MR. SASSMAN'S 4th GRADE CLASS BLOG: January 2015

Sunday, January 25, 2015

Mr. Sassman's 4th Grade Class Blog

Moon Journals are off to a great start...I would like to take this opportunity to state that: The kiddos are only required to complete a minimum of 3 entry logs per week. I would like them to observe the sky every night, but they will turn in their Moon Journals for review on Mondays. That was unclear in my last blog post and to the students when I was explaining the project to them. Sorry for the confusion!
Our class been selected for a lunch menu tasting/feedback program from the school district and I sent home permission slips and information about their allergies, diets, and preferences. We will (this Monday and Tuesday) sample potential lunch items that the district may add next year. This seems to be a really fun opportunity. Our facilitator also mentioned that the kids should come prepared with their own lunches (or hot lunch as normal) for those days in the event dates or things change last minute.
We started PenPal letters last week and I am really impressed so far!!!
There is a field trip this friday...we will be going to Herring Auditorium to see the Intergalactic Nemesis. Please send in your kiddos with $7 for the performance and transportation. Thanks so much!

Read-a-thon

We will in fact have a read-a-thon fundraiser this quarter...more details at parent-teacher conferences.

Parent-teacher conferences by the way...Mrs. Lisa Corbett in the office has the master schedule. The "time slots," are currently the same as the fall conferences, so if you would like to make a change, please call her at 907.479.4234 x222. I will send home notices and time confirmations with the kiddos soon. Thanks and I look forward to seeing each and every one of you! This is a student-led conference, so please check and see if your student will be able to be present as well.

Monday looks like:

9 - 9:20

New Seats

Class Meeting

9:20 - 10:55

Science: Constellations Textbook Q&A

Saturn

Counselors

10:55 - 11:30

Library

11:30 - 12:00

SSR

12:00 - 12:30

Lunch

12:30 - 1:00

Recess

1:05 - 2:15

Math Block: Topic 9-4 Textbook work

2:15 - 2:30

Recess Part II

2:30 - 3:30

PenPals

Homework due Monday, January 26, 2015

-- Moon Journals Entry 6 (ONLY 3 PER WEEK)

Homework due Tuesday, January 27, 2015

-- Moon Journals Entry 7 (ONLY 3 PER WEEK)

-- Saturn

Homework due Wednesday, January 28, 2015

-- Moon Journals Entry 8 (ONLY 3 PER WEEK)

-- Uranis

-- $7 field trip money

Homework due Thursday, January 29, 2015

-- Moon Journals Entry 9 (ONLY 3 PER WEEK)

-- Neptune

Homework due Friday, January 30, 2015

-- Moon Journals Entry 10 (ONLY 3 PER WEEK)

-- Pluto

-- PenPals Letter Final Draft

MATH HOMEWORK DUE THIS WEEK (only if you are in my math class)
Homework due Wednesday, January 28, 2015

-- Practice Sheets 9-5/9-6
Homework due Thursday, January 29, 2015

-- Topic 9 Practice Test
Homework due Friday, January 30, 2015
-- Topic 9 Review Packet
There will be a Topic 9 Pre-test on Thursday and the Topic 9 Test on Friday.

*Please keep in mind, projects or tests we have in class may have to be brought home to be finished or to study. Please ask your child if they have completed their work before you have signed their planner.

Dates to Remember:

Friday, January 30, 2015
Field Trip to Herring Auditorium - The Intergalactic Nemesis (10:00 - 11:00)

Friday, February 6, 2015
Teacher In-Service - Professional Development (no school)

Monday, February 16, 2015 and Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Student-Led, Parent-Teacher Conferences

Friday, February 27, 2015
Walk to a local lake - to be determined - with our first grade buddy class. Parent volunteers needed for the morning please!

If you are interested in volunteering on a field trip, you must be cleared with the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District...see me for a packet. If you would like to simply help out in class or volunteer, just let me know, and we can arrange it so!

It's a good life!

Mr. Sassman

Monday, January 19, 2015

Mr. Sassman's 4th Grade Class Blog

Last week was a good one! Root beer float parties, coding on the computers, snowshoeing, art lessons, reading, writing, and arithmetic! We had better get back to work!

Moon Journals start Tuesday. Please look for your students' materials as they will need to fill out an entry every night for the next month! This is going to be quite an ambitious project, but a little work each night will make for a big, beautiful, outcome! Our Solar System reading/papers will also be coming home each night until next week.
Our class been selected for a lunch menu tasting/feedback program from the school district and I will be sending the kiddos home with permission slips and information about their allergies, diets, and preferences. We will (next Monday and Tuesday) sample potential lunch items that the district may add next year. This seems to be a really fun opportunity. Our facilitator also mentioned that the kids should come prepared with their own lunches (or hot lunch as normal) for those days in the event dates or things change last minute.
We will be starting PenPal letters this week and I will have the students making DOL corrections to their own work as well as their peers...interesting concept? This was the students' idea!

Read-a-thon

We will in fact have a read-a-thon fundraiser this quarter...more details at parent-teacher conferences.

Tuesday looks like:

9 - 9:20

Jobs

Planners

9:20 - 10:55

Science: Our Solar System Textbook Q&A

ELA: PenPals Brainstorming

10:55 - 11:30

11:30 - 12:00

TFK: Inventions of 2014

12:00 - 12:30

Lunch

12:30 - 1:00

Recess

1:05 - 2:15

Math Block: Benchmark Review Topics 5-8

2:15 - 2:30

Movement

2:30 - 3:30

Moon Journals

Mars

Homework due Wednesday, January 21, 2015

-- Moon Journals Entry 1

-- Mars

Homework due Thursday, January 22, 2015

-- Moon Journals Entry 2

-- Jupiter

Homework due Friday, January 23, 2015

-- Moon Journals Entry 3

-- Saturn

-- TFK: Best Inventions of 2014

-- PenPals Letter

MATH HOMEWORK DUE THIS WEEK (only if you are in my math class)
Homework due Wednesday, January 21, 2015

-- Benchmark Review Topics 5-8
Homework due Thursday, January 22, 2015

-- Reteach/Practice 9-1 Using Mental Math to Divide

Homework due Friday, January 23, 2015

-- Reteach/Practice 9-2 Estimating Quotients

Dates to Remember:

It's a good life!

Mr. Sassman

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Mr. Sassman's 4th Grade Class Blog

Great first week back...we really hit the ground running! I hope you had a chance to see us on the nightly weather report with Mr. Mike Shultz! You should have received report cards on Friday.

It is a full week, so we will take advantage of the precious time we have together!

Tuesday, January 13, 2015 - Kids snowshoeing with Mrs. Chavez's first graders!
Wednesday, January 14, 2015 - Root Beer Float Party from 2:30-3:15! Feel free to come by and celebrate with us if you have some free time! We earned it!
Thursday, January 15, 2015 - An hour of code with Mrs. Misha Brenner-Gelvin!
Friday, January 16, 2015 - Fairbanks North Star Borough Art Specialist Mrs. Barbara Santoro will be by in the morning!

The next new moon will be on January 20th, so Moon Journals will start next week. We will begin putting together our Astronomy Books this week, adding a new section each day in class. If this is not finished before the lesson ends, I will send the students home with the articles and questions to complete before they can add it to their book.

Book Committee

Our new committee will be meeting Tuesday during recess to determine what exactly we would like our committee to be in charge of.

Read-a-thon

We will in fact have a read-a-thon fundraiser this quarter...more details at parent-teacher conferences.

Monday looks like:

9 - 9:20

Class Meeting

9:20 - 10:55

StoryTown Lesson 5

Read Aloud - The Indian in the Cupboard

10:55 - 11:30

Library

11:30 - 12:00

DOL

12:00 - 12:30

Lunch

12:30 - 1:00

Recess

1:05 - 2:15

Math Block: Topic 8-4

2:15 - 2:30

Recess Part II

2:30 - 3:30

Science: Our Solar System

Homework due Tuesday, January 13, 2015

-- The Sun (in-class)*

Homework due Wednesday, January 14, 2015

-- Mercury (in-class)*

Homework due Friday, January 15, 2015

-- Venus (in-class)*

Homework due Friday, January 16, 2015

-- Earth (in-class)*

-- Spelling Packet Lesson 5

-- StoryTown Lesson 5 (in-class)*

-- DOL QUIZ WEEK 9

-- SPELLING QUIZ LESSON 5

MATH HOMEWORK DUE THIS WEEK (only if you are in my math class)
Homework due Tuesday, January 13, 2015
-- Reteach/Practice 8-4 Multiplying 2-Digit Numbers by 2-Digit Numbers
Homework due Wednesday, January 14, 2015

-- Reteach/Practice 8-5 Problem Solving: Two Question Problems
Homework due Thursday, January 15, 2015
-- Topic 8 Review Packet
-- TOPIC 8 TEST FRIDAY (Topic 9 starts division)

Dates to Remember:

Monday, January 19, 2015
Holiday (no school) - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Friday, January 30, 2015
Field Trip to Herring Auditorium - The Intergalactic Nemesis (10:00 - 11:00)

Friday, February 6, 2015
Teacher In-Service - Professional Development (no school)

Monday, February 16, 2015 and Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Student-Led, Parent-Teacher Conferences

If you are interested in attending or helping out as a chaperone on a field trip, you must be cleared with the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District...see me for a packet. If you would like to simply help out in class or volunteer, just let me know!

It's a good life!

Mr. Sassman

Monday, January 5, 2015

Mr. Sassman's 4th Grade Class Blog

Happy New Year!!!

Welcome back! I hope you all had a wonderful break, filled up on food, slept, read, traveled, and had good times with friends and family. I sure did all of the above!!! I would like to say a BIG THANK YOU to everyone for their generosity before the break. I loved everything from the candy, cookies, hot cocoa mix and artisan marshmallows, to the science rocks, fossils, gloves, and plants for the room! I also made several trips to Gullivers to spend the gift cards on books for our classroom library. I feel so proud and lucky to have your children in my class!

Channel 11 News/Weather with Mr. Mike Shultz - We will be on the local news and weather report at 6 PM starting Tuesday the 6th through Friday the 9th...tune-in.

Class Shot with Mr. Shultz!

Darcy Misel did an excellent job with her poem!

Very engaged class!

Axton's art - Seasons of Change

Zadock's question - "What is ice fog?"

Root Beer Float Party

Our class's root beer float party will be in January...time and day to be determined.

Moon Journals

We will start our Moon Journals next week.

Book Committee

Our new committee will be meeting this week for recess.

Pen Pals

I had a chance to meet with our pen pal class in Lambertville, New Jersey last week. They are very excited to start corresponding. We will start this next week as well.

Read-a-thon

I would like to start a read-a-thon fundraiser this quarter...details to follow.

Universal Screening starts again this week

Report Cards will be coming home this Friday, January 9, 2015

Tuesday looks like:

9 - 9:20

New Seats

New Jobs

Planners

Class Meeting

9:20 - 10:55

StoryTown Lesson 4

Read Aloud - The Indian in the Cupboard

10:55 - 11:30

11:30 - 12:00

DOL

12:00 - 12:30

Lunch

12:30 - 1:00

Recess

1:05 - 2:15

Math Block: Topic 8-1

2:15 - 2:30

Movement

2:30 - 3:30

TFK - A Year in Pictures

SSR - Newbery Books

Homework due Friday, January 9, 2015

-- Spelling Packet Lesson 4

-- TFK: A Year in Pictures

-- StoryTown Lesson 4 (in-class)*

MATH HOMEWORK DUE THIS WEEK (only if you are in my math class)
Homework due Wednesday, January 7, 2015
-- Reteach/Practice 8-1 Arrays and Multiplying 2-Digit Numbers
Homework due Thursday, January 8, 2015

-- Reteach/Practice 8-2 Arrays and an Expanded Algorithm
Homework due Friday, January 9, 2015
-- Reteach/Practice 8-3 Multiplying 2-Digit Numbers by Multiples of 10

Dates to Remember:

It's a good life!

Mr. Sassman