Week of April 6-10

Good morning!

This week we will continue our TEKS review in small groups.

Students who need extra review on specific TEKS will be bringing home extra work to do for practice.  Part of this work will have been completed in class so that you can see exactly how we have been working on and answering the questions together.  Students will need to return this work upon its completion so that I may check it.

Just a reminder that OEY tutoring has ended for the school year.

The Math STAAR test will be in 11 school days.

The Reading STAAR test will be in 12 school days.

Summer is in 40 school days!  Keep encouraging your kiddos, they are almost done!

Thanks for all you do! :)

Science Quiz Tomorrow!

Tomorrow we will have a science quiz over renewable and nonrenewable resources in all fourth grade classes!

Words to Know:

Nonrenewable Resource- a resource that, once exhausted, cannot be replaced in a short amount of time.

Examples: Metals, Minerals, and Fossil Fuels such as Coal, Oil, and natural gas.

Renewable Resource- a resource that cannot easily be exhausted because it is rapidly replaced by nature.

Examples: Plants, Animals, Water, Air

Conservation- to protect resources and avoid wasteful and destructive use.

Week of March 23-27

Good morning!

This week...

There will be no vocabulary until after the Real STAAR test.  We will be working on going over any TEKS we struggled with on the Practice test in small groups until then.

Mrs. Beth Brantley and Mrs. Tammy Dean are coming into each of my classes for thirty minutes a day to assist with this task in order that we can more specifically gear review and practice towards each individual child's needs!  I am very optimistic that this will benefit us greatly towards the STAAR! 

The good news is that I have been able to identify the areas of struggle for each student as far as the curriculum goes through the practice test we took.  Now we are able to spend time targeting these areas specifically.

Some students do not require individual TEKS tutorials due to scoring very well on the practice.  These students will be challenged with a novel reading project which will hold them accountable for continuing to build and sharpen their reading skills so that they are not being left out of the improvement plan.

I am very encouraged by the results of our exam which are now posted on Gradebook.  We still have time for everyone to improve!

There will be no homework other than for students to practice reading this week in my class.  Next week I will send home a couple of practice passages for homework for your child to work on with you.

Thank you so much for all you do!

Week of March 2-6

Good morning!

We have A LOT going on this week!

Today we will be reviewing for our Practice Reading STAAR test that will be given on Wednesday.

Students are allowed to bring snacks tomorrow for the practice MATH STAAR and Wednesday for the practice reading.  ONLY healthy snacks will be allowed: crackers, nuts, water, etc.  Students who bring soda, candy, or chips will not be allowed to eat them during the test.

We will be testing over the suffix -ible and -able words that students received last Thursday this coming Thursday.

OEY WILL take place Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of this week for students who attend.

Friday is an EARLY RELEASE day for SPRING BREAK!

Please make sure tonight and tomorrow night students are well rested and that they have a good breakfast the morning of the tests.  These benchmarks will tell us where we are at and how far we have to go as far as testing is concerned.

Thank you for ALL that you do!! :)

Week of February 16-20

Good morning!

This week we are continuing to review for the STAAR.

Students have vocabulary homework page 111 that will be due on Wednesday.

They also will have passage homework entitled Hurricanes p34-39 which will be given out Wednesday and will be due on Friday.

As part of our review students will be building their fluency to become better readers through a reading activity called Break the Record.

Students will be practicing question comprehension through an activity called Genre Sort.

Students will be making connections between previously read text through and activity called Connect the Dots.

We will also be completing practice passage throughout the week to prepare for STAAR.

The vocabulary words this week are all different names for people using the suffixes -er or -or.

There will be a vocabulary quiz on Friday.

As we draw closer to the STAAR test please encourage your student to practice listening well in class and practice their thinking about reading any change they get.  Encourage them to talk about the books they are reading with you at home.  Explore new vocabulary they find in their library books and have them keep a list of new words they discover and their meanings.  Vocabulary plays an important role in reading and there will be words they may not have experience with on the STAAR test.  Exposure to new vocabulary is one of the most important things fourth graders can experience to become better readers.

Thanks for all you do!

January 12- 16

Good morning!

We have and awards assembly this morning at 9:45, hope to see you there!

This week we are working on TEKS 4.10A, Author's Purpose.  Students must be able to explain the difference between stated and implied purpose for and author to write a test.

Stated purpose- the author tells you why they are writing

Implied purpose- the author makes you use evidence and clues to figure out their purpose

We work with three reasons author's write in fourth grade: PIE

Persuade- to make you do, think, or believe something

Inform- to provide factual information about a topic

Entertain- to make you laugh, cry, or be amused by their writing

Students are working on Food Chain vocabulary and have homework tonight that will be due on Wednesday: Food Chain p. 81

We will have early release for students on Thursday at 12:45 for UIL competition which our school is hosting.

Thanks for all you do!

Happy New Year!

Hello all!

A little late on updating you this week...

We are mid-year DRA testing this week checking student's progress on their reading levels.  I've gotten quite a few done already and I must say most of the one's I have completed students have shown a lot of progress!

While I am individually testing each student the ones not being tested are working on review packets.  These involve not only reading application and practice but Writing practice as well since that writing STAAR is coming up quickly.

The third six weeks test students took before the break will be posted on the fourth six weeks grades.

Students are to read 20 minutes a night but I have not yet gotten together a new reading log.  These won't be due until the end of the month so they can write down what they read each night on a piece of paper until I get the official logs out please.

Students will have homework coming home tomorrow that goes with the review packets they've been completing in class.  It is two-sided and will be due on Friday.

Thanks for all you do!  I hope you had a wonderful holiday break! :)

Review for Third Six Weeks Test Tomorrow!!!

The first selection of he test will be a poem. 

It will NOT be a Narrative Poem.  This means students need to know the difference between a lyric poem and a free verse poem.

The SPEAKER of the poem is the person talking in the poem.

Figurative Language often compares two Unlike things.

The second and third selections of the test are paired passages.  The first is a person's fictional diary entry.  The second is non-fiction over Juneteenth. 
When we see paired passages the questions are going to involve some comparing and contrasting.

For this section students should review: SUMMARY (which kicked their tail ends on the last test), MAIN IDEA, FIGURATIVE LANGAUGE, CONCLUSIONS, COMPARE and CONTRAST, and THEME!

There will be TWO questions on this test over THEME so reviewing it would be a good idea!

The fourth selection is non-fiction in the form of an Internet webpage.  Students should know when you click on the tabs at the top of a web page it takes you to information about that topic.

Students should review the way non-fiction can be organized by headings.  Students should review text features and how they can help them understand a text.

Students need to understand dictionary entries.

The final selection of the test is a Drama.

Students needs to be familiar with the elements of drama.

The drama includes standard fiction questions about characters, setting, and plot.  There is also a LONG summary question so please encourage students to read carefully, take their time, and search for a beginning, middle, and end as well as a problem and solution.

Students will also have a difficult question regarding the DENOUEMENT, or FALLING ACTION of the play.  This occurs after the problem has been solved and right before the end of the story.

Students should pay close attention to vocabulary and using context clues.

Make sure they sleep well and eat breakfast in the morning!

Hopefully this will help a little with knowing what to study.  All of this information can be found in the blog.

Thanks for all you do!

This week December 15-19

Good morning!

Just a few things today...

Yellow conduct folders and graded papers did go home Friday so make sure you ask to see these.

Also this week will be review and a third six weeks test tomorrow including poetry and drama.

Thursday is Early Release at 11:30 so everyone can go to that STATE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME!

We will not have school on Friday!

In my homeroom class on Thursday we will be having a Christmas party!  I am going to allow students to bring something to drink and their favorite treat (enough to share with the class).  This will not be anything huge, just snacking and watching Christmas movies.  There are 23 students in my homeroom if you choose to send snacks!  If you have questions give me a message, email, or call.

Thanks for all you do for our students!

All About Drama

What students need to know about Drama...


Drama is also referred to as a Play.

When a Drama is written out it is called a SCRIPT.

The SETTING, CHARACTER'S ACTIONS and how the actors should SAY and DO things when they are acting are all included in the drama's STAGE DIRECTIONS.  STAGE DIRECTIONS are always written inside parentheses ( )  and are written in italics.

Dramas include a CAST of CHARACTERS at the beginning of the script which indicates how many actors are needed for the play.

Dramas are written in lines as follows:

CARL: (with excitement) Let's go to the zoo!

The character's name is in bold print.  It is followed by a colon (:) and then any stage directions the playwright wishes the actor to know.  The last thing in the line are the character's exact words.  No quotation marks are necessary in a drama because of this special form.

The author of a drama is called the PLAYWRIGHT.

Drama is divided into sections.  The larger sections of a drama are called ACTS.  Inside ACTS are smaller sections that require a change in set called SCENES.

Sets are the background of the play that gives the audience the idea of another place such as a park or school.  This is also called SCENERY.

PROPS are the items the actors use in the play to help act out their scenes.

DIALOUGE is the conversations of the play.

The NARRATOR of the play is not an acting character but someone who fills in the gaps for things the actors cannot act out, such as a passage of time or background information.

All About Poetry

Poetry terms and information students should know...

Three forms of poetry:

1. Narrative: tells a story and has characters, setting, and plot complete with a problem and solution.

2. Lyrical: has a specific rhyming patter and rhythm.  Lyrical poetry is what we hear in the songs we like.

3 Free verse: free verse poem breaks all writing rules!  It does not require a specific rhythm pattern, rhyming words, punctuation, or capitalization.

Other poetry terms:

Poems have LINES not sentences.

Poems are made up of STANZAS (which are similar to paragraphs).

Poetry has METER (the beat) and it can have a musical quality created by the meter.

Poetry often have various RHYME schemes.

REPETITION is a popular technique used in poetry.  Repetition of an entire stanza or the last lines of stanzas is referred to as REFRAIN which is like a CHORUS we hear in songs.
REPETITION is also seen through ALLITERATION which is the repetition of beginning sounds of words such as Sally Sells Seashells by he Seashore.

Figurative Language

Figurative Language is important for students to know when reading and writing.

Here is a list of the figurative language we are discussing currently.

Oxymoron- a combination of words that have very different meanings from each other used to describe.

Ex. "pretty ugly" as in "That dog looks pretty ugly to me."

Hyperbole- means an exaggeration.

Ex. "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse!"  just means that someone is really hungry not that they could actually eat a horse.

Simile- comparing two unlike things using the words like or as.

Ex. "He was as fast as lightening."            or                 "She was sweet like candy."
Compares a boy's speed to the speed of lightening.      Compares the girl's sweet personality to candy.

Personification- giving a non-living thing human traits.

Ex.  "The walls have ears!"  or "The cloud is crying big tears."

Alliteration- repeating beginning words sounds

Ex. "busy bumbling bee"   or "Sally sells seashells by the seashore."

Metaphor- compares two unlike things by saying that one thing IS another thing.

Ex. "The problem was a sledgehammer on my brain."  or  "She was a graceful swan when she swam."

Idiom- an expression that DOES NOT mean what the individual words mean

Ex. "It's raining cats and dogs."  or "The test was a piece of cake."

Onomatopoeia- the use of words that suggest a sense of sound

Ex. Buzz!  Bang!  Hissss! Clap!

December 1-5

Good morning!

This week we will begin our very fun journey into Sensory Language and Poetry!

Vocabulary words will all be words that appeal to the five sense: sight, touch, taste, smell, and sound.  We will practice using these words to be more descriptive when we explain things to others.

Students will have homework over sensory language vocabulary due on Wednesday.

Our focus on poetry this week will be on the ways that poets use sensory and figurative language in poetry to paint a picture in the reader's mind.

Tomorrow we will be going over the different types of figurative language that the students need to be familiar with.

This week will be spent mostly introducing figurative language, sensory words, and poetry. 

We will continue with poetry and move into drama over the next two weeks.  We will have a third six weeks test that will focus predominantly on poetry and drama before we release for the Christmas break.

Thank you for all you do and I hope your Thanksgiving holiday was blessed!

November 17-21

Good morning!

This week we will be working on Persuasive Text and Geography Words for vocabulary.

Students will have one sheet of vocabulary homework that is due Wednesday.

Students reading logs will be due Friday for the month of November.  This sheet should be the same one they completed in October.

Also the Field Trip is tomorrow so be sure the kids dress warm!  We will be outside quite a bit and it is supposed to be cool.

Today is the awards assembly at 9:45.

Also we will be having a Strategy Night tomorrow night from 6-7.  Hot dogs will be served after the meeting.

This week as we study persuasive test try to point out things that persuade to your kids such as advertisements or when they try to get you to do something for them.  Persuasion is everywhere so hopefully they will understand this TEKS easily!

Thanks for all you do!!

Science Vocabulary for This Week

Forms of Energy

Energy- That which is needed to do work.

Light Energy- Energy that can be seen by the eye.

Thermal/Heat Energy- Energy that causes a change in temperature between materials.

Electrical Energy- Energy produced by a power source.

Mechanical Energy-Energy produced by a machine or a moving part.

Sound Energy- Energy produced from the vibration that you can hear.

November 10-14

Good morning and Happy Third Six Weeks of School!

This week we will be covering Main Idea and Summarizing which is TEKS 4.11A.

On Wednesday we will have a big review for our Second Six Weeks Test which will be Thursday.

The test will include Non-Fiction passages and all of the TEKS we covered in the Second Six Weeks of school.

Students are encouraged to watch any videos that have been made available to them as a review.  Also, expect their reading journals to be coming home as a study guide.

There will be no new vocabulary introduced this week.

Students only homework will be to study and prepare for their test and read 20 minutes a night as part of their reading log.

Thanks for all you do!

Life in the Missions of Texas

Natives of Texas Lesson

Texas Missions

Social Studies Vocabulary- Texas Missions

1. Villa- a town

2. Padre (Priest)- father

3. Mission- a religious settlement

4. Presidio- a fort

5. Spanish- Laid claim to TX from 1690-1821 before the Mexican's rule began

6. Francisco Coronado- Spanish settler living in Mexico City traveled to TX in 1540 looking for gold and jewels, but returned home empty handed

7. Spanish Missions- A place where refugees would go when they wanted o learn Christianity or had just arrived in TX

8. Christopher Columbus- This Spanish explorer made four voyages to the Americas between 1492-1503.  His voyages are considered the most significant voyages for Europeans exploring America.

9. Rene Robert Cavelier- French explorer landed in TX and explore the Rio Grande setting up the first French settlement in TX.

10. Moses Austin- Received a land grant to start the first English settlement in TX.

11. Colonization- creating colonies or villages in TX.

12. Álvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca- Spanish explorer taken prisoner for seven years by the Native Americans in TX.

13. Stephen F. Austin- known as the "Father of Texas", brought 300 families to TX to start the first English settlement.  He settled our capital city.

14. Martin de Leon- wealthy Mexico native living in TX that created the first cattle brand recoded in TX.