It only took me 9 years of teaching and until almost the end of the year to figure this out…but I have come up with a new way to do Absent Work.  If you/your student misses a day, go to the tab that says, “Absent Work” at the top of the blog.  I will post a sheet with everything we did for the day as well as the worksheets.  🙂  I will leave absent work up for the week, then replace it with the next week’s work.  

As always, please try to make sure that the missing work is turned in within a week.

Today for writing, we combined science and writing.  Students were asked to pick an animal that was native to Utah, think about their habitats, adaptations, and lifestyles.  Then they wrote a story from the animal’s point of view.  We also talked about how to write using “Show, Don’t Tell” techniques.  Here is a video that explains what that is: 

http://www.brainpop.com/english/writing/shownottell/

Here are a few websites that show some Utah animals:
https://sites.google.com/site/utahbiomesplantsanimals/wetlands/wetland-plants-animals

Utah State Animal: Rocky Mountain Elk
http://www.statesymbolsusa.org/Utah/Elk_Rocky_MT.html

A list of animals, a few facts, and some pictures:

http://mlbean.byu.edu/Portals/26/docs/Who%20knows%20Utah%20Animals.pdf

The Red Fox: 

http://dwrcdc.nr.utah.gov/rsgis2/search/Display.asp?FlNm=vulpvulp

Wolverine:
http://dwrcdc.nr.utah.gov/rsgis2/search/Display.asp?FlNm=gulogulo

Mule Deer:

http://wildlife.utah.gov/learn-more/mule-deer.html

Squirrel:
http://dwrcdc.nr.utah.gov/rsgis2/search/Display.asp?FlNm=sciuaber

Chipmunks:
http://dwrcdc.nr.utah.gov/rsgis2/search/Display.asp?FlNm=tamimini

This week we are really gearing up for our Sage tests.  Next week is our writing test!  Since we are getting into the testing mode (and this is where the year REALLY flies by…) I am taking part of this week to reassess students on Words Their Way.  I’d like to see how far we have come this year.  With that, there is no Words Their Way homework this week.  Students still need to do their Reader Response Journal and read for 20 minutes.  

There will be a permission slip sent home tomorrow for gum chewing during the Sage test.  If the signed paper does not come back, students won’t be able to chew gum.  It has to be written permission.  

Have a great night!

Mrs. Schneider

Please remember that all missing work needs to be turned in tomorrow!! 

Check SIS to find out what you are missing!!

Students have their Words Their Way lists and their homework assignment for tonight.  If you look at the Words Their Way tab, it will have all the lists of words for each group.  The homework for the week is posted under the homework tab.  It’s a little off this week, since we had to push things back a day.  The homework will do the same, just push each one back a day.  🙂

I LOVED reading all the comments from everyone about the video games!!  You all did a FANTASTIC job!!

Kiddos,

Here are some fun facts for you to read about video games that you might find interesting!  🙂  Remember our deal: if you post an “accelerated fourth grade” comment you will receive 5 extra points or 3 tickets!  🙂

1-The first commercially successful home video game, Pong, became available in 1975.  

2-In 2013, Americans spent $21.5 billion on video games.

3-91% of kids ages 2 to 17 play video games.

4-About 60% of all Americans play video games.

5-There are more male (55%) than female (45%) gamers.

6-In 2013, teens spent an average of seven hours per week playing games on mobile devices.

7-A growing body of research suggests that playing video games can improve your ability to pay attention and make decisions.

Welcome back to the full swing of things!  It’s going to be a crazy couple of months!! We start taking our End of the Year Sage tests on the 22nd.  Our first two tests are writing.  The rest of the testing schedule can be found on the classroom calendar (along with many other things coming!)

Today was a crazy-Monday-After-Spring-Break kind of morning.  I didn’t get a chance to go through the Words Their Way lists with the kiddos today, but I will be doing that tomorrow.  They will have Words Their Way homework starting tomorrow.  Journals need to be done by Friday, as well as reading for 20 minutes everyday.  

Enjoy the nice weather!!
Mrs. Schneider