Morning Message 2/26/10

Good Morning and Happy Friday! Today is February 26, 2010       
Tiger Day: S
Day 108 of School, 72 days left

For the moment, it’s important that you ignore the materials set out on your desk! Ms. Bragg is busy getting ready for our research session. We will start our research after morning announcements. For now, unpack and get started on your to-do list. Thanks!

REMINDER:
Content ends at 9:25am and Math begins at 9:30am.

This Morning:

• First, we’ll play a word study game-- see to-do list below.
• Then we’ll do some research on important figures from the American Revolution. We’ll be rotating pods, so that everyone gets a chance to work with the materials. We may not finish this morning, in which case we’ll do some more research this afternoon.

To-Do List:

1. Complete your morning routine! Don’t forget about snack!
2. Wish at least 2 colleagues a “Happy Friday!”
3. Find a partner to play the word study game we learned yesterday. Choose just one person’s set of words. Then find a convenient spot. You’ll take turns. One person “writes” out the word on the other’s back or arm, while the other person guesses the word then uses it in the sentence. The “writer” lets the “guesser” know if they’re correct. Then switch!

Morning Message 2/25/10

Good Morning! Today is Thursday, February 25, 2010.
Tiger Day: R
Day 107 of School, 73 days left

REMINDERS:

• Turn in your 5th Grade Course Registration! They’re due tomorrow!
• Content ends at 9:25am and Math begins at 9:30am.

This Morning:

• Virginia Colony quiz! It’s just a quiz, so it’s not too long.
• When you are done with your quiz, you’ll get a chance to explore the wealth of books on the American Revolution collected on the back table. So... you’ll check over your work (of course!), turn your quiz into Ms. Bragg’s box, then select a book to read quietly at your desk while others finish.
• We might also get a chance to continue with the American Revolution video we began yesterday. If not, we’ll finish it this afternoon or later this week.

To-Do List:

1. Complete your morning routine! Don’t forget about snack!
2. Take out your Virginia Studies flashcards and study with a partner. I was wrong yesterday! This really is your last chance to study in class before the quiz, which we will start after announcements.

Morning Message 2/24/10

Good Morning! Today is Wednesday, February 24, 2010.
Tiger Day: E
Day 106 of School, 74 days left

REMINDERS:

• We have an assembly today: Flow Circus at 10am.
• No Math today because of the assembly.
• Today is a short Wednesday. Next week, Wednesday will be a full day.

This Morning:

• Language Arts! We’ll do some reading and some writing.
• Hopefully, we’ll get also get a chance to watch a video about the American Revolution and the beginnings of the new nation.

To-Do List:

1. Complete your morning routine! Don’t forget about snack!
2. Take out your Virginia Studies flashcards and study with a partner. This is your last chance to study in class before the test tomorrow.

Morning Message 2/23/10

Good Morning! Today is Tuesday, February 23, 2010.
Tiger Day: G
Day 105 of School, 75 days left

REMINDERS:

• Content will go until 9:25am. We will have Math from 9:30-10:45am.
• Turn in your 5th grade registration!
• Mr. Greiner said that you can turn in your Get Fit! forms until Wednesday.

This Morning/Afternoon:

• Primary Sources-- They’re not just journals and important documents like the Declaration of Independence. We’ll look at some more primary sources this afternoon. This morning we’ll make sure that we understand what primary sources are.
• More American Revolution!

To-Do List:

1. Complete your morning routine! Don’t forget about snack!
2. Take out your Virginia Studies flashcards and study with a partner. Be sure to use your time wisely-- there will be a test this week.

Morning Message 2/22/10

Good Morning! Today is Monday, February 22, 2010.                Tiger Day: I
Day 104 of School, 76 days left

There have been a few more changes to our schedule.

• Content will go until 9:25am.
• We will have Math from 9:30-10:45am.

REMINDERS:

• We started school earlier today (8:25am) and we will be ending school later (3:35pm).
• Get Fit! forms are due today.

This Morning/Afternoon:

• American Revolution
• Primary and Secondary Sources. Remember these?

To-Do List:

1. Complete your morning routine! Don’t forget about snack!
2. Return your empty Friday Folders to their mailboxes. REMEMBER to turn in any important paperwork, such as 5th grade registration forms, to the “Notes for Ms. Bragg” box.
3. Take out your Virginia Studies flashcards and study with a partner. Be sure to use your time wisely-- there will be a test this week.

Morning Message 2/19/10

Good Morning! Today is Friday, February 19, 2010.                Tiger Day: T
Day 103 of School, 77 days left

REMINDERS:

• Starting Monday we will begin coming to school earlier (8:25am) and ending school later (3:35pm).
• Get Fit! forms are due Monday-- Saturday is the last day to complete it.
• We have an appointment with MEH staff this afternoon (1:30pm). We will learn about music options.

This Morning:
Hannah B. will tell us about the school store; Quick Valentine bag making; Electronic fieldtrip; Catching up with our textbook.

To-Do List:

1. Complete your morning routine! Don’t forget about snack!
2. Signed report cards go in the “Notes for Ms. Bragg” box.
3. Keep your Valentines in your locker until our party this afternoon!
4. You have a bag to decorate on your desk. This bag will hold your Valentine deliveries this afternoon. You only have until 9am to decorate it. So you need to be efficient with your time.
1. You must put your name on your bag.
2. You may choose 2 heart cut-outs from the back table (an inside, a middle, and/or an outside).
3. You may also use scraps from the scrap box. But NO new construction paper.

Morning Message 2/18/10

Good Morning! Today is Thursday, February 18, 2010                Tiger Day: S
Day 102 of School, 78 days left

REMINDERS:

• Tomorrow is the last day to contribute to the Helping Haiti fund.
• Valentines’ Day Party tomorrow-- have your Valentines ready!
• Yearbook orders are due tomorrow!

This Morning/Afternoon:
Founding Fathers; Electronic fieldtrip

More Details About Our NEW Schedule:

• These dates will be short Wednesdays (early release at 1:15pm): February 24, March 10, March 24, April 14, April 28, May 12, May 26, and June 2. On ALL OTHER Wednesdays we will follow a full-day schedule.
• Starting Monday we will begin coming to school earlier (8:25am) and ending school later (3:35pm).

To-Do List:

1. Complete your morning routine! Don’t forget about snack!
2. Signed report cards go in the “Notes for Ms. Bragg” box.
3. Take out your flashcards and find a partner. Take turns quizzing each other.

Morning Message 2/17/10

Good Morning! Today is Wednesday, February 17, 2010.                Tiger Day: R
Day 101 of School, 79 days left

REMINDERS:

• Today we will follow a full-day schedule (like Mon., Tues., Thurs., and Fri.)-- so we’ll switch for Math at 9:45am.
• There will be an extra Math class this afternoon, 2:10-3:10pm.

This Morning:

• Finish adaptation posters.
• New flashcards for Virginia Studies.
• Continue our electronic fieldtrip?

To-Do List:

1. Complete your morning routine! Don’t forget about snack!
2. Signed report cards go in the “Notes for Ms. Bragg” box.
3. Continue working on your adaptation poster. Copies of the animal photos are inside your research book.
4. Add some color to the photo to make it pop out.
5. Be sure to put your name on the front of your poster.

Morning Message 2/16/10

Good Morning! Today is Tuesday, February 16, 2010.
Tiger Day: E
Day 100 of School! (not technically, but according to the schedule), 80 days left

REMINDERS: Yearbook orders are due Friday! Don’t forget about the Get Fit Challenge!

This Morning:

• Adaptations mini-posters. Remember: You need to highlight (1) a structural and (2) a behavioral adaption for both of your chosen animals.
• How adaptations happen by chance.
• If we have time, we’ll make our last video stop on our electronic fieldtrip.

Changes to the Schedule:
The teachers had a meeting yesterday with City administrators. This is what we know so far: Like I told you yesterday, we have 2 extra days of school (yesterday and a teacher work day in April.) In addition, we will start school 10 minutes earlier each day and end 5 minutes later. Our Wednesdays will be longer-- some will be full days.

To-Do List:

1. Complete your morning routine! Don’t forget about snack!
2. Signed report cards can go in the “Notes for Ms. Bragg” box.
3. Continue working on the rough draft of your adaptation mini-posters. You need to (1) describe each adaptation (ex: What does it look/sound like? How does it work?) and (2) describe how each adaption helps the animal survive.

Afternoon Message 2/15/10 (posted one day late)

Good Afternoon! Today is still Monday, February 15, 2010.

RESCHEDULED: Valentine’s Day Party

• This Friday! (combined with Friday Afternoon Club)
• Bringing Valentines is optional... You don’t have to do it, but you certainly can if you want!
• Don’t bring your Valentine’s until Friday.
• If you would like to bring in Valentines, you must bring one for every kid in our class.
• You may give Valentines to kids in other 4th grade classes, but you needn’t give one to everyone in those classes. (Example: You could give a Valentine to just one person in Ms. Hocutt’s class.)

REMINDER: Yearbook orders are due Friday!

Let’s get some info from our SCA rep. about our school’s fund-raising project:

• Students donated a total of $205.00 this morning to help the people of Haiti. Thanks to Ms. Raezler's class for contributing the money they had already been collecting as a group.
• Hope had a really nice idea to raise money. Let’s hear from her as well.

Morning Message 2/15/10 (Posted one day late)

Good Morning and Welcome Back-- I’ve missed you!
Today is Monday, February 15, 2010.
Tiger Day: G
Day 99 of School (not technically, but approximately), 81 days left

This Morning:

• We’ll finish up with our Declaration translations.
• We’ll be doing some of our electronic fieldtrip.

Changes to the Schedule (to start to make up for all the snow days):

• We have school today! President’s Day! Why do we celebrate Presidents’ Day?
• We will have a FULL SCHOOL DAY this Wednesday. No early release!
• You all will come to school on a “Teacher Work Day” in April.
• There will be more changes... For example, we might start school earlier each day. I will let you know as soon as I know.

To-Do List:

1. Complete your morning routine! Don’t forget about snack!
2. Signed report cards can go in the “Notes for Ms. Bragg” box.
3. Get your Declaration poster from the back table and gather with your group. Continue with your attempts to translate it. I will be deputizing helpers.

Morning Message 2/5/10

Good Morning! And Happy Report Card Day! J
Day 94 of School, 86 days left
Tiger Day: E

This Morning:

• How to read a report card and not get confused!More Revolutionary War!
• Deciphering the Declaration of Independence. We’ve already made some progress, but let’s see if we can understand it even better.

This Afternoon:

• Will we be here this afternoon? It’s hard to say... If it starts to snow, I think they will release us early. In that case, our schedule will be similar to a Wednesday.
• You won’t get your own report card until after Encore and Lunch.
• If we’re here in the afternoon, we’ll be working on mini animal adaptation projects.

To-Do List:

1. Complete your morning routine! Don’t forget about snack!
2. On your desk is a SAMPLE report card. Look at it closely. Make sure that you understand the key. It’s very easy to confuse a 1 (number one) with an I (“I” for “Independent”)-- Do you see the difference? Also, notice that these “grades” aren’t like A’s, B’s, and C’s... They’re very different in fact. The numbers are all about progress and improving. After announcements, we’ll talk about this more.
3. Once you think you fully understand how the report card works, you may continue working on your Virginia Studies worksheet from yesterday.

Morning Message 2/4/10

Good Morning! It is Thursday, February 04, 2010.
Day 93 of School, 87 days left
Tiger Day: G

Welcome back again! This is certainly shaping up to be a snowy year! There’s more coming tomorrow! Hopefully, many of you used the extra time off to do some more writing. I know that several of you were motivated to write about the sensory experience of playing in the snow. What did it smell, feel, and sound like?

REMINDERS:

• Your math class may switch today. We’re starting fractions!
• Don’t forget about the Get Fit! challenge!

This Morning:

• Revolutionary War!
• What is an electronic fieldtrip? What was the slave trade?

This Afternoon:

• Book Buddies, who we haven’t seen in a while.
• Bringing our wordless picture book stories together. How do we want to edit and publish?
• Let’s take another look at the Declaration of Independence.

To-Do List:

1. Complete your morning routine! Don’t forget about snack!
2. Take out your green writing journals. Find a colleague and share your writing with them.
3. If you finish, find a different colleague and share with them.

Computer Lab Assignment

Since we have some more time this morning, let's do some science! Over the next week or so, we will be finishing up our Ecosystems unit (Food Webs, Energy Flow, Animal Adaptations, etc.)... Then we'll be talking about a much larger system: The Solar System-- particularly the Earth, Sun, and the Moon. We'll get a little taste of that now.

Study these animations and play the games that follow each. Be sure to click the next button.

1. A Changing Environment 
2. Finding Water in the Desert 
3. Our Solar System 

When you are done, you may explore the following areas of portaportal:
Science>Animals> Animal Adaptations
Science>Ecosystems/Biomes
Science>Food Webs
Science>Solar System

Morning Message 2/2/10

Good Morning and welcome back!
Today we celebrate two Birthdays: Hannah B.’s and Stephanie’s (belated)!
Stephanie’s B-day was Virginia Day and Hannah’s is today!
It is Tuesday, February 02, 2010.
Day 91 of School, 89 days left
Tiger Day: T

We are officially starting the 2nd half of the school year! How do you want the rest of your 4th grade year to go? What would you like to accomplish?

This Morning: We’ll be headed down the computer lab for our practice online SOL test. Plans have changed: We will be taking the reading test, rather than the math test. REMEMBER: We will be making history in Falls Church this year by taking our SOLs online! So this time to practice is really important!

This Afternoon: Hopefully, we’ll be able to continue our halfway through-the-year celebration... But we have a lot to accomplish first!

To-Do List:

1. Turn in all important papers (signed forms, etc.) and put your empty Friday Folder in your mailbox. Complete your morning routine! Don’t forget about snack!
2. Carefully, move your desk back to its usual spot.
3. Make sure you have a good book to read if you finish the test early. You’ll bring it with you to the lab.
4. Take out your Language Arts notebook (it’s red) and glue down the new poems on your desk. Practice quietly at your desk. These are short-- so everyone should be able to earn a star!