Mrs. Nelson

Progress Reports

    Progress reports were sent home today.  We are about half-way through the 2nd 9 week grading period and the progress reports are created to give students and parents an update on each students' progress thus far.  Please take time to read and discuss the report with your child.  I've discussed with the children that this is a good time to come up with strategies to continue doing well in areas where they are excelling and to make plans to make improvements in areas where they may be having problems.  Please sign and return the bottom portion of the report and send back to me.  Feel free to add comments and/or questions then contact me if you have any concerns you would like to discuss.

    Thank you for your support and have a wonderful weekend.

Welcome!

   

I know this welcome comes a little late, however I will extend it anyway. Welcome all to the 4th grade.  We've been working hard to adjust to the rigors that 4th grade brings. 

    Just a few key points to remember.  Please be certain to check and sign agendas daily.  Agendas are an excellent way for the teacher and parents to stay in touch and on top of key information.  Each student should use the agenda on a regular basis to write homework, assignments, test dates and other pertinent information.  It is each student's responsibility to copy all homework assignments in the agenda and bring it to school and home for the parents to see and sign every day. 

   

Vocabulary and spelling words are generally previewed/introduced on Mondays.  Vocabulary tests are administered on Fridays and spelling tests will be administered on the following Mondays.  Please review these items with your child and give them ample opportunities to practice and prepare for successful test taking.

    My math class has been working hard on multiplying two and three digit numbers by two digit numbers.  This is a challenging concept to learn initially and I ask parents to help their children as much as possible to master this skill.  The children have been taught two ways to multiply these larger numbers.  They've been taught the traditional stack and carry which is the way most of us have been taught to multiply.  In addition the students have been taught the box method of multiplication.  The box method has proven itself to be a little more time consuming, but it does give good results once it is understood.  Although some children have caught on to the box method of multiplying, we will focus more on the traditional method of stack and carry.

   

We have been learning about stars, constellations, the motions of the Earth which explain why we have day and night and also seasons.  In addition to all this the children have also been studying the moon phases and getting a good understanding of why the moon seems to change shape during the course of the month.  The children have also been learning about the eight planets in our solar system.  You do know that since 2006  Pluto has been down-graded to a dwarf planet?  Your child should be able to explain why.  Please enjoy the pictures of the students' displays of the moon phases made with cookies.  Thank you very much Ms. Dixon for the cookies.