What's Going On in the Classroom?

As we approach the end of our first cycle, I am extremely excited at all the hard work that has been going on in the classroom. 


Math- we have been working on reviewing concepts like place value, estimation, addition and subtraction using standard algorithm.  We have also been learning about factors and multiples and multiplying by two digit numbers.


Reading- In reading we have been focusing on identifying main idea and finding supporting details in the text to support the main idea.  We have also been strengthening our inferring skills.  We have been trying to infer the meaning of words or phrases in a text that we may not know.  We have also been inferring about characters in stories.  How these characters feel or act based on what we know from the text and our schema.


Language Mechanics- we have reviewed adjectives, verbs, and nouns.  We have also been talking about word parts and studying prefixes.  Students also learned about writing a complete sentence and being able to identify the subject and predicate of a sentence.


Science- We have investigated plant structures and functions.  Now we are looking at animal's internal and external structures and functions.  We worked with crayfish last week in STEM lab and now we will be looking at Bess Beetles.


Social Studies- So far we have discussed primary and secondary sources. We have also learned about Kentucky's beginnings.

Prizes!!!

                                                      Dear Parents,

If you're reading this blog then you should definitely read the other blogs and if you already did that is perfect! Now here is the pop about this one so on tomorrow tell your child to meet me in the classroom by the teacher's desk and they will get a prize because we are trying to get as many people as we can to read our blogs. But besides that you should definitely check out Anna Pace's hat at the Lincoln Museum in Hogansville so read our blogs and you will get a prize.

                                                                                                       Sincerely, 

                                                                                                       Mara

                                                                                                       Soukup 

Summer Break!!!

                                                   Dear Parents,
So, I've been thinking and thought that I should tell you about my summer. So my summer was fun. All I did was swim, sleep, and stay at my friend's houses with my sister. So how was your summer? Hope it was fun! Sorry the blog was so short the reason is because I didn't know what to say. Bye for now!




                                                                                                  
                                                                                                 Sincerely,
                                                                                                 Mara
                                                                                                 Soukup

Welcome to Ms.Kapfhammer fabulous 4th graders!!!

                                                Dear Parents,
       If you are wondering what we are learning/ doing in class here are some tips. In reading we are learning about the Elements of a Story like characters , setting , problem , solution , etc. Also inferring is another thing that we are learning in reading like your schema (which is text to self ,world , text , media , etc.) In writing we are learning about photosynthesis which is where the plant makes oxygen. In math we are learning about rounding up to the hundred thousands place like 422,210 rounded to the nearest hundred thousands place is 400,000 and we also learned a song called , "We Will Round You." In science we are learning about plants like their structurs and how the structurs function and we also learned about the life cycle of a plant and what the plant needs , looks like , and the parts of a plant. Lastly, in social studies we are learning about biographies and auto biographies also primary and secondary sources which is first hand (primary) and second hand (secondary) accounts. I hope you enjoyed my summary of what we are learning in class right now!!




                                                             From,
                                                             Mara
                                                             Soukup
                                                                                  

Bye

Dear Parents and Students,
    It's Calera and today is the last blog I will be writing, I haven't been writing that much because I haven't had time. Today is the last day of school and we will never forget... Ms. Kapfhammer! she is a great teacher and my the looks of Lily (her daughter) she is a great mother too. We will all mis you (espesually me *crys*) we will have a great summer and (hopefully) everybody will see eachother next year!!!

~Calera Waggoner
Ms. Kapfhammer if you are reading this, I have your blog note book and will mail it to you :)

Catching up on things

Hello Parents and Students,
    It's Calera, and I'm just going to let you get caught up on things.

    RAKY Derby Race

    The derby just past our race, but we're still racing for more Reflections. Ms. K already showed you the teams. READY... SET... GO!!

Writing

    In writing we are typing animal pieces (no! not real animal parts, our writing pieces)you guys should have finished your pieces by now. But to me... it looks like everyone has done that!

  End of the Year

    It is getting to that time of year again where it's almost "Summer Break!" But of course we are all going to miss Ms. K, ( :( ) She is a Great Teacher. there is going to be 36 more days till summer!!   go Cards! ( and wildcats)

RAKY Derby contest

Ok, it's time for our last reading competition of the year.  In honor of our Derby tradition, we will be doing a partner competition.  One partner is the jockey and the other the horse.  One partner has completed a lot more reflections than the other and it is their job to guide their horse to victory.  This competition will go until June 5th.  That is the last day to complete reflections for Read Across Kentucky.  Some kiddos have a lot of work ahead of them, but I know they can do it if they set a goal and stick to it.  For example, try setting a goal to complete 3 reflections in a week for some of the smaller books, while reading their chapter book. 

Below is the format the we will use and the teams for the competition.  Students will be meeting with each other during morning work time and independent time every day.  The number in parenthesis is what I have your child completing as of now.  If you think there is a mistake, please contact me.  I did get some reflections in last week that I did not score yet because I wanted to save them for this competition.  We will try to update this chart as we go through the competition. 

Read Across Kentucky Derby

“And they’re off!”

Points:

Every reflection is 3 points

On Friday, anyone who has scored a 3 points that week gets to race. The winner of the race gets 10 bonus points, 6 points for place (2^nd), and 3 point for show (3^rd).

 Ready Across Kentucky Derby Teams

Horse	Jockey	Reflection Points Possible	Race Points	Bonus Points	TOTAL
Derrick (1)	Lauren (26)
Gabe/Andrew (1)     (11)	Reagan (24)
Zach (3)	Bobby (22)
Lindsay (3)	Meredith (22)
Violet (3)	Eliza (20)
Madison (4)	Clarissa (19)
Nathan (4)	Savannah (18)
Sadie (7)	Meg (16)
Wyatt (12)	Nadia (15)
Caleb (8)	Carlee (14)

 

Hunter (8)	Myles (14)
Roman (9)	Nick (13)
Aiden (10)	Mac (13)
Madi A. (11)	Calera (12)

March Madness Results

 Hello Parents and Students,
Calera here and today I am going to show you the March Madness Results for RAKY reflections.
   Team Results
1st- Black Stallions = 69 points
2nd- RAKY Eagles = 59 points
3rd- Million Dollar Reading Team = 42 points
4th- Reading Rocks = 58 points
5th- Big Blue = 40 points
6th- Thunder Miners = 20 points (only 2 people worked on reflections)
Reached Goal
Eliza
Roman
Aiden
Lauren
Wyatt
Nadia
Meredith
Reagan
Carlee
Savannah
Highest Score
Savannah = 28 points
Nadia = 26 points
Meredith = 25 points
Reagan = 22 points
Carlee = 21 points
Wyatt = 19 points


   Great job everyone most of us did our very best!!

Spring Break / Social Studies

Hello Parents and Students,
  It's Calera and We're just going to talk about Social Studies and about Spring Break!


  In Social Studies we are learning about Inferring of course some of you have already have schema on inferring but to refresh it we are going to write down inferences about How "Kentucky became a state" and "Dividing the Land"
  So how was your Spring Break? Mine was Awesome I was catching up in school work and Relaxing. Have any of you gone to the beach, or just relaxed at home? I know some people that watched a Movie must be cool. I did too ;)
  

Just Stuff

Hello Parents and Students,
 Calera here and this is just some thing to get caught up on
  Mr. Paige and Ms. K's math test is this week on Friday
 ------------------------------------------------------
    Take your writing notebook home and work on it!!
 ------------------------------------------------------
  4th Grade was in 2nd place for the Animal Shelter Donation we donated 226 food and toys to the Shelter
  Thanks for supporting the Animal Shelter with out you this wouldn't be possible! :)
 ------------------------------------------------------
  Just wanted to remind people to be kind and polite like it says in the school's promise
"...To be kind and polite, I will do my best to realize my gifts and use them for good..."
 ------------------------------------------------------
 On April 3rd the "Students vs. Teacher's Basket Ball" Game is at 1:50PM

Basket Ball

Hello Parents and Students,
   It's Calera, and this blog is going to be about Basket Ball.
   Friday, on March 27th was the big Basket Ball Championship Game and every team did great.
Players in Ms,Kapfhammer's class:
Purple Team:
Calera
Zach
Hunter
Blue Team:
Wyatt (absent)
Sadie
Adian 
Green Team:
Andrew
Orange Team:
Mac 
Voilet 
Red Team:
Madison W.
   On April 3rd there will be a Teachers vs. Students (no none time till further notice) so players you better have fun! 
Good Luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Leadership committee

Hello Parents and Students,

   It's Calera and this blog is info about what our class leadership committee.

     Leadership committee has an idea of the school's competition. The competition that the school made was to decorate the doors of the classrooms, of course we don't have a door so we are using Mrs. Brown's door a neighbor classroom. Any hew, we (the leadership committee) wanted to tell you about the competition and that we will be decorating tomorrow(Friday)and Monday.
Students will be interviewed by some of the leadership committee students, about what they like about the lunchroom food.  

Learning

Hello Parents and students,
    I am the new blogger Calera and this new is to inform you about new learning.
    In Science we are learning about the food chain, like a hawk eats a rat and a rat eats a plant, and the plant eats the sun (not the whole sun.)
    In math Ms. K's math class is learning how to Add and Subtract fractions. Mr. Paige's math class is learning about mixed numbers. And Mrs. Vinova's math class in just about done with multiplying fractions, and having a test soon on multiplying fractions.
   In writing we are still working on our informational piece about animals.

HELP SAVE THE ANIMALS!!!!!

           First off I am so sorry I have not been blogging. I have been so busy and thinking what to blog about! Now that is out of the way. Let's get  to the good stuff! Student council came up with save the animals extravaganza! I bet you are wondering what do I do?! Well here are some things that we need, Cat food dry or canned, Dog food, Dog treats, leashes, collars, dog and cat toys. (E.C.T)  Remember all of these supplies go to the humane society to help the cats and dogs! Here are some office supplies, copy paper, Sharpies of all colors thick or thin. Tissues, pencils, and pens. (E.C.T)! Have a good day! Be sure to keep reading Eliza's recommendations for websites!

                           See You Later ,
                                                               Savannah Wieland!
 
 

                                 Cool Math Games!

Cool Math Games is a incredible site to work with. One way it's very good is, you are playing and learning all at once. This site is one i always use at home or at school. In my opinion i would give this site a 5 star vote!!!! Hope you get on and enjoy this awesome site!!!!



                                                                           Later,
                                                                       Eliza Dillon

Site-

http://www.coolmath-games.com/

RAKY March Madness

We will be starting a new contest for RAKY next week.  It is a March Madness contest, so students will be working in teams.  I try to partner up students who have completed a lot of books with students who need to work on completing books to make the teams pretty even.  So be on the lookout for information about how they score points, etc.  I will send home a new sheet with this letting you know where they stand as of now.  Don't forget that students are being asked to use CEIEIO as their format, handwriting and punctuation are a must, and effort counts.  I have several students who are being given back reflections to finish, fix, or add too because of these things not being completed the first time.  Last thing, if your child is reading a larger chapter book, over 350 pages, I will count that as more than one choice book.  Students also need to make sure that they are reading books that they need to complete a genre.

Biome/Ecosystem Project

I hope most of you got to look at the Biome/Ecosystem project that your child is going to be completing at home.  This is the first long term project that the students are being asked to do this year outside of school.  I included a timeline of when things might want to be completed to help students with budgeting their time.  It is completely up to your child what kind of presentation that they want to do for this project.  I offered a few suggestions and have some templates if they choose the foldable, but it is really up to them.  Whatever they create must include the information from the paper, so even if they decide to make a diorama, they still need to write up the info about their biome to go with it.  Let me know if you have any questions about this.

Biome/Ecosystem Project

We have been studying plants and their adaptions.  Soon, we will be talking about animals.  Students are being asked to create a biome/ecosystem presentation that includes information about plants and animals in different ecosystems and their adaptations for living there.  Students can choose whichever presentation style they would like.  Below are some pictures of possible ideas, but it is completely up to them.  These projects are to be completed outside of school.  Students will be able to research and work on writing about their biome during independent time if they choose to, but most work is to be completed at home.  All presentations are to be completed and at school to share by March 13, 2015.  Attached you will find a list of information that needs to be included in their presentation.

Possible presentation ideas- Pinterest is a great place to look for creative ideas.  Students are welcome to use technology as well.  PowerPoints, Photo Story, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

I have the template pages for                                                            biome diorama including report

this project if your child chooses

to do this one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                Biome/ecosystem brochure

4D triorama

https://reliefteachingideas.wordpress.com/2013/07/08/4d-trioramas/

What does this project need to include?

1.       Information about the climate in your biome/ecosystem

2.    Environment- what is the geography like?

3.    What plants grow in this area? Include names and pictures of at least 3

4.    What are the adaptations of these plants? At least 5

5.    What animals live in this area? Include names and pictures of at least 3

6.     How do these animals survive in this biome/ecosystem? (What do they eat, shelter, etc.)

7.    What are some adaptations of the animals in this area? At least 5

 

What will students be graded on?

Students will be graded on neatness of their work, handwriting, spelling, punctuation.  They will also be graded on presentation of their information.  Speaking skills.  Last, students will be graded on their information that they research and effort on their assignment.

 

Timeline for getting this complete?

Feb. 23^rd-27th research biome/ecosystem and gather notes, pictures, etc.

March 2^nd-5th begin working on the writing portion of your project and putting together presentation.

March 9^th-12th Finish project and practice presenting it to friends and family.