Course: Benchley Weinberger

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Events Key

Class Needs
#2 pencils
8 1/2" X 11" cardstock weight paper in white, lt. beige, gold,
fine and extra fine black sharpies
scissors
bound carpet squares
Gift cards to Barnes and Noble or Who's Smart to purchase lost book club books

Design Time Needs
AA batteries

Garden Wish List
Red or purple flowers for the Hummingbirds
Rocks to divide the mulch from the dirt
Additional log seats (@18" high)
Hummingbird mix
Purple coneflowers
Natural bark mulch
Bags of dirt
Native CA. flowers

Please remember that we are a NO PEANUT zoned school. So if you are sending in a treat for birthday or otherwise check that there are no peanuts and remember that we have 34 students.

Please know that I have looked at each site I have linked to but not every part of every site so let me know if any issues arise. As always adult supervision should be a part of every internet usage whether at home or school. Keep in mind that we are all needing to learn different things so select activities that are the appropriate skill and level for you.

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Benchley Weinberger Elementary

Ms. Aufsesser
Grade 4
kaufsesser@sandi.net

In This Classroom...
Imaginations Rule!

Gearing up for a Great Year

Access Websites to Help You Learn

Please be sure to initial their homework each night. I suggest you start with math as that builds on each previous day. If it is taking them more than an hour and a half please initial and let me know. If a student is way into a story and having fun that's fine. You probably wouldn't be able to stop that anyways. By the way I did get some great stories this week with their Word Study.

News Flash	Running Club will start this Monday, September 21 at 7:25. It will end each day at the first bell at 7:40. All students are expected to at least walk laps at this time. They may not stand at the classroom door as I will be walking as well. It is a classroom activity to start our day. Please encourage your child to do so and come join us if you'd like.

Our first unit in literacy is called "Decisions! Decisions!" and we will be talking a lot about decisions authors make in writing books as we explore various non-fiction texts. We will also be analyzing the author's use of facts and opinions in the texts they write.

In writing we will be drafting, revising, editing, publishing, and sharing several nonfiction pieces in things such as:
Meet the Author -- this would be you as an author
Helen Keller articles -- summary of information

Word Study

Word Study in Grade 4 is more than a spelling program. It is a 2 week program each time. Students are pretested on some of these new words the Thursday or Friday before the actual unit starts.

The first week their work involves all the words as they do the pages of the Word Study packet each night for homework.

Monday: page 2

Tuesday: page 3

Wednesday: page 4

Thursday: catch up on or correct any pages/items missed

The second week they focus in on their own individual 20 words.

Monday: Write words 3 times in cursive

Tuesday Write words in sentences – if they do not know the meaning of the word they can look up and write the definition instead.

Wednesday At least 6 words written in a story

Thursday Study for word test.

Friday: Students take their word test and hand in all homework

Be sure:

You are spelling the words right as you write them.
When you use words in a sentence we should know what the word means by what you write. Do not simply list them.
Underline your 20 words in the sentences and story.
You may use more than one word in a sentence if it makes sense.
Since you know what this homework is for the 2 weeks you may do it as possible as it is not turned in until Friday of the second week. There is no excuse for not having it done.
All Word Study work must be complete and handed in to go to Design Time.

The first few weeks of school we will be working on statistics. We will be collecting, organizing, and studying data in surveys. We will learn various ways to collect and display data such as line plots, bar graphs, line graphs, etc. We will also work on interpreting the data by discussing the median, mode, scales, intervals, etc.

We will also be jumping right into our review of the multiplication facts. If your child does not know these yet please spend some fun time trying to learn them.

Our study of science in 4th grade will begin with the Solid Earth Unit where we will be thinking about the properties of rocks and minerals, effects of weathering, and basic land forms on the earth's surface.

California is the main focus of 4th grade social studies and we'll begin our work with a better look at the four main regions of the state itself. Students will be making their own state maps in the process.

California Missions Resource

Our Physical Education time is the end of the day on Monday. Students will be bringing their backpacks to PE and being dismissed by Coach Tucker from PE. Our running program starts Monday morning this week and I will be walking with them every morning I don't have a meeting. Feel free to come and walk with us....In that regard no student should be standing by the classroom. They are suppose to put their backpacks on the map, get their cards, and start walking or running. If you are on campus please help me direct the students to the right location.

We will be doing our first art project on Monarch butterflies. All 4th graders will be participating in a Symbolic Migration of their butterflies to Mexico in a program called Journey North. We will also be doing a mixed media monarch for the room.

Museum Madness Resource

Music is every second Friday morning.

Time	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
7:45	Announcements	Announcements	Announcement	Announcements	Announcements
7:55	Math	Math	Math	Math	Math/Word Study - Fri.
9:00	Literacy	Literacy	Literacy	Literacy	Music
9:45	Recess	Recess	Recess	Recess	Recess
10:05	Interactive Reading	Science	Comp./Lib	Interactive Reading	Interactive Reading Literacy
10:30	Writing	Writing	Comp./Lib.	Social Stud.	Workdown
11:30			Dismissal
11:45	Lunch	Lunch		Lunch	Lunch
12:30	Social Studies	Independent Reading		Independent Reading	Independent Reading
1:20	P.E.	Social Stud.		Science	Design Time
2:20	Dismissal	Dismissal		Dismissal	Dismissal