Sight Word Mini-lesson!

Parents,

I have given students these sight words for a reason! They are all conversions of irregular verbs. In this video I explain why we are working with these words. Be sure to watch over your student to ensure they are using each form of the verb correctly. Please comment if you have any questions.

First Narrative Prompt and Brainstorming

Good Evening Parents!

Today was a very important day. Students received their first Narrative writing prompt, which was--Write about a time when someone said you did a great job. In class, we discussed how important it is to brainstorm a topic before writing. THINK BEFORE YOU WRITE. So below I have attached a couple of things. The first is the actual prompt page so you will know what it looks like on STAAR. The second is a list of possible story ideas and a brainstorming bubble map. The third is a five senses map, which we will talk about on Tuesday. Please feel free to comment with questions so the entire community can have the same questions answered.

Now, if you look sentences below the picture, it says to WRITE ABOUT A TIME. These are the key words that let the students know the prompt is asking for a personal story.

 

 

 

After the students have read the prompt, they are supposed to come up with a short list of possible stories to write. This list is usually between 3 and 5 ideas. Once they have made this list, they are to pick one and create a "bubble brainstorm." In the middle bubble, the students basically answer the prompt with one complete sentence. In this case, mine is "I am writing about the time when my brother told me good job because I helped him kill rats while he was mowing his yard." Every other

bubble in the map is simply a detail from the story.

 

This is going to be the last step of brainstorming. Students should create a five senses map where they try and list as many details from the stories as they relate to the five senses a person experiences throughout a story. We will talk about this in class on August 24th, 2015.

 

 



 



First Set of Sight Words!

Announcements for August 23-28

Parents,

 

This week is a very important week because we officially start diving into content. This week, for our writing convention, we will practice identifying subject and predicate in complete sentences. It is very important that your student is able to correctly place periods (and other sentence-ending punctuation) throughout a paper. Please, please check your students journal this week and help them with periods! This is also our first week to discuss the writing process! Please work with your student on brainstorming activities. One of the most challenging tasks in fourth grade writing is extracting details. Ask your students questions about their topics. Where they were, who they were with, what they were doing, why? Ask them sensory questions? What did you smell, taste, hear, feel, see?

Journal Check!

Please remember that our first journal check will be this Friday, August 28. If you have not yet purchased a journal for at home, you may use loose leaf paper!

Sight Words!

Remember that the first due date for sight word homework will be September 4th. There will also be a quiz on that day. Here are the sight words for the next two weeks. They are IRREGULAR VERBS. It is extremely important for students to understand this.

break	broke	begin	began	bite
bit	bring	brought	buy	bought
catch	caught	choose	chose

Remember that if you ever need anything, you can contact me at 2145173793.

Homework info

Dear Life School Parent or Guardian,

Welcome to the 2015-2016 school year! My name is Nicholas Miller, and I will be your student’s 4th grade Writing. We are going to have a very successful and productive year as we continue growing as scholars and as members of this community.

First things first, I’d like to tell you a little about myself.  I graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in Kinesiology. Over the past few years I have developed a passion for working with young people, and I know the value and importance of a quality education. I was referred to Life Schools through Teach for America (TFA), a national organization that partners with school districts across the country to recruit and place teachers in classrooms.  This will be my second year at Life School.

The classroom theme for this year is Going Places. When others talk about your son or daughter I want them to say he or she is going places; in school and in life. I have set high expectations for this year and will give students the necessary skills and tools they need in order to reach those goals.

I believe every student is capable of reaching their full potential. This is possible, but only with our combined effort. I know your schedules may be busy, so I want to extend myself out to you as much as possible. I do not believe my time with your son or daughter is limited to traditional work hours. I am willing to meet in mornings, evenings and even on the weekends. Please remember that I am flexible and willing to work with you to meet your student’s needs.

That being said, I want to establish an open line of communication with you. If there is anything you need, please feel free to text, call or email. Information for remind 101 (a very important notification system) is listed below.

Please Sign Up for Miller’s Remind 101

ALL Parents: Text the message @4b2n to phone number 81010

Parent Name: ________________________        Date: _________________________

Signature: ___________________________        Email: _______________________________

nicholas.miller@lifeschools.net

214-517-3793

goingplaceslife-school.blogspot.com  (Classroom Blog!)

Homework (Two Parts)  Beginning August 24th

Sight Word Work

Every two weeks, students will receive Sight Words. These are words that are important for Fourth Grade students to know how to spell correctly and use correctly. There will be a sight word quiz every other week on Fridays. The Sight Word Homework Includes the following practice for each word.

Write each word using stairstep spelling

ex.

Write each word using it in a sentence

ex. The soldiers were ready to leave for boot camp.

Write the definition of each word

    ex. To be ready means to be available when asked or to be willing.

Write each word five times

    ex. ready,ready,ready,ready,ready

Journal Check

On the Fridays when no sight word quiz is given, students will have what are called journal checks. Students should be using their own journal (which stays at home unless it’s friday) to write EVERY DAY, even if it is only half of a page. The journal check will be based on the honesty system. I will collect a few journals at random. If there are no entries for that two week period, the student will receive a zero for homework.

End of Year Survey!

Good Afternoon parents!

I've created an End of Year Survey in order to receive some feedback on this year. Please click or copy/paste the link below in order to complete. It will only take a few minutes to complete.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/F7BWV59

Thanks!

Weekly Announcements 5/4 - 5/9

Weekly Announcements May 5-May 9:

Parents, I know with the year coming to a close, keeping students (and teachers sometimes) engaged in continuous learning can be difficult, but I have stressed the importance of finishing strong with my students. Last week we lost two instructional days, but this week we are only losing one to the Paul Quinn College field trip. With that being said, we will have reading logs and sight word quiz scheduled as usual. Reading logs, however, will need to be completed on a piece of notebook paper.

Sight Words:

fur
weather
whether
pour
poor
pause
route
quiet
quite
quit

Texas A&M Field Trip Pictures -- I am currently trying to round up as many field trip pictures as possible and then I will share the google document with anyone who would like to view them.

End of the year party at Kiest park! -- Mrs. Kelley and myself have agreed to host an end of the year party for all students and families at Kiest park. The tentative date is Saturday, May 16. We've worked really hard this year, and we'd like everyone to come out and celebrate that success!

Survey! Parents, I will be sending home a survey next week asking a couple of questions about your student's experience this year as well as your own. It was my first year as a teacher and I need to do a lot of reflection and grow upon my weaknesses. More info to come on this as well.

Progress reports will be sent home this week! 

Paul Quinn Field Trip!

Parents, tomorrow (May 5th) we will be attending Paul Quinn College for our 4th grade field trip. Below are some reminders for the trip. Address: 3837 Simpson Stuart Rd, TX 75241. The students will be participating in a volunteer evvent at the farm where they will learn about where food comes from and how eating healthy foods can help them live a long healthy life. After visiting the farm, they will have the opportunity to explore the campus.

Itinerary:

10:00 AM Depart Life School for Paul Quinn
10:30-10:40 AM: Meet at Adams Administration Building, Introductions
10:40-10:50 AM: History and overview of Paul Quinn College
10:50-11:05 AM: Walk from Adams Administration Building to the WE Over ME Farm
11:20-11:50 AM: Tour of the WE Over ME Farm (interactive, hands-on)
11:50-12:15 PM: Farm activities (weeding, planting, harvesting)
12:15-12:20 PM: Reflections, Q&A
12:20-12:30 PM: Clean up, depart from farm
12:30-1:30 PM:   picnic lunch exploration of campus
1:30-1:45 PM:     Board buses
1:45-2:15 PM: Arrive back at school

Dress attire:
Students will be spending part of their trip working with plants at the farm. For this reason, we request that they wear blue jeans and a Life School shirt.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at 214-517-3793!