "I wish we read plays all the time!" Some even wrote their own Balto plays as we researched and learned about the Iditarod. Now they're really ready to tackle that topic from a math and science standpoint!
This week we'll go back to prose as we read realistic fiction story Me and Uncle Romie. We'll study character, setting, and plot as well as cause and effect. Some students are reading novels this week too, including Castle in the Attic and Freedom Train. We'll tie our skills in with all the different pieces of literature. The more you can have your child identify cause-effect at home, the better they'll understand it in reading. We'll focus on the clue words that signal cause and effect, such as because, so that, in order to, etc. I always stress that the cause makes something happen, and the effect is what happens. Thanks for working on this at home!
We wrapped up our research paper unit last week. I learned so much about the different countries from the students' papers. This week we'll begin a poetry writing unit. We'll explore characteristics of poetry and try writing our own.
Spelling Words are . . .
Regular List: grocer, pepper, barber, grader, polar, tanker, singer, enter, odor, collar
Challenge List: generosity, entrance, barbecue, glorious, collage, college, odorous, grocery, qualification, monetary
All should study: zipper, powder, danger, cheddar, popular, harbor, anchor, elevator, daughter, victor, cancel, behave, tender, conductor, waiter
Goals/I CAN . . .
-describe the characters, setting, and plot of a story.
-identify and explain cause-effect relationships.
-explore characteristics of poetry.
-use context clues to define new words.
Looking Ahead . . .
-We're still collecting Pringles cans for the carnival. Thank you!
-Carnival is this Friday! I hope to see everyone there!
Have a great week, and don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday February 24, 2014
Hello Families,
I was very excited about the results of the Unit 4 Assessment! Students are making great progress with the skills! I reviewed missed items one-on-one with everyone, and if you could go over that with your children too that would be great! I try to write both praise notes and "work on it" notes on tests so the students keep doing what they're already doing well. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!
This week we'll compare drama (play) and prose as we read the drama Ranita the Frog Princess. We'll determine what makes a play different from other genres, and we'll even do a little performing of our own in class to reinforce those concepts. We'll also talk about how themes are portrayed in different types of literature. I teach students that a theme is a lesson. It often helps them to see how characters change throughout a story as well as what the main characters learn throughout a story. This will almost always lead them to a more universal theme within the story.
We're also excited about the Alaskan Iditarod! We'll be joining in the math, science, and social studies fun as we read the novel Balto and the Great Race. This novel tells the story of the original Iditarod, and it has some great themes which we'll discuss! I know Ms. Bergen included it in her newsletter, but if you'd like to see what it's all about, you can visit www.iditarod.com.
In writing, we are wrapping up our country research papers. Students have had time to type in class, and this week we'll work on editing and publishing. Students have found some very interesting facts! I also think researching and writing about the African American inventors really helped with the organization and structure of this research paper on countries.
Spelling words are:
Regular List: river, level, never, talent, radar, limit, diver, finish, spoken, famous
Challenge List: liquid, portrait, parakeet, inflatable, privately, spectacular, oppose, nuisance, quotation, headache
All should study: cabin, wiper, habit, bison, cider, stolen, promise, razor, pity, easel, swallow, plastic, rumbles, sequence, vivid
Goals/I CAN . . .
-explain the difference between drama and prose.
-determine the theme of a drama or story.
-edit a research paper.
-use a computer to type a research paper.
-identify antonyms.
Looking Ahead . . .
-We are still collecting carnival basket donations. All items are appreciated, but our theme is Outdoor Fun.
-The carnival is March 7th in the evening from 5-9pm. I hope to see you there! Thanks to all who are working on this!
The following is from Mrs. Splawn regarding the Fourth Grade Social . . .
ATTENTION FOURTH GRADE PARENTS:
Recently a form came home asking for volunteers for the 4th grade social. We need help planning and implementing this fun day for our kids. If you are not aware of what the 4th grade social is; it is a day of celebration for our 4th graders as they are approaching their last days at FF North. We swim, we play, we eat and there is a lot of socializing!! None of it can be done without the help of many volunteers and a lot of planning! If you can't help with the planning and want to help on the day of; which is Tuesday May 27th (ALL DAY,) please send in your form and I will make sure to take note of it.
We will have a planning meeting for the 4th grade social on Thursday February 27th @ 6:45 pm in the teachers lounge. If you would like to help us plan this fun event for our kids please join us then! If you have any questions, you are welcome to email me at [email protected].
Have a great week, and don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Tuesday February 17, 2014
Hello Families,
We actually had a five day week!! Of course it's followed by another four day week! I hope you all enjoyed the long weekend.
We are coming up on the end of our fourth reading unit. The homework packet for this week will also act as a unit four study guide. This week in class, we'll review poetry, problem/solution, sequence, making inferences, and homographs. We'll read several short stories and nonfiction articles to practice these skills, and the test should be Thursday. There is no spelling this week so we can focus on our reading review.
In writing, we'll continue to work on our country research papers. Most students completed rough drafts this week, so hopefully we'll be heading to the computer lab to publish them this week. We typed the African American Inventor papers last week, and I was impressed at the amount of typing students could complete in a short time. I think our keyboarding lessons must be working! Great job to everyone! The projects were awesome!
We've also been taking some time to review parts of speech. Run-on sentences and sentence fragments are common at this age, but we're working to fix that. We spent lots of time talking about subjects and predicates, and then we also more closely examined nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Students should know that a sentence needs a subject and predicate to be complete. We'll keep spending a few minutes a week on grammar, but most of our grammar work is done directly in writing time.
Goals/I CAN . . .
-make inferences/draw conclusions.
-identify the problem and solution in a story.
-select and sequence important story events.
-choose the correct homograph.
-determine the rhyming pattern of a poem.
-organize and publish a nonfiction paper.
--write in complete sentences.
-vary sentence structure in writing.
Thanks so much to all who helped with our Valentine's Day party! It was a blast!! It was also fun to see so many of you at North's Amazing Race. I loved the chorus performance as well as all the others, and I tried some delicious foods! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!
Looking Ahead . . .
-We're still collecting carnival basket donations. Thanks so much for your help with this!
-Author Will Hillenbrand will visit this Thursday!!
-The carnival is March 7th!
Have a great week, and please contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday February 10, 2014
Hi Families!
I'm hoping for a full week this week! Let's see if the weather cooperates!
This week in reading we'll continue to draw conclusions/make inferences with the fantasy story Dear Mrs. LaRue. The students typically love this humorous tale of a dog who gets into some trouble! We'll also continue to describe characters and setting in detail as we compare this story to another humorous fiction story from earlier in the year. Comparing is an important skill this year, so we'll be tying that in wherever possible.
In writing, students have chosen their countries and have also spent some time in the computer lab researching. We also have a collection of books in the classroom that students can use for research. A few students have even visited the library and brought in books on their own! Thanks so much to those who have taken the time to do that. I'm learning so much about countries alongside the students, and it's been fun to hear all of the interesting facts! We will now begin piecing together these nonfiction papers using the notes taken in research. Students are asked to write a (minimum) five paragraph nonfiction paper. We've written one together as a class to model this. The paper will have an opening paragraph, three detail paragraphs with facts chosen by students, and a closing paragraph. We've talked about topic sentences and organization a lot lately, and the students are doing well! The writing is all being done in class.
Spelling words for this week are mostly -ed and -ing endings:
Regular List: tasted, ripping, forced, flipping, tapped, flipped, cared, flagged, ripped, skipped
Challenge List: exaggerated, privilege, worrying, license, absence, separated, interesting, beginning, exhausting, escaping
All should study: tapping, saved, skipping, caring, flagging, discussed, saving, tasting, forcing, discussing, bedspread, desktop, snowstorm, outwitted, underscoring
Goals/I CAN . . .
-draw conclusions/make inferences as I read.
-describe the setting and characters in detail.
-compare themes across stories.
-gather facts for research.
-organize a research paper (expository nonfiction).
-identify and use prepositions in my writing.
Looking Ahead . . .
-North's Amazing Race is this Thursday from 6pm-8pm. It will be a great time! I hope to see you there!
-Valentine parties are Friday the 14th from 2pm-3pm. Thanks to all who are helping with this event!
-There is NO SCHOOL Monday, February 17th, President's Day.
-We are still collecting for carnival baskets. Our theme is "Outdoor Fun/Sports," but all donations are appreciated!
-Pennies for Pasta runs this week and next. Thanks for donating your spare change to the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society.
-Please continue to turn in your Red's Museum permission slips and payments. Thank you!!
-Keep up the great work on those visual aids for the African American Inventor projects. We'll write the paper in class, but the visual is due by Thursday.
I think that sums it up!! Have a wonderful week, and don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns. I feel so privileged to work with your children and you!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday February 3, 2014
Is it really February?!? I can't believe how quickly time flies! I hope you all enjoyed the weekend!
This week we'll be reading the realistic fiction story Blind Hunter, which takes place in Africa. It's an interesting story, and it also has an interesting theme. Be sure to ask you child about it! We'll cover the skill of drawing conclusions (making inferences), as well as describe the characters and setting in detail. One way you can help at home is to have your child point out story details in his/her independent reading that describe the characters or setting. We'll be looking for those types of details in class a lot this week, and we'll use those details to draw conclusions. This is a tough skill for students, and they often need reminders that drawing a conclusion is not restating what is directly stated in the story, but rather using what we've read to make assumptions.
Spelling words are mostly inflected ending "y to i" words:
Regular List: funnier, families, pennies, worried, replied, varied, marries, carries, easily, silliest
Challenge List: similarities, possibilities, livelier, filthiest, cleanliness, worthiest, simplest, crazier, clothesline, paperweight
All should study: jumpier, merrier, cries, cozily, sorriest, prettily, lazier, happiest, dizziest, caring, tasting, skipped, handily, factories
In writing we'll continue to research different countries. This past week we worked on note-taking as we read a variety of books. We also wrote a research paper on Scotland and discussed different ways to structure this type of paper. Students will most likely be choosing their own countries in the next week or two.
As we work on research, we'll be completing a joint language arts/science project. Information about this will come home Monday. This project on African American inventors will tie in well with Black History Month. The research and writing portion of the project will be completed in school. The visual aid will be mostly homework. The sheet coming home will explain the project in more detail as well as provide a rubric for each part of the project. Feel free to ask questions! We hope this project will be educational, informative, and fun!
Looking Ahead . . .
Conferences are Thursday, February 6th. We have contacted those with whom we'd like to meet. If you would like a conference, though, please let us know.
North's Amazing Race is Thursday, February 13th from 6-8pm. This will be a great evening about countries all over the world! Hope to see you there!
Carnival basket donations are greatly appreciated! Our theme is outdoor fun, but all types of donations will be counted toward our class's contributions for the school-wide contest.
Our Valentine's Day party is February 14th from 2pm-3pm. Thanks to all who have offered help!
Field trip information about our Red's Museum/Cincinnati outing came home last week. Even though the trip is in May, we need to collect the permission slip and first payment by February 20th in order to secure seats. Thanks so much for your help in turning these in as soon as possible.
Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns. Have a wonderful week!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday January 27, 2014
I hope all of you are staying warm!!
Due to the short week last week, we'll be doing some catching up this week! We got a good start on Adelina's Whales. We spent time sequencing and summarizing as well as determining the parts of a story that are important enough to include in a summary. I'm finding this is a big difference between the third and fourth grade standards. In third grade, students spent time sequencing given events, but in fourth they are asked to determine which story events are important enough to include in a summary. One strategy we've been using is to look for events that move the main action of the story forward. These are the events that are usually important when sequencing and summarizing. We'll continue to practice that skill as well as look at text structures in the coming week.
The spelling packet came home Friday, and it's a little different. There are 20 words that are commonly misspelled by fourth graders, and students should choose three of the four activities listed on the sheet to practice the spelling words.
Challenge Words: useful, whether, thoughtfulness, thorough
Regular List: use, when, threw, through
All should study: to, too, two, a lot, there, their, they're, where, were, we're, our, are, I'm, won't, friendly, American
In writing, we have started our nonfiction unit. So far we're exploring characteristics of nonfiction books as well as comparing structures of nonfiction books. Students have new writing partners, and we'll begin partner research this week. Students will eventually choose a country for their nonfiction papers, but right now we're familiarizing ourselves with the research process in general.
Goals/I CAN . . .
-sequence and summarize important story events.
-identify the structure of a nonfiction story.
-explore characteristics of nonfiction.
-research a topic with the intent of writing a paper.
-identify prepositions and prepositional phrases.
-recognize and distinguish meaning of homographs (words that are spelled the same but have different pronunciations and meanings- dove, read, live, etc.)
Looking Ahead . . .
Winter conferences will be held on February 6th. We'll be contacting you by phone or email this week if we would like to conference with you. If you do not receive a call or email but would like a conference, please let us know. We are happy to meet with you anytime!
Our Multicultural Fair, North's Amazing Race, will be held on February 13th from 6-8pm. Hope you see you there!
Our Valentine's Day party will be held on February 14th from 2:15-3:15. I'll send a class list this week so you can begin preparing cards! If you're out shopping, there are 26 students in Mrs. Balfour's homeroom and 27 in Ms. Bergen's. Students will exchange with their homeroom classes. I'll also be contacting parents who signed up to help with the party soon. Thanks so much!
One more thing . . . We are collecting for carnival baskets! Our theme is sports/outdoor fun, but any items donated (even if they fit another theme) count toward our class total.
Thank you so much for all of your support! I love your children, and I am grateful for the opportunity to work with all of you each day!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Tuesday January 21, 2014
Welcome back! I hope you enjoyed the weekend!
Last week students worked hard to complete the unit three assessment. Most did very well on this test! Tuesday we'll be reviewing the assessment and students will be tracking their progress. We'll take a look at the goals they met and those on which they still need to work. Your child should be able to tell you the types of questions he or she missed (i.e. simile/metaphor, sequence, summarizing, vocabulary, etc.) We'll work to master those skills at school, but I appreciate your support at home as well. If you need materials or website ideas, please feel free to ask. One great general website for practicing a variety of reading skills is www.mrnussbaum.com. Under the Language Arts tab there are reading comprehension activities leveled by grade. This is a great, free practice opportunity!
This week we'll read the nonfiction essay, Adelina's Whales. We'll study selection structure through this story as well as others. The goal is for students to be able to identify the structure of a story such as problem/solution, cause/effect, sequence of events, chronological (time) order, compare/contrast, or fact/opinion. We'll review what each of these structures looks like as well. Sometimes a whole selection will follow one of these structures, but other times different paragraphs might have a different structure. You can practice at home by showing your child nonfiction articles and discussing the structure. A great website for nonfiction articles is www.timeforkids.com.
In writing, we are beginning a nonfiction unit in which we'll complete research on different countries and work to organize that research into an expository nonfiction paper. We'll do the majority of work in class, but if you could send a book or article on a country for us to use in class, that would be great. I visited the library over the weekend and checked out a large selection of books for our research, but every bit helps! Thank you if you're able to do this! We'll also do some internet research.
We'll also study prepositions in grammar this week. We'll discuss prepositions (in, on, over, under, behind, before, after, through, off etc.) and prepositional phrases (up the tree, over the rainbow, on the table, under the bed, through the woods, etc.).
Spelling words for this week came home Friday.
Regular List: flower, voices, tower, mound, cowboy, gown, frown, south, howling, annoy
Challenge List: boisterous, corduroy, employee, annoyance, announcement, bountiful, pronounce, paramount, encounter, flounder
All should study: noises, pound, hound, pouch, thousand, wound, grouch, cough, grown, voyage, cookie, zoom, huge, drought, downtown
Goals/I CAN . . .
-identify the structure of a nonfiction story.
-explore characteristics of nonfiction.
-research a topic with the intent of writing a paper.
-identify prepositions and prepositional phrases.
-recognize and distinguish meaning of homographs (words that are spelled the same but have different pronunciations and meanings- dove, read, live, etc.)
Looking Ahead . . .
Thanks for your carnival basket donations! Our theme is "Outdoor Fun/Sports."
Have a wonderful week, and don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday January 13, 2014
We accomplished so much during our three day week last week, and I am so proud of the hard work of students! We compared and contrasted and summarized, and they did a wonderful job!
On Friday, your child received a unit three review packet. This is the reading homework for this week, and it's due Thursday. Thanks so much for your help in having your child return the packet Thursday, as we'll be reviewing it in class on that day. This will help students to prepare for their unit test! There is no spelling this week!
This week we'll review the goals of the past five school weeks including compare/contrast, main idea/detail, summarizing, simile/metaphor, sequence, multiple meaning words, and prefixes. All of these are covered in the review packet and will be covered through a variety of articles and short stories throughout the week. We will be busy, but I'm confident that the students will be ready for this test. I plan to give the test either Friday or the following Monday depending on student readiness.
We will also take the reading MAP test on Wednesday, and students will test for math on Thursday. Thanks for helping your child to come to the testing days well-rested.
In writing, we'll finish our fiction stories. We'll use our editing rubric to check for spelling and grammar. These stories are very creative!
There is no spelling this week to allow us extra time for reading review.
Goals/I CAN:
-compare and contrast what I read.
-summarize what I read.
-sequence important story events.
-write an essay to summarize what I read.
-identify and explain similes and metaphors.
-choose the correct meaning of multiple meaning words.
-understand and define prefixes.
-edit my fiction story for spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and quotation marks.
Looking Ahead . . .
We are now collecting items for carnival baskets! The class collecting the most items will win a pizza party! The basket theme for Balfour/Bergen is summer/outdoor fun! Thanks so much for any items you can send! Thanks to our AWESOME PTC for the AWESOME carnival!!
There is no school for Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, January 20th.
Have a wonderful week, and don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday January 6, 2014
Welcome back! I hope you had a wonderful break! I am excited to see everyone!!
We are returning to "full-swing" as we get back to work this week! We'll start with a powerful biography, My Brother Martin, written by Martin Luther King Jr.'s sister. We'll work to summarize as well as compare this biography to other biographies of important African American leaders including Thurgood Marshall, Ruby Bridges, and Rosa Parks. Our vocabulary focus will be on context clues and multiple meaning words as well as prefixes and suffixes. This will also help us to prepare for the unit three assessment which will come next week. We'll spend plenty of time in review over the next two weeks. Look for a review packet to come home on Friday, January 10th. The test will most likely take place on Thursday or Friday, January 16th or 17th.
In writing, we'll continue our unit on fiction, and we'll begin choosing a piece for publication. Students are really letting their creative juices flow with this unit, and it's fun to see their ideas! We'll be taking a close look at some fiction samples, working to revise those with our rubric and checklist. Then students will be asked to apply those skills to their own pieces.
Spelling words for the week are mostly focused on silent letters:
Regular List: hour, lambs, knew, wrench, kneel, thumbs, honest, answer, honesty, plumber
Challenge List: knowledgeable, weight, volunteer, fascinating, wreath, knight, heirloom, segregation, numerous, ancestors
All should study: honor, known, combs, wrapper, knives, doubt, knead, wriggle, heir, wrinkle, curl, pearl, shirt, knuckles, wrestle
Goals/I CAN . . .
-summarize important parts of a selection.
-compare and contrast two selections.
-revise a fiction story.
-spell words with silent letters.
-identify and use interjections in my writing (Wow!, Hey!, etc.)
Have a wonderful week! Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Maria Balfour
Monday December 16, 2013
Wow! The last few weeks have been busy and unpredictable! I think we are caught up from our surprise snow days, and we're ready to work our way to Winter Break!
This week we will not have spelling, but I sent a short reading packet for homework that is due Thursday. We'll also wrap up the novel, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, and we'll continue to look at setting, plot, and characters. We will also compare the book to the play/drama, something we took a peek at this past week.
In writing, we'll continue to work on fiction stories, beginning to develop the characters in our writing. We'll hear strong examples of developed characters as well as conference to refine our own.
We'll wrap up the week with our class parties on Thursday and a school sing-along! I think we're all excited about the week!
Goals/I CAN . . .
-describe the setting, plot, and characters in a story.
-compare a novel to a drama.
-use context clues to define unfamiliar words.
-develop characters in a fiction story.
Looking Ahead . . .
Class parties are Thursday the 19th from 2pm-3pm.
Winter Break begins at the end of the day on December 20th.
School resumes Monday, January 6th.
I am so grateful for each of you and especially for each of your amazing
children! They have worked very hard so far, and I look forward to seeing what
they will do when we return in January! Have a wonderful break, and enjoy your
families! I look forward to seeing many of you at our events this week. Thanks
so much to Mrs. Long, Mrs. Proffitt and all of the parents who are working to
make our parties a blast!
I want to wish all of you a wonderful holiday season! I hope you make wonderful memories with your families! Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday December 9, 2013
I hope you all enjoyed the surprise day off Friday!
This week we will spend some brief catch-up time on main idea and summary. Then we'll head into a class novel, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. This novel will be taught in fourth grade across the district over the next two weeks to give students a common novel to discuss as they head to the Intermediate School. We'll cover character, setting, and plot as well as compare the written version to a stage version of the book. We'll see how a novel is written differently than a play, and we'll also view part of a stage version of the book. It should be a fun two weeks leading to winter break!
In writing, we'll continue our fiction unit. Students are currently conferencing and perfecting the beginnings of their stories, and I will soon be taking a small writing grade based on the beginning of each student's piece. This grade will count as a half grade in Progress Book as it's not really a completed story. We'll also conference (both peer and teacher) to see how we can make these pieces even more interesting. It's fun to see the creativity that comes out with these fiction pieces!
Spelling words for this week are:
Regular List: center, once, dance, germs, spice, bridge, badge, circus, cement, glance
Challenge List: pageant, manger, contribution, ordinarily, pestering, congregation, sympathetically, gorgeous, whole, hole
All should study: strange, police, certain, orange, ounce, ginger, wedge, arrange, sponge, village, combs, kneel, wrench, general, ceremony
Goals/I CAN . . .
-describe the setting, characters, and plot of a story.
-compare a novel to a drama.
-describe the setting in my writing.
-correctly use quotation marks in my writing.
-divide my writing into paragraphs.
Looking Ahead . . .
Santa Shop is this week! All items are $2. Mrs. Balfour's class attends Monday the 9th, and Mrs. Bergen's attends Tuesday the 10th.
Our Holiday Party is December 19th from 2pm-3pm. Thanks to Mrs. Long for coordinating!! It will be great!
Winter Break begins at the end of the day December 20th. School resumes January 6th.
Have a wonderful week! Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday December 2, 2013
I can't believe I just wrote December on our newsletter! I hope you all had a relaxing Thanksgiving with your families.
This week we'll be reading the biography Snowflake Bentley as we revisit main idea and supporting details. We'll also take a closer look at summarizing. This biography is fitting for the season as it focuses on snow! We'll also read some additional nonfiction books on different types of weather which will tie in nicely with what students have been studying in science with Mrs. Bergen.
In writing this week we'll continue our fiction unit. We'll explore different types of fiction as well as work to write strong, "catchy" openings for our stories. We'll spend time writing independently and conferencing to refine this skill.
Homework for this week only involves spelling tic-tac-toe. It will come home Monday.
Regular List Words: fishbowl, lookout, backyard, desktop, campfire, overheard, waterproof, grandparent, railroad, snowstorm
Challenge Words: weathervane, overboard, elsewhere, headquarters, commonplace, underachieve, granddaughter, drawbridge, whatsoever, foreshadow
All should study: loudspeaker, bookcase, bedroom, blindfold, newborn, bedspread, yourself, overdo, clothesline, undertake, berries, dresses, arches, eyesight, paperweight
Goals/I CAN . . .
-determine the main idea and supporting details of a nonfiction selection.
-summarize what I have read.
-explore characteristics of fiction.
-write a strong beginning/"hook" for a fiction story.
-identify the intended meaning of multiple meaning words.
Looking Ahead . . .
Santa Shop is next week. All items are $2. Mrs. Balfour's homeroom will visit Monday December 9th, and Mrs. Bergen's will visit Tuesday December 10th.
Please don't hesitate, as always, to contact me with questions or concerns. I am so grateful to work with each of you!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday November 18, 2013
I just want to say once again how much I appreciate the way you and your children all created a community of support last week. It's in difficult times like these that we realize just how much we need each other. I know we'll continue this kind of support in the coming months, and I will continue to keep an extra-caring eye on all of the students. Last Thursday and Friday students created a beautiful memorial of cards, flowers, and poems that will be shared with the Kauffman family. Thank you, again.
Arrangements for our dear friend Emmee are as follows:
Visitation is Monday night from 5pm- 8pm at Community Christian Church on Milikin Rd. There is a second visitation at the church Tuesday from 5pm-7pm, followed by the funeral at 7pm. Please use your discretion in deciding whether it would be helpful for your family to attend. I just wanted to be sure you had the information.
This week we'll study Greek Mythology, discussing major Greek characters as well as what makes a myth a myth. Homework packets with spelling and a project should have come home with your child. Originally I had planned to have the projects due next Friday. If your child needs an extra weekend, though, please feel free to change the due date to the day before Thanksgiving Break, November 26th. Students are excited about the myths, so it should be an interesting and educational week!
Spelling lists for this week are shortened. Students have just ten words each.
Regular List Words: telephone, biology, hydrate, meter, microscope, sympathy, television, polygon, democracy, crypt
Challenge Words: geography, hydraulic, cardiology, orthodontist, microscope, telegram, empathy, thermometer, democracy, cryptic
Notice the Greek word parts listed on the homework page. :) We've been discussing and noticing these in class.
In writing, we just completed our personal narratives. We'll begin a unit on fiction, and this week we'll explore various types of fiction stories.
Goals/I CAN . . .
*describe characteristics of mythology.
*understand and use Greek words and phrases.
*recognize and define Greek word parts.
*explore characteristics of fiction to use in my writing.
Looking Ahead . . .
Thanksgiving Break is approaching, November 27-29.
Thank you for sharing your children with me. I love each and every one of them! Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday November 11, 2013
Hello Families,
With Monday being Veteran's Day, I'd like to say a special "Thank you!" to all veterans! In honor of Veteran's Day, all of us at North are trying to wear red, white, or blue on the 11th.
The past week was busy as usual! We worked on our novels, and those reading Stone Fox completed the book! We'll take Monday to wrap up Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, and we'll probably continue another week with Because of Winn-Dixie which is a little longer. Students did a great job with the novels, questions, and discussion groups. We spent a lot of our time making inferences. Students are getting better at making their inferences, but we'll continue to master supporting those inferences with story details throughout the year. Hopefully your child shared our inference chant!
On Friday, students took the unit two assessment. We'll review that Monday in class. Overall, students did very well! We'll be beginning a legend called Mystic Horse this week in reading. This story will give us the opportunity to look closely at setting and plot as well as sequence.
Spelling words this week are mostly plurals:
Regular List: clams, mints, props, arches, dresses, parents, caves, glasses, hobbies, engines
Challenge List: strawberries, families, celebrities, awkward, mysteriously, loosened, injustice, elementary, cemeteries, realization
ALL should study: couches, arrows, enemies, babies, ranches, patches, mistakes, berries, mosses, armies, circus, germs, spice, batteries, compasses
In writing, we'll begin to edit personal narratives and hopefully publish those by the end of the week. Students are working with a rubric to edit their own pieces, and we're also looking at sample pieces from a mysterious friend named J.R. Be sure to ask your child who he is. Students will have conference time with their peers and with me as well.
Goals/ I CAN . . .
-explain how the sequence of events is important to a story.
-explain what makes a legend or folk tale.
-edit a personal narrative.
-spell plural words correctly.
Looking Ahead . . .
November 14th is our last official fall conference night. We look forward to meeting with those of you who are scheduled!
Next week we'll be examining some Greek myths. Your child will be bringing home a project about this Friday. This will be their homework for the week of the 18th along with spelling. Just thought I'd give you a little "heads-up!" This week's homework is the regular packet, due Thursday.
Have a wonderful week, and don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns. Your children are amazing, and I'm so grateful to work with them and with you!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday November 4, 2013
I can't believe it's November! The year is flying, and we are accomplishing a lot each day! I am seeing so much growth already this year, and I look forward to even more!
We started our novel groups last week, and I am so impressed with how well student discussions are going. These fourth graders are leading their own discussions, including everyone, and developing their reading skills, too. It's so much fun to watch! We should be wrapping up Stone Fox and Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing discussions this week as we continue to work on making inferences and supporting them with story details. We'll cover the same skills with Because of Winn-Dixie, but it may take us an extra week to finish this lengthier book. Either way, students will take the unit two assessment either this Friday or the following Monday. I want to make sure we're ready before picking the exact date. We'll also continue to review the other skills covered on the assessment such as first and third person, firsthand/secondhand accounts, problem-solution, and similes/metaphors. The homework packet that students completed last week is a great study guide as well. To keep things simpler, the homework packet for this week only contains spelling tic-tac-toe. I decided to skip the enrichment list just for this week. The words on the regular list are a little tougher, and this will also allow us to work more deeply on novels as well as prepare for the unit test. We'll resume the typical homework packet next week. Students should still be doing their nightly reading, too. Thanks!
Spelling words for this week are consonant cluster words: shred, through, sprout, sprawl, split, throb, throat, shrink, screw, shrimp, screech, straighten, sprang, shriek, splashing, straps, strain, strand, script, thrill, graph, brush, these, threaten, and strictly.
In writing, we'll begin to revise our personal narratives. Students will use a student rubric similar to the one that was attached to their last graded papers. With the rubric, we'll be rating sample personal narratives and then applying that information to our own writing. Students will conference with peers and with me to revise their writing. They have great life stories to tell, and I'm excited to head toward publishing them!
Goals/ I CAN . . .
-explain the problem/solution structure of a story.
-identify similes and metaphors.
-make inferences about characters as I read.
-explain the difference between first and third person in a fiction story.
-explain the difference between first and secondhand accounts of nonfiction.
-find information in a chart or graph.
Looking Ahead . . .
-There is no school for students on Tuesday, November 5th due to teacher in-service.
-Picture Retakes are November 7th.
-"Popcorn Friday" is November 8th.
-Students wishing to apply for newspaper club should write an essay on the following prompt: "I would make a good newspaper staff member because . . ." All are welcome to apply, but please know that there will only be two to three staff members per fourth grade class. Also, students chosen will be asked to stay after school every Monday until 4:30 starting the end of November through April. Students will also have deadlines for articles. Mrs. Mainous will be the newspaper staff mentor, and essays are due no later than Friday November 8th.
Have a wonderful week, and please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday October 28, 2013
What a week last week was!! It all ended Friday with our Art Museum trip, walk-a-thon, and fall party!
I am so proud of students for their amazing behavior as well as the intelligent questions they asked at the Cincinnati Art Museum. Our guides all commented on what excellent fourth graders we have, and I couldn't agree more! Thanks so much to our art teachers for coordinating this trip and to all of our parent chaperones! It was such a great experience!
The walk-a-thon was fantastic as well! Our PTC and North community never cease to amaze me! Thanks to all who made this event possible! Kudos to the students as well for their creative costumes! We even had a few big winners in the Balfour/Bergen group!
Finally, our party was a great success! Thanks to Mr. Bittner and all of the parent volunteers! We enjoyed playing Bingo, estimation games, and hot "pumpkin." The treats were delicious, too! We are so fortunate to have such awesome support from our parents!
The next two weeks will be review weeks for unit 2. There is no spelling this week, although we'll likely have spelling next week. The homework packet includes reading comprehension activities that will be covered on our unit test next week. This packet will serve as a study guide. We'll also review our skills through various activities and novel groups. Students will read either Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Because of Winn-Dixie, or Stone Fox. We'll divide into groups and have discussions that will cover the reading comprehension goals studied throughout the last unit. We'll take a look at first/third person, making inferences, and character traits. This novel unit will last about two weeks, and it will end with our unit two assessment.
Second quarter is officially here, and with that comes the setting of a new Reading Counts goal. Most students did a great job meeting and/or exceeding the goals they set for themselves at the beginning of first quarter. We will be setting new goals this week, and I will work with students to help them meet those goals. Thank you so much for encouraging your child to read at home! It is a huge help in meeting those goals!
In writing, we'll continue our personal narrative unit as we begin to draft stories. Hopefully we'll have first drafts to begin revising by the end of the week. I love hearing these stories about the students' lives.
Goals/ I CAN . . .
-explain the problem/solution structure of a story.
-identify similes and metaphors.
-make inferences about characters as I read.
-explain the difference between first and third person in a fiction story.
-explain the difference between first and secondhand accounts of nonfiction.
-find information in a chart or graph.
Looking Ahead . . .
There is no school on November 5th, Election Day, due to teacher in-service.
Our last fall conference night is November 14th. If you need a reminder about your time, please let me know.
Have a wonderful week, and please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday October 21, 2013
We will have an action-packed week this week! Most of that action will take place Friday with our Art Museum trip, Walk-a-thon, and Fall Party. I am so excited about all three! Please remember to pack a lunch for Friday and send those costume pieces! The hallway decorations are really shaping up, and students are excitedly discussing their costumes.
Our past week was busy, too, with CogAT testing and our regular learning activities. I am so proud of the students' efforts on the CogAT. They worked hard and were so respectful to those around them while waiting for testing to be completed. Because of CogAT day, I postponed the weekly comprehension test to Monday of this week. I thought one big test was enough for the week. We'll catch up, though, as we have a review week approaching before too long.
This week we'll read the humorous fiction story, Dear Mr. Winston. Through this story, we'll analyze character feelings and make some inferences based on those feelings. We'll also use context clues and review dictionary skills while defining some new vocabulary words.
In writing, we'll continue our personal narrative unit as students hear more examples of this genre and begin to draft their own narratives. I love getting to know the students better as they write personal narratives! So far we've hear stories about early memories, vacation memories, embarrassing memories, and family memories just to name a few.
Spelling words for this week are:
Regular List: gear, scare, fear, cheer, spare, hear, rear, stair, airfare, career
Challenge List: irresponsible, indecisive, grateful, then, than, candidate, sincerely, argument, weather, whether
ALL should study: compare, spear, beard, area, appear, yearly, tear, lair, mere, snare, fort, dart, worn, sincere, staircase
I CAN statement/Goals:
I can use context clues and/or a dictionary to define new words.
I can analyze character thoughts, words, and actions.
I can use quotation marks correctly.
I can explore characteristics of personal narratives and use those in my own writing.
Looking Ahead . . .
Art Museum Trip (9:15-12:15) and Walk-A-Thon (12:20-1:00) Friday October 25th
Fall Party- Friday October 25th (1:45-2:30)
Thanks so much to all who are chaperoning our trip, working the Walk-A-Thon, and planning our Fall Party! You are so greatly appreciated!!
Have a wonderful week, and don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday October 14, 2013
Hello! I hope you enjoyed this beautiful fall weekend!
This week in reading we'll examine the problem-solution structure of a nonfiction selection, How Ben Franklin Stole the Lightning. In this biography we'll learn about some of Ben Franklin's many inventions, and we'll also discuss idioms. Two idioms we'll see in our story are "come in handy" and "'stole' the lightning." As you find yourselves using idioms around the house this week, please feel free to send them in so we can try them out in class!
Spelling words for this week include:
Regular List: door, dart, fort, morning, carpet, ford, core, cord, spark, award
Enrichment List: genuine, undecided, scientific, unpredictable, melancholy, fortunately, specifically, realistic, to, too
All should study: smart, charge, worn, argue, stormy, bore, guard, ward, warp, barnyard, screech, shrimp, throat, charcoal, forecast
This past week, students spent our writing time publishing drafts. I graded most of these over the weekend, and I am very excited about the students' writing. When you see your child's graded piece, it will have a rubric attached. In the rubric I circled where your child's piece fell in each category. We used this rubric daily in our revising and editing, so your child should be able to explain it pretty well. Grades are on a scale of one to four. Please try not to think of the numbers as an A, B, C, or D. They're really more of a continuum to show your child's growth throughout the year. I always encourage students to move up on the rubric in each individual category, whether from a two to three or three to four. If you have questions about this, please don't hesitate to ask. Our next writing unit will focus on personal narratives.
I CAN Statements this week are, I can . . .
-explain the problem-solution structure of a story.
-answer literal and inferential questions about a text.
-explain the meaning of common idioms.
-explore characteristics of personal narratives.
Looking Ahead . . .
-Our second conference night is Thursday, October 17th. We look forward to seeing those who are scheduled for this week!
-Fourth graders will take the Cognitive Abilities Test on the 17th in the morning. You should have received a letter from gifted coordinator Barb Bell about this. Please don't hesitate to ask if you have questions.
Have a wonderful week!
Maria Balfour
Monday October 7, 2013
I can't believe we're already a week into October!! Where is the year going? Thanks so much to all who came to our first conference night. It was wonderful to meet with you and your children to discuss their progress. I look forward to meeting with all of you over the next conference nights! If you didn't receive a confirmation for your conference, please let me know so I can send a new copy.
The last week was busy, as usual! In addition to our regular reading, writing, spelling, vocabulary, and grammar work we also started a keyboarding course called Type to Learn 4. We will be visiting the computer lab once a week to work with this program which is geared to individual student readiness. You can also download the program at home, and I'll be sending an email with information on how to do that. It is not required, but if your child would like to practice at home he or she can do that by downloading the program. Students seemed to enjoy our computer time very much!
This week we'll be reading the realistic fiction story My Diary from Here to There, which is structured in a diary format. Our skill will be to examine the differences between first and third person narration. Students should be able to explain that in first person narration, the narrator is a character who is present in the story, referring to himself as "I." They should also be able to explain that in third person narration, the narrator is not a story character and does not refer to himself as "I." You can practice at home by having your child explain whether different fiction picture books are written in first or third person.
On a similar note, we'll examine first and secondhand accounts of historical events in nonfiction texts. Students will need to understand that in a firsthand account, the writer was a witness to the event. In a secondhand account, the writer bases his writing on research of the event. We can learn details and specific emotions from a participants point of view when we read a firsthand account. When we read a secondhand account, we can get an overview of an event after it happens. There will be sheets coming home on this topic, and one is in the homework packet. We'll get plenty of classroom practice as this tends to be a tougher skill for many fourth graders. Below is an excerpt I found about first and secondhand accounts:
Like fictional text, informational text can be written from different points of view.
A firsthand account of an event or topic is based on an author’s personal experience. The author uses pronouns such as I, me, and we to describe the event or topic. Diaries, autobiographies, and letters are considered to be firsthand accounts.
A secondhand account of an event or topic is based on an author’s research, rather than personal experience. The author uses pronouns such as he, she, and they to describe the event or topic. Encyclopedia entries, biographies, and textbooks are considered to be secondhand accounts.
-Taken from: http://mhschool.com/lead_21/grade4/ccslh_g4_ri_2_2d.html
Spelling words for this week are:
Regular List: rush, northern, brush, shed, thanks, washer, photo, graph, whole, these
Challenge List: various, dimension, personality, characteristic, possibility, necessary, assessment, motivation, curiously, cautious
ALL should study: fifth, whisk, thirty, bother, shove, phrase, headphone, width, nowhere, whirl, arch, ketchup, cheap, theater, wherever
In writing this week we'll move to the editing phase where we'll correct the grammar and spelling of our papers. Students have some very creative ideas, and I'm impressed with the word choices and descriptive language they're using. We'll look at samples of papers with grammatical errors and work with a rubric to correct those mistakes. These first published papers should be finished by the end of the week! This group of students loves to write, and I can't wait to read their final drafts!
Goals for this week are "I CAN . . ."
-determine whether a story is written in first or third person.
-explain the difference between a first and secondhand account.
-use a dictionary or glossary to determine the origin or history of a word.
-edit a piece of writing for spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammar.
-correctly use pronouns who, whom, him, he, her, and she.
Looking Ahead . . .
Book Fair is this week! Mrs. Balfour's class will attend Wednesday, and Mrs. Bergen's will attend Tuesday. Thanks so much to all of the parents who are helping with this exciting event!
I also want to take a moment to thank ALL of the parent volunteers at North! You make our school a better place. From conference night dinners, to classroom volunteers, to Book Fair, to any school event- THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart!
Thank you for reading this lengthy newsletter! I appreciate all you do for your children!
Have a wonderful week, and please don't hesitate to contact me with questions and concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday September 30, 2013
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and got to enjoy the beautiful weather, at least on Saturday! I love this time of year!
Last Friday students took the unit one comprehension test, and overall I am so excited about the results! Students have worked so hard to master our skills, and it shows! Often when students miss a question, it is not so much that they didn't understand the passage but more that they didn't read carefully to find out what the question was asking. Sometimes they forget the vocabulary or skill words associated with a question. I have taught the students several songs to help them remember what the common fourth grade skill words mean. They seem to know these when we sing them in class, but many have to be reminded to use them during tests. The more you can encourage your child to remember the songs and chants, the better I think they'll remember the skill vocabulary. If your child doesn't find that the chants help, they can also talk about the skill words when describing their independent reading. For example, you might ask your child to name a trait that describes the main character. Then your child can give story support for that trait. I appreciate so much all you do to help at home! I understand that life is busy!
This week we'll read the historical fiction story, Mighty Jackie. We'll work to make inferences as well as determine why author's write. We'll continue to use context clues to define unfamiliar words.
Spelling words for this week are:
Regular List: choose, kitchen, marching, touch, chatter, sketched, chant, chance, branch, hitch
Challenge List: occasionally, intention, responsibility, determined, laughable, suggested, chemical, physical, legendary, snickered
ALL should study: ketchup, cheap, chopped, latch, chef, patch, snatch, arch, stretching, pitcher, stove, goal, mows, chemical*, checkers
*I accidentally put chemical on the challenge list, and then realized it's also on the regular list. I'll add the word "sketched" to the challenge list in place of chemical. Don't worry about this on homework if you've already completed it. Just be sure to study it for the test. Thanks!!
In writing, we'll continue to revise and edit, working toward publication of a piece of student choice. Students have been working with partners to clarify their writing, and we'll continue this throughout the coming week.
I CAN Statements/Goals . . .
I can answer literal and inferential questions about a selection.
I can explain why an author writes a piece.
I can revise and edit to make my writing better.
I can make the subject and verb agree in a sentence.
I can use context clues to determine the meaning of unknown words.
Looking Ahead . . .
Thanks to all who have returned conference forms. If you haven't, please try to do so as soon as possible. Exact times will be confirmed early in the week. We look forward to seeing those of you who are scheduled for October 3rd.
Book Fair Next Week!! Mrs. Bergen's homeroom will attend Tuesday October 8th. Mrs. Balfour's homeroom will attend Wednesday October 9th.
Have a wonderful week, and please don't hesitate to contact me anytime!
Maria Balfour
Monday September 23, 2013
Welcome back to another week of fourth grade! This week we will review the comprehension and vocabulary skills studied so far this year. This review will prepare students for the unit assessment that will take place Friday. You probably noticed that the homework packet for this week does not contain spelling. We will not have a spelling list or test this week so we can focus more of our time on the reading comprehension review. The homework packet contains practice for the major skills that will be covered on the test, and it serves as a sort of study guide through which students can make sure they understand the skills that will be covered on the test.
Just to cover a few of those skills . . .
Simile: compares two things using like or as: I am as fast as a cheetah. The baby slept like a rock.
Metaphor: compares two things and says they are the same: She is the sunshine that brightens the day.
Main Idea/Details: In class we discussed that the main idea is what the selection is mostly about. The details will either support the main idea or give an example of it. This is probably the most difficult skill for most students. In addition to completing the main idea homework page, you can help your child practice at home by having him/her find the main idea and supporting details in nonfiction articles. A great website for articles is timeforkids.com.
Character Traits: Students are working to use character thoughts, words, and actions to identify a character's traits. I encourage students to use trait words rather than emotions when naming a character's trait. We made a list last week, and some of the major traits we see include: helpful, kind, disagreeable, patient, impatient, selfish, lazy, caring, intelligent, athletic, creative- just to name a few! You can practice this at home by asking your child to identify traits of the characters in their independent reading material. The most important part of identifying those traits is to be able to support them with story details.
Problem/Solution, also known as Conflict/Resolution: Students should be able to name the problem/conflict in a story as well as its resolution/solution. Most students do well with this, but many are forgetting that conflict and problem are synonyms. Be sure to ask your child about our song, "Conflict Is the Problem!" We also touched on plot last week, discussing that the problem and solution are major parts of the plot of most fiction stories. We also talked about plot as "what's happening" in the beginning, middle, and end of the story.
To help review these skills in class, students will be completing a project on either the skill that is toughest for them or the skill with which they most want to be challenged. These projects will be very individualized, and students will be able to choose the way in which they want to show their knowledge. Most parts will be completed in class, but I may send some work home if students have trouble completing it in class. Students can bring materials from home, too, if needed.
In writing this week, we'll work on revising a piece of student choice to work toward publication. I will be conferencing with students about their writing. I'm looking forward to seeing what the students will produce! They are very creative!
Weekly Goals:
I CAN . . .
-describe the problem (conflict) and solution (resolution) of a story.
-identify story elements including setting, plot, and characters.
-describe character traits with story support.
-identify the main idea and supporting details of a selection.
-use context clues to define unknown words.
-use a chart or table to find information.
-revise my writing to prepare for publication.
-use apostrophes to show possession or in contractions.
Looking Ahead . . .
Our first conference night is approaching- October 3rd. Conference letters will come home this week.
Have a wonderful week, and don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns. I am so honored to work with your children this year, and I love partnering with you as well.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday September 15, 2013
I hope your weekend was wonderful!
The past week was busy as usual! Our reading MAP test was postponed due to technical difficulties, but I'll keep you posted when I learn of the new date. The math MAP test happened as planned.
This week students will receive their graded main idea tests. I saw some huge improvements on proving and using details in answers, but I also saw some students struggling in this area. We will review tests Monday, and students will be able to correct their mistakes to receive half the points they missed. I am so grateful for any additional support you can provide while your child is making these corrections.
This week we will move into the realistic fiction genre with the story The Raft. We'll discuss character traits and story elements including setting, characters, and plot. We'll continue to work on using context clues to define unknown words, and we'll also continue working to use guide words when using a dictionary or glossary.
In writing we will look at ways in which we can use stories from our own lives to write narratives. We'll share some of our ideas with partners as well as begin to choose a piece for possible publication. We'll also cover use of commas in a series or to combine two sentences with a conjunction.
Spelling words on the regular list are goal, mole, stone, stove, chose, own, fold, flow, mold, and toll. Enrichment words are beautiful, potion, magician, accidentally, unusual, eerie, carefully, experiment, detail, and useful. All students should study the words groan, stole, foam, mows, roasting, lower, sole, blown, bolt, quote, kite, shy, climb, coaster, and motor.
Goals for this week are, I CAN . . .
-identify and describe story elements including character, setting, and plot.
-use character thoughts, words, and actions to identify character traits.
-use a dictionary or glossary to define unknown words.
-use context clues to define unknown words.
-use important life events to write a narrative.
-use commas to combine two sentences with a conjunction (and, or, but).
-use commas in a series. ex: I will buy milk, eggs, and bread.
Have a wonderful week! Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday September 9, 2013
Hello Families!
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!
I think it's safe to say we are in full swing with the school year now! Last week students became experts in recognizing problem/solution selections, and we tested over this skill Friday. Most students did very well. I will be meeting in small groups with students who still need assistance in this skill area. I always tell students that it is more important to me that they learn a skill thoroughly than that they receive a high grade on an assessment. If your child's test did not show that he or she understands the week's skills, I will be asking him or her to correct mistakes after we review those mistakes together. Students are also self-assessing their progress for reading comprehension skills in our goal binders, so we'll use those self-assessments to determine student understanding as well. We'll go through this process for each reading comprehension skill.
Speaking of reading comprehension skills, this week we will focus on main idea and supporting details. Students will be using those ideas to summarize what they read. Our main story focus this week is the nonfiction selection A Walk in the Desert. Through this story students will also cover vocabulary skills such as using context clues to determine the meaning of unknown words, and using a dictionary to define unknown words. We got a sneak peak into using dictionary skills this past week. Your child may have shared our "Part of Speech" chant and our "Pronunciation Key" song. This week we'll also review how guide words can aide in our dictionary or glossary searches. You can help at home by asking your child to locate words in a dictionary using guide words. In this busy week we will also work to recognize and explain similes and metaphors. Be prepared for some new songs!
Regular spelling words for this week are: pale, face, crate, clay, stray, cane, slate, today, bail, and rail. Enrichment words are: painstaking, adaptation, frustration, climate, academic, creature, accomplish, system, millionaire, weird. ALL students should study break, ache, drain, faint, flame, claim, steak, neigh, mane, graze, grim, plum, cash, neighbor, railway.
In writing this week we will continue building our writing community as students write about a variety of topics. We'll hear strong examples of fantasy fiction as well as read some biographies about real-life authors. We'll spend time discussing different writing strategies used by authors, and students will be encouraged to try those strategies as they write. We'll also cover types of sentences (statement, command, exclamation, question) and end punctuation.
I CAN statements/goals for the week are:
I can recognize the main idea and supporting details in a text.
I can summarize a text.
I can use context clues and/or a dictionary to determine the meaning of unknown words.
I can spell long A words.
I can write clearly about a topic using correct end punctuation.
I can identify the four sentence types: statement, question, command, exclamation.
I can identify and explain a simile and metaphor.
Looking Ahead . . .
September 11th: MAP testing for reading
September 12th: MAP testing for math (You can read more about MAP in last week's newsletter.)
September 12th: Picture Day! SMILE!
*I've had a few questions about the spelling tic-tac-toe homework. Activities are meant to take about fifteen to twenty-five minutes each. If it is taking your child longer and he/she is becoming frustrated, please modify the activity to fit your child's needs. For example, if typing the words takes too long, your child can write the words. My goal is for them to learn their spelling words with some fun variety, and I don't want anyone to become discouraged in the process. Thanks so much for encouraging and assisting your child with homework. Students are doing a super job completing assignments on time! Please don't hesitate to ask if you have questions or concerns.
Have a wonderful week, and please feel free to contact me any time!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday September 2, 2013
I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday weekend! I'm so excited to see everyone again this week! We had a great week last week reviewing some reading strategies that were familiar to students as well as introducing some new ones. Hopefully your child talked about the story, Thank You Mr. Falker! It's one of my all-time favorites! It fit well with our creation of classroom rules as students discussed how we will treat each other this year. I am so proud of the work students did in completing our "Golden Rules" bulletin board this past week. If you are in the building, please stop by to see it! We are off to a great start building a community!
This week we'll begin our first official Treasures unit. Our story this week is a mystery, The Case of the Missing Lunch.
Through this story and other short examples of nonfiction, we will work on our problem and solution skills. Students will begin assessing themselves on our comprehension goals in their goal binders. Please ask your child to talk with you about these goal binders. Students should be able to articulate the goals as well as explain their comfort levels with each goal. We'll also spend time analyzing unknown words while using context clues to determine their meanings. In addition, we'll spend some time using charts and tables to find information. On Friday, we will have a reading comprehension and vocabulary test. The homework packet your child brought home last Friday has reading activities that will help with test preparation. Our test will not cover the stories we read in class, but it will cover similar skills on a story new to students. The same goes for vocabulary. Our weekly test will cover the vocabulary skills taught during the week, but it will test those skills on unfamiliar words. The reason for this is to see how well students can apply our skills to new selections and words. Thank you so much for encouraging your child to read at home daily. It makes a huge difference! If your child has trouble selecting a book for independent reading, please don't hesitate to ask! I love trying to match students to books that will make them choose to read!
This week there are two spelling lists. Students who spelled pretest words correctly have been given an enrichment list. At this point, the enrichment list includes ten challenge words as well as the last fifteen regular list words. Students who continue to score well on the pretest will continue to receive a weekly enrichment list. Students should complete the spelling tic-tac-toe board with whichever list they receive each week. Both tests will take place on Thursdays. Regular list words are: sum, flat, plum, bell, grim, plot, band, bluff, dock, blot. Enrichment words are: materials, communication, suspicious, community, attendance, absent, excited, their, there, they're. ALL students should study the following 15 words: odd, left, cash, mill, past, shelf, wealth, crunch, hint, build, snack, step, pond, heavy, shovel.
In writing this week, we will begin to discuss the importance of building a writing community where all ideas are valued and appreciated. This should tie in nicely with last week's work creating our classroom "golden rules." We'll spend time writing freely and responding to prompts. Please encourage your child to let his or her thoughts flow on paper, even when he or she isn't sure what to write. I tell students that sometimes our best writing ideas come when we just start writing! We'll also use some writing time to focus on capitalization of proper nouns and the beginning of sentences.
Our I CAN statements (goals) for this week are:
I can explain the structure of a problem/solution selection.
I can use context clues to determine the meaning of unknown words.
I can spell short-vowel words.
I can write about a topic using correct capitalization.
Looking Ahead . . .
September 11th: MAP Testing for Reading
September 12th: MAP Testing for Math
(Hopefully you received the letter that came home about this computerized test last week. Fourth graders will take the test in reading and math. It will help us to know the skills your child already has so that we are able to guide instruction to move each individual forward. The test will be taken three times throughout the year to help measure growth.)
Have a wonderful week! Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns. I'm truly enjoying getting to know you and your children!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
May 15, 2015
Wow! I can't believe we're getting ready for the last full week of the year! It's been great and fast! I'm so proud of all these students have what they've accomplished this year. I've grown to love them and will miss them!
This week we'll finish up our novel, Little Bo and continue to discuss character traits and plot. We'll also continue to work on brochures in our functional writing unit. We will not have spelling homework this week. We just have too much going on!
Important End-of-Year Dates
May 19- Fun and Field Day
May 21- Reds Hall of Fame Trip (letter coming home with reminders)
May 22- Fourth Grade Awards, 9:30am (letter sent home Thursday about specific awards, but all will be recognized)
May 25- NO SCHOOL, Memorial Day
May 26- Fourth Grade Social (Thanks for returning permission slips!)
May 27- Last Day for Students
I think that wraps up the important dates! I have enjoyed working with and getting to know all of you. I can't thank you enough for trusting me with your children. I love them and hope to hear all about their successes in the future! I wish you all a wonderful summer and great fifth grade year! I hope to see you around town. Thanks so much again for making this such a great year!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
May 8, 2015
I want to thank you for the sweet cards, gifts, and words of encouragement during teacher appreciation week! You all make me feel special every day, but this week you really went overboard! Thanks so much for all you did for me! I'm so grateful to know each of you!
We had a great week finishing the poetry novel, Love that Dog. Students also wrote poetry inspired by the book! They are so creative and did a great job!
In the coming week, we'll be studying character traits and plot development through the novel Little Bo. We'll also tie in some nonfiction articles and work on summarizing.
Spelling Words for this week: (Each list has 20 words.)
Regular List: to, too, two, a lot, there, their, they're, where, were, we're, our, are, I'm, won't friendly, American, use, when, threw, through
Challenge List: to, too, two, a lot, there, their, they're, where, were, we're, our, are, I'm, won't, friendly, American, useful, whether, thoughtfulness, thorough
The homework is a little different. Students should choose three of the four activities from the following list:
1. Use each word in a sentence.
2. Write each word and draw a picture to show its meaning.
3. Write story, article, or journal entry using each word.
4. Write each word and its definition.
In writing we'll begin a short unit on functional writing, such as brochures, instructions, etc.
Coming up . . .
May 19- Field Day
May 21- Reds Field Trip
May 22- Fourth Grade Awards
May 26- Fourth Grade Social
May 27- Last day for students!
Wow! We are really getting close to the end of the year! I am enjoying these last few weeks, and I'm so grateful for each of you! Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
May 1, 2015
I can't believe it is already MAY! This year is flying by! The coming week will be busy with the first two rounds of PARCC testing for math plus all of the other day-to-day happenings at North.
In reading this week we'll wrap up our reading and discussion of Love that Dog, the novel-poem. The students have enjoyed reading the book, and I love the discussions we have because of it. We should also be writing some poetry based on the novel this week. Be sure to ask your child about this touching story.
Spelling words for this week are:
robin
button bacon
reason
cotton
sunken
eleven
cousin
woven
raisin
cannon
muffin
widen
wooden
ridden
common
proven
often
penguin
skeleton
violin
vitamin
medal
pupil
paddle
Goals/ I CAN . . .
-explain characteristics of poetry.
-describe how an author develops the characters, setting, and plot of a story.
-correctly use quotation marks.
-identify parts of speech including nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, and conjunctions.
Coming up . . .
-May 19- Field Day
-May 21- Reds Field Trip
-May 22- Fourth Grade Awards, 9:30am
-May 26- Fourth Grade Social
-May 27- Last Day for Students
I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
April 24, 2015
We had a great week studying nonfiction and poetry! We also managed to work on some parts of speech and letter writing!
Next week we plan to start a novel written as a poem, Love that Dog. This is a sweet story that most students love! We'll continue our study of poetry and also talk about how a setting, plot, and character(s) can be developed in poetry.
Spelling words for this week are challenging, so there's no challenge list.
All should study: burrow, furnace, concert, lantern, thirsty, disturb, alert, perhaps, purchase, nervous, modern, capture, merchant, survive, concern, service, eastern, whirlwind, surprise, persuade, really, handful, goodness, survey, emerge
In writing we'll continue review of letter writing as well as poetry. Students will have the chance to write some poems in a style of their choice. I love reading their poetry!
I CAN/ Goals . . .
-write poetry of different styles.
-explore character, setting, and plot.
-identify parts of speech- noun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition.
-use context clues and word parts to understand new words.
Coming up . . .
We have lots of events in May!
May 19- Field Day
May 21- Field Trip to Reds Hall of Fame
May 22- Fourth grade awards, 9:30am (You'll be notified if your child is getting a specific award as the date approaches. All receive certificates of graduation from fourth grade.)
May 26- Fourth Grade Social
I'll keep you posted as I learn more important dates! Have a great weekend, and please contact me with questions or concerns. Thank you for being so wonderful to all of us!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
April 16, 2015
The students worked very hard on the PARCC test for Language Arts, and I am proud of them! We had a short but busy week studying the Hindenburg disaster as we worked to answer multi-part questions. Students are mastering this skill!
This coming week we'll work on a mix of poetry and nonfiction. Students will be writing feeling poems, which are always fun! We'll look at figurative language used in poetry as well.
Spelling Words for this week:
All should study: grocer, pepper, barber, grader, polar, tanker, singer, enter, odor, collar, zipper, powder, danger, cheddar, popular, harbor, anchor, elevator, daughter, victor, cancel, behave, tender, conductor, waiter
I didn't make a challenge list this week as the er/or/ar/endings tend to be confusing for most students.
Also, please encourage your child to continue independent reading nightly for about 20 minutes. Our last reading counts store visit will be April 29th!
Goals/I CAN . . .
-write about nonfiction to summarize what I have learned.
-write a poem following a pattern.
-correctly punctuate sentences, and write in complete sentences.
-identify characteristics of poetry.
-understand figurative language in poetry: simile, metaphor, personification, etc.
Coming up . . .
There is no school tomorrow, April 17th, for teacher inservice.
Have a wonderful weekend, and please don't hesistate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
April 10, 2015
We had a great week discussing cause/effect and theme this week. I feel like this school year is flying! In the coming week, we'll take the next section of the PARCC language arts test on Monday. I appreciate your help getting your child a good night's sleep and a good breakfast. In reading, we'll look at some nonfiction and practice main idea/details as well as summarizing. We'll also review text structure.
We had technical issues this week, and I had a meeting Friday morning, making me unable to copy the homework packet to send today. Here are the words, and if you'd like to get started on homework over the weekend, just feel free to choose any three activities as listed under the homework tab above.
Spelling Words: (All have the same words this week.)
discourage, disappoint, disbelief, distrust, disloyal, misplace, mislabel, mislead, misstep, misnumber, nonfat, nonfiction, nonsense, nonstop, unable, unplug, uncertain, uncomfortable, uncover, unclean, prince, weighed, bolder, mishap, unravel
In writing, we'll be working on poetry and following a pattern within a poem.
Goals/I CAN . . .
-identify the main idea and important details.
-summarize a selection.
-identify a text's structure.
-explain characteristics of poetry.
Looking Ahead . . .
There is no school Friday, April 17th for teacher inservice.
Have a wonderful weekend, and don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
March 20, 2015
Happy Friday! This coming week is a review week for unit 5. There is no spelling, but a review packet/study guide was sent home today. It is due Thursday, although we may start the test as early as Tuesday. The students should be well-prepared, but I wanted to give you a heads-up. The test will cover paragraph/essay writing, comparing and contrasting, character feelings, suffixes, and simile/metaphor. These should be review skills, and I think the students will do well.
In writing we'll finish our country papers just in time for Spring Break. The students have finished research and are now editing and revising.
We also have a visit from a Red's representative Thursday and Friday. He'll talk about the history of radio broadcasting, which should be lots of fun!
Goals/I CAN . . .
Combine information from two texts to write an essay.
Compare and contrast as I read.
Describe the characters, setting, and plot of a story.
Identify similes and metaphors.
Organize a research paper and edit my writing.
Coming up . . .
We visit the book fair Monday during our library time.
Spring Break begins at the end of the day Friday! School resumes April 6th.
Have a wonderful break with your families!! I may do a quick newsletter next week, but I won't send a homework packet until we return.
Thanks for sharing your children with me! They are wonderful! Please feel free to contact me with questions and concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
March 13, 2015
We've had a busy week! We covered nonfiction (cause and effect) as well as a little bit of drama as we worked on performing a scene from a play. The students did a great job! We also read Me and Uncle Romie and discussed character traits. In the coming week we'll be reading a nonfiction story, "Wild Horses," and working to combine information from multiple texts. We'll also continue to study cause and effect.
In writing this week we're hoping to finalize our country papers! Students will be revising and editing. They're doing a nice job organizing their papers.
Spelling words for this week are:
Regular List: uncle, turtle, total, pencil, oral, pebble, channel, local, paddle, pupil
Challenge List: irresponsible, unreliable, believable, annual, definitely, desert, dessert, carnival, recycle, feasible
All should study: symbol, medal, bubble, settle, vessel, bugle, pedal, special, ankle, docile, barber, anchor, cheddar, animal, snorkel
Goals/I CAN . . .
-understand and explain cause-effect relationships.
-describe characters, setting, and plot in a story.
-write an organized research paper.
-use complete sentences when I write.
-combine information from two texts to write about a topic.
Coming up . . .
-Book Fair is March 23rd. We'll visit during our regular library times.
-Spring Break is March 28th- April 5th.
We'll have a visit from a Cincinnati Reds representative on March 26th and 27th to teach us about the history of communication and radio broadcasting. We did this last year and it was lots of fun as well as very informative.
Have a wonderful week, and don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
March 6, 2015
Happy March and Happy Carnival Day! I hope to see you there tonight!
In the coming week, we'll focus on character, setting, and plot as well as cause and effect through Me and Uncle Romie. We'll also take a look at cause and effect throught some nonfiction materials. We'll continue to refine written response to our reading. Students are doing better and better with this skill!
Spelling words for this week are:
Regular List: walker, chalk, laws, stalk, bald, caught, drawn, halt, strawberry, fought
Challenge List: gawking, Australia, Equator, applause, sausage, awfully, fraught, daunting, faucet, nautical
All should study: caller, half, straw, small, thought, talking, awe, shawl, false, squall, south, pouch, annoy, wallpaper, awkward
In writing we are completing research on our countries and beginning to write our research papers using our outlines. Students are getting very skilled in writing thoughtful, well-organized paragraphs! They are also enjoying their research!
Goals/I CAN . . .
-understand and explain cause-effect relationships.
-describe characters, setting, and plot in a story.
-write an organized research paper.
-use complete sentences when I write.
Coming up . . .
-The carnival is March 6th from 5:30-9:00. Hope to see you!
-The Multi-cultural Fair is March 12th from 6:00-8:00. Hope to see you there as well!
Have a wonderful weekend, and please contact me with questions or concerns!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
February 27, 2015
Happy Friday! We had a great full week! Students worked hard on testing, and I think we all found it to be less stressful than we had thought! Good work, everyone!!
This week we will complete the last set of Performance Based Reading Assessments on Tuesday. This is the narrative section. Students should do very well! I'm so proud of their efforts. In reading we'll be catching up on what we missed during the snow week. We'll read a drama and discuss the characteristics of this genre: lines instead of quotes, cast of characters, scenes, made for performance, etc.
Spelling words for this week . . .
Regular List: dinner, blanket, willow, plastic, welcome, summer, dipper, foggy, thriller, ticket
Challenge List: enrichment, complications, ghastly, unconstitutional, marvelous, rhetorical, pharmacy, frequently, historical
All should study: swallow, picket, witness, slender, nodded, planner, member, fossil, rumbles, blossom, talking, drawn, shawl, cupboard, friendly
In writing we will work on our nonfiction research papers. Students will be writing about a country of choice after completing some research, as time allows. We've modeled an outline and paper of this type as a group. Students are ready to work on their own and in small groups!
Goals/I CAN . . .
-combine information from multiple sources to write about a topic.
-research a topic to write a paper.
-use an outline to organize my thoughts.
-write an organized research paper.
-identify the characteristics of a drama.
Coming up . . .
-We'll have another round of testing for language arts Tuesday, March 3.
-Carnival is Friday March 6th! Hope to see you there!
-Multicultural Night is rescheduled for March 12th from 6-8pm. Hope to see you there as well!
Have a wonderful week, and feel free to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
February 23, 2015
Welcome back! What a crazy week last week was! I'm glad to be back in a routine!
Of course, our routine is not typical with the testing schedule! Our language arts assessments will be on three days coming up: February 24th, Feb. 26th, and March 3rd. These are performance based assessments that will involve reading and written response to reading. They will cover narratives, nonfiction, and fiction. Each day's test will last approximately 50-75 minutes. I appreciate any help you can give in getting your child a good night's rest and healthy breakfast. We'll all work to make sure this is a comfortable as possible for the students! They will do a great job!
We will not have spelling homework this week. Students should read twenty minutes each night.
This week we'll focus on theme and combining information from two texts to write an essay. We'll look the an excerpt from Because of Winn-Dixie if time allows. We'll also work on completing our five paragraph research paper about Israel. As you can see, it will be a busy week of catching up!
Goals/I CAN . . .
-combine information from multiple sources to write about a topic.
-research a topic to write a paper.
-use an outline to organize my thoughts.
-write an organized research paper.
-write about the theme of a story or poem.
Have a wonderful week, and don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns. It was great to see all of your children today!!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
February 13, 2015
Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you all enjoy the weekend with your families. Thanks so much to Mrs. Rexhausen and all of the parents who helped with our class party! We appreciate you so much!
This week we'll continue to refine our essay writing skills by combining information from multiple sources including text and videos. Students are becoming experts at writing to answer multi-part questions. We will also take a look at a drama, Ranita and the Frog Prince, if time allows.
Spelling words for this week:
Regular List: river, level, never, talent, radar, limit, diver, finish, famous, spoken
Challenge List: liquid, portrait, parakeet, inflatable, privately, spectacular, oppose, nuisance, quotation, headache
All should study: cabin, wiper, habit, bison, cider, stolen, promise, razor, pity, easel, swallow, plastic, rumbles, sequence, vivid
In writing, we're still focusing on modeling a class paper about our class' Multi-cultural Fair country, Israel. The fair will take place the evening of February 19th, and we'll be writing a paper to display in the hall among other things. Eventually students will be researching a country and writing about it.
Goals/I CAN . . .
-combine information from multiple sources to write about a topic.
-research a topic to write a paper.
-use an outline to organize my thoughts.
-write an organized research paper.
-explain characteristics of a drama (lines, stage directions, scenes, etc.)
Coming up . . .
Multi-cultural Fair is the evening of Thursday, February 19th.
As we get closer to the PARCC assessments, I wanted to share some important dates. Our language arts assessments will be on three days coming up: February 24th, Feb. 26th, and March 3rd. These are performance based assessments that will involve reading and written response to reading. They will cover narratives, nonfiction, and fiction. Each day's test will last approximately 50-75 minutes. We will also have an end-of-year language arts assessment later in the year. If you are interested in seeing examples of these tests or practicing them with your children, there is a great website: http://nextgen.apps.sparcc.org/home
Have a wonderful weekend! Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
February 6, 2015
We completed a full week this week! It was busy and full! The African American Inventor projects have been great, too!
We're focusing more and more on written response to what we read this time of year, and we've even had a couple of opportunities this week to do that in the computer lab. This week we'll wrap up unit four, and take a unit assessment. I know this unit has flown for me, but many of the skills are now being repeated and refined at this point in the year. Students are ready! Their homework for the week is a review packet without spelling, and it will act as a study guide for the test. The test will most likely be Thursday, but I can adjust that if needed. Homework is still due Thursday.
In writing, we're focusing on modeling a class paper about our class' Multi-cultural Fair country, Israel. The fair will take place the evening of February 19th, and we'll be writing a paper to display in the hall among other things.
Goals/I CAN . . .
-make inferences.
-compare and contrast.
-choose the correct homograph.
-identify a poem's pattern.
-write a short essay about my reading.
-organize a five-paragraph research paper.
Coming up . . .
-Our Valentine's Day party is Friday, February 13th. Your child is welcome to bring Valentines for everyone that we'll distribute on the 13th. Class lists should be coming home this weekend. Thanks to Mrs. Rexhausen for coordinating the party! If you signed up in the fall, she has your contact information. Thanks so much to all who are willing to help!
As we get closer to the PARCC assessments, I wanted to share some important dates. Our language arts assessments will be on three days coming up: February 24th, Feb. 26th, and March 3rd. These are performance based assessments that will involve reading and written response to reading. They will cover narratives, nonfiction, and fiction. Each day's test will last approximately 50-75 minutes. We will also have an end-of-year language arts assessment later in the year. If you are interested in seeing examples of these tests or practicing them with your children, there is a great website: http://nextgen.apps.sparcc.org/home
This site has links to different subject areas by grade level. Please let me know if you need additional information. We'll be looking at the sites at school as well.
Thanks so much for sharing your children with me! They are wonderful! Don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns. Have a great weekend!
Maria Balfour
January 30, 2015
We had a busy week! As we get closer to the PARCC assessments, I wanted to share some important dates. Our language arts assessments will be on three days coming up: February 24th, Feb. 26th, and March 3rd. These are performance based assessments that will involve reading and written response to reading. They will cover narratives, nonfiction, and fiction. Each day's test will last approximately 50-75 minutes. We will also have an end-of-year language arts assessment later in the year. If you are interested in seeing examples of these tests or practicing them with your children, there is a great website: http://nextgen.apps.sparcc.org/home
This site has links to different subject areas by grade level. Please let me know if you need additional information. We'll be looking at the sites at school as well.
Spelling Words:
Regular List: flower, voices, tower, mound, cowboy, gown, frown, south, howling, annoy
Challenge List: boisterous, corduroy, employee, annoyance, announcement, bountiful, pronounce, paramount, encounter, flounder
All should study: noises, pound, hound, pouch, thousand, wound, grouch, cough, grown, voyage, cookie, zoom, huge, drought, downtown
In writing, we are looking at nonfiction features as well as beginning to write nonfiction about countries. We'll focus on text features and organization of writing.
Goals/I CAN . . .
-identify a text's structure.
-use computer tools to understand a text.
-use computer skills to enhance my writing.
-combine information from multiple texts to write a paragraph or essay.
Coming up . . .
Our Valentine's Day party will be February 13th from 2pm-3pm. I'll be sending information about this home soon.
Thank you so much for all you do for your students and to support us here at North! I'm so grateful!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
January 16, 2015
Well, we made it through a whole five day week! It was good to get back into a routine! Now we have a four day week ahead with Martin Luther King Day on Monday.
This week we'll read the humorous fiction story, Dear Mrs. LaRue, and focus on making inferences/drawing conclusions. We'll also tie in some nonfiction and look at text structure. We're really working hard to write about what we read, and students are working to be specific and detailed in their answers. This skill was shown well by them on the unit three test this past week. I'm excited to see how well everyone did!
Spelling words for this week are:
Regular List: tasted, ripping, forced, flipping, tapped, flipped, cared, flagged, ripped, skipped
Challenge List: exaggerated, privilege, worrying, license, absence, separated, interesting, beginning, exhausting, escaping
All should study: tapping, saved, skipping, caring, flagging, discussed, saving, tasting, forcing, discussing, bedspread, desktop, snowstorm, outwitted, underscoring
This week students should have brought home information on an African American Inventor project. This is due February 6th, and it involves writing and science. The writing part will be mostly completed in class. We've started our research, and we've started rough drafts of the paragraphs. This coming week we plan to head to the computer lab to type our final copies.
Goals/I CAN . . .
-combine information from multiple texts to write a paragraph.
-edit a paragraph for spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
-make inferences/draw conclusions as I read.
-identify the structure of a nonfiction text- compare/contrast, chronology, cause/effect, problem solution.
Coming up . . .
NO SCHOOL Monday January 19th.
Have a wonderful weekend, and please feel free to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
January 9, 2015
Our first week back was broken by the snow and cold, but we managed to accomplish a lot! We completed (most students) MAP testing, and we learned a lot about Martin Luther King Jr. and other important African Americans. We compared what these people did for the world, and we got started on writing some essays about them. We'll have to finish that next week! Next week we'll also review for our unit three assessment, but I want to hold off on choosing a date until I see how much we accomplish (and what the weather does!).
There is a homework review packet this week, but there is no spelling or spelling test. The homework packet will act as a unit three study guide, and it is due Thursday as usual.
In writing we'll begin working on research papers. We'll look at different types of nonfiction to get ideas for how we might organize an nonfiction paper. Eventually we'll be writing about countries with a partner. The students typically love learning about different countries, so I'm excited to see where this unit takes us.
Goals/I CAN . . .
-combine information from two texts to write an essay.
-identify the parts of a dictionary entry.
-identify the correct meaning of a multiple meaning word.
-explain similes and metaphors.
-explain how a prefix changes a word.
-sequence important story events to write a summary.
-compare and contrast using a Venn diagram.
Coming up . . .
-Winter conferences are February 5th. We'll let you know if we would like to meet with you, but please feel free to contact us if you think a conference is necessary. If we request a conference, we'll send a letter home in the next week or so. Thanks!
-January 19- No School in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
As always, feel free to contact me with questions or concerns. Have a wonderful week!!
Sincerely
Maria Balfour
January 5, 2015
Welcome back and Happy New Year! I hope all of you had a wonderful and relaxing break with your families! I'm happy to see all of the students back in school!
This week we'll read My Brother Martin, a biography about Martin Luther King Jr. We'll use this story along with other texts about famous African Americans to work toward the goal of combining information from two texts to write an essay. This skill is challenging, but the students are ready to tackle it! We'll continue to do this throughout the year.
Spelling is due Thursday this week, and the test is Thursday as usual.
Regular List: hour, lambs, knew, wrench, kneel, thumbs, honest, answer, honesty, plumber
Challenge List: knowledgeable, weight, volunteer, fascinating, wreath, knight, heirloom, segregation, numerous, ancestors
All should study: honor, known, combs, wrapper, knives, doubt, knead, wriggle, heir, wrinkle, curl, pearl, shirt, knuckles, wrestle
In writing we'll wrap up our opinion paper unit. We also have MAP testing in the computer lab on Tuesday (reading) and Thursday (math). Students will show growth, I'm sure! They've been working hard! There is really nothing to do to study for this, but a good breakfast and good night's sleep will help!
Goals/I CAN . . .
-combine information from two texts to write an essay.
-revise and edit an opinion paper.
Coming up . . .
-Winter conferences are February 5th. We'll let you know if we would like to meet with you, but please feel free to contact us if you think a conference is necessary. If we request a conference, we'll send a letter home in the next week or so. Thanks!
-Jan. 7- Dine and Donate at Bridgewater Falls Chipotle
-January 19- No School in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Have a wonderful week and stay warm! Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
December 12, 2014
Our week was busy, busy, busy! We began The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, which we'll finish next week. Students are enjoying the characters in the story. We'll explore characters, setting, plot, and theme next week. We'll also be busy with our holiday party and other school holiday activities! There is no spelling next week, but I did send a reading packet for homework. It is due Thursday.
In writing we'll continue our opinion papers. Students are researching whether or not children should be allowed to participate in extreme sports. Their opinions are changing the more they research! Be sure to ask which side they take. We'll edit and complete these papers before break.
I CAN . . .
-describe the characters, setting, and plot of a story.
-write and edit an opinion piece with facts and research.
-identify nouns and pronouns.
Coming up . . .
-Winter Break begins December 20th, and school resumes January 5th.
-Our holiday party is December 19th from 2-3pm. Thanks so much to all who are helping with this exciting event!
I want to wish all of you a very safe and relaxing break with your families! I love your children and appreciate all you do to support us.
Please don't hesitate to contact me with concerns or questions, as always.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Dece
mber 5, 2014
Happy December to all of you! We had a great week studying Snowflake Bentley while we covered main idea, summary, and theme. We also discussed text features which we'll continue to do throughout the year.
Next week the all fourth graders in the district will begin reading the novel The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. We'll cover character, setting, and plot as well as character traits and compare/contrast. This novel will take us up to winter break which is only two weeks away! The students typically enjoy this humorous and touching novel. We'll also use it to compare a drama and prose version of the same story.
In writing, we'll begin opinion pieces. Students will analyze information on both sides of an argument and write a paragraph stating their opinion. We'll work to support our opinions with research.
Spelling words for this week:
Regular List: center, once, dance, germs, spice, bridge, badge, circus, cement, glance
Challenge List: pageant, manger, contribution, ordinarily, pestering, congregation, sympathetically, gorgeous, whole, hole
All should study: strange, police, certain, orange, ounce, ginger, wedge, arrange, sponge, village, combs, kneel, wrench, general, ceremony
Goals/I CAN . . .
-describe the characters, setting, and plot of a story.
-compare a drama and prose form of the same story.
-write an opinion piece supported with facts.
Coming Up . . .
We visit Santa Shop this week! All items are two dollars. Mr. Thompson's class goes Monday afternoon, and Mrs. Balfour's class goes Tuesday afternoon. Thanks to our PTC for this awesome opportunity!
We'll receive a visit from COSI on Wheels on December 10th.
Our holiday party is December 19th from 2-3pm. Thanks to all who are helping and to Angie Neal for coordinating!
Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns. I love working with you and your children! Have a wonderful weekend!
Maria Balfour
November 21, 2014
These students really love mythology! This week we read about Pandora, Achilles, Persephone, and Demeter. We also read an African folk tale and compared that to myths. We've even done some reader's theater which we've all enjoyed! Your child should know the characteristics of a myth well. I'm excited about how well they're doing with this topic! We'll continue to study myths next week during our two day week.
There will be no homework in the short week for language arts. I will send home the next packet Tuesday in case you'd like to work on it over break, but it is not due until Thursday December 4th. During that week, we'll cover main idea and text features. These include title, captions, headings/subheadings, photos, diagrams, graphs, etc. All of these are items many students overlook, but they add so much to our understanding of a text. We'll be taking an in-depth look at their importance the first week of December.
Spelling words for the first week of December are:
Regular List: fishbowl, lookout, backyard, desktop, campfire, overheard, waterproof, grandparent, railroad, snowstorm
Challenge List: weathervane, overboard, elsewhere, headquarters, commonplace, underachieve, granddaughter, drawbridge, whatsoever, foreshadow
All should study: loudspeaker, bookcase, bedroom, blindfold, newborn, bedspread, yourself, overdo, clothesline, undertake, berries, dresses, arches, eyesight, paperweight
In writing we'll continue to hear strong examples of fiction. We'll work on developing setting and plot. The students should have brought home a graded personal narrative by now. These were awesome!
Goals/I CAN . . .
-explain characteristics and themes of mythology.
-explain the main idea and important details.
-understand and use important text features.
-explore characteristics of fiction.
-use correct verb tense in writing.
Looking Ahead . . .
-Grandperson's Day is Monday from 2-3pm in your child's homeroom. We look forward to meeting your special people!
-There is no school November 26-30 in observance of Thanksgiving.
-"Be a Dear" starts Monday December 1-December 12. This is an opportunity to help North families in need with holiday gifts. A letter will come home next week. Thanks so much if you're able to support this!
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families! I'm so thankful for all of you!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
November 14, 2014
We had a great week wrapping up our novels and reading the legend, Mystic Horse. Mr. Thompson and I also enjoyed meeting with those of you who had conferences last night. It's easy to see why you have such wonderful children!
In the coming week and a half, we'll study mythology. We'll cover characteristics of mythology as well as common themes across myths. The students typically love this unit! We'll cover several major mythological characters including Achilles, Hercules, Athena, Medusa, and Zeus. We'll also learn some common Greek phrases or allusions. Hopefully your children will enjoy sharing those with you!
We finished our personal narratives this week, and next week we'll explore fiction. Hopefully I'll get the personal narratives graded in the next few days so you can see how well your child did. I've seen lots of improvement from our last pieces! These kids are great writers!
The homework packet for this week consists of words with Greek word parts. It's just a short spelling list and tic-tac-toe board. I may send home some extra work on myths if we get behind in class, but for now the only homework for me is the spelling packet in addition to reading each night.
Regular Words: telephone, biology, hydrate, meter, microscope, sympathy, television, polygon, democracy, crypt
Challenge Words: geography, hydraulic, cardiology, orthodontist, microscope, telegram, empathy, thermometer, democracy, cryptic
Greek word parts and their meanings are listed on the spelling sheets.
Goals/I CAN . . .
-identify characteristics of myths.
-explain common themes of myths.
-identify common Greek word parts.
-explore characteristics of fiction.
-use correct verb tenses.
Coming up . . .
-Grandperson's Day is November 24th from 2pm-3pm. Each student can invite up to two guests, who do not have to be grandparents. We'll have visiting time and refreshments.
-Thanksgiving Break begins on November 26th, and we return to school on December 1st.
Have a wonderful weekend, and please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
November 7, 2014
We had a great week as we read and wrapped up most of our novels. Some still have a chapter or two to finish before they can take a Reading Counts test, but we'll fit that in over the next few days. I think students enjoyed their discussion groups!
This week we'll focus on sequence and inferring as well as theme as we read the Native American legend, Mystic Horse. This will be a great lead into our upcoming mythology unit. We'll discuss how different cultures hand down stories from generation to generation to explain how things work or why things happen. In vocabulary we'll study homophones, i.e. bare/bear. We'll also work to write a paragraph combining information from two different texts.
In writing we'll continue revising personal narratives. We're working to help our readers feel our emotions so they'll be hooked into our stories. Students have some great memories to share in these narratives! We'll also review quotation marks in grammar as we write.
Spelling words for this week are:
Regular List: clams, mints, props, arches, dresses, parents, caves, glasses, hobbies, engines
Challenge List: strawberries, celebrities, families, awkward, mysteriously, loosened, injustice, elementary, cemeteries, realization
All should study: couches, arrows, enemies, babies, ranches, patches, mistakes, berries, mosses, armies, circus, germs, spice, batteries, compasses
Goals/I CAN . . .
-identify the theme of a story.
-make inferences and support them with story details.
-sequence important story events.
-combine information from two texts to draw conclusions and write about the texts.
-use quotation marks for dialogue.
-revise a personal narrative to add emotion and sensory details.
Coming up . . .
Monday November 24th from 2-3pm we'll have Grandpersons Day. We'll have refreshments and other fun activities. An invitation should have come home. Each student can bring one or two grandpersons. It should be a fun way to share what we do in school with special guests.
Conferences are Thursday, November 13th. Please let us know if you need a reminder of your time. We look forward to talking with you!
Thanks for sharing your wonderful children! I enjoy them every day! Have a great weekend, and feel free to let me know if you have questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
October 31, 2014
What a week we've had! We worked hard on novels, reviewed unit two, and wrote personal narratives! Then we topped it off with our walk-a-thon and fall party! What fun we've had, but we need to rest this weekend! Thanks so much to all of the volunteers for these exciting events. They really do create wonderful memories for all of us.
In the coming week we'll continue to read novels in small groups. The students are making inferences and reviewing the year's skills as they enjoy dicussing literature with each other. It's fun for us to do, and I see the students deepening their thinking as they read and discuss. We'll focus on making inferences, differentiating between first and third person, and reviewing story elements. We'll also tie in some nonfiction and continue to combine information to write about two texts. It will be a busy week!
In writing we'll continue to draft personal narratives, hopefully choosing one to publish. We'll work to add sensory details and remove unnecessary ones. I love reading what the students write about themselves.
Spelling is the only homework in our packet for this week, outside of nightly reading.
Regular Words: beam, tea, chief, squeak, peep, weep, sleek, heal, tease, thief
Challenge Words: volunteer, replied, supportive, mature, there, their, they're, summarize, finally, frightened
All should study: deal, please, leak, league, reef, deed, feet, breathe, speech, wheeze, neigh, pale, bail, freedom, appeal
Goals/I CAN . . .
-make inferences and support them with story details.
-describe in detail the characters, setting, and plot of a story.
-explain the difference between first and third person point of view.
-add sensory details to my writing.
-use context clues to determine the meaning of unknown words.
Coming up . . .
-There is no school Tuesday November 4th due to Election Day.
-Friday November 7th will be our Human Growth and Development health DVD and talk. Boys and girls will be separated for this activity. Our nurse sent a letter home about this on October 31st. If you have questions about this talk our nurse (Ms. Hughes) will give, please feel free to contact her at 868-0070. Thanks!
-Our last fall conference night will be Thursday November 13th. We look forward to meeting with you!
Have a wonderful, safe weekend! Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
October 24, 2014
I hope this newsletter finds all of you enjoying the fall weather! We had another great and busy week here in room 56! Students did a great job making inferences and supporting them with story details! We'll continue that skill as we prepare for our unit 2 assessment over the next week or so.
Speaking of our unit two assessment, that will most likely take place this coming Thursday or the following Monday. A review packet came home this week, and it covers the skills that will be on the test. We'll also review those skills in class this week as well as begin reading some novels: The Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, Frindle, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, and Stone Fox. These novels will help us with making inferences. Be sure to ask your child which one he/she is reading. Due to the novels and unit two review, we will not have spelling this week. The homework packet is due Thursday.
In writing, we'll continue to draft personal narratives. I love hearing and reading these stories about the students. It's a fun way for me to get to know them, and I love how much they enjoy telling and sharing their stories. This week we'll focus on sensory details and emotions, as those add so much to our stories.
Goals/ I CAN . . .
-make inferences and support them with story details.
-explain the differences between a first and secondhand account of the same event.
-explain the difference between first and third person point of view.
-use a map or chart to find information.
-explain the meaning of a simile or metaphor.
-explain the meaning of common idioms.
-determine which resource to use to find a specific type of information (ex: diary, dictionary, encyclopedia, atlas, thesaurus).
Coming Up . . .
-Our walk-a-thon and fall party are this Friday! The walk-a-thon will happen during lunch/recess- 12:30-1:10. The party will take place from 1:30 to 2:30, immediately followed by a school-wide assembly. We'll make some great memories! Thanks for you support of these events!
Have a wonderful weekend! Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
October 17, 2014
I can't believe how the weeks are flying! I'm enjoying your children more every day, and they bring so much creativity and excitement to our classroom! They are growing so much, and I am thrilled with what they're accomplishing! Thanks so much for supporting them at home from helping with homework, to talking about what they're reading, to encouraging good choices. It's so nice to see the great character traits you've instilled in them. They really are wonderful.
This week we'll read the humorous fiction story Dear Mr. Winston with a focus on making inferences. We cover this skill quite a bit as it's one that we find in everything. This week we'll be working to think more deeply about how characters connect. We're also working to combine information from two texts to write essays. This is a complicated skill, but students are ready to do it. They're doing a great job! Some will also continue a new novel, From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. This group will cover the same skills as the rest of the class, too.
In writing we'll continue to discuss personal narratives as we begin to draft our own. We'll work to choose life changing events that will interest our readers. You can talk with your child about personal narrative ideas to help them remember events they might want to use for their stories.
Spelling Words:
Regular List: gear, scare, fear, cheer, spare, hear, rear, stair, airfare, career
Challenge List: irresponsible, indecisive, grateful, then, than, candidate, sincerely, argument, weather, whether
All should study: compare, spear, beard, area, appear, yearly, tear, lair, mere, snare, sincere, staircase, fort, dart, worn
Goals/I CAN . . .
-make inferences as I read.
-combine information about two characters or two texts to write an essay.
-use context clues to define new words.
-draft a personal narrative.
Looking Ahead . . .
-Our Fall Party and PTC Walk-a-thon are approaching on October 31st. I'll be in contact Monday (Balfour Homeroom) with our party coordinator. More information will follow shortly after that. I can't believe it's almost here! Thanks so much for being willing to help! You are appreciated!
-Our last GREAT training with Sergeant Shobe will be this week on Thursday (Thompson) and Friday (Balfour).
Have a wonderful week, and please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
October 10, 2014
We had a busy week studying first and secondhand accounts as well as first and third person narration. Most students are now experts at these skills, which is great! We'll revisit all of this as the year continues.
This week we'll begin to study the structure of nonfiction texts as we read How Ben Franklin Stole the Lightning. We'll also talk about idioms- words that don't have the same meaning as their actual dictionary definitions. If you want to send a favorite idiom with your child, we can talk about it in class. Those who had been reading Frindle are now finished with that novel. We will start a new novel shortly, and I'll keep you posted on that.
In writing this week we'll begin a unit on personal narratives. We'll discuss that these are stories written from an important life experience, and we'll hear several examples by professional authors. I always feel like I learn so much about the students when they write about themselves. This is a fun unit!
Spelling Words:
Regular List: door, dart, fort, morning, carpet, ford, core, cord, spark, award
Challenge List: genuine, undecided, scientific, unpredictable, melancholy, fortunately, specifically, realistic, to, too
All should study: smart, charge, worn, argue, stormy, bore, guard, ward, warp, barnyard, charcoal, fo
recast, screech, shrimp, throat
Goals/I CAN . . .
-explain the problem/solution structure of a nonfiction text.
-explain the meaning of common idioms.
-explain the characteristics of a personal narrative.
-use apostrophes to show possession.
Coming up . . .
-CogAT testing is Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. We'll test for approximately 45 minutes each day after specials (10:45). Please come well rested and well fed. These tests will be used for fifth grade placement purposes along with several other measures including MAP scores.
-Our second conference night is Thursday, October 16th. We look forward to seeing you and discussing your child's progress!
Thanks so much for sharing your amazing children with me! Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
October 3, 2014
I can't believe it's October! The year is flying! Thanks so much to all who came for our first round of conferences. We enjoyed meeting with all of you! We look forward to seeing more of you on our upcoming nights, October 16th and November 13th.
In reading this week, we'll focus on first and secondhand accounts as we read My Diary from Here to There. Students should be able to explain that firsthand accounts are told by a narrator who was present for an event, while secondhand accounts are based on research after an event. I always remind them that the narrator will refer to him or herself as "I" in a firsthand account. We'll also continue to make inferences and work on written response to our reading. If time allows, we'll begin to combine information from two accounts to write about an event. It will be a busy week! In vocabulary, we'll discuss the origin or history of a word. Whew!
In writing, we'll wrap up the publication of our first stories and begin a short unit on the writing process. We've covered the writing process, but this will allow us to deepen our understanding. The students' stories are so creative!
Spelling words are:
Regular List: rush, northern, brush, shed, thanks, washer, photo, graph, whole, these
Challenge List: various, dimension, personality, characteristic, possibilty, necessary, assessment, motivation, curiously, cautious
All should study: fifth, whisk, thirty, bother, shove, phrase, headphone, width, nowhere, whirl, arch, ketchup, cheap, theater, wherever
Goals/I CAN . . .
-explain the difference between a first and secondhand account.
-find and explain a word's origin.
-publish my writing using the writing process.
-make inferences as I read.
Coming up . . .
-The 3rd Grade OAA is Tuesday, October 7th. This affects our lunch schedule. We'll be eating at 11:35 instead of 12:30.
-CogAT tests for 4th grade are the week of October 14th. Please come well-rested and well-fed! We'll do a few tests each day.
-October 16th is our second conference night.
Have a wonderful weekend! Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
September 26, 2014
Hello Families,
We finished our first unit today! It's hard to believe we've been in school long enough to do that, but we have! Unit tests are now completed, and I'll have them graded by Monday. We'll spend time analyzing them in class to see which skills are our best and which may still need work. Often on this first test, I'll give students credit for a mostly correct answer, but I'll write a note to explain how it could be better the next time. If you see a note like this on your child's test, I just wanted you to know that I sometimes do that.
This week we'll study how an author creates mood, making inferences, and first/third person point of view as we read Mighty Jackie. Some students will also study these skills through Frindle. Mighty Jackie is a fun historical fiction story about female pitcher, Jackie Mitchell. Be sure to ask your child about this exciting story!
In writing this week, we will publish our first stories of the year. We've been editing, and students are ready for publication! I love seeing their creativity as they write!
Spelling words for this week are:
Regular List: choose, kitchen, marching, touch, chatter, sketched, chant, chance, branch, hitch
Challenge List: occasionally, intention, responsibility, determined, laughable, suggested, sketched, physical, legendary, snickered
All should study: ketchup, cheap, chopped, latch, chef, patch, snatch, arch, stretching, pitcher, stove, goal, mows, chemical, checkers
Goals/I CAN . . .
-explain how an author creates a mood in a story.
-make inferences as I read.
-explain the difference between first and third person point of view.
-publish a piece of writing.
-correct run-ons and fragments.
Coming up . . .
-Tuesday September 30th is our Art Museum field trip! Please pack a lunch as we'll be eating in Cincinnati.
-Our first conference night is October 2nd. We look forward to meeting with you!
-Book Fair is October 6th during our regular library time.
Thanks so much for sharing your awesome children with me! They are working hard and making me smile every day!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
September 19, 2014
Hello Families!
We had a great week studying character, setting, and plot! We accomplished so much! Great work, students! Thanks for all of your support at home too. You are wonderful!
This week is a review week. There is a homework packet, but it does not have a spelling list. There is no spelling test this week so that students can focus on reading and vocabulary for the unit test. This packet contains practice sheets for the main skills covered on our unit test: character traits, main idea/details, simile/metaphor, and conflict/resolution. The packet acts as a study guide, but we'll also review in class before the test. The test will take place Wednesday or Thursday depending on our readiness.
We'll also complete some fun student goal-based reading extension projects in class this week. Students will choose these based on the skills they either need to perfect or to be challenged with. We'll look at our goals from the last four weeks for this. We'll do the work in class, but students may bring in materials from home if they would like. Most students choose to complete these projects with their independent reading material, but I will provide articles or other sources if needed. A rubric will come home so you can see how well your child does! This is always a fun way for students to extend their learning as well as incorporate other forms of art or media. I'm excited to see what they do!
In writing, we'll be editing our first round of stories. We'll look at spelling, punctuation, grammar, run-ons and fragments. Students will conference with me and with their peers to edit their stories.
Goals/I CAN . . .
-identify the conflict and resolution of a story.
-explain the main idea and details of a selection.
-identify and explain similes and metaphors.
-identify and support character traits.
-edit my writing for clarity.
-use context clues to define unknown words.
Coming up . . .
September 25th is Literacy Night from 6-8pm.
Our Art Museum trip is September 30th. Thanks for getting those permission slips and the 3.75 fee turned in. I really appreciate it, and I think only a few are still out.
Conference confirmation letters will come home early next week. Thanks for meeting with us! We're excited to discuss your child's progress!
Have a wonderful weekend, and don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
- See You at the Pole is Wednesday, September 24 from 7:30-8:00 a.m. at the flag pole in front of North Elementary. This is a student-initiated and student-led prayer event that happens across the nation each year on the fourth Wednesday of September, prior to the start of the school day.
- This announcement is for information purposes only and is not sponsored or endorsed by North Elementary or the Fairfield City School District.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
September 12, 2014
Hello Families,
Our week was great! These students are adjusting well to fourth grade, and I am enjoying them!! We covered main idea and details, and overall students did very well. This week's test was difficult, and most students handled the challenge well. I did go over the test individually with students who struggled, and those students had the chance to earn back extra points. If you see two grades on your child's test, this is the reason. The higher of the two is the one in Progress Book. We'll revisit main idea before our unit test which is coming in about two weeks.
This week in reading we'll look at character, setting, and plot through The Raft. Some students will continue to read Frindle as well, focusing on the same skills. When we discuss character traits, students are always asked to support traits with story details. In fact, supporting answers with story details is something we'll talk about all year. If you talk about what your children are reading at home, it's great if you can encourage this. You can ask them what they're reading, what the character's traits are, and how they know.
In writing this week we're working to complete a draft of choice with a beginning, middle, and end. We'll begin the revision process, working to make sure our writing makes sense and has all the appropriate details. We'll also look at combining sentences with commas as well as using commas in a series.
Spelling words for this week are:
Regular List: goal, mole, stone, stove, chose, own, fold, flow, mold, toll
Challenge List: beautiful, potion, magician, accidentally, unusual, eerie, carefully, experiment, detail, useful
All should study: groan, stole, foam, mows, roasting, lower, sole, blown, bolt, quote, kite, shy, climb, coaster, motor
If your child is struggling with the challenge list, please feel free to switch to the regular list. I would rather have students focus on reading challenges than spelling challenges.
Goals/I CAN . . .
-analyze the characters, setting and plot of a story.
-determine character traits and support them with story details.
-answer literal and inferential questions as I read.
-use context clues to determine the meaning of unknown words.
-revise my writing to make sure it makes sense.
-use commas and conjunctions to combine sentences.
-use commas in a series.
Looking Ahead . . .
-Literacy Night is September 25th. Please RSVP if you'll be coming! A form was sent home last week. Thanks!
-Fall conference forms are being sent home today. Please return those by Wednesday if at all possible. Thanks so much!
Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns. I am happy to talk with you! I love working with your children!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
September 5, 2014
Hello Families,
We've had another great week! I'm so excited about the progress students are making. They are working hard and being respectful, so I couldn't ask for more! Thanks so much for all you do to support us at home. We appreciate it!
In reading, we focused on the mystery genre this week as we studied conflict/resolution, plot, and inferences. All students read The Mystery of the Missing Lunch and some started the novel, Frindle. Just to clarify, we all study the same standards, but if I see that a student has mastered a standard, I'll often give that student a more challenging book or activity. This could change with each skill covered, so students move in and out of those groups based on individual needs. Please don't hesitate to ask if you have questions.
In writing this week we focused on types of sentences: statement, question, command, exclamation. This will continue this week through our writing unit. We're working to build a base of writing ideas this week. Students are starting several stories and will eventually choose one to publish. They'll conference with peers and with me to become better writers.
Spelling words for the coming week are:
Regular List: pale, face, crate, clay, stray, cane, slate, today, bail, rail
Challenge List: painstaking, adaptation, frustration, climate, academic, creature, accomplish, system, millionaire, weird
All should study: break, ache, drain, faint, flame, claim, steak, neigh, mane, graze, grim, plum, cash, neighbor, railway
Goals/I CAN . . .
-explain the main idea and important details in a selection.
-identify the types of sentences and use correct end punctuation.
-spell long a words.
-build a writing community.
Coming up . . .
-MAP testing is Tuesday and Thursday. Please come well-rested and well- fed :).
-G.R.E.A.T. starts with Sergeant Shobe (Gang Resistance Education and Training)
-Picture Day is September 11th.
-Literacy Night is September 25th. (flyer sent this week)
Thanks for sharing your children with me! Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns. I'm so happy to work with all of you!
Maria Balfour
August 28, 2014
Hello Families!
Our second week has been a great one!
We’re beginning to feel more settled, and we even learned some reading
comprehension strategies! We discussed how good readers make connections,
visualize, and predict among other things. We practiced these skills with Thank You, Mr. Falker and our
independent reading books. We also completed a vocabulary and comprehension
activity that made for our first grades. Overall, students did a great job, and
I’m so excited to see how far they’ll go this
year!
Our first spelling test was today, and I’ll have that graded by
Tuesday when we return. The new homework packet is coming home today as well,
and that is due next Thursday. Thanks for having your child read nightly for
twenty minutes as well.
Based on a spelling pretest, I’ve decided to do a regular and
enrichment list this week for spelling. Your child received the appropriate list
today based on his or her pretest
score.
Regular spelling words include: sum, flat, plum, bell, grim,
plot, band, bluff, dock, blot, odd, left, cash, mill, past, shelf, wealth,
crunch, hint, build, snack, step, pond, heavy,
shovel
Enrichment words include: materials, communication, suspicious,
community, attendance, absent, excited, their, there, they’re, odd, left, cash,
mill, past, shelf, wealth, crunch, hint, build, snack, step, pond, heavy,
shovel
Looking Ahead . . .
There is NO SCHOOL Friday (the
29th) due to teacher in
service, and there is NO SCHOOL Monday due to Labor
Day.
Thanks so much for sharing your amazing children! I’m enjoying
getting to know all of them, and I know we’ll have a great
year!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Tuesday May 27, 2014
Hi Families!
We had an AMAZING time at our Cincinnati Field Trip last week! I am so impressed with how well each and every student behaved on the trip. They were polite, respectful, and had a GREAT time learning about baseball and statistics. We also had some fun eating lunch at a nearby park and touring the stadium. We couldn't have asked for better weather OR a better game! Most of all, I felt such a sense of community as 300 North students, family members, teachers, and Mrs. Hayes gathered in our section to cheer our Cincinnati Reds to victory! It was just awesome, and the smiles on the faces of your children were priceless. Many, many thanks to all of you who entrusted your children to us for this trip, and many, MANY thanks to our incredible chaperones! We could not have done it without you! I hope it's a day everyone will remember fondly forever; I know I will!
This week will be BUSY and fun! Our Fourth Grade Social is Tuesday! Please remember sunscreen, bathing suits (one piece or full-coverage tankini for girls), snacks to share (fruit for Balfour/Bergen homerooms), and a change of clothes if you want to be sprayed with the fire hose! Thanks so much to Mrs. Splawn and all of the parents who are working so hard to make this day fun! We're excited! Also, please wear your t-shirts!
This week we also have fourth grade awards on Friday at 1:15 pm. If your child is receiving a specific award, a letter came home last week. Everyone will receive a completion certificate.
Academically, we'll spend some time with our novels. Most students should be able to finish before next week, but those who don't will have some great summer reading material :)! We'll also have a visit from WCPO meteorologist Mr. Larry Handley this Wednesday. This is always a fun and educational presentation. Mr. Ed VonBargen presented for us about chemistry last week, and the students thoroughly enjoyed that too! There is no spelling or homework this week for language arts.
This will probably be my last official newsletter for the year. I can't thank you enough for sharing your beautiful, smart, amazing children with me. I'm not ready for them to move to fifth grade, but they are ready! They'll make super fifth graders! I hope to see all of you around town this summer as well as next year to visit! If there's ever anything I can do to help your children or you, please let me know. I have been so blessed to spend this year with all of you. Thank you for supporting your children, our school, and me. I am so incredibly grateful!
I hope to see all of you at one or more of our activities this week, but if I don't, have a safe and fun-filled summer!
Sincerely and Gratefully,
Maria Balfour
Monday May 19, 2014
Welcome back to our last five-day week! I can't believe it! We have a full week this week, four days next, and one day the following.
This week there is no spelling or reading homework packet. We just have too many events and field trips! In between all of that, we will work on the novels which some are finishing. I think they're really enjoying the opportunity to learn from and discuss these books.
I think what will be most helpful for this newsletter is to give you upcoming dates. Here they are!
May 19th is our Intermediate School Field trip. Permission slips will come home
soon! Parents are welcome to meet us at FIS at 9:30 and tour with the students.
Students will take a bus to FIS.
-4th Grade Field Day- May 22nd
-Also on May 22nd, we'll have a tree planting ceremony in
honor of Emmee Kauffman. This is at school at 4pm.
-Cincinnati Field Trip- May 23rd! Chaperone letters came home as well as information letters to parents.
-4th Grade Social- May 27th- Permission slips were sent home this week.
-4th Grade Awards May 30th
Hopefully this helps! I hope everyone has an amazing week! I know I'm excited about it!
Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday May 12, 2014
We made it through OAA week, and I am so impressed with the effort of these students! They worked hard!
Now we get to spend time enjoying some novels! We have quite a selection with students reading novels including Because of Winn-Dixie, Frindle, The Bad Beginning, The Mysterious Benedict Society, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, The Castle in the Attic, and The Lightning Thief. Students are working through a combination of teacher and student-created questions. We'll use these novels to cover all of our fourth grade reading comprehension skills in preparation for fifth grade. This will most likely take us through the end of the year.
Spelling words for this week are:
Regular List: robin, button, bacon, reason, cotton, sunken, eleven, cousin, woven, raisin
Challenge List: popular, confusion, tomorrow, abbreviation, performance, dedicated, devoured, majestic, science, miniscule
All should study cannon, muffin, widen, wooden, ridden, common, proven, often, penguin, skeleton, medal, pupil, paddle, violin, vitamin
Our list of important dates is as follows . . .
-May 12th is the evening performance of Annie Jr. at North. It starts at 6:30pm. We saw it this past week, and it's wonderful!!
-May 19th is our Intermediate School Field trip. Permission slips will come home
soon! Parents are welcome to meet us at FIS at 9:30 and tour with the students.
Students will take a bus to FIS.
-4th Grade Field Day- May 22nd
-Also on May 22nd, we'll have a tree planting ceremony in
honor of Emmee Kauffman. This is at school at 4pm.
-Cincinnati Field Trip- May 23rd! Chaperone letters came home as well as information letters to parents.
-4th Grade Social- May 27th- Permission slips were sent home this week.
-4th Grade Awards May 30th
With so many events coming up, the rest of the year will fly! It's always bittersweet for me. I'll miss these students so much, but I know they're ready to be successful fifth graders!
Have a wonderful week, and please don't hesistate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincererly,
Maria Balfour
Monday May 5, 2014
I can't believe it's May!! I'm going to start this newsletter with dates because there are so many!
Looking Ahead . . .
4th Grade Parents mark your calendars for
May 8th to attend the Intermediate
School Orientation. Event is at FIS
from 6-8pm.
-4th Grade Reading OAA is May
5th
-4th Grade Math OAA is May 6th. Thanks for helping your
child to come to school well-rested and well-fed on those days and every
day! Due to elections, we will eat lunch in our rooms on May 6th. Students can buy cheese and crackers and fruit if needed.
-May 19th is our Intermediate School Field trip. Permission slips will come home soon! Parent are welcome to meet us at FIS at 9:30 and tour with the students. Students will take a bus to FIS.
-4th Grade Field Day- May 22nd
-Also on May 22nd, we'll have a tree planting ceremony in honor of Emmee Kauffman. This is at school at 4pm.
-Cincinnati Field Trip- May 23rd!
-4th Grade Social- May 27th- Permission slips will come home soon about this as well.
-4th Grade Awards May 30th
Election Day is Tuesday, May 6!
Every vote counts, so don't miss this
opportunity to cast YOUR vote!
Our big event this week is the OAA! Students are ready!! We'll test Monday and Tuesday. Your child will be given a Nutri-grain bar before testing, but a great breakfast is appreciated as well! Anything you can do to make sure they're well-rested is wonderful, too! We are so blessed to have such great kids with such supportive parents. We are going to rock this test and it's going to be great! Thanks so much for all you do!
There is no homework this week. After testing, we'll have Junior Achievement and will start new novel groups. Students are excited about this!
Have a great week, and please contact me with questions or concerns.
Monday April 28, 2014
We had a busy week! Congratulations to the entire fourth grade on a wonderful musical and chorus concert! I thoroughly enjoyed it!!
This week we'll spend time reviewing a variety of skills in preparation for next week's OAA. The students know the skills! Now it's just a matter of reading carefully and answering exactly what is asked. I have complete faith that they'll put their skills and strategies to work and do an amazing job! We'll read a variety of fiction and nonfiction this week to prepare.
In writing, we'll work more on our opinion pieces, discussing whether or not kids should watch TV on school nights. Students who finish this piece will have the opportunity to choose a topic of their own.
Spelling words for this week are:
Regular List: above, cancel, remind, gather, between, unfold, tender, action, monster, chamber
Challenge List: reinforcement, capability, extraneous, elementary, intermediate, habitat, business, capital, structured, repetition
All should study: petal, woman, weeder, frosty, clipper, tutor, poster, behave, relate, excite, diver, finish, spoken, another, remember
Goals/I CAN . . .
-show my understanding of fourth grade reading skills!
-write an opinion piece.
Looking Ahead . . .
4th Grade Parents mark your calendars for May 8th to attend the Intermediate
School Orientation. Event is at FIS from 6-8pm.
-4th Grade Reading OAA is May 5th
-4th Grade Math OAA is May 6th. Thanks for helping your child to come to school well-rested and well-fed on those days and every day!
-4th Grade Field Day- May 22nd
-Cincinnati Field Trip- May 23rd!
-4th Grade Social- May 27th
-4th Grade Awards May 30th
Election Day is Tuesday, May 6! Every vote counts, so don't miss this
opportunity to cast YOUR vote!
Wow! The end of the year is a busy time!
Have a great week, and don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday April 21, 2014
I hope all of you enjoyed this beautiful weekend!
This week we'll review compare/contrast through the story At Home in the Coral Reef. Students usually enjoy this nonfiction article that takes place under and around the ocean. We'll also tie in some additional nonfiction articles and work to read closely for details.
In writing we'll take a break from functional writing to write an opinion piece. Students will be asked to support opinion pieces with facts and feelings. All of this writing will take place in class. We'll also head to the computer lab to continue our keyboarding program. If your child has been practicing a lot at home, he/she may have completed the program. If that's the case, we'll put those skills to work typing an individual piece.
Spelling words for this week:
Regular List: walker, laws, chalk, stalk, bald, caught, drawn, halt, strawberry, fought
Challenge List: gawking, Australia, Equator, applause, sausage, awfully, fraught, nautical
All should study: caller, half, straw, small, thought, talking, awe, shawl, false, squall, south, pouch, annoy, wallpaper, awkward
Goals/I CAN . . .
-compare and contrast as I read.
-write an opinion piece, supporting it with facts and my feelings.
-demonstrate knowledge of fourth grade reading skills.
Looking Ahead . . .
-OAA dates are May 5th (reading) and 6th (math).
-4th Grade Concert Tuesday evening!
Also, here's a reminder from Fairfield Intermediate School:
- 4th Grade Parents mark your calendars for May 8th to attend the Intermediate
School Orientation. Event is at FIS from 6-8pm.
-Cincinnati Field Trip May 23rd
We're entering that time of the year when we have a mix of testing and other events that often change our schedule. I'll do my best to let everyone know when everything is happening, but I wanted to especially let our parent volunteers know. It will probably be best if we don't have parent volunteers the week of the OAA. Our schedule will be altered that week, so I wouldn't want to have someone come in and then not be able to work with the students. I can't say enough how much I appreciate our volunteers! You help the students and me more than I can ever express!
Have a wonderful week, and please contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday April 14, 2014
We had a great and productive first week back from the break! Now we have another short week! Students have school on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday only due to teacher in-service and Good Friday.
We'll spend our short work reviewing one of the tougher skills of the year, text structure. Students are working to understand how an author has structured a text such as problem-solution, cause-effect, compare-contrast, sequence (ordered steps), or chronological (timeline). An entire text may have a solid structure, or different paragraphs within a text may have a set structure. We'll read a nonfiction article, The Life and Times of an Ant, to practice this skill. Then we'll take a short quiz over it. We'll also be looking at Greek word parts this week. There are two homework papers about this in the packet, and students should know the meanings of the word parts in the packet. We'll take a short quiz over those as well.
There is no spelling this week due to the short week. Students should still be reading 20 minutes nightly. They have set fourth quarter reading counts goals of a minimum of 25 points or 15 points for reading center students. Students who attend intervention two or three times a week have a goal of 20 points. Of course students can always set a higher goal if they would like! I have offered an incentive as well for students who meet their goals, and they are given regular reminders of where they are. Thanks for encouraging this at home!
Goals/I CAN . . .
-identify the structure of a text.
-define Greek word parts: astro (star), ology (study), bio (life), dino (terrifying), tele (far), scope (see), naut (sailor), saur (lizard).
-review fourth grade skills through Mario World.
Looking Ahead . . .
-NO SCHOOL for students this Thursday or Friday.
-OAA dates for fourth grade are: May 5th- Reading and May 6th- Math. Thanks for helping your child to be well-rested as well as get a good breakfast on those dates.
-Spring Pictures are Tuesday the 15th.
Don't forget you can vote early at the Butler County Board of Elections, open daily from 8-5.
Have a wonderful week! Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday April 7, 2014
Welcome back! I hope all of you had a wonderful break!
This week we'll explore theme through an excerpt of A Cricket in Times Square. Students usually love this story! We always remember that the theme is the lesson in the story, and of course we have a song to help us. :)
As we continue our Reading Skills Challenge, I've been reminding students that they should have finished four challenges at this point. That would leave three weeks to complete the remaining six challenges. Students are allowed to work on the challenges any time they complete classwork early, and there are days when I carve out time for this as well. All students who complete the challenge will get a special treat after the challenge in May. The challenges help students to prepare for fifth grade as well as the OAA.
Spelling words for this week are homophones, so the homework packet looks a little different. Students are to choose three out of four activities to help them learn the words and their meanings: 1. Write each word and its definition. 2. Write a story using each word. 3. Write each word and draw a picture to help you remember what it means. 4. Use each word in a sentence that shows its meaning, and underline the spelling words.
Regular List: root, tale, wade, tail, prince, dough, moose, prints, we've, weave
Challenge List: break, brake, merry, marry, bazaar, bizarre, bridle, bridal, affect, effect
All should study: whose, route, who's, boulder, weighed, patience, bolder, doe, mousse, patients, cotton, muffin, eleven, straight, strait
In writing, we'll wrap up poetry this week. If time allows, we'll begin a unit on functional writing. Some examples of this include brochures, recipes, lists, and flyers.
Goals/I CAN . . .
-identify a story's theme.
-explain the meaning of homophones and spell them correctly.
-review fourth grade reading skills.
-revise/edit a poem of my own choice.
Looking Ahead . . .
-Spring pictures will be taken April 15th.
-There is no school for students April 16th or 17th due to teacher inservice and observation of Good Friday.
The district Bond Issue information to be shared for this week is as follows: Fairfield Bond Issue replaces Freshman/Central and builds a new elementary. Kids stay in their elementary grades K-5. Smaller enrollment grades 6-8.
Thanks so much for sharing your children with me! I hope everyone has a wonderful week! Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday March 24, 2014
Hello Families,
Welcome to this week leading up to Spring Break! We will be busy with a review of main idea and summarizing! We finished unit five last week, and overall students did very well on the assessment. Those should have come home Friday. After each assessment, I talk with students individually to review their misunderstandings. If you're able to do that at home too, it would be so helpful.
This week we'll read some nonfiction articles to review main idea and summarizing. Students will be asked to identify important information in the articles and summarize that information in sequence. We may also take a closer look at text structure if time allows.
Spelling words for this week are the same for all students. I think the regular list is a challenge itself, so I decided not to add a challenge list.
All should study: discourage, disappoint, disbelief, distrust, disloyal, misplace, mislabel, mislead, misstep, misnumber, nonfat, nonfiction, nonsense, nonstop, unable, unplug, uncertain, uncomfortable, uncover, unclean, prince, weighed, bolder, mishap, unravel. These words are also a good opportunity to review how prefixes change words. Students should understand that mis= wrongly or badly, un= not, non= not, and dis= lack of.
In writing, we'll edit and publish our feeling poems. We'll also conference with partners to make sure we're including all of the right items in our pattern poems.
Goals/I CAN . . .
- determine the main idea of a passage.
-summarize what I read in correct sequence.
-understand how prefixes change words.
-edit a poem.
Looking Ahead . . .
-Book Fair is Monday for the Balfour homeroom and Tuesday for Ms. Bergen's class.
-We will receive a visit from the Red's Museum Friday to learn about broadcasting and statistics!
-Spring Break begins at the end of the day Friday! School resumes on April 7th.
-Spring Pictures will be taken on April 15th. More information will follow.
The district will be sharing some voter information in the upcoming weeks. The Bond Issue for Fairfield Schools will be on the May 6
ballot. Register to vote by April 7.
I just want to say again how much I love working with your children and your families! I am so grateful to know all of you! Please have a safe and relaxing break with your families. I probably won't write another newsletter until we return on the 7th of April. In the meantime, don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday March 17, 2014
Hi Families! Thanks so much to all who have returned the slips and final payments for our May 23rd field trip. Hopefully you received the letter last week explaining what you have paid and what you still owe for your child, if anything. Thanks for returning those by Thursday! If you have questions, please ask! I also indicated whether or not you are a chaperone on the form. Thanks so much, chaperones! We'll be having a chaperone meeting as the trip gets closer.
This is a review week for reading. We will cover the skills of making inferences/drawing conclusions, cause/effect, simile/metaphor, and combining information from two texts to write about a topic. We'll test over these skills Thursday if our week goes as planned. Your child's homework for this week is a review packet that also acts as a study guide.
In writing we'll continue our poetry unit. We're finalizing our "feeling" poems through conferences. We'll also continue exploring other types of poetry. Your child should be able to list several characteristics of poetry as well as identify those characteristics in a poem. A few of these include: rhyme, rhythm, stanzas, use of incorrect grammar, and repetition.
We'll also be starting a class-wide, friendly competition this week in reading! Students will complete a series of reading challenges to earn points and the chance to win prizes. This will help students to refine fourth grade skills in preparation for fifth grade and the OAA. All students who complete the entire challenge will receive a special treat in May. This reading challenge will last through the end of April, and all of it will be completed in class.
Goals/I CAN . . .
-describe characters in detail.
-make inferences/draw conclusions as I read.
-explain cause/effect relationships.
-identify and explain similes and metaphors.
-use context clues to define unknown words.
-write a poem that follows a pattern.
-combine information from two texts to write about a topic.
Looking Ahead . . .
-Book Fair is March 24th for my homeroom and March 25th for Mrs. Bergen's homeroom.
-Friday the 21st is "Dress-up/Fancy Day."
-On March 28th our classes will get a special visit from a Red's Museum employee. He'll help to prepare us for our field trip by talking about broadcasting and statistics, two things we'll experience at our May trip.
-Spring Break is March 31st-April 4th!
-OAA dates have changed. The OAA will be May 5th (Reading) and 6th (Math) for fourth graders.
Have a wonderful week, and don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday March 10, 2014
Hi Families!
Last week we practiced character inferences and began to study cause and effect. This week we'll spend more time with cause and effect as well as work to integrate texts on a topic to write about that topic. We'll read the narrative nonfiction story, Wild Horses as well as a variety of other cause and effect articles to help us practice these skills.
In writing we'll continue our poetry unit as we begin to write our own poems. Be sure to ask your child about our group "feeling" poems. They came up with some creative ways to describe feelings through poetry! We'll also continue to examine the characteristics of poetry.
Spelling words this week are:
Regular List: uncle, turtle, total, pencil, oral, pebble, channel, local, paddle, pupil
Challenge List: irresponsible, unreliable, believable, annual, definitely, desert, dessert, carnival, recycle, feasible
All should study: symbol, medal, bubble, settle, vessel, bugle, pedal, special, ankle, docile, barber, anchor, cheddar, animal, snorkel
Goals/I CAN . . .
-explain cause and effect relationships.
-combine information on a topic from two sources in order to write about that topic.
-use context clues to define unfamiliar words.
-explore characteristics of poetry.
-follow a poetry pattern to write poetry.
Looking Ahead . . .
-The second installment of our Red's Museum/Cincinnati History field trip payment is due March 20th. If you need a reminder of how much you owe, please let me know. If you paid $25 the first time and didn't request additional tickets, the remainder would be $25. Thanks so much! We had enough parents request extra tickets that we are checking with Great American Ballpark to see if we can purchase additional seats. As soon as we know, I'll let you know who will be getting tickets. We are working to accommodate everyone. Thanks so much for your patience as we finalize numbers and try to get those tickets.
-The MadCap Puppets are coming for a visit Monday the 10th! We can't wait to see their show!
-Book Fair is approaching the week of March 24th! The Balfour homeroom will visit Monday of that week and Ms. Bergen's class will visit Tuesday. More information will follow soon!
Finally, thanks so much to all who helped to make North's Carnival a success! I enjoyed seeing many of you there, and it looked like everyone had a great time! I know my kids had a blast eating pizza and winning prizes!
I'm looking forward to another great week! Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday March 3, 2014
Wow! It is March!?! How did that happen? We had a very busy week with lots of action and activity! As we studied drama, we had four plays presented in class. Students should be able to name the characteristics of a drama in their sleep by now: cast of characters, lines for dialogue, scenes, and stage directions to name the big differences between drama and prose. Most of all, we discussed that plays are written with the intent of performance. The actors and directors have to make inferences in order to portray a character on stage. I loved this short unit, and I think the students had a great time too. Many said, "I wish we read plays all the time!" Some even wrote their own Balto plays as we researched and learned about the Iditarod. Now they're really ready to tackle that topic from a math and science standpoint!
This week we'll go back to prose as we read realistic fiction story Me and Uncle Romie. We'll study character, setting, and plot as well as cause and effect. Some students are reading novels this week too, including Castle in the Attic and Freedom Train. We'll tie our skills in with all the different pieces of literature. The more you can have your child identify cause-effect at home, the better they'll understand it in reading. We'll focus on the clue words that signal cause and effect, such as because, so that, in order to, etc. I always stress that the cause makes something happen, and the effect is what happens. Thanks for working on this at home!
We wrapped up our research paper unit last week. I learned so much about the different countries from the students' papers. This week we'll begin a poetry writing unit. We'll explore characteristics of poetry and try writing our own.
Spelling Words are . . .
Regular List: grocer, pepper, barber, grader, polar, tanker, singer, enter, odor, collar
Challenge List: generosity, entrance, barbecue, glorious, collage, college, odorous, grocery, qualification, monetary
All should study: zipper, powder, danger, cheddar, popular, harbor, anchor, elevator, daughter, victor, cancel, behave, tender, conductor, waiter
Goals/I CAN . . .
-describe the characters, setting, and plot of a story.
-identify and explain cause-effect relationships.
-explore characteristics of poetry.
-use context clues to define new words.
Looking Ahead . . .
-We're still collecting Pringles cans for the carnival. Thank you!
-Carnival is this Friday! I hope to see everyone there!
Have a great week, and don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday February 24, 2014
Hello Families,
I was very excited about the results of the Unit 4 Assessment! Students are making great progress with the skills! I reviewed missed items one-on-one with everyone, and if you could go over that with your children too that would be great! I try to write both praise notes and "work on it" notes on tests so the students keep doing what they're already doing well. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!
This week we'll compare drama (play) and prose as we read the drama Ranita the Frog Princess. We'll determine what makes a play different from other genres, and we'll even do a little performing of our own in class to reinforce those concepts. We'll also talk about how themes are portrayed in different types of literature. I teach students that a theme is a lesson. It often helps them to see how characters change throughout a story as well as what the main characters learn throughout a story. This will almost always lead them to a more universal theme within the story.
We're also excited about the Alaskan Iditarod! We'll be joining in the math, science, and social studies fun as we read the novel Balto and the Great Race. This novel tells the story of the original Iditarod, and it has some great themes which we'll discuss! I know Ms. Bergen included it in her newsletter, but if you'd like to see what it's all about, you can visit www.iditarod.com.
In writing, we are wrapping up our country research papers. Students have had time to type in class, and this week we'll work on editing and publishing. Students have found some very interesting facts! I also think researching and writing about the African American inventors really helped with the organization and structure of this research paper on countries.
Spelling words are:
Regular List: river, level, never, talent, radar, limit, diver, finish, spoken, famous
Challenge List: liquid, portrait, parakeet, inflatable, privately, spectacular, oppose, nuisance, quotation, headache
All should study: cabin, wiper, habit, bison, cider, stolen, promise, razor, pity, easel, swallow, plastic, rumbles, sequence, vivid
Goals/I CAN . . .
-explain the difference between drama and prose.
-determine the theme of a drama or story.
-edit a research paper.
-use a computer to type a research paper.
-identify antonyms.
Looking Ahead . . .
-We are still collecting carnival basket donations. All items are appreciated, but our theme is Outdoor Fun.
-The carnival is March 7th in the evening from 5-9pm. I hope to see you there! Thanks to all who are working on this!
The following is from Mrs. Splawn regarding the Fourth Grade Social . . .
ATTENTION FOURTH GRADE PARENTS:
Recently a form came home asking for volunteers for the 4th grade social. We need help planning and implementing this fun day for our kids. If you are not aware of what the 4th grade social is; it is a day of celebration for our 4th graders as they are approaching their last days at FF North. We swim, we play, we eat and there is a lot of socializing!! None of it can be done without the help of many volunteers and a lot of planning! If you can't help with the planning and want to help on the day of; which is Tuesday May 27th (ALL DAY,) please send in your form and I will make sure to take note of it.
We will have a planning meeting for the 4th grade social on Thursday February 27th @ 6:45 pm in the teachers lounge. If you would like to help us plan this fun event for our kids please join us then! If you have any questions, you are welcome to email me at [email protected].
Have a great week, and don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Tuesday February 17, 2014
Hello Families,
We actually had a five day week!! Of course it's followed by another four day week! I hope you all enjoyed the long weekend.
We are coming up on the end of our fourth reading unit. The homework packet for this week will also act as a unit four study guide. This week in class, we'll review poetry, problem/solution, sequence, making inferences, and homographs. We'll read several short stories and nonfiction articles to practice these skills, and the test should be Thursday. There is no spelling this week so we can focus on our reading review.
In writing, we'll continue to work on our country research papers. Most students completed rough drafts this week, so hopefully we'll be heading to the computer lab to publish them this week. We typed the African American Inventor papers last week, and I was impressed at the amount of typing students could complete in a short time. I think our keyboarding lessons must be working! Great job to everyone! The projects were awesome!
We've also been taking some time to review parts of speech. Run-on sentences and sentence fragments are common at this age, but we're working to fix that. We spent lots of time talking about subjects and predicates, and then we also more closely examined nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Students should know that a sentence needs a subject and predicate to be complete. We'll keep spending a few minutes a week on grammar, but most of our grammar work is done directly in writing time.
Goals/I CAN . . .
-make inferences/draw conclusions.
-identify the problem and solution in a story.
-select and sequence important story events.
-choose the correct homograph.
-determine the rhyming pattern of a poem.
-organize and publish a nonfiction paper.
--write in complete sentences.
-vary sentence structure in writing.
Thanks so much to all who helped with our Valentine's Day party! It was a blast!! It was also fun to see so many of you at North's Amazing Race. I loved the chorus performance as well as all the others, and I tried some delicious foods! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!
Looking Ahead . . .
-We're still collecting carnival basket donations. Thanks so much for your help with this!
-Author Will Hillenbrand will visit this Thursday!!
-The carnival is March 7th!
Have a great week, and please contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday February 10, 2014
Hi Families!
I'm hoping for a full week this week! Let's see if the weather cooperates!
This week in reading we'll continue to draw conclusions/make inferences with the fantasy story Dear Mrs. LaRue. The students typically love this humorous tale of a dog who gets into some trouble! We'll also continue to describe characters and setting in detail as we compare this story to another humorous fiction story from earlier in the year. Comparing is an important skill this year, so we'll be tying that in wherever possible.
In writing, students have chosen their countries and have also spent some time in the computer lab researching. We also have a collection of books in the classroom that students can use for research. A few students have even visited the library and brought in books on their own! Thanks so much to those who have taken the time to do that. I'm learning so much about countries alongside the students, and it's been fun to hear all of the interesting facts! We will now begin piecing together these nonfiction papers using the notes taken in research. Students are asked to write a (minimum) five paragraph nonfiction paper. We've written one together as a class to model this. The paper will have an opening paragraph, three detail paragraphs with facts chosen by students, and a closing paragraph. We've talked about topic sentences and organization a lot lately, and the students are doing well! The writing is all being done in class.
Spelling words for this week are mostly -ed and -ing endings:
Regular List: tasted, ripping, forced, flipping, tapped, flipped, cared, flagged, ripped, skipped
Challenge List: exaggerated, privilege, worrying, license, absence, separated, interesting, beginning, exhausting, escaping
All should study: tapping, saved, skipping, caring, flagging, discussed, saving, tasting, forcing, discussing, bedspread, desktop, snowstorm, outwitted, underscoring
Goals/I CAN . . .
-draw conclusions/make inferences as I read.
-describe the setting and characters in detail.
-compare themes across stories.
-gather facts for research.
-organize a research paper (expository nonfiction).
-identify and use prepositions in my writing.
Looking Ahead . . .
-North's Amazing Race is this Thursday from 6pm-8pm. It will be a great time! I hope to see you there!
-Valentine parties are Friday the 14th from 2pm-3pm. Thanks to all who are helping with this event!
-There is NO SCHOOL Monday, February 17th, President's Day.
-We are still collecting for carnival baskets. Our theme is "Outdoor Fun/Sports," but all donations are appreciated!
-Pennies for Pasta runs this week and next. Thanks for donating your spare change to the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society.
-Please continue to turn in your Red's Museum permission slips and payments. Thank you!!
-Keep up the great work on those visual aids for the African American Inventor projects. We'll write the paper in class, but the visual is due by Thursday.
I think that sums it up!! Have a wonderful week, and don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns. I feel so privileged to work with your children and you!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday February 3, 2014
Is it really February?!? I can't believe how quickly time flies! I hope you all enjoyed the weekend!
This week we'll be reading the realistic fiction story Blind Hunter, which takes place in Africa. It's an interesting story, and it also has an interesting theme. Be sure to ask you child about it! We'll cover the skill of drawing conclusions (making inferences), as well as describe the characters and setting in detail. One way you can help at home is to have your child point out story details in his/her independent reading that describe the characters or setting. We'll be looking for those types of details in class a lot this week, and we'll use those details to draw conclusions. This is a tough skill for students, and they often need reminders that drawing a conclusion is not restating what is directly stated in the story, but rather using what we've read to make assumptions.
Spelling words are mostly inflected ending "y to i" words:
Regular List: funnier, families, pennies, worried, replied, varied, marries, carries, easily, silliest
Challenge List: similarities, possibilities, livelier, filthiest, cleanliness, worthiest, simplest, crazier, clothesline, paperweight
All should study: jumpier, merrier, cries, cozily, sorriest, prettily, lazier, happiest, dizziest, caring, tasting, skipped, handily, factories
In writing we'll continue to research different countries. This past week we worked on note-taking as we read a variety of books. We also wrote a research paper on Scotland and discussed different ways to structure this type of paper. Students will most likely be choosing their own countries in the next week or two.
As we work on research, we'll be completing a joint language arts/science project. Information about this will come home Monday. This project on African American inventors will tie in well with Black History Month. The research and writing portion of the project will be completed in school. The visual aid will be mostly homework. The sheet coming home will explain the project in more detail as well as provide a rubric for each part of the project. Feel free to ask questions! We hope this project will be educational, informative, and fun!
Looking Ahead . . .
Conferences are Thursday, February 6th. We have contacted those with whom we'd like to meet. If you would like a conference, though, please let us know.
North's Amazing Race is Thursday, February 13th from 6-8pm. This will be a great evening about countries all over the world! Hope to see you there!
Carnival basket donations are greatly appreciated! Our theme is outdoor fun, but all types of donations will be counted toward our class's contributions for the school-wide contest.
Our Valentine's Day party is February 14th from 2pm-3pm. Thanks to all who have offered help!
Field trip information about our Red's Museum/Cincinnati outing came home last week. Even though the trip is in May, we need to collect the permission slip and first payment by February 20th in order to secure seats. Thanks so much for your help in turning these in as soon as possible.
Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns. Have a wonderful week!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday January 27, 2014
I hope all of you are staying warm!!
Due to the short week last week, we'll be doing some catching up this week! We got a good start on Adelina's Whales. We spent time sequencing and summarizing as well as determining the parts of a story that are important enough to include in a summary. I'm finding this is a big difference between the third and fourth grade standards. In third grade, students spent time sequencing given events, but in fourth they are asked to determine which story events are important enough to include in a summary. One strategy we've been using is to look for events that move the main action of the story forward. These are the events that are usually important when sequencing and summarizing. We'll continue to practice that skill as well as look at text structures in the coming week.
The spelling packet came home Friday, and it's a little different. There are 20 words that are commonly misspelled by fourth graders, and students should choose three of the four activities listed on the sheet to practice the spelling words.
Challenge Words: useful, whether, thoughtfulness, thorough
Regular List: use, when, threw, through
All should study: to, too, two, a lot, there, their, they're, where, were, we're, our, are, I'm, won't, friendly, American
In writing, we have started our nonfiction unit. So far we're exploring characteristics of nonfiction books as well as comparing structures of nonfiction books. Students have new writing partners, and we'll begin partner research this week. Students will eventually choose a country for their nonfiction papers, but right now we're familiarizing ourselves with the research process in general.
Goals/I CAN . . .
-sequence and summarize important story events.
-identify the structure of a nonfiction story.
-explore characteristics of nonfiction.
-research a topic with the intent of writing a paper.
-identify prepositions and prepositional phrases.
-recognize and distinguish meaning of homographs (words that are spelled the same but have different pronunciations and meanings- dove, read, live, etc.)
Looking Ahead . . .
Winter conferences will be held on February 6th. We'll be contacting you by phone or email this week if we would like to conference with you. If you do not receive a call or email but would like a conference, please let us know. We are happy to meet with you anytime!
Our Multicultural Fair, North's Amazing Race, will be held on February 13th from 6-8pm. Hope you see you there!
Our Valentine's Day party will be held on February 14th from 2:15-3:15. I'll send a class list this week so you can begin preparing cards! If you're out shopping, there are 26 students in Mrs. Balfour's homeroom and 27 in Ms. Bergen's. Students will exchange with their homeroom classes. I'll also be contacting parents who signed up to help with the party soon. Thanks so much!
One more thing . . . We are collecting for carnival baskets! Our theme is sports/outdoor fun, but any items donated (even if they fit another theme) count toward our class total.
Thank you so much for all of your support! I love your children, and I am grateful for the opportunity to work with all of you each day!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Tuesday January 21, 2014
Welcome back! I hope you enjoyed the weekend!
Last week students worked hard to complete the unit three assessment. Most did very well on this test! Tuesday we'll be reviewing the assessment and students will be tracking their progress. We'll take a look at the goals they met and those on which they still need to work. Your child should be able to tell you the types of questions he or she missed (i.e. simile/metaphor, sequence, summarizing, vocabulary, etc.) We'll work to master those skills at school, but I appreciate your support at home as well. If you need materials or website ideas, please feel free to ask. One great general website for practicing a variety of reading skills is www.mrnussbaum.com. Under the Language Arts tab there are reading comprehension activities leveled by grade. This is a great, free practice opportunity!
This week we'll read the nonfiction essay, Adelina's Whales. We'll study selection structure through this story as well as others. The goal is for students to be able to identify the structure of a story such as problem/solution, cause/effect, sequence of events, chronological (time) order, compare/contrast, or fact/opinion. We'll review what each of these structures looks like as well. Sometimes a whole selection will follow one of these structures, but other times different paragraphs might have a different structure. You can practice at home by showing your child nonfiction articles and discussing the structure. A great website for nonfiction articles is www.timeforkids.com.
In writing, we are beginning a nonfiction unit in which we'll complete research on different countries and work to organize that research into an expository nonfiction paper. We'll do the majority of work in class, but if you could send a book or article on a country for us to use in class, that would be great. I visited the library over the weekend and checked out a large selection of books for our research, but every bit helps! Thank you if you're able to do this! We'll also do some internet research.
We'll also study prepositions in grammar this week. We'll discuss prepositions (in, on, over, under, behind, before, after, through, off etc.) and prepositional phrases (up the tree, over the rainbow, on the table, under the bed, through the woods, etc.).
Spelling words for this week came home Friday.
Regular List: flower, voices, tower, mound, cowboy, gown, frown, south, howling, annoy
Challenge List: boisterous, corduroy, employee, annoyance, announcement, bountiful, pronounce, paramount, encounter, flounder
All should study: noises, pound, hound, pouch, thousand, wound, grouch, cough, grown, voyage, cookie, zoom, huge, drought, downtown
Goals/I CAN . . .
-identify the structure of a nonfiction story.
-explore characteristics of nonfiction.
-research a topic with the intent of writing a paper.
-identify prepositions and prepositional phrases.
-recognize and distinguish meaning of homographs (words that are spelled the same but have different pronunciations and meanings- dove, read, live, etc.)
Looking Ahead . . .
Thanks for your carnival basket donations! Our theme is "Outdoor Fun/Sports."
Have a wonderful week, and don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday January 13, 2014
We accomplished so much during our three day week last week, and I am so proud of the hard work of students! We compared and contrasted and summarized, and they did a wonderful job!
On Friday, your child received a unit three review packet. This is the reading homework for this week, and it's due Thursday. Thanks so much for your help in having your child return the packet Thursday, as we'll be reviewing it in class on that day. This will help students to prepare for their unit test! There is no spelling this week!
This week we'll review the goals of the past five school weeks including compare/contrast, main idea/detail, summarizing, simile/metaphor, sequence, multiple meaning words, and prefixes. All of these are covered in the review packet and will be covered through a variety of articles and short stories throughout the week. We will be busy, but I'm confident that the students will be ready for this test. I plan to give the test either Friday or the following Monday depending on student readiness.
We will also take the reading MAP test on Wednesday, and students will test for math on Thursday. Thanks for helping your child to come to the testing days well-rested.
In writing, we'll finish our fiction stories. We'll use our editing rubric to check for spelling and grammar. These stories are very creative!
There is no spelling this week to allow us extra time for reading review.
Goals/I CAN:
-compare and contrast what I read.
-summarize what I read.
-sequence important story events.
-write an essay to summarize what I read.
-identify and explain similes and metaphors.
-choose the correct meaning of multiple meaning words.
-understand and define prefixes.
-edit my fiction story for spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and quotation marks.
Looking Ahead . . .
We are now collecting items for carnival baskets! The class collecting the most items will win a pizza party! The basket theme for Balfour/Bergen is summer/outdoor fun! Thanks so much for any items you can send! Thanks to our AWESOME PTC for the AWESOME carnival!!
There is no school for Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, January 20th.
Have a wonderful week, and don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday January 6, 2014
Welcome back! I hope you had a wonderful break! I am excited to see everyone!!
We are returning to "full-swing" as we get back to work this week! We'll start with a powerful biography, My Brother Martin, written by Martin Luther King Jr.'s sister. We'll work to summarize as well as compare this biography to other biographies of important African American leaders including Thurgood Marshall, Ruby Bridges, and Rosa Parks. Our vocabulary focus will be on context clues and multiple meaning words as well as prefixes and suffixes. This will also help us to prepare for the unit three assessment which will come next week. We'll spend plenty of time in review over the next two weeks. Look for a review packet to come home on Friday, January 10th. The test will most likely take place on Thursday or Friday, January 16th or 17th.
In writing, we'll continue our unit on fiction, and we'll begin choosing a piece for publication. Students are really letting their creative juices flow with this unit, and it's fun to see their ideas! We'll be taking a close look at some fiction samples, working to revise those with our rubric and checklist. Then students will be asked to apply those skills to their own pieces.
Spelling words for the week are mostly focused on silent letters:
Regular List: hour, lambs, knew, wrench, kneel, thumbs, honest, answer, honesty, plumber
Challenge List: knowledgeable, weight, volunteer, fascinating, wreath, knight, heirloom, segregation, numerous, ancestors
All should study: honor, known, combs, wrapper, knives, doubt, knead, wriggle, heir, wrinkle, curl, pearl, shirt, knuckles, wrestle
Goals/I CAN . . .
-summarize important parts of a selection.
-compare and contrast two selections.
-revise a fiction story.
-spell words with silent letters.
-identify and use interjections in my writing (Wow!, Hey!, etc.)
Have a wonderful week! Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Maria Balfour
Monday December 16, 2013
Wow! The last few weeks have been busy and unpredictable! I think we are caught up from our surprise snow days, and we're ready to work our way to Winter Break!
This week we will not have spelling, but I sent a short reading packet for homework that is due Thursday. We'll also wrap up the novel, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, and we'll continue to look at setting, plot, and characters. We will also compare the book to the play/drama, something we took a peek at this past week.
In writing, we'll continue to work on fiction stories, beginning to develop the characters in our writing. We'll hear strong examples of developed characters as well as conference to refine our own.
We'll wrap up the week with our class parties on Thursday and a school sing-along! I think we're all excited about the week!
Goals/I CAN . . .
-describe the setting, plot, and characters in a story.
-compare a novel to a drama.
-use context clues to define unfamiliar words.
-develop characters in a fiction story.
Looking Ahead . . .
Class parties are Thursday the 19th from 2pm-3pm.
Winter Break begins at the end of the day on December 20th.
School resumes Monday, January 6th.
I am so grateful for each of you and especially for each of your amazing
children! They have worked very hard so far, and I look forward to seeing what
they will do when we return in January! Have a wonderful break, and enjoy your
families! I look forward to seeing many of you at our events this week. Thanks
so much to Mrs. Long, Mrs. Proffitt and all of the parents who are working to
make our parties a blast!
I want to wish all of you a wonderful holiday season! I hope you make wonderful memories with your families! Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday December 9, 2013
I hope you all enjoyed the surprise day off Friday!
This week we will spend some brief catch-up time on main idea and summary. Then we'll head into a class novel, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. This novel will be taught in fourth grade across the district over the next two weeks to give students a common novel to discuss as they head to the Intermediate School. We'll cover character, setting, and plot as well as compare the written version to a stage version of the book. We'll see how a novel is written differently than a play, and we'll also view part of a stage version of the book. It should be a fun two weeks leading to winter break!
In writing, we'll continue our fiction unit. Students are currently conferencing and perfecting the beginnings of their stories, and I will soon be taking a small writing grade based on the beginning of each student's piece. This grade will count as a half grade in Progress Book as it's not really a completed story. We'll also conference (both peer and teacher) to see how we can make these pieces even more interesting. It's fun to see the creativity that comes out with these fiction pieces!
Spelling words for this week are:
Regular List: center, once, dance, germs, spice, bridge, badge, circus, cement, glance
Challenge List: pageant, manger, contribution, ordinarily, pestering, congregation, sympathetically, gorgeous, whole, hole
All should study: strange, police, certain, orange, ounce, ginger, wedge, arrange, sponge, village, combs, kneel, wrench, general, ceremony
Goals/I CAN . . .
-describe the setting, characters, and plot of a story.
-compare a novel to a drama.
-describe the setting in my writing.
-correctly use quotation marks in my writing.
-divide my writing into paragraphs.
Looking Ahead . . .
Santa Shop is this week! All items are $2. Mrs. Balfour's class attends Monday the 9th, and Mrs. Bergen's attends Tuesday the 10th.
Our Holiday Party is December 19th from 2pm-3pm. Thanks to Mrs. Long for coordinating!! It will be great!
Winter Break begins at the end of the day December 20th. School resumes January 6th.
Have a wonderful week! Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday December 2, 2013
I can't believe I just wrote December on our newsletter! I hope you all had a relaxing Thanksgiving with your families.
This week we'll be reading the biography Snowflake Bentley as we revisit main idea and supporting details. We'll also take a closer look at summarizing. This biography is fitting for the season as it focuses on snow! We'll also read some additional nonfiction books on different types of weather which will tie in nicely with what students have been studying in science with Mrs. Bergen.
In writing this week we'll continue our fiction unit. We'll explore different types of fiction as well as work to write strong, "catchy" openings for our stories. We'll spend time writing independently and conferencing to refine this skill.
Homework for this week only involves spelling tic-tac-toe. It will come home Monday.
Regular List Words: fishbowl, lookout, backyard, desktop, campfire, overheard, waterproof, grandparent, railroad, snowstorm
Challenge Words: weathervane, overboard, elsewhere, headquarters, commonplace, underachieve, granddaughter, drawbridge, whatsoever, foreshadow
All should study: loudspeaker, bookcase, bedroom, blindfold, newborn, bedspread, yourself, overdo, clothesline, undertake, berries, dresses, arches, eyesight, paperweight
Goals/I CAN . . .
-determine the main idea and supporting details of a nonfiction selection.
-summarize what I have read.
-explore characteristics of fiction.
-write a strong beginning/"hook" for a fiction story.
-identify the intended meaning of multiple meaning words.
Looking Ahead . . .
Santa Shop is next week. All items are $2. Mrs. Balfour's homeroom will visit Monday December 9th, and Mrs. Bergen's will visit Tuesday December 10th.
Please don't hesitate, as always, to contact me with questions or concerns. I am so grateful to work with each of you!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday November 18, 2013
I just want to say once again how much I appreciate the way you and your children all created a community of support last week. It's in difficult times like these that we realize just how much we need each other. I know we'll continue this kind of support in the coming months, and I will continue to keep an extra-caring eye on all of the students. Last Thursday and Friday students created a beautiful memorial of cards, flowers, and poems that will be shared with the Kauffman family. Thank you, again.
Arrangements for our dear friend Emmee are as follows:
Visitation is Monday night from 5pm- 8pm at Community Christian Church on Milikin Rd. There is a second visitation at the church Tuesday from 5pm-7pm, followed by the funeral at 7pm. Please use your discretion in deciding whether it would be helpful for your family to attend. I just wanted to be sure you had the information.
This week we'll study Greek Mythology, discussing major Greek characters as well as what makes a myth a myth. Homework packets with spelling and a project should have come home with your child. Originally I had planned to have the projects due next Friday. If your child needs an extra weekend, though, please feel free to change the due date to the day before Thanksgiving Break, November 26th. Students are excited about the myths, so it should be an interesting and educational week!
Spelling lists for this week are shortened. Students have just ten words each.
Regular List Words: telephone, biology, hydrate, meter, microscope, sympathy, television, polygon, democracy, crypt
Challenge Words: geography, hydraulic, cardiology, orthodontist, microscope, telegram, empathy, thermometer, democracy, cryptic
Notice the Greek word parts listed on the homework page. :) We've been discussing and noticing these in class.
In writing, we just completed our personal narratives. We'll begin a unit on fiction, and this week we'll explore various types of fiction stories.
Goals/I CAN . . .
*describe characteristics of mythology.
*understand and use Greek words and phrases.
*recognize and define Greek word parts.
*explore characteristics of fiction to use in my writing.
Looking Ahead . . .
Thanksgiving Break is approaching, November 27-29.
Thank you for sharing your children with me. I love each and every one of them! Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday November 11, 2013
Hello Families,
With Monday being Veteran's Day, I'd like to say a special "Thank you!" to all veterans! In honor of Veteran's Day, all of us at North are trying to wear red, white, or blue on the 11th.
The past week was busy as usual! We worked on our novels, and those reading Stone Fox completed the book! We'll take Monday to wrap up Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, and we'll probably continue another week with Because of Winn-Dixie which is a little longer. Students did a great job with the novels, questions, and discussion groups. We spent a lot of our time making inferences. Students are getting better at making their inferences, but we'll continue to master supporting those inferences with story details throughout the year. Hopefully your child shared our inference chant!
On Friday, students took the unit two assessment. We'll review that Monday in class. Overall, students did very well! We'll be beginning a legend called Mystic Horse this week in reading. This story will give us the opportunity to look closely at setting and plot as well as sequence.
Spelling words this week are mostly plurals:
Regular List: clams, mints, props, arches, dresses, parents, caves, glasses, hobbies, engines
Challenge List: strawberries, families, celebrities, awkward, mysteriously, loosened, injustice, elementary, cemeteries, realization
ALL should study: couches, arrows, enemies, babies, ranches, patches, mistakes, berries, mosses, armies, circus, germs, spice, batteries, compasses
In writing, we'll begin to edit personal narratives and hopefully publish those by the end of the week. Students are working with a rubric to edit their own pieces, and we're also looking at sample pieces from a mysterious friend named J.R. Be sure to ask your child who he is. Students will have conference time with their peers and with me as well.
Goals/ I CAN . . .
-explain how the sequence of events is important to a story.
-explain what makes a legend or folk tale.
-edit a personal narrative.
-spell plural words correctly.
Looking Ahead . . .
November 14th is our last official fall conference night. We look forward to meeting with those of you who are scheduled!
Next week we'll be examining some Greek myths. Your child will be bringing home a project about this Friday. This will be their homework for the week of the 18th along with spelling. Just thought I'd give you a little "heads-up!" This week's homework is the regular packet, due Thursday.
Have a wonderful week, and don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns. Your children are amazing, and I'm so grateful to work with them and with you!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday November 4, 2013
I can't believe it's November! The year is flying, and we are accomplishing a lot each day! I am seeing so much growth already this year, and I look forward to even more!
We started our novel groups last week, and I am so impressed with how well student discussions are going. These fourth graders are leading their own discussions, including everyone, and developing their reading skills, too. It's so much fun to watch! We should be wrapping up Stone Fox and Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing discussions this week as we continue to work on making inferences and supporting them with story details. We'll cover the same skills with Because of Winn-Dixie, but it may take us an extra week to finish this lengthier book. Either way, students will take the unit two assessment either this Friday or the following Monday. I want to make sure we're ready before picking the exact date. We'll also continue to review the other skills covered on the assessment such as first and third person, firsthand/secondhand accounts, problem-solution, and similes/metaphors. The homework packet that students completed last week is a great study guide as well. To keep things simpler, the homework packet for this week only contains spelling tic-tac-toe. I decided to skip the enrichment list just for this week. The words on the regular list are a little tougher, and this will also allow us to work more deeply on novels as well as prepare for the unit test. We'll resume the typical homework packet next week. Students should still be doing their nightly reading, too. Thanks!
Spelling words for this week are consonant cluster words: shred, through, sprout, sprawl, split, throb, throat, shrink, screw, shrimp, screech, straighten, sprang, shriek, splashing, straps, strain, strand, script, thrill, graph, brush, these, threaten, and strictly.
In writing, we'll begin to revise our personal narratives. Students will use a student rubric similar to the one that was attached to their last graded papers. With the rubric, we'll be rating sample personal narratives and then applying that information to our own writing. Students will conference with peers and with me to revise their writing. They have great life stories to tell, and I'm excited to head toward publishing them!
Goals/ I CAN . . .
-explain the problem/solution structure of a story.
-identify similes and metaphors.
-make inferences about characters as I read.
-explain the difference between first and third person in a fiction story.
-explain the difference between first and secondhand accounts of nonfiction.
-find information in a chart or graph.
Looking Ahead . . .
-There is no school for students on Tuesday, November 5th due to teacher in-service.
-Picture Retakes are November 7th.
-"Popcorn Friday" is November 8th.
-Students wishing to apply for newspaper club should write an essay on the following prompt: "I would make a good newspaper staff member because . . ." All are welcome to apply, but please know that there will only be two to three staff members per fourth grade class. Also, students chosen will be asked to stay after school every Monday until 4:30 starting the end of November through April. Students will also have deadlines for articles. Mrs. Mainous will be the newspaper staff mentor, and essays are due no later than Friday November 8th.
Have a wonderful week, and please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday October 28, 2013
What a week last week was!! It all ended Friday with our Art Museum trip, walk-a-thon, and fall party!
I am so proud of students for their amazing behavior as well as the intelligent questions they asked at the Cincinnati Art Museum. Our guides all commented on what excellent fourth graders we have, and I couldn't agree more! Thanks so much to our art teachers for coordinating this trip and to all of our parent chaperones! It was such a great experience!
The walk-a-thon was fantastic as well! Our PTC and North community never cease to amaze me! Thanks to all who made this event possible! Kudos to the students as well for their creative costumes! We even had a few big winners in the Balfour/Bergen group!
Finally, our party was a great success! Thanks to Mr. Bittner and all of the parent volunteers! We enjoyed playing Bingo, estimation games, and hot "pumpkin." The treats were delicious, too! We are so fortunate to have such awesome support from our parents!
The next two weeks will be review weeks for unit 2. There is no spelling this week, although we'll likely have spelling next week. The homework packet includes reading comprehension activities that will be covered on our unit test next week. This packet will serve as a study guide. We'll also review our skills through various activities and novel groups. Students will read either Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Because of Winn-Dixie, or Stone Fox. We'll divide into groups and have discussions that will cover the reading comprehension goals studied throughout the last unit. We'll take a look at first/third person, making inferences, and character traits. This novel unit will last about two weeks, and it will end with our unit two assessment.
Second quarter is officially here, and with that comes the setting of a new Reading Counts goal. Most students did a great job meeting and/or exceeding the goals they set for themselves at the beginning of first quarter. We will be setting new goals this week, and I will work with students to help them meet those goals. Thank you so much for encouraging your child to read at home! It is a huge help in meeting those goals!
In writing, we'll continue our personal narrative unit as we begin to draft stories. Hopefully we'll have first drafts to begin revising by the end of the week. I love hearing these stories about the students' lives.
Goals/ I CAN . . .
-explain the problem/solution structure of a story.
-identify similes and metaphors.
-make inferences about characters as I read.
-explain the difference between first and third person in a fiction story.
-explain the difference between first and secondhand accounts of nonfiction.
-find information in a chart or graph.
Looking Ahead . . .
There is no school on November 5th, Election Day, due to teacher in-service.
Our last fall conference night is November 14th. If you need a reminder about your time, please let me know.
Have a wonderful week, and please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday October 21, 2013
We will have an action-packed week this week! Most of that action will take place Friday with our Art Museum trip, Walk-a-thon, and Fall Party. I am so excited about all three! Please remember to pack a lunch for Friday and send those costume pieces! The hallway decorations are really shaping up, and students are excitedly discussing their costumes.
Our past week was busy, too, with CogAT testing and our regular learning activities. I am so proud of the students' efforts on the CogAT. They worked hard and were so respectful to those around them while waiting for testing to be completed. Because of CogAT day, I postponed the weekly comprehension test to Monday of this week. I thought one big test was enough for the week. We'll catch up, though, as we have a review week approaching before too long.
This week we'll read the humorous fiction story, Dear Mr. Winston. Through this story, we'll analyze character feelings and make some inferences based on those feelings. We'll also use context clues and review dictionary skills while defining some new vocabulary words.
In writing, we'll continue our personal narrative unit as students hear more examples of this genre and begin to draft their own narratives. I love getting to know the students better as they write personal narratives! So far we've hear stories about early memories, vacation memories, embarrassing memories, and family memories just to name a few.
Spelling words for this week are:
Regular List: gear, scare, fear, cheer, spare, hear, rear, stair, airfare, career
Challenge List: irresponsible, indecisive, grateful, then, than, candidate, sincerely, argument, weather, whether
ALL should study: compare, spear, beard, area, appear, yearly, tear, lair, mere, snare, fort, dart, worn, sincere, staircase
I CAN statement/Goals:
I can use context clues and/or a dictionary to define new words.
I can analyze character thoughts, words, and actions.
I can use quotation marks correctly.
I can explore characteristics of personal narratives and use those in my own writing.
Looking Ahead . . .
Art Museum Trip (9:15-12:15) and Walk-A-Thon (12:20-1:00) Friday October 25th
Fall Party- Friday October 25th (1:45-2:30)
Thanks so much to all who are chaperoning our trip, working the Walk-A-Thon, and planning our Fall Party! You are so greatly appreciated!!
Have a wonderful week, and don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday October 14, 2013
Hello! I hope you enjoyed this beautiful fall weekend!
This week in reading we'll examine the problem-solution structure of a nonfiction selection, How Ben Franklin Stole the Lightning. In this biography we'll learn about some of Ben Franklin's many inventions, and we'll also discuss idioms. Two idioms we'll see in our story are "come in handy" and "'stole' the lightning." As you find yourselves using idioms around the house this week, please feel free to send them in so we can try them out in class!
Spelling words for this week include:
Regular List: door, dart, fort, morning, carpet, ford, core, cord, spark, award
Enrichment List: genuine, undecided, scientific, unpredictable, melancholy, fortunately, specifically, realistic, to, too
All should study: smart, charge, worn, argue, stormy, bore, guard, ward, warp, barnyard, screech, shrimp, throat, charcoal, forecast
This past week, students spent our writing time publishing drafts. I graded most of these over the weekend, and I am very excited about the students' writing. When you see your child's graded piece, it will have a rubric attached. In the rubric I circled where your child's piece fell in each category. We used this rubric daily in our revising and editing, so your child should be able to explain it pretty well. Grades are on a scale of one to four. Please try not to think of the numbers as an A, B, C, or D. They're really more of a continuum to show your child's growth throughout the year. I always encourage students to move up on the rubric in each individual category, whether from a two to three or three to four. If you have questions about this, please don't hesitate to ask. Our next writing unit will focus on personal narratives.
I CAN Statements this week are, I can . . .
-explain the problem-solution structure of a story.
-answer literal and inferential questions about a text.
-explain the meaning of common idioms.
-explore characteristics of personal narratives.
Looking Ahead . . .
-Our second conference night is Thursday, October 17th. We look forward to seeing those who are scheduled for this week!
-Fourth graders will take the Cognitive Abilities Test on the 17th in the morning. You should have received a letter from gifted coordinator Barb Bell about this. Please don't hesitate to ask if you have questions.
Have a wonderful week!
Maria Balfour
Monday October 7, 2013
I can't believe we're already a week into October!! Where is the year going? Thanks so much to all who came to our first conference night. It was wonderful to meet with you and your children to discuss their progress. I look forward to meeting with all of you over the next conference nights! If you didn't receive a confirmation for your conference, please let me know so I can send a new copy.
The last week was busy, as usual! In addition to our regular reading, writing, spelling, vocabulary, and grammar work we also started a keyboarding course called Type to Learn 4. We will be visiting the computer lab once a week to work with this program which is geared to individual student readiness. You can also download the program at home, and I'll be sending an email with information on how to do that. It is not required, but if your child would like to practice at home he or she can do that by downloading the program. Students seemed to enjoy our computer time very much!
This week we'll be reading the realistic fiction story My Diary from Here to There, which is structured in a diary format. Our skill will be to examine the differences between first and third person narration. Students should be able to explain that in first person narration, the narrator is a character who is present in the story, referring to himself as "I." They should also be able to explain that in third person narration, the narrator is not a story character and does not refer to himself as "I." You can practice at home by having your child explain whether different fiction picture books are written in first or third person.
On a similar note, we'll examine first and secondhand accounts of historical events in nonfiction texts. Students will need to understand that in a firsthand account, the writer was a witness to the event. In a secondhand account, the writer bases his writing on research of the event. We can learn details and specific emotions from a participants point of view when we read a firsthand account. When we read a secondhand account, we can get an overview of an event after it happens. There will be sheets coming home on this topic, and one is in the homework packet. We'll get plenty of classroom practice as this tends to be a tougher skill for many fourth graders. Below is an excerpt I found about first and secondhand accounts:
Like fictional text, informational text can be written from different points of view.
A firsthand account of an event or topic is based on an author’s personal experience. The author uses pronouns such as I, me, and we to describe the event or topic. Diaries, autobiographies, and letters are considered to be firsthand accounts.
A secondhand account of an event or topic is based on an author’s research, rather than personal experience. The author uses pronouns such as he, she, and they to describe the event or topic. Encyclopedia entries, biographies, and textbooks are considered to be secondhand accounts.
-Taken from: http://mhschool.com/lead_21/grade4/ccslh_g4_ri_2_2d.html
Spelling words for this week are:
Regular List: rush, northern, brush, shed, thanks, washer, photo, graph, whole, these
Challenge List: various, dimension, personality, characteristic, possibility, necessary, assessment, motivation, curiously, cautious
ALL should study: fifth, whisk, thirty, bother, shove, phrase, headphone, width, nowhere, whirl, arch, ketchup, cheap, theater, wherever
In writing this week we'll move to the editing phase where we'll correct the grammar and spelling of our papers. Students have some very creative ideas, and I'm impressed with the word choices and descriptive language they're using. We'll look at samples of papers with grammatical errors and work with a rubric to correct those mistakes. These first published papers should be finished by the end of the week! This group of students loves to write, and I can't wait to read their final drafts!
Goals for this week are "I CAN . . ."
-determine whether a story is written in first or third person.
-explain the difference between a first and secondhand account.
-use a dictionary or glossary to determine the origin or history of a word.
-edit a piece of writing for spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammar.
-correctly use pronouns who, whom, him, he, her, and she.
Looking Ahead . . .
Book Fair is this week! Mrs. Balfour's class will attend Wednesday, and Mrs. Bergen's will attend Tuesday. Thanks so much to all of the parents who are helping with this exciting event!
I also want to take a moment to thank ALL of the parent volunteers at North! You make our school a better place. From conference night dinners, to classroom volunteers, to Book Fair, to any school event- THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart!
Thank you for reading this lengthy newsletter! I appreciate all you do for your children!
Have a wonderful week, and please don't hesitate to contact me with questions and concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday September 30, 2013
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and got to enjoy the beautiful weather, at least on Saturday! I love this time of year!
Last Friday students took the unit one comprehension test, and overall I am so excited about the results! Students have worked so hard to master our skills, and it shows! Often when students miss a question, it is not so much that they didn't understand the passage but more that they didn't read carefully to find out what the question was asking. Sometimes they forget the vocabulary or skill words associated with a question. I have taught the students several songs to help them remember what the common fourth grade skill words mean. They seem to know these when we sing them in class, but many have to be reminded to use them during tests. The more you can encourage your child to remember the songs and chants, the better I think they'll remember the skill vocabulary. If your child doesn't find that the chants help, they can also talk about the skill words when describing their independent reading. For example, you might ask your child to name a trait that describes the main character. Then your child can give story support for that trait. I appreciate so much all you do to help at home! I understand that life is busy!
This week we'll read the historical fiction story, Mighty Jackie. We'll work to make inferences as well as determine why author's write. We'll continue to use context clues to define unfamiliar words.
Spelling words for this week are:
Regular List: choose, kitchen, marching, touch, chatter, sketched, chant, chance, branch, hitch
Challenge List: occasionally, intention, responsibility, determined, laughable, suggested, chemical, physical, legendary, snickered
ALL should study: ketchup, cheap, chopped, latch, chef, patch, snatch, arch, stretching, pitcher, stove, goal, mows, chemical*, checkers
*I accidentally put chemical on the challenge list, and then realized it's also on the regular list. I'll add the word "sketched" to the challenge list in place of chemical. Don't worry about this on homework if you've already completed it. Just be sure to study it for the test. Thanks!!
In writing, we'll continue to revise and edit, working toward publication of a piece of student choice. Students have been working with partners to clarify their writing, and we'll continue this throughout the coming week.
I CAN Statements/Goals . . .
I can answer literal and inferential questions about a selection.
I can explain why an author writes a piece.
I can revise and edit to make my writing better.
I can make the subject and verb agree in a sentence.
I can use context clues to determine the meaning of unknown words.
Looking Ahead . . .
Thanks to all who have returned conference forms. If you haven't, please try to do so as soon as possible. Exact times will be confirmed early in the week. We look forward to seeing those of you who are scheduled for October 3rd.
Book Fair Next Week!! Mrs. Bergen's homeroom will attend Tuesday October 8th. Mrs. Balfour's homeroom will attend Wednesday October 9th.
Have a wonderful week, and please don't hesitate to contact me anytime!
Maria Balfour
Monday September 23, 2013
Welcome back to another week of fourth grade! This week we will review the comprehension and vocabulary skills studied so far this year. This review will prepare students for the unit assessment that will take place Friday. You probably noticed that the homework packet for this week does not contain spelling. We will not have a spelling list or test this week so we can focus more of our time on the reading comprehension review. The homework packet contains practice for the major skills that will be covered on the test, and it serves as a sort of study guide through which students can make sure they understand the skills that will be covered on the test.
Just to cover a few of those skills . . .
Simile: compares two things using like or as: I am as fast as a cheetah. The baby slept like a rock.
Metaphor: compares two things and says they are the same: She is the sunshine that brightens the day.
Main Idea/Details: In class we discussed that the main idea is what the selection is mostly about. The details will either support the main idea or give an example of it. This is probably the most difficult skill for most students. In addition to completing the main idea homework page, you can help your child practice at home by having him/her find the main idea and supporting details in nonfiction articles. A great website for articles is timeforkids.com.
Character Traits: Students are working to use character thoughts, words, and actions to identify a character's traits. I encourage students to use trait words rather than emotions when naming a character's trait. We made a list last week, and some of the major traits we see include: helpful, kind, disagreeable, patient, impatient, selfish, lazy, caring, intelligent, athletic, creative- just to name a few! You can practice this at home by asking your child to identify traits of the characters in their independent reading material. The most important part of identifying those traits is to be able to support them with story details.
Problem/Solution, also known as Conflict/Resolution: Students should be able to name the problem/conflict in a story as well as its resolution/solution. Most students do well with this, but many are forgetting that conflict and problem are synonyms. Be sure to ask your child about our song, "Conflict Is the Problem!" We also touched on plot last week, discussing that the problem and solution are major parts of the plot of most fiction stories. We also talked about plot as "what's happening" in the beginning, middle, and end of the story.
To help review these skills in class, students will be completing a project on either the skill that is toughest for them or the skill with which they most want to be challenged. These projects will be very individualized, and students will be able to choose the way in which they want to show their knowledge. Most parts will be completed in class, but I may send some work home if students have trouble completing it in class. Students can bring materials from home, too, if needed.
In writing this week, we'll work on revising a piece of student choice to work toward publication. I will be conferencing with students about their writing. I'm looking forward to seeing what the students will produce! They are very creative!
Weekly Goals:
I CAN . . .
-describe the problem (conflict) and solution (resolution) of a story.
-identify story elements including setting, plot, and characters.
-describe character traits with story support.
-identify the main idea and supporting details of a selection.
-use context clues to define unknown words.
-use a chart or table to find information.
-revise my writing to prepare for publication.
-use apostrophes to show possession or in contractions.
Looking Ahead . . .
Our first conference night is approaching- October 3rd. Conference letters will come home this week.
Have a wonderful week, and don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns. I am so honored to work with your children this year, and I love partnering with you as well.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday September 15, 2013
I hope your weekend was wonderful!
The past week was busy as usual! Our reading MAP test was postponed due to technical difficulties, but I'll keep you posted when I learn of the new date. The math MAP test happened as planned.
This week students will receive their graded main idea tests. I saw some huge improvements on proving and using details in answers, but I also saw some students struggling in this area. We will review tests Monday, and students will be able to correct their mistakes to receive half the points they missed. I am so grateful for any additional support you can provide while your child is making these corrections.
This week we will move into the realistic fiction genre with the story The Raft. We'll discuss character traits and story elements including setting, characters, and plot. We'll continue to work on using context clues to define unknown words, and we'll also continue working to use guide words when using a dictionary or glossary.
In writing we will look at ways in which we can use stories from our own lives to write narratives. We'll share some of our ideas with partners as well as begin to choose a piece for possible publication. We'll also cover use of commas in a series or to combine two sentences with a conjunction.
Spelling words on the regular list are goal, mole, stone, stove, chose, own, fold, flow, mold, and toll. Enrichment words are beautiful, potion, magician, accidentally, unusual, eerie, carefully, experiment, detail, and useful. All students should study the words groan, stole, foam, mows, roasting, lower, sole, blown, bolt, quote, kite, shy, climb, coaster, and motor.
Goals for this week are, I CAN . . .
-identify and describe story elements including character, setting, and plot.
-use character thoughts, words, and actions to identify character traits.
-use a dictionary or glossary to define unknown words.
-use context clues to define unknown words.
-use important life events to write a narrative.
-use commas to combine two sentences with a conjunction (and, or, but).
-use commas in a series. ex: I will buy milk, eggs, and bread.
Have a wonderful week! Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday September 9, 2013
Hello Families!
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!
I think it's safe to say we are in full swing with the school year now! Last week students became experts in recognizing problem/solution selections, and we tested over this skill Friday. Most students did very well. I will be meeting in small groups with students who still need assistance in this skill area. I always tell students that it is more important to me that they learn a skill thoroughly than that they receive a high grade on an assessment. If your child's test did not show that he or she understands the week's skills, I will be asking him or her to correct mistakes after we review those mistakes together. Students are also self-assessing their progress for reading comprehension skills in our goal binders, so we'll use those self-assessments to determine student understanding as well. We'll go through this process for each reading comprehension skill.
Speaking of reading comprehension skills, this week we will focus on main idea and supporting details. Students will be using those ideas to summarize what they read. Our main story focus this week is the nonfiction selection A Walk in the Desert. Through this story students will also cover vocabulary skills such as using context clues to determine the meaning of unknown words, and using a dictionary to define unknown words. We got a sneak peak into using dictionary skills this past week. Your child may have shared our "Part of Speech" chant and our "Pronunciation Key" song. This week we'll also review how guide words can aide in our dictionary or glossary searches. You can help at home by asking your child to locate words in a dictionary using guide words. In this busy week we will also work to recognize and explain similes and metaphors. Be prepared for some new songs!
Regular spelling words for this week are: pale, face, crate, clay, stray, cane, slate, today, bail, and rail. Enrichment words are: painstaking, adaptation, frustration, climate, academic, creature, accomplish, system, millionaire, weird. ALL students should study break, ache, drain, faint, flame, claim, steak, neigh, mane, graze, grim, plum, cash, neighbor, railway.
In writing this week we will continue building our writing community as students write about a variety of topics. We'll hear strong examples of fantasy fiction as well as read some biographies about real-life authors. We'll spend time discussing different writing strategies used by authors, and students will be encouraged to try those strategies as they write. We'll also cover types of sentences (statement, command, exclamation, question) and end punctuation.
I CAN statements/goals for the week are:
I can recognize the main idea and supporting details in a text.
I can summarize a text.
I can use context clues and/or a dictionary to determine the meaning of unknown words.
I can spell long A words.
I can write clearly about a topic using correct end punctuation.
I can identify the four sentence types: statement, question, command, exclamation.
I can identify and explain a simile and metaphor.
Looking Ahead . . .
September 11th: MAP testing for reading
September 12th: MAP testing for math (You can read more about MAP in last week's newsletter.)
September 12th: Picture Day! SMILE!
*I've had a few questions about the spelling tic-tac-toe homework. Activities are meant to take about fifteen to twenty-five minutes each. If it is taking your child longer and he/she is becoming frustrated, please modify the activity to fit your child's needs. For example, if typing the words takes too long, your child can write the words. My goal is for them to learn their spelling words with some fun variety, and I don't want anyone to become discouraged in the process. Thanks so much for encouraging and assisting your child with homework. Students are doing a super job completing assignments on time! Please don't hesitate to ask if you have questions or concerns.
Have a wonderful week, and please feel free to contact me any time!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour
Monday September 2, 2013
I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday weekend! I'm so excited to see everyone again this week! We had a great week last week reviewing some reading strategies that were familiar to students as well as introducing some new ones. Hopefully your child talked about the story, Thank You Mr. Falker! It's one of my all-time favorites! It fit well with our creation of classroom rules as students discussed how we will treat each other this year. I am so proud of the work students did in completing our "Golden Rules" bulletin board this past week. If you are in the building, please stop by to see it! We are off to a great start building a community!
This week we'll begin our first official Treasures unit. Our story this week is a mystery, The Case of the Missing Lunch.
Through this story and other short examples of nonfiction, we will work on our problem and solution skills. Students will begin assessing themselves on our comprehension goals in their goal binders. Please ask your child to talk with you about these goal binders. Students should be able to articulate the goals as well as explain their comfort levels with each goal. We'll also spend time analyzing unknown words while using context clues to determine their meanings. In addition, we'll spend some time using charts and tables to find information. On Friday, we will have a reading comprehension and vocabulary test. The homework packet your child brought home last Friday has reading activities that will help with test preparation. Our test will not cover the stories we read in class, but it will cover similar skills on a story new to students. The same goes for vocabulary. Our weekly test will cover the vocabulary skills taught during the week, but it will test those skills on unfamiliar words. The reason for this is to see how well students can apply our skills to new selections and words. Thank you so much for encouraging your child to read at home daily. It makes a huge difference! If your child has trouble selecting a book for independent reading, please don't hesitate to ask! I love trying to match students to books that will make them choose to read!
This week there are two spelling lists. Students who spelled pretest words correctly have been given an enrichment list. At this point, the enrichment list includes ten challenge words as well as the last fifteen regular list words. Students who continue to score well on the pretest will continue to receive a weekly enrichment list. Students should complete the spelling tic-tac-toe board with whichever list they receive each week. Both tests will take place on Thursdays. Regular list words are: sum, flat, plum, bell, grim, plot, band, bluff, dock, blot. Enrichment words are: materials, communication, suspicious, community, attendance, absent, excited, their, there, they're. ALL students should study the following 15 words: odd, left, cash, mill, past, shelf, wealth, crunch, hint, build, snack, step, pond, heavy, shovel.
In writing this week, we will begin to discuss the importance of building a writing community where all ideas are valued and appreciated. This should tie in nicely with last week's work creating our classroom "golden rules." We'll spend time writing freely and responding to prompts. Please encourage your child to let his or her thoughts flow on paper, even when he or she isn't sure what to write. I tell students that sometimes our best writing ideas come when we just start writing! We'll also use some writing time to focus on capitalization of proper nouns and the beginning of sentences.
Our I CAN statements (goals) for this week are:
I can explain the structure of a problem/solution selection.
I can use context clues to determine the meaning of unknown words.
I can spell short-vowel words.
I can write about a topic using correct capitalization.
Looking Ahead . . .
September 11th: MAP Testing for Reading
September 12th: MAP Testing for Math
(Hopefully you received the letter that came home about this computerized test last week. Fourth graders will take the test in reading and math. It will help us to know the skills your child already has so that we are able to guide instruction to move each individual forward. The test will be taken three times throughout the year to help measure growth.)
Have a wonderful week! Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns. I'm truly enjoying getting to know you and your children!
Sincerely,
Maria Balfour