For tonight’s vocabulary homework, visit the following website:

http://www.vrml.k12.la.us/4th/ela/old/trophy_inter/4-vocquizzes/book3/pup_voc.htm

Complete the vocabulary definition quiz.  Choose the word that matches each definition.  There is a MISTAKE in the page’s directions!  You will see that it says this in the directions:

Use the “Hint” button to get a free letter if an answer is giving you trouble. You can also click on the “[?]” button to get a clue. Note that you will lose points if you ask for hints or clues!

You will notice that there ARE NO HINT OR [?] BUTTONS!  When you’re all finished, press CHECK.  Correct any mistakes until you get them all correct.  (If you make mistakes, you won’t be able to get a perfect 100% score.   See how close you can get to 100%.)

You don’t need to print this page or bring in a note.  We’ll work on the honor system today!

I am now giving parents the option of ordering books from the monthly Scholastic book catalogs though the Scholastic website.  This saves the hassle of sending in a check, and you can now pay with a major credit card.  Your child will still get his or her books with the usual shipment with the rest of the class.  Here are the steps:

Browse all the great monthly Book Club selections at low prices and order online. Plus, our class earns a FREE book every time a parent orders online.

Here’s how it works:

1. Use the information below to access the Scholastic Book Clubs Web site.
2. Browse the titles with your child and place your order with your credit card.
3. Your order will come to me, and your credit card payment will go directly to Scholastic’s secure server. There’s no need to send money to school.
4. After I submit the entire class order to Scholastic, your order will be delivered to our classroom for your child to take home.

To get started, go to the Web address below and enter our class’s personalized user name and password in the sign-in fields on the right side of the page. Note: You do not need to create your own user name and password.

www.scholastic.com/bookclubs

User Name: MossPGS

Password:  scoville

Ordering online is the most convenient way to use Scholastic Book Clubs. You can order anytime, right up until the online order due date. You’ll also get instant access to over 500 additional titles plus online-only specials and discounts.

And don’t forget: Every time a parent places an order online, we earn a FREE book for our classroom library!

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Good morning!  A few items of news today!

• Book order forms are going home today.  I’m sending home five different catalogs, instead of the usual two.  In addition to two specialty catalogs, I am including Click (technology), Arrow (Gr. 4 and advanced books), and Lucky (easier to read).  As always, no pressure to buy from these!  Book orders will be due NEXT THURSDAY, January 14th.  I have activated Online Ordering for those who want to place their orders on the Scholastic website with a major credit card.  See next post.
• Corrected work is coming home today or tomorrow.  I apologize for the wrinkles.  A student spilled water on the pile of work, and we had to let it dry off.
• Your child should be returning any remaining containers that you sent cookies in.  There is still one unclaimed container – a wide, shallow, red plastic container with Christmas decorations.  If it’s your container, please ask your child to bring it home.

Greetings and felicitations!  I hope you had a wonderful school vacation week (more like week and a half) and that you got to relax and have some fun!  I think we’re all in denial of school resuming tomorrow, but it’s going to happen one way or another.

I like to take some time each winter vacation to look at where we are as a class and to make adjustments to how I run the class or how I teach certain concepts.  Sometimes I change classroom management techniques, and other times I refine my appoach to teaching various skills.  This year, I’ve given a lot of thought to reading and language arts instruction.  One of the big changes from third to fourth grade is a shift in focus from teacher led instruction to more student-led learning.  Of course, that doesn’t mean that I expect students to take out a book and teach themselves how to properly diagram a sentence while I nap in the corner (although with Charlie’s recent sleep habits, I must admit to liking that prospect!)  Rather, it means that students take more responsibility for their learning, whether that’s by choosing what skills THEY think they need to practice more, or working with a partner to solidify a concept, or practicing skills independently while I work with a group of students on a specific activity.  That’s an important transition from grade 3 to grade 4, and as someone who taught third grade last year, it’s a transition that I am working hard to continue to implement.

With all that in mind, my two big “Professional New Years Resolutions” are to implement Cross Curricular Learning Stations (CCLS) and to begin to use differentiated spelling programs.  I know, this is a bit of a cop-out because I discussed both of these goals at the very beginning of the year.  My transition from third to fourth grade came with a lot of new challenges, and my priority has been to properly address the major instructional tasks, such as reading comprehension, narrative writing, problem solving, higher order thinking, etc.  As a result, differentiated spelling and CCLS both went on the back burner.  For more information on both goals, click the link right below this message to continue reading!

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