Monday's Activities

The kids were all very excited and anxious to got home today and go "Trick or Treat". Despite their desire to just leave and go get some candy the students did very well today.
Bible- Today we started a new short Unit in which we will look at the many different useful tools the Bible has in it. We looked at using the concordance in our Bible and we will continue throughout this week to look at footnotes, using maps, and using section headlines. The students have their New Testament Books Memory Quiz on Friday, Nov. 4. 
Literacy- Today we studied main and linking verbs in our grammar lesson. The students seemed to understand this very well. We also read through a short story and practiced using our comprehension skills of predicting what will happen and then using the text to confirm. We began to brainstorm ideas and write a story for the week. This story is called the Prompt Practice story. The students received a prompt which asks them to think about a time in which they were a good friend to someone, someone was a good friend to them, or when they were not so good a friend to someone. Prompt Story is Due Friday, Spelling Words/Skills Test Unit 8 will also take place on Friday. 
Math- Today in our Math Lesson we learned how to use parentheses in order to make our Number Sentences True. The students had a little difficulty with this topic at first, but after lots of practice throughout our lesson today they seemed to grab hold of the concept. MB & SL 3.9 is due on Tuesday; MB & SL 3.10 is due on Wednesday! 
Social Studies- Today in our Social Studies Lesson we read and learned about the early struggles between the French and the British in the 1700's here in Michigan. We reviewed the relationships that the French and British had with the Native Americans who were already living in Michigan. Latitude/Longitude Worksheet is due tomorrow. Chapter 3 Lessons 1-4 Worksheets due tomorrow.
Enjoy your evenings, stay safe, don't eat too much candy, and i look forward to seeing the students once again tomorrow.

Science-Today i started my new science Unit with the students. We are going to be investigating the topic of caring for the environment and specifically looking at how Trash and Recycling relate to that. The students had a great discussion this afternoon related to this topic!

Fantastic Finish!

Today we concluded our week on a very strong note. We all learned and worked very hard to finish the first quarter of our school year.
Bible-Today we reviewed the Judges Unit that the students studied last year and we will be moving on to look at using references, concordances, footnotes and other useful tools provided in our Bibles to guide us in our studies. The New Testament Bible Books Quiz is on Friday, Nov. 4
Science- Today Mr. Bird returned and reviewed the Unit 1 Science Tests with the students. They all did very well and we are happy with their knowledge of solids liquids and gases. Next week we will begin a new unit which focuses on Trash and Recycling.
Math- Today we continued our investigation of Number Stories and Sentences. We determined if number stories were True, False, or if the problems were not number stories at all. MB & SL 3.9 are due on Tuesday, Nov. 1
Literacy- Today many of our students had the privilege of sharing either their Simile story or a previously written story with the class. Mr. Bird and I were very impressed with the Similies that the students have used in their stories. We Took our Unit 7 Spelling Skills and Words Test and we did some slate work related to reviewing what we have learned about verbs so far in our Unit. We will continue our Folktale Unit on Monday.
 
Social Studies- Today we did not get to Social Studies, but we will continue next week to look at the Explorers who came to Michigan. Then mid-week we will begin a group project related to explorers.

Finally we finished off the day and the quarter by playing a friendly game of Jeopardy which Mr. Bird lead and guided. The students really enjoyed this!

Thursday's Activities

Bible- Today in Bible we looked at the life of Ehud as a Judge. We recognized how he was used by God to deliver the Israelites from their oppressors. I also talked with Ms. Knott, our 4th grade partner teacher and she recognized that our students have all studied the Judges last year. Because of our new curriculum this year in 4th grade it changes some of the things that we must teach. Therefore i will review the Judges tomorrow with the students and then begin a brief unit on Monday which will discuss how we can use footnotes, concordances, section headings and maps to supplement our study and reading of God's word. We will spend all of next week on this topic and then begin Unit 5 the following week.
Social Studies- Today the students worked through their Lesson 4 worksheets in their groups. Latitude and Longitude Worksheet will be due Tuesday, Chapter 3 Lessons 1-4 worksheets will also be on Tuesday. 
Math- Today we continued our study of Number Stories for our shortened class period.
Literacy- Today we listened to the folktale; "How Turtles Back was Cracked" and looked for the elements of a folktale. We also continued to work on our Folktale stories and the vocabulary and comprehension pages that go along with our stories. The students then applied their knowledge of their stories and began to make a scrapbook page about their story in Computer class. Finally, we studied the use of Commas when words are listed in a series.

Wednesday's Activities

Today was the first time i really felt in control of the classroom and was in control by myself. It was a different yet rewarding experience because Mr. Bird was at Calvin this morning for a "Cooperating Teachers" Conference. While Mr. Bird was away the students in our class and throughout the whole school had an opportunity to view a 40 minute production, brought to us by a group of 3 actors/actresses out of Chicago, about Tom Sawyer. The students all behaved very well and were very interested and focused on the skit, I am so proud of them! We weren't able to get to the Library or invite Senora Koning in to teach us Spanish due to this activity though. We will try to get to the Library before the end of the week so that the students have more books they could read.
Bible- This morning we began our new Bible Unit. We are beginning a study of the book of Judges. We looked at the Judge Othniel, whose story is in Judges 3:7-11. We discussed what a Judge is today and what a Judge was in the Bible times(a warrior/leader). We also began to take note of a cycle that the Israelite's went through and this cycle will be a recurring theme for our Unit. The students have their New Testament Bible Quiz on Friday, November 4. 
Social Studies- Today we began a new lesson about Robert La Salle and the plans that he had for fur trading in Michigan. We will continue this lesson tomorrow or Friday.
Science- Today the students had their Unit 1 Matter Assessment. Some of them finished, others will be given time to finish tomorrow.
Literacy- Today in our Literacy Block we were cut short a little by the production, but despite that the students were able to spend quality time reading their folktale books and answering questions related to them. Students have their Unit 7 Word and Skills Test on Friday. They have been working almost every morning on practicing cursive in their Penmanship books and they are supposed to have pages 1-19 done by tomorrow. Also the Unit 7 Spelling Take-Home activity sheet is due on Friday. 
Math- Today in Math we focused on the process of being able to solve Number Stories and then we had a lot of Valuable time to practice solving Number Stories. I will pass out SL 3.8 tomorrow and it will be due along with MB 3.8 on Friday.

Tuesdays Activities

Bible- Today the students took their Unit 3 Bible Assessment. They have a new memory verse which is to know the Books of the New Testament and that is due on Friday, November 4. 
Science- In science this morning the students had a chance to show Mr. Bird their knowledge relating to the states of Matter by answering questions related to their review sheet. The students were asked to take home their Science Journals and Review sheets in order to study for their Unit 1 Matter Assessment tomorrow.
Literacy- In our Literacy block today the students practiced more with Subject-Verb Agreement and with knowing the past, present and future tenses of verbs and how they can fit into a sentence. I read the folktale; Jack and the Beanstalk to the kids and we filled out a Folktale Chart reviewing the many different elements of Folktale that were present in our story today. We also did a Spelling Mini Lesson related to Compound words. The students did very well with this activity. Just a reminder that the students have their Unit 7 Words/Skills Test on Friday and their Unit 7 Spelling Take-Home is Due. Also the students should finish their Simile Stories for Friday so that they can read it aloud to their classmates.
Math- Today we used scales on maps and globes to determine flight distances between Washington DC and other Capital Cities across the world. MB & SL 3.6 is due Wednesday, MB & SL 3.7 is Due Thursday. The students should try to have Math Boxes through 3.7 completed by Thursday. 
Social Studies- The students worked in pairs to complete a worksheet related to Maps and Globes and other tools used by the French Explorers who first came to Michigan. We have studied Latitude and Longitude throughout the past two days as well.

Today's Activities

Today in our 4th Grade class we had the privilege of working and learning more about the world around us. In Bible we spent about 35 minutes reviewing for our Unit 3 Test tomorrow by playing a friendly game of Jeopardy. The students all did very well and they seen prepared. I sent home a review and an answer sheet for the students to work on if they feel that they need to to study. In our Literacy block today we began our new unit in Spelling. This week i sent home the Spelling Take Home that is due on Friday, October 28. The students also have their spelling words on the Parent Letter and on the home page of this blog. We began writing a new story today using Similes. Similes are comparisons using Like or As. These stories are due on Friday, and then they will get a chance to share them with the class. Finally, we began our Folktale Unit today. I introduced the different types and elements of Folktale fro the students to look for as they begin to read their stories. In Math we used Maps to learn about measuring distances between locations in the world. MB & SL 3.5 are due Tuesday, MB and SL 3.6 are due Wednesday. I also asked the students to be caught up through MB 3.8 by Thursday so that we can grade them. In our Social Studies lessons, we also studied how Maps and Globes are so important to the Explorers, and how we can use them today. Finally we looked at Longitude and Latitude and learned of our exact location here at DCS; 42N 85W. In, Science we reviewed for our Unit 1 Test that will take place on Wednesday.

Frenzied Friday

Today we had the privilege of having fun in a variety of ways and meanwhile learning as well. We had several different events occurring today that wouldn't necessarily happen on other Fridays. One of the main events that the students really enjoyed was the 3rd Graders Bake Sale in which each of the students got the opportunity to purchase some baked goods. The other event that was unusual today was the 5th graders scarecrow exhibit. Our Students really enjoyed these things. The main event of the day was the Cotton Candy making that has become a tradition in Mr. Birds Classroom every year on his sons birthday. Since today was that day, Mrs. Bird came in a ran the Cotton Candy Machine for the class and our students, as well as Mrs Facklers class and several 5th graders all enjoyed some Cotton Candy together.
 Despite all of these fun activities of the day we still got a lot of good work accomplished.
Bible- Today we took our Hebrews 11:1-3 Bible Memory Verse Quiz and the students all did very well on them. We will review our Unit on Monday and have a Unit 3 Test on Tuesday, Oct 25.
Social Studies- The students completed a crossword puzzle today which discussed Lesson 2 of our Unit. This lesson focused on the lives of Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet, several of the first Explorers to the state of Michigan.
Literacy- The students took their Unit 6 Spelling Skills and Words Test today. We also studied Verb tenses and had a lot of practice changing verbs into past, present and future tenses and describing their meanings. We also had good quality time of reading our Fantasy Books as today marked the end of our Fantasy Unit.
Science- We integrated several exciting lessons into our Science Matter Unit today. The first exciting thing for the students was their opportunity to create Slime. The students all had a chance to follow Mr. Birds directions very carefully and create Slime. We discussed with the students if what they made was solid or liquid and why. We also integrated our Cotton Candy making into our science Matter Unit because the students know that a solid requires heat in order to melt into a different form and that is what the Cotton Candy Machine did to the solid sugar.
Math- Today in math we discussed the use of Fact triangles and our Multiplication chart to help us solve multiplication and division problems. We took another Multiplication Test and are working towards memorization of these facts. MB and SL 3.4 are due Monday. MB and SL 3.5 are due Tuesday.

Finally we ended our week singing praises to God and being reminded of how we can show truth, be admirable, do right things and be lovely, just as our theme verse says. So therefore i encourage you as brothers and sisters in Christ, "Whatever is True, Whatever is Noble, Whatever is Right, Whatever is Pure, Whatever is Lovely, Whatever is Admirable, if anything is Excellent or praiseworthy, Think about such things!"

A rather Blusterous Fall Day

The weather kept us indoors again today. The winds and rains of a typical Michigan fall day surrounded us. Thanks to the roof above our heads, the learning continued. The students had several special opportunities today as they played their recorders in Music class. The students also had a wonderful opportunity to read to their preschool buddies for about 20 minutes this morning.
Bible- Today we looked at the last of the five heroes of faith that we have studied over the past two weeks. Joshua was the focus of our study today and we looked at ways in which he was strong and courageous and then we also thought about ways that people today can be strong and courageous. I played the song "Courageous", by Casting Crowns for the students to listen to because it resembles very well what the book of Joshua challenges us to do in our lives today. The students have their Bible Memory Quiz tomorrow; Hebrews 11:1-3. 
Science- Our study of matter lasted the duration of the day. We began our investigation this morning determining how long it would take and at what temperature certain liquids would freeze. We checked our liquids every half hour so that we could keep up-to-date status on our liquids(or now turned solids) Some of the students have seen their liquid freeze into a solid already, others are hoping for a change overnight. Science Matter Unit 1 Test on Wednesday, Oct 25. 
Literacy- We began Unit 3 in our Grammar studies today. We have begun to discuss Verbs and their importance and role in the English Language. The students also took some time to study suffixes with our main focus today being on the suffix 'ful' and what it means. We spent most of our writing times investigating our science and recording what we saw in our experimentation. Spelling Unit 6 Words and Skills Test Tomorrow.
Math- We had a shortened math session today in which we continued our multiplication activities. We took another Multiplication facts test as a way of practicing and building up towards a complete memorization of our Math facts. MB & SL 3.3 due tomorrow, Friday, October 21; MB & SL 3.4 due Monday, October 24. 

Wonderful Wednesday(of Learning that is)

Well, today was rather dreary if you think about the weather that we had. Despite that the students came in full of energy and ready to learn.

Bible- We continue to learn about heroes of the Faith. Today we looked at the life of Moses and how he showed faith through his actions. We created skits about several important events of his life and then presented them to our classmates. The students should continue to study Hebrews 11:1-3, due Friday, and study for their Unit 3 Test which is on Tuesday, Oct. 25
Social Studies- Today we read a story about Jacques Marquette, the first missionary to  Michigan. Lesson 1 Worksheet is due on Friday.
Literacy- Today we had a shortened Literacy Block due to our busy schedule of specials including PE, Library, and Spanish. In our time we completed our Grammar Unit 2 Assessment. We begin our study of Unit 3 tomorrow. Unit 6 Spelling and Skills Test Friday, Spelling Worksheet due Friday
Math- Today we continued our Multiplication Facts Practice. I introduced a certain type of Multiplication Test to the students that we will be using frequently to check up on their Multiplication Knowledge and to grow into a memorization of the multiplication facts. MB 3.2 and SL 3.2 due Thursday; MB 3.3 and SL 3.3 due Friday.
Science- We continued our investigation of Matter by studying how liquid changes to gas due to heat and that gas can change back to liquid provided that the appropriate temperatures exist.

Today's Activities

We had an action-packed day today! The students all worked very hard to accomplish everything we had for them.
Literacy- We spent time reviewing for our Grammar Unit 2 Assessment that is going to take place tomorrow. The students all received a study guide and an answer guide to take home to study. This test will be multiple-choice. We also spent time looking at sayings and expressions such as "Living the life of Reilly", "Thats the way the ball bounces", and "A penny saved is a penny earned." We took time to figure out what these common English expressions mean. Finally, we continued to work on our "Binoculars" stories which focus on writing a story using descriptive words of what you see, hear, smell, taste and touch to make our stories come alive. Mr. Bird also read several Fantasy picture books aloud to the class. The students have their Grammar Unit 2 Assessment tomorrow
Social Studies- We continued our study of Explorers who came to Michigan by reading as we worked on a Lesson 1 Worksheet that is due Friday, Oct. 21.
Math- We studied Multiplication Tables, learning about factors, multiples, square numbers and more. The students all worked to fill-in a multiplication table.  MB 3.1 and SL 3.1 due Wednesday, Oct. 19; MB 3.2 and SL 3.2 due Thursday, Oct. 20
Science- Today we continued our investigation of the three states of Matter as we melted our solid chocolate chips into a liquid and also melted ice into liquid water.
Bible- The students should also continue to study their Memory Verse from Hebrews 11:1-3 for a fill-in-the blank quiz on Friday.

The Beginning of a journey

Greetings to all,

I have started this blog with the hopes of it being a place that i can communicate with you as parents and students. I intend to update it so that you can remain up-to-date on the classroom happenings and on what is happening everyday in our classroom. I also intend to provide reminders of important dates to remember including Test dates, Bible Memory verses and dates that they are due. I also intend to include on this everyday the assignments that the students should be working to complete if they have not already done so. I hope that you find this to be a useful tool so that we can all be informed of what is happening in our classroom and the expectations that we have. Thank You!

Mr. DeHaan