The Brubaker Buzz

September 2, 2011 Impor Mrs. Brubakers 4th Grade Issue 3

Important Reminders Your childs brain book needs to be signed each night. We talk about consequences for having them signed and not having them signed. Our goal is to earn something special for everyone being responsible and coming to school prepared. Dont forget to look at your childs Friday folder, empty the items, and return it signed each Monday.

Grubs and worms and grasshoppers, Oh My! When the students started digging in the dirt they brought, they found all sorts of need creatures! This week, we learned that soil is not living, but there are many things in it that are alive. We also experimented with sand and humus to determine which soil holds the most water and which one will erode the fastest. Ask your child to share their findings with you. I did some digging in my garden and found two tomato worms that were munching on my plants. We have them as class pets right now. Were waiting to see what they look like as a moth! Digging in dirt sure was fun; we found so many interesting things and had a blast while experimenting! (Students: Did you catch the ending to my paragraph?)

P.T.A. Spotlight
Each year the P.T.A. provides us with many things. Two of those great things are the fall and spring class parties. In order to make those a success, P.T.A. needs your help. So, dont forget to send in your $5.00 for the class party fund! This helps our class have a wonderful party!

Ask Me, I Know! - Is soil living? How do you know?

Dates to Remember
* 9/5 No School *9/9 All Pro Dad Breakfast @ 7:30 *9/12 Skate Night @ 6:00 * 9/8 Honor Choir @7:45

-What are three of Peters character traits? -Explain the pull apart method for adding large numbers.

Character Word:
Responsibility

* 9/29 Character Assembly @ 3:00 Ownership of your actions * 9/30 Book Fair begins

A Look Back
This week we really concentrated on writing great endings to a paragraph. I explained to the students that even if they know they can write more, they still need to focus on writing a perfect paragraph before moving on to larger papers. We were able to complete a STRONG, well-written paragraph by Friday. On Friday, the students learned that revising is changing your paper to sound better. We learned that it is not editing for mistakes. Ask your child to explain this to you. I cant wait for them to share their final draft with you. Be on the lookout for that in a week or so. During math, the students learned how to solve addition problems using methods other than the algorithm solving. Take a look at their check-up to see what strategy they chose. Our first spelling test was this week. Be sure to practice those words with your child each night. They can be found glued in the brain book.

We didnt get to finish everything this week in science, therefore well continue working on soil and learn how composting helps the soil. This is always a fun activity for the students. They especially love digging up the compost pile in a few months to see what it looks like! To finish up the unit, we will take a quick quiz to see what everyone remembers.

A Sneak Peek

During math, the students will apply new strategies and methods to solve large subtraction problems. One of my favorite alternate methods is used with subtraction. Maybe your child can teach you something new or remind you of something that youve forgotten! The more they teach you, the more they learn. Dont forget that each Wednesday your child takes a check-up in math. Everything that we learned during morning work and math will be on these check-ups. Take a peek in your childs brain book. In there you will find the spelling words for the test that we will take on Friday. During the week, well use those words and other s that are related to them to develop knowledge for the test. The students will continue reading Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing next week. We will focus on writing a summary of the book, cause and effect, and problem and solution. Enjoy the long weekend! Dont forget that we dont have school on Monday.

Essential 55 If someone wins a game or does something well, we congratulate them and cheer them on.
Great job signing those brain books! We get class points if everyones is signed.