Team Mindcrafters Weekly Update 9-25-17

Parents,

Art Shirts.  These need to be brought in to school this week if they haven't already.

HOMEWORK:

MONDAY - http://learnzillion.com video on problem solving using rounding and estimation (Quick code: E7ABU28) or use link in Google Classroom

TUESDAY - Accelerated Math

WEDNESDAY - Complete the back page of the Scholastic News and enter answers in Google Classroom.  Students then are expected to use a marking pen (red preferably) to mark wrong answers, and then correct.  Scholastic News is accessible online at https://sn4.scholastic.com/ and student password is aw2026 

THURSDAY - Learning Farm (an assignment will be there when they log in).

FRIDAY:  AR goal should be 62%

.

REMINDERS:

• Wednesday, September 27 - 2 hr. delay (professional development)

--

Shane Pransky
Whitehouse Primary
4th Grade teacher

On the web:

Team Mindcrafters

Team Mindcrafters Weekly Update

Parents,

Math Facts -  Our next unit in Math with be addition and subtraction of greater numbers.  Students will be expected to be fluent in basic facts in addition and subtraction starting next week.  Any students who have not mastered facts in addition and/or subtraction by this time will be asked to master one level of Math Facts in a Flash in morning study hall.  If you need practice pages or flash cards for addition or subtraction, please let me know, and I can send some home with your child.

Spelling - We are starting to get into our full routine for spelling.  Students are introduced to their words on Monday.  We take a pretest on Wednesday using Spelling City.  The results are sent home so that students know which words they need to spend more time practicing.  On Friday is our test.  This is made up of two sentences that contain about half of the 20 words from their list.  We also work on capitalization, punctuation, and other language standards in these sentences.  Students who miss more than 2 of the words on this test will have an extra practice page to complete the following week.  Some students did get one of these today.  These need to be completed by Wednesday (before the pretest) and signed by a parent.  Last week's spelling test was also sent home today.

HOMEWORK:

MONDAY - students play at least 4 games on https://www.sumdog.com. There is also a free Sumdog app that can be downloaded on Android or iOS devices. We are participating in the Lucas County Contest, so students can try to move their name onto the county leaderboard as they play.

TUESDAY - Accelerated Math

WEDNESDAY - Complete the back page of the Scholastic News and enter answers in Google Classroom.  Students then are expected to use a marking pen (red preferably) to mark wrong answers, and then correct.  Scholastic News is accessible online at https://sn4.scholastic.com/ and student password is aw2026 

THURSDAY - Learning Farm (an assignment will be there when they log in).

.

REMINDERS:

• Wednesday, September 20 - AWAKE t-shirt spirit day
• Wednesday, September 27 - 2 hr. delay (professional development)

--

Shane Pransky
Whitehouse Primary
4th Grade teacher

On the web:

Team Mindcrafters

Scholastic News homework reminders

Parents,

Should students ever forget their Scholastic News at school, or are absent the day it is handed out, remember that this is available online at https://sn4.scholastic.com/ and student password is aw2026 

Students do not, and should not, read the entire magazine.  They only need to read the pages to complete the back side.  This week it is pages 4-6.  We go over this in class as well.  On Fridays we will read through the remaining articles.

After completing the back side, they are to fill in their answers on a Google Form that is in their Google Classroom account.  When finished, it will tell them the answers they got incorrect.  Using a marking pen (preferably red) they should mark the problems they missed, and then go back and correct the problems.  If all problems were correct, they should put a red star on their paper, so that I know it was checked.  These papers will be turned in the next day, so that I can look over their corrections, and help students as needed.

Not only does this allow me to look over student work before the day begins to help guide instruction, it also helps me to group students easily who missed similar problems.  With 51 students between the two classrooms, this is a great way for me to efficiently maximize my instructional time with them.

If your student has not yet accessed Google Classroom from home, here are some steps to get there.

• Go to Google.com and click on "Sign In" in the top right corner.
• Have your child sign in using their AW information
• username: 2026###@anthonywayneschools.org (### is their own additional 3 digits)
• password: aw###### (###### is their 6 digit lunch number)
• Then they can click on the "square of squares" in the top right to access the other Google apps.  If Google Classroom isn't a choice, you can do a quick web search and click on it, and then it should be there next time.

Again, please let me know if you have any questions, or are having difficulty.

Thanks, and have a great night!

--

Mary Dressel

Whitehouse 4th Grade

Office Phone 419-877-0543

Summary of the Parent's Night presentation tonight + Home Connect

Thanks to all of the parents who attended tonight's Parent Night.  We hope you gained a better understanding of some of the things that go on in 4th grade.  Remember, if you have any questions now or in the future, please feel free to ask.

And if you missed it, here's a video below summarizes what was talked about.

Tonight's Parent Presentation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28fLk5W-nkY&t=1s

Renaissance Home Connect link

Here's a video for using Home Connect to track AR reading and Accelerated Math. (11 min.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1HN6m3SAVI&t=40s

A short "how to" video for practicing Math facts using Home Connect and Math Facts in a Flash (2 min.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFlzaPZkR7o

--

Shane Pransky
Whitehouse Primary
4th Grade teacher

On the web:

Team Mindcrafters

Team Mindcrafters Weekly Update 9-11-17

Parents,

Spelling - Starting this week, students have been assigned a specific spelling list.  Although this could change throughout the year, your child today has been told if he/she is to be studying the orange, blue, or green list words.  These are on the sheet that comes home on Monday, as well as on the "refrigerator list" that was sent home a couple of weeks ago.  Last week's spelling test (actually two dictated sentences containing several words) was rough for many students.  Please make sure that your child is setting aside time each night to practice his or her words.

Parents' Night - Tomorrow night we hope many of you can make it for our first Parents' Night.  Team Mindcrafters (AKA Mr Pransky and Mrs. Dressel) will be presenting in Mr. Pransky's room.  We will do a 20 minute presentation at 6:00, 6:30, and 7:00.  There will be time at the end for questions, and for you to travel to another child's classroom, or to hear Mr. Rhodes in the gym.

Birthday treats - Just a couple reminders about these.  We really appreciate it when birthday treats are kept as simple as possible.  We try to celebrate birthdays during a block of time for set aside for silent reading so we want to have it be the smallest distraction possible.  Prepackaged treats are recommended since we have a students with allergies/dietary concerns, and it just makes for the easiest and fastest distribution and least mess.  We also do not have kitchen type items in our classrooms like napkins, plates, spatulas, etc... so be sure you send anything like that along with the treat if needed.  Drinks that need to be poured are another thing we would highly discourage.  (Juice boxes or bags are fine, but aren't necessary.)  Keep in mind that we have carpets, wobbly desks, and 27 accident prone children so the likelihood for spills is high.  Cleaning spills involves making a call to Mr. Norm to get his mini carpet steamer.  And of course, watching the carpet steamer is way more exciting than silent reading. :)

HOMEWORK:

MONDAY - watch video on LearnZillion.com (quick code 3SV35RG) and complete worksheet for video #3

TUESDAY - Accelerated Math

WEDNESDAY - Complete the back page of the Scholastic News and enter answers in Google Classroom.  Students then are expected to use a marking pen (red preferably) to mark wrong answers, and then correct.  Scholastic News is accessible online at https://sn4.scholastic.com/ and student password is aw2026 

THURSDAY - Learning Farm (an assignment will be there when they log in).

.

REMINDERS:

• Tuesday, 9/12 - Parents' Night - 6-7:30
• Tuesday - Thursday - CogAt testing
• Friday 9/15 - Back to School Bash!  Starts at 5:00

--

Mary Dressel

Whitehouse 4th Grade

Office Phone 419-877-0543

Team Mindcrafters Weekly Update 9-5-17

Parents,

We hope everyone had a terrific Labor Day weekend.  Talking to the students, I heard about visits to the Fulton County Fair, camping, time at the lake and other fun activities with family.  We're excited to get back to learning again this week.

Math.  Students are currently studying place value up to the millions.  We are learning different ways to represent numbers such as expanded form ( ex. 3,204 = 3,000 + 200 + 4) and expanded notation (ex. 3,204 = (3 x 1,000) + (2 x 100) + (0 x 10) + (4 x 1).  Students have an account

Book Order - Thank you to those who purchased books from the recent book order.  With only a small purchase myself, we were able to reach the highest bonus point offer!  I was able to order over 80 new books for our library, including 13 new mini book sets for our buddy reading library!  Books should be in early next week.

Scholastic News - Students do have digital access to Scholastic News.  This comes in handy if your child was absent the day that the homework was handed out, or if your child wants to access additional resources (like videos) to accompany the articles.  The online version can also help your child to read aloud the articles.  We will go through these steps in class this week so that your child is familiar with the website.

• Go to scholastic.com/sn4

• Click "Log In" at the top.

• Select "I am a Student".

• Enter code: aw2026

• Search for the correct issue, and open digital version to read.

T.A.P. - Some volunteers at Zion United Methodist Church are once again partnering with us to provide after school tutoring for students who could benefit.  This happens each Wednesday from 3:30-4:45.  Please contact us if you feel that your child could benefit, and would like some additional information. (Complete the attached form if interested)

HOMEWORK:

MONDAY - 

TUESDAY - AM Practice

WEDNESDAY - Learning Farm (an assignment will be there when they log in).

THURSDAY - Complete the back page of the Scholastic News and enter answers in Google Classroom.

REMINDERS:

• Dine Out Night (Local Thyme) - Monday, September 11

--

Shane Pransky
Whitehouse Primary
4th Grade teacher

On the web:

Team Mindcrafters