Biographies Galore!

This unit for ELAR focuses on drama and biographies. We are putting together a fabulous project called a "Wax Museum". The kids are so excited! More detailed information regarding this museum will be posted at a later date, as it will not be presented until November 15th. 

The next couple of weeks will be used to gather research on the person of choice and complete a few mini projects regarding this information. This is what you need to know NOW:

Your child should have already chosen a person to research. I had over 80 books presented from which each may choose. ***If a student had a person in mind and a book was not available, each student was told to go onto the site Wikipedia.com and print out some info. regarding the person of choice. This was to be completed at home since the student chose to go to an outside source when materials were already provided. Materials were to be brought from home TODAY, if an outside source was chosen. Many came unprepared. Please bring materials tomorrow, as we will be in station rotations conducting research.  Please ask your child if they are prepared. Thank you for your help! You will be provided additional information as progress is made. Please refer to the pics below to see the forms that will be completed in class. 

      

Sorry for the second image being sideways! You get the gist. :)

Double Digit Multiplication!!!!

Today your kiddo was introduced to double digit multiplication. We are going to learn a couple of ways to calculate these types of problems. I wanted to be sure that you were aware of the methods introduced so that you can support your kiddo at home. We will learn about the standard/bow method next week. This week we are learning the box/partial product method. Below are images of the steps/notes that your kiddo will be using for both methods.

 

Here is a link that can help demonstrate and explain the connection between the box/partial products method and the bow/standard method: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPF9oOKl_BY

Box/partial products method does a good job of keeping place value in double digit multiplication. This concept can be lost when calculating using the standard method. It is also less overwhelming and therefore seems easier to some kiddos. I do not care which method your child uses as long as it make sense to them.

Please feel free to ask questions if you need some clarification!

Thank you for all your support!

Mrs. Milot

Tuesday Info

Red Ribbon Week in in full swing. We are focusing on the importance of staying drug free. Tomorrow is "jersey" day with a number on it. This represents that we are a team together standing in unity.

Spelling words this week will focus on the -er ending.

Examples include: camper, farmer, hiker, banker, reporter, etc.

The comprehension focus this week is determining the author's purpose for writing his/her text. Author's purpose will be one of the following:

-to inform

-to persuade

-to entertain

We had a great time in Social Studies last week, as we presented our knowledge on early Native Americans in Texas in the form of a virtual museum. Check us out!

Homework/Spelling/ AIMS results

Regular homework was sent home a day late in Mrs. C's class due to my absence. Therefore, it is due on Friday instead of Thursday. Additional Language Arts homework for both classes was sent home, also, and is not due until Monday.

Our beginning of the year assessment (AIMS) results were also sent home today so that they did not get mixed in with Thursday folder papers. Please look for them today. 

No Spelling words were given this week. We will review prior spelling patterns and continue with a new unit on Monday. 

Red Ribbon Week

Cox Elementary will be celebrating Red Ribbon Week the week of October 21st-25th. The Red Ribbon Campaign is now the oldest and largest drug prevention program in the nation and an ideal way for people to unite and take a visible stand against drugs. Please support us at Cox by participating in next week’s activities.

Mon.-“Kick Off Red Ribbon Week”-Wear your favorite pair of boots.

Tues.-“Sock it to Drugs”-Wear colorful, crazy socks.

Wed.-“Team up against Drugs”-Wear team shirts to school. (An athletic team shirt with numbers on it)

Thurs.-“An Education is a Terrible Thing to Waste.” Wear your favorite college t-shirt.

Fri.-“Wear Red Day”-Wear all the red that you can! 

Tests and Labs!

We will close out our unit on rounding numbers, determining the perimeter, and interpreting bar graphs with our Math Unit 2 test on Thursday. We will meet in small groups tomorrow to help make sure everyone feels comfortable with the content.

We will then close out our unit on comparing and contrasting a variety of mixtures and solutions with our Science Unit 2 test on Friday. Your kiddo brought home a study guide today. Please help them do their best by studying!

Here is a peek into one of our labs, Separating Mixtures. The kiddos had fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Magnificent Monday

Fall is here and it is wonderful! I hope all enjoyed their day off, as I did. I enjoyed seeing a few of you at the State Fair.
**Please remember that our Fourth Grade performance is this Thursday evening. Students should arrive at 6:50pm and the program begins at 7:00pm. Thanks for your support!

Spelling
This week we will continue in our study of suffixes. Words will include the suffix of -ment or -ness.

-ness means "a condition or quality"
-ment means "the result of an action"

Examples include: kindness, treatment, enjoyment, thickness, softness, apartment.

ELAR
The students have enjoyed the novel study and will no doubt be sad to end Because of Winn Dixie this week. We will conclude the week with a viewing of the movie and compose a news article which compares/contrasts the story depicted in different forms.

Our next unit for ELAR covers the drama and literary non-fiction. We will be looking closely at biographies and autobiographies. Students will enjoy a very special project within this unit. I can't wait! We will also explore the structural elements particular to dramatic literature: characters, plot, theme, dialogue.

Social Studies
We now know the economic and geographic features of the four regions of Texas and we will explore the early settlers who inhabited the land now known as Texas. The tribes we are focusing on specifically are the Comanche, Apache, Karankawa, Jumano, and Caddo. The main aspects of research include culture, economic system, and political system of each. We will be creating a virtual museum of our information.

A personal message from Mrs. Christian:
I had an unexpected death in my family over the weekend and will be flying home to the East coast. Details are still being worked out and plans will be made. I wanted to let you know because I will most likely miss a couple of days of school in the near future. Sorry to be out. :(
Your thoughts and support are appreciated.

Make it a GREAT week!

Tomorrow!

Smile! Your going to be on camera!!!

Don't forget that tomorrow is picture day. Be sure your kiddo brings their order form if you are wanting to purchase pictures.


Calling all 4th Graders!!!

We are looking to fill a few spots in our UIL groups. Information was sent home and tryouts were held earlier last month. We still have some spots available only to 4th graders and would like to have them filled ASAP. Practice occurs every Thursday (except October 31) after school from 2:30-3:30. The competition will be on November 21. Transportation will need to be provided for your student.

We have openings in:

• spelling
• dictionary skills
• maps, graphs, and charts (with Mrs. Milot!)
• oral reading
• art memory 

If your kiddo is interested in any of these events please let us know! To find out more about these events please visit http://www.uiltexas.org/aplus/events.


Conference Letters

We are filling up fast! In fact, we are so full we are having to move some conferences into next week! If you still have not sent in your conference letter, please do so soon so that we can get our schedules ironed out. Thank you for your support!