August 27 - 31, 2012

Open House

It was a joy to see many of you at Open House on Friday night.  If you were unable to attend or if you have any questions, please email me.  

Reading

Raz-Kids should be working for all of the kids in my class.  Please contact me if it is not working.  

Reading Goal:  Our class has set a reading goal of each student reading 75 minutes for 5 weeks.  When we meet our goal, we will have a reading party! 

Pretty Flowers (before we dissected them!) 

Reading Buddies:  If your child is in my class for reading, we began reading with the Pre-K and Kindergarten class every Friday from 8:25 - 8:55.  Your kids are professionals!   

Social Studies

Our first Social Studies test will be on Thursday, August 30th.  The test will cover Chapter 1 of the textbook, pages 6 - 35.  Make sure they understand all of the vocabulary, elevation maps, and review the homework that they had in their Social Studies Notebook.  

This used to be a sunflower! 

Math

3rd and 4th grade will have a test over Chapter 2 on Monday, September 3.  

3rd Grade:  The test will cover place value to one hundred thousand, comparing numbers, counting by 1s, 2s, 5s, 10s, and 100s, ordinal numbers, rounding to the nearest ten and hundred, and word problems.  

4th Grade: The test will cover patterns, rounding, estimation, addition with 2 - 5 digit numbers, adding money, and word problems.  

Science:  

We will have a Science Test over Chapter 1 on Tuesday, September 4th.  The test will cover pages A4 - A33.  Make sure that they study their Science Notebook and have an understanding of Plant Classification, Flower Parts, Pollination, Fertilization, Seed/Fruit Formation, and the Life Cycle of a Flowering Plant. 

Here is a cool video of a seed sprouting.  

 Here is another one of radish seeds.  

The Sunflower's Stem

Spelling/Language

Mrs. Boggan will assign weekly Spelling Homework on Mondays and it will not be due until the following Friday.  

Bible

Weekly Bible Verse:  Psalm 86:9-11

"All the nations You have made shall come and worship before you and shall glorify Your name.  For You are great and You do wondrous things.  You alone are God.  Teach me Your way, Oh Lord, that I may walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name."

NOTE:  The memory verse test will be on Thursday of this week because we will miss Bible Class on Friday because it is Spirit Day. 

Ahhhh-Choo!  

Computer

This kids will learn when to use the different software applications: Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Publisher.  They will continue to practice saving different items to their pen drive. 

Health

Last week, we learned about posture.  We also practiced using proper posture to introduce ourselves and appropriate greetings.  Ask your child to model this for you! 

This week we will be learning about voluntary and involuntary muscles.

August 20 - 24, 2012

Guided Reading

Starting this week, the students in 1st - 4th grade will be put into one of the three reading groups that Mrs. Lancaster, Mrs. Renard, and I teach according to their reading level.  Do not be discouraged if your child does not stay in my class for reading time.  With this schedule, the students should read with their reading teacher every other day!  We have seen students make so much progress by teaching reading this way!  One student jumped 4 grade levels last year!

The guided reading time in my class is broken down with the following schedule:

8:10 - 8:25     Class Read Aloud
8:25 - 8:50     Center # 1 ( Group 1 - Guided Reading, Buddy Reading, Dictionary Center, Read with a Parent) (Group 2 - Computer, Read Independently, Reading Journal, Scrabble Slam, Math Games, Catch Phrase, Story Cubes)
8:50 - 9:15     Center # 2 (Group 1 - Computer, Read Independently, Reading Journal, Scrabble Slam, Math Games, Catch Phrase, Story Cubes)  ( Group 2 - Guided Reading, Buddy Reading, Dictionary Center, Read with a Parent)

I am still looking for parent volunteers to read with small groups from 8:20 - 9:15 on Tuesdays and Thursdays!  Please email me for more information!

Science

I was so impressed with the kids learning the Scientific Method from the song on YouTube!  They did a great job on their quizzes!  Keep up the good work!

On Friday, we put the Scientific Method into action to ask:  Why is snot so Sticky and Stretchy?  We made jello as a model for mucus and observed the chemical reaction as the day passed by.  Make sure you ask your child the answer!  Check out the experiment!

Here are some of the pictures of the kids and their "fake mucus."

Plants

This week we will describe and classify plants (video link) into groups of seed bearing and non seed bearing.  The kids will also describe the parts of a flower and their functions, including fertilization and pollination. (The kids will use the picture on the right for one of their classwork/homework assignments to draw and label the parts of a flower after we dissect one in class). 

Social Studies

We will continue to study landforms, elevation, and climate this week in class.  We will also talk about the various natural resources that are found in different countries.  Remind you child of the resources that their home country has so that they will be able to participate in the class discussion.  

Math

Our first Math Test will be on Wednesday.  Please make sure to review Chapter 1 with your child.

3rd Grade: The test will cover Lessons 1 - 13. Basic Addition, Subtraction, Fact Families, and Word Problems.  Your child will have to decide whether they need to add or subtract.

4th Grade: The test will cover Lessons 1 - 12.  This chapter included place value up to hundred millions, rounding, putting numbers in order form least to greatest and greatest to least, writing numbers in standard and expanded form, and solving word problems.

Technology & Computer 
Last week, your child learned how to open and create a folder on their pen drive.  Please practice doing this from their home computer.  This way, your child can complete work that was started in class at home.

This week, we will practice creating folders and saving pictures from the internet on our pen drives.

Weekly Bible Verse

Psalm 86: 10 - 11 - "For You are great and do wondrous things.  You alone are God.  Teach me Your way, Oh Lord.  That I may walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name."

Here is a video that I made for last week's, this week's, and next week's Bible verses.

August 13 - 17, 2012

The Scientific Method

Here is the fun video that we watched in class about the scientific method.  Make sure that you study the steps for the Quiz on Friday!

1. Make an observation - State the Problem
2. Ask a question - What do you want to learn?
3. Form a Hypothesis and make a prediction
4. Do a test/experiment with a control and a variable
5. Analyze data
6. Draw a conclusion

Guided Reading

We will begin doing Guided Reading next Monday, August 20.  Students will be placed among Mrs. Lancaster, Mrs. Renard, and Miss Duke (myself) according to their reading levels so that they can meet more frequently with the teachers and with other students in the appropriate reading levels.

I am looking for parent volunteers to read for about 1 hour per week with different small groups in our class from 8:15 - 9:15 a.m.

Monday: We have a Parent Volunteer!
Tuesday: Still Need Parent Volunteer
Wednesday: We have a Parent Volunteer!
Thursday: Still Need Parent Volunteer
Friday:  No volunteer needed (We will read with our Pre-K and Kindergartener Reading Buddies)

Please email me if you are interested in helping out!

3rd & 4th Grade Math

We will spend the first few weeks of school reviewing concepts from last year.  Our first few units will be covered rather quickly because the material should have been mastered last year.  The first math test will be Wednesday, August 22, and will cover Chapter 1 of the math book.

Please purchase, or make flash cards to review basic addition and subtraction (0 to 18) at home daily.  We will be taking daily timed tests in which your child will be graded on improvement.  Each timed test contains 100 problems and your child will have 4 minutes to do as many problems as possible.  I will take a grade every Friday to measure progress from the previous week.

Health Class

We will be discussing nutrition for the next few weeks.  Here is a neat nutrition game to play to help learn about the different nutritional values of different foods!

CLICK HERE TO PLAY THE GAME!

Social Studies

This week in Social Studies, we will be reading about the landforms and climates found in the United States.  However, we will also be comparing what we discover about the U.S. to Brazil and your home countries.  Please discuss the landforms and climates found in your home countries.

Bible

Every Monday, the students will receive the weekly Bible Verse.  They will have Monday - Thursday to memorize and practice because on Fridays, each student will present the verse to the class from memory.

They will be graded on:
1. Correct Wording
2. Poise, Posture, and Eye Contact with audience
3. Volume and Articulation

The Bible Verse this week is:

Psalm 86:11 - "Teach me Your way, Oh Lord, that I may walk in Your truth, unite my heart to fear Your name."

Computer

Make sure that your child has their Pen Drive for Computer Class on Wednesday!  We will be learning how to save documents and other items to folders on their Pen Drive so that they can work from home and school on their assignments.



Don't hesitate to write me in the agenda, email me, or comment on the blog if you have any comments or questions!  Thanks.

Back 2 School!

Welcome to 3rd & 4th Grade at Brasília International School!  

My name is Miss Dawna Duke.  I have the great responsibility and privilege of teaching your child this year.  This is my second year at BIS and I am very excited to invest in your child all year long.  Please take time to read the following announcements and updates.  You are more than welcome to comment on the blog to ask me any question at anytime.  Please allow 24 hours for a response.  You can also email me.  

Subscribe to the Blog
I will regularly update this blog instead of sending newsletters home.  This class blog will be the primary form of communication that I will use this year and ask that you look on the right hand of the blog and choose to "FOLLOW BY EMAIL" and "FOLLOW" the blog by subscribing to "JOIN THIS SITE."  Doing these two things will automatically send you updates through your email about upcoming events, classroom needs, tests, pictures of our class, videos, etc.  When you subscribe, please print out the confirmation page and send it with your child for a free math homework grade of 100!

Carrying Folder with Divisions

School Supply List 

I have changed two items on the current school supply list from the school's website, everything else is the same.   

 2 thin plastic carrying folders  1 thick carrying folder with divisions (2 or 3 cm)  2 small hardcover journal notebooks (100

pages)  Loose lined paper  4 large notebooks  1 pencil case  1 plastic water bottle with lid  1 large, old shirt for painting  1 memory stick  5 pencils  2 erasers  1 scissors  1 pen 

Miss Duke’s 3rd & 4th Grade Class Schedule:

8:00 – 8:10  Homeroom

8:10 – 9:15  Reading

9:15 – 9:50  Science

9:50 – 10:10  Break

10:10 – 10:30  Math Together

10:30 – 11:10  Math 3/Lang. 4

11:10 – 11:50  Math 4/Lang. 3

11:50 – 12:20  Lunch

12:20 – 1:00  Social Studies (Friday - Portuguese)

1100 – 1:35  Portuguese (Wednesday - Library, Friday - Health)

1:35 – 1:55  Recess

1:55 – 2:35  Special  (Monday - PE, Tuesday - Bible, Wednesday - Chapel, Thursday - PE, Friday - Bible)

2:35 – 3:10  Special (Monday - Bible, Tuesday - Music, Wednesday - Computer, Thursday - Bible, Friday - Social Studies)

3:10 – 3:15  Pack Up for Dismissal

Homework Policy

Your child will receive about 1 hour of homework per night in addition to 15 minutes of reading.  Homework must be completed before entering class on the day that it is due.  I will check that each child completed every assignment between 8:00 - 8:10 a.m. everyday.  

The following assignments are daily assignments:
1. Completing 15 minutes of reading and entering it on their Weekly Reading Log with a parent signature.  They should complete their reading at www.raz-kids.com and log-in to our class account by clicking "Hey Kids! Start here!" and entering the class log-in:  bis34  Then, they click on their name and enter their password.

2. Finishing the daily timed math tests (Our goal is to complete 100 problems in 4 minutes)

3. Getting a parent to review and sign the agenda  (Please do not sign unless your child has completed all of the assignments.)

Reward for complete homework:
When a child completes every homework assignment for a whole school week, they will be rewarded with one roll in "HOMEWORKOPOLY."  In this game, they have a chance at winning various prizes!

Consequences for incomplete homework:
Students will lose their 1st recess to complete any unfinished homework.  If they finish their homework before the break is over, they must walk for the remainder of the 1st break.

If homework is not completed during the 1st break, the student will also lose their 2nd recess, until the assignment is completed.  After they complete the assignment(s), they are allowed to participate in recess.

For each day that homework is late, there will be 1 letter grade penalty.  For example, if your child would have made an A+ on the assignment, they will now only make a B+ if the assignment was one day late.

Cover Your Books!

All hardback books must be covered by Thursday, August 16th.  We will have random book checks after August 16th.  Failure to cover school books will result in walking during break and recess until the books are covered. 

Don't forget to subscribe to the blog and send the printed confirmation page with your child for a free math homework grade of 100!

Download the School Calendar here! 

Here's a tour of our classroom! Check it out!