Division Steps

1. Divide
2. Multiply
3. Subtract
4. Bring down (or in case of remainder, bring up)

Repeat these steps for each new number created by bringing down.

Check your answer by multiplying the quotient (the answer) by the divisor (the small number.)

Dates this Week

• WinCon Thursday night
• 4th grade assembly Friday at 1:45
• Scholastic book orders due tomorrow
• Class book (student authored) orders due before Winter Break

Thank you!!

Thank you so much for all your help and support with our Fall Festival booth on Friday. We had a great time and it was so great seeing you all there! Let’s do it again in April with International Festival! Egypt!!

Fall Festival - Cupcake Walk

A-Team,

This year for Fall Festival our class is hosting the “Cupcake Walk.” I would really appreciate anyone who would bake, or donate, cupcakes for our class booth. For those unfamiliar, a cake walk (or cupcake walk as we are doing this year) is very similar to musical chairs. As the music plays, participants walk around a circle; when the music stops so do the participants. Whoever is standing on the number that is drawn from a bucket wins a cupcake. This event has been so much fun in years past. If you would be willing to donate/bake some cupcakes for our class I would really appreciate it. Several parents have signed up to help me run the booth that evening, but I need a few more.

Thank you for all your support and I look forward to having a fabulous Fall Festival!

Quarter 1 Achievement Awards

The quarter 1 achievement awards assembly will be on Monday, November 14th, at 1:30. I emailed all parents who have children receiving an award. We will be honoring: perfect attendance, note-worthy effort, and students who show character/leadership qualities. I hope you will be able to attend.

Upcoming Dates

Here are some important dates coming up in November:

11/9 Parent-Teacher conference from 2:30 to 4:00
11/10 Early Release @ 12:30; Parent-Teacher conferences from 2:30 to 8:00
11/10 Picture Retakes
11/11 No school – Veterans’ Day
11/18 Fall Festival
11/23 Early Release @ 12:30
11/24 – 11/25 No School

The 4th grade awards assembly will be in November, the front office has not given me the date for that yet. As soon as I know, I will send home a letter.

Candy

Parents,

I know most students will be trick-or-treating tonight, and getting lots of candy. Please only allow one piece of candy to come to school. Students do not learn well, or stay focused, while on a sugar-high. Thank you for your support and understanding.

Have a fun night and be safe!

Literature Day, Friday, 10/28

Our class will be representing Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. We’ve been reading this novel as a class since September. We will be reading all 5 books in the series throughout the school year. Children can dress up as a character from the story. If they would like, they may bring in a plain t-shirt to paint on. We will be painting “Camp Half-Blood” on the shirts.

We will be painting shirts in the afternoon on Wednesday, October 26th to ensure they dry on time. If parents would like to come in to help supervise the painting, I would really appreciate it. Just give me a call or send me an email and I will get you more details.

The students would like to have a little party after the parade. (Our parade will be at 9:30, starting at the basketball court.) If you would like to contribute to the party, please send in healthy snacks – we will have a whole day of learning still ahead of us.

Thank you for all you do, and all of your amazing support!

End of Quarter One

Friday is the end of the first quarter. I KNOW!?!? Wow, is this year flying by! Make sure your student has turned in all missing/late work by Friday. If you think they may not be able to have it done by then, let me know and we will work out a completion schedule. The students all received a list of their missing work today.

Thank you for your support!

Field Trip Cancelled, 10/20

I am very sad to report that our field trip that was scheduled for Thursday, October 20th will be cancelled. At this time, Carden still does not have a bus driver. As soon as one is hired, I will try to get this field trip to the Lake Pleasant Outdoor Education Center rescheduled.

Important Dates this Week

Just wanted to send a reminder about important dates this week.

Thursday, October 6th: School pictures (uniforms required)
Friday, October 7th: No School – Fall Break
Monday, October 10th: No School – Fall Break
Tuesday, October 11th: No School – Staff Development

Tree Diagrams and Probability Grids

What Grading Should Look Like

Word Problems

Many students are having trouble with word problems. When this happens at home, please remind your student about the 4 step problem solving method.

1. Write down what you know - what details are given to you? What is the problem you are trying to solve?
2. Make a plan to solve - how are you going to do it?
3. Solve the problem
4. Check your work!

This is exactly what I tell them in class. If a student asks me for help, I will not help them until they have completed the first step. Usually, after they do that, they don't need any additional help. I hope this helpful!

Tutoring

Dear Parents,

Tutoring will begin next Monday, September 26th. I will offer tutoring after school (3:00-3:45) on Mondays and during lunch recess Tuesday through Friday; I have lunch recess duty on Mondays. If your child is struggling with math or reading concepts, please think about asking your child to give up one recess a week to get help.

Each time your child stays after school for tutoring, I need a note in the agenda, or an email giving your permission for them to stay; a phone call is not enough. Please keep in mind that this is not a homework club. I will be reviewing concepts that you or I think your student needs extra help in.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. If your child stays after school, we will meet you in the front of the school, near the flag pole, at 3:45 for pickup. Thank you for your support in your child’s learning.

Curriculum Night is Thursday!

Just a reminder that this Thursday, September 15th is Curriculum Night. Please come to our classroom from 7:00 to 7:30 to discover what your students will be learning this year. I hope everyone can make it!

Rounding Numbers

1. Find the number you are rounding and circle it.
2. Look to the right of the number.
3. Is it greater than 5?
The number you are rounding goes up one.
4. Is is less than 5?
The number you are rounding stays the same.
5. All numbers to the right of the rounded number become zeros.

Grading/Rubrics

Parents,

Carden is grading this year on a 0-4 scale; in the past we've used a 1-4 scale. All assignments will be graded using a rubric, therefore, assignments will be graded on a 0-4 scale. (Just like the reading test rubric your students showed you last night. A copy came home in the Tuesday Folder.) Please contact me if you have any questions about grading. Mr. Gardner and I will also be covering this more in depth at Curriculum Night on Thursday, September 15th.

Reminder

Remember, our new Wednesday release time is 1:45. We will still pick up younger siblings and be dismissed out the back gate. 6 through 8 grade will be released at 2:00.

Happy First Week of School!

The A-Team has gotten off to a GREAT start so far! We are getting to know one another and understand the expectations of out classroom. If you or your student has any confusion, please call, email, or write a note in the agenda!

Tonight we have our first homework assignments. Students will complete math lesson 1-1 in their homework book. Please do not tear out the pages, tomorrow night's homework is on the back of tonight's. Please sign, or initial, the math homework. This lets me know that your student was able to do the homework without too much complication. If your student struggled with a concept, please let me know right away. Homework WILL ALWAYS be practice of what we learned that day.

The second assignment tonight is to finish their vocabulary sentences. About half the class finished this in class today. Everyone was given 30 minutes, and a sentence starter for the 8 sentences. All sentences will have at least 7 words in them (7-Up sentences); have a capital letter and punctuation mark; and answer at least TWO Ws (who, what, when, where, why, or how.) Example: I know that it is treacherous to drive on icy roads in December. This sentence answered what: drive, where: icy roads, when: December. The students are to write two sentences per word; an example of the word, and a non example. Of course the first few times we do this assignment I will be very easy on my grading. Within a few weeks the students will become pros at this.

So far, we've had a great first 4 days! I am looking forward to getting to know you and your children better. Please remember my door is always open for you. If you have any questions, comments, concerns, please do not hesitate to bring it my attention.

Thank you so much!

Supplies

Just in case anyone may have misplaced it, here is the 4th grade supply list.

3 packs of #2 pencils (wooden or mechanical)
1 box of crayons and/or colored pencils
2 pink box erasers or eraser tops
1 pair of student scissors
1 ruler with centimeters and inches
2 packs of wide ruled paper
5 single subject folders
3 spiral bound notebooks
2 glue sticks and/or glue bottles
2 boxes of Kleenex
1 roll of paper towels
1 pencil box/pencil bag
1 ream of white/copy paper
3 ring binder

Welcome A-Team!!

Dear Fourth Grade Families,

Welcome back to school! For some of you this is a welcome back, for others, we are glad to have you as part of our family. I am looking forward to building lasting relationships with all of you.

Carden is using a student agenda again this year. This is a vital tool the teachers will use to keep in contact with you on a daily basis. Please do look at & sign your child’s agenda each day. Carden has a “Communication Tuesday” policy. Each Tuesday your student will receive a large envelope with information primarily from the front office. Please empty this on Tuesday, read the information, sign & date the envelope and send it back to school with your student on Wednesday.

There are a couple of classroom policies I want to make you aware of. Any homework assigned is due the next day unless otherwise stated. If your child is absent, it is his/her responsibility to find out what is due and will have 2 days (per absent day) to make up the work. Students also need to be reading for a minimum of 20 minutes at home each day.

I have a classroom website/blog (http://mrsaxelson.blogspot.com) that will help you keep up to date with all pertinent classroom information. Each day the website will be updated with the daily agenda information; and each week the spelling and vocabulary words will be listed as well. I post reminders about classroom events, have links to a variety of websites (i.e. the math book online, CLI our online grader, educational games, etc.) I also will post photos/videos of the students actively learning. Please note on the student information card if you DO NOT want your child’s photo on our website.

There is also a no toy policy; please make sure your child understands that toys are for home, not for school. There are no electronics or cell phones in the on position while on campus.

This will be a great year. We have a great fourth grade teaching team, and a wonderful support staff. Again, if you believe anything needs our attention, please let me know. I look forward to meeting and working with all of you.

Thank you,

Kelly Axelson

Summer? Already?

I cannot believe how quickly this school year has flown by! Tomorrow is the last day of school! Here are a few things to remember for tomorrow.

• Students do not need to bring their agendas or backpacks to school
• Dismissal is at 12:30
• Students may bring games to play in class during our party
• Our party will begin at 11:00 and will take us through the end of the day
• Parents all more than welcome to attend

The students brought home their math workbooks today. This will be a great tool to keep ideas fresh throughout the summer. If you missed my earlier post, I linked some great 4th grade workbooks to keep the brains moving over the summer.

Thank you so much for allowing me to teach your children this year. It truly has been a pleasure. Keep in touch over the summer if you need anything. I will periodically check my work email, and the front office always knows how to get a hold of me. Until then, have a great summer, and I will see everyone in August!

End of the Year Party

Thursday, May 26th, 11:00am

*Students may bring in games to play with classmates - no electronics.
*Students are asked to bring $1-2 to help cover the cost of pizza.
*Students may bring in additional snacks to share.
*I will provide drinks, treats, and all paper products.
*Dismissal is at 12:30.

Fables

The students performing fables.

Summer "School"

Parents, the summer is nearly upon us! Keeping that in mind, studies show that children who do not engage in reading, or other academic behaviors, can lose up to a month worth of knowledge (also known as "summer slide.") It is the whole use it or lose it idea. There are a few books you can purchase (or possibly check out of the library) that would help to keep ideas fresh in your child's brain over the summer break. I really like the Spectrum workbooks. Here is a link (via Barnes & Noble) to the math and reading books. You don't have to get the books through Barnes & Noble - I know they are available on amazon, and possibly in Target.

If there is anything specific you think your child should work on over the summer, email me and I can help suggest some resources for you.

Fables

The students are working on fables this week. They have been broken into groups, and will be acting out several fables. If you would like to come watch the students perform in the classroom, please come in at 9:30, on Wednesday morning.

I will also video their performances and can upload them to our class blog. Let me know if you DO NOT want your child to appear on our website.

Thank you!

THANK YOU!!

Friday's International Festival was a success, and I owe it all to the parents and students. The support you showed our class for this event was amazing. I appreciate you all!

Thank you!

Music Concert

Reminder that tomorrow is the 4th grade music concert. Students need to be in the MPR at 6:15, and the show will begin at 6:30. Ms. Flathers asks students wear blue pants/jeans and a solid color t-shirt. The performance should take an hour. I hope to see all our families there!

International Festival

International Festival is fast approaching. In just over a week, the event will take place - Friday, May 6, from 5 to 8. Right now I am still in need of help from 5:30 to 6:00, and anytime after 7:30. I have one parent volunteer for the other times. In order for the evening to be a success, I need help with either stamping the passports or serving the food. The event ends at 8:00 but I would appreciate any help cleaning up.

I have four families making Egyptian food, and three families donating pita chips. I will also be making food, bringing pita chips, and paper products. If anyone else is able to help, I would be very thankful. We have plenty of napkins and silverware. I am hoping to still get cups (for lemonade) and small plates to serve on.

If anyone would like to make one of the recipes I sent home, there are hyperlinks in a previous post that will take you directly to the recipes. If there is something else Egyptian you would like to make/bring, just let me know so I can make a sign for it.

I look forward to seeing everyone enjoy this event!

Reminders

Progress reports went home today
No school tomorrow
Egypt report due 5/2
4th grade music concert, 5/3
No school, 5/4
International Festival, 5/6

**I still need a lot of help for international festival. Please let me know if you can donate a dish or your time. Either would be so appreciated. Thank you.

Box Tops

Thursday will be the last day to turn in box tops to count for our classroom this year. If you have any at home you've been hanging onto, please send them in.

Thank you!

International Festival

International Festival, Friday, May 6

I've attached a few recipes to look over for International Festival. I am going to need a hand preparing and serving food that night. I will be sending home a sign up sheet for anyone who would like to help. I need a couple of food servers and a few passport stampers for that evening. If you have other recipes in mind that you would like to bring, just let me know what they are so I can make a sign for the recipe.

Fig and Date Bread
Cucumber-Feta Salsa with Pita Chips
**store bought pita chips sound so much simpler!
Pineapple Rice Dessert
Lemonade is a popular drink in Egypt. The evening of International Festival is typically a warm one. I will bring in large amounts of lemonade. If anyone has a large drink dispenser we can borrow for the evening, that would be great. Thank you so much for all the support you have shown me this year. I really appreciate it!


I look forward to seeing everyone!

AIMS Progress

The students have completed 3 out of 4 days of AIMS. They are doing such a great job. Everyone is really working hard, and I appreciate it. We will take the final test on Tuesday, April 19th. Thank you for all the support you have shown your student - is very much appreciated!

Euler Path

Here is a website that has interactive Euler Paths. This is not the graphs and maps we discussed, just the actual tracing of lines.

Here is a great video by a teacher that explains the concept of Euler paths. Around the 4 minute mark, he talks about "nodes." Nodes are the verticies of the drawings, the circles that we colored on the vertex maps today.

New math games link! I'm listing it under "PONY POWER" also.

Write down any questions you come up with, and we'll go over it together tomorrow afternoon. Happy learning!! :)

Dates for April and May

AIMS Testing: 4/12, 4/13, 4/14, 4/19
4/21, Book Orders Due
4/22, No School (Good Friday)
5/3, 4th Grade Music Concert
5/4, No School (Staff Development)
5/6, International Festival
5/26, Last Day of School

Book Orders

Book orders went home today. If you would like to order, please send in the form, or order online, before April 21st. Thank you!

International Festival

International Festival has been moved to Friday, May 6th. I am giving the students an additional week to work on their Egypt reports. The Egypt report will not be due until Monday, May 2nd. Let me know if you have any questions!

Music Concert

The 4th and 5th graders will be having a music performance on Tuesday, May 3rd, from 6:30 to 7:30 to show their families what they have learned this year. I am sure there will be more information from Ms. Flathers coming about this event. I just wanted to give our families as much notice as I could so we could all attend!

AIMS Dates

I wanted to let you all know about the upcoming dates for AIMS testing.

Tuesday, April 12 - Science Test
Wednesday, April 13 - Reading and Math
Thursday, April 14 - Reading and Math
Tuesday, April 19 - Reading and Math

Remember how important a good night's sleep and a good breakfast are. Let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you!

Egypt Report

International Festival is just a month away! It will be held on Friday, April 29, from 5:00 to 8:00. Our class will be representing Egypt for this year's festival. Students have been assigned to create a poster/report about Egypt. Students came home from school today with the outline of the assignments and some research tips. It would be a great idea to recycle the science fair tri-fold board for this assignment. If your student doesn't have their tri-fold board any longer, I can find another for them.

There are ten points each student needs to write about. Each item needs to have a hand written paragraph and an illustration. Illustrations can be hand drawn or printed from the internet.

I emailed a copy of the paper that went home today to all of the parents. Please let me know if you have any questions, or I can help in any way. Happy El-Itnein (Monday in Arabic!) :)

Student-led Conferences

Wednesday, March 30th, 2:30 to 4:00
Thursday, March 31st, 12:30 to 2:00, 4:00 to 8:00

Please plan on attending a conference at any of the times listed above. It should only take 10 to 20 minutes. Let me know if you have any questions regarding the conferences. There is a paper about this being sent home, and emailed, today.

Thank you!

Polygons

polygon: a closed plane figure with 3 or more lines segments called sides; all line segments must be straight
regular polygon: a polygon with line segments that are all the same length

• triangle - three sides
• quadrilateral - four sides
• pentagon - five sides
• hexagon - six sides
• octagon - eight sides

Triangles can be classified by angle size, or line segment length.

Angles

• acute triangle: all angles are less than 90 degrees
• obtuse triangle: one angle is greater than 90 degrees
• right triangle: one angle is exactly 90 degrees

Line segment length

• equilateral triangle: all 3 sides are the same length
• isosceles triangle: has only two sides that are the same length
• scalene triangle: all sides have a different length

Quadrilaterals are four sided polygons. They can be classified into 5 different groups. Some quadrilaterals can be classified into more than one category.

• square: 4 right angles, all sides equal in length
• rectangle: 4 right angles, opposite sides are equal in length
• rhombus: 4 equal sides, opposite sides parallel
• parallelogram: opposite sides are equal in length and parallel
• trapezoid: only one pair of parallel sides

Tutoring Reminder

Tutoring is tomorrow! Make sure to send a note/email allowing your child to stay. Please include what your child needs to go over.

Thanks! Mrs. A

Awards Assembly

The third quarter academic and perfect attendance awards will be handed out on Tuesday, April 5th at 1:30 in the MPR. I will email the parents of all students accepting an award. If you are able to come, we would love to see you!

Thank you for supporting our wonderful learners!

Reading Response Web

I assigned a book report today to the students. All students will be customizing a "Reading Response Web" for a book they are reading. Most students received the poster from me today. Students need to get their book selection OK'd by me before they begin. All students must have a book selected by this Wednesday. Posters are due April 18. If a student finishes before that, they can turn it in. Each student will present their poster. Before they turn it in, they should practice presenting it to their family.

Students were told to be creative, colorful, spell correctly, and use complete sentences when they are necessary. Let me know if there are any questions regarding this assignment. Happy reading!

I hope everyone had a great Spring Break. We are in the home stretch now! Look out 5th grade!

Quarter Ends FRIDAY!

Just a reminder that the quarter ends on Friday. We have a field trip on Friday, so all missing/late work needs to be turned in by Thursday. Please let me know if you think your student will not be able to finish their work by then, and I will work with your student to devise a plan to get everything completed.

Student-led conferences will be held March 30 and March 31, and this is when we will hand out report cards. You can log onto CLI after Friday, March 11 to see your student's final grades.

Field Trip Friday!

Reminder, field trip, Friday March 11th.

Here is the website to the Arizona Capitol Museum. We will be leaving school at 8:30 and returning by 2:30. Thank you so much - we have ALL of the student permission slips turned in!

www.lib.az.us/museum/

A-Team Happenings!

Friday, March 4

• Field Day, check your child's agenda for what color shirt to wear
• Field trip permission slips due
• Math Quiz 8-5/8-7
• Class Book orders due

Monday, March 7

• Math Quiz 8-6

Tuesday, March 8

• Math Quiz 8-9
• Begin study guide for chapter 8
• Library book returned

Wednesday, March 9

• Recorders needed for music
• Finish study guide for chapter 8

Thursday, March 10

• Chapter 8 math test

Friday, March 11

• Field Trip!! 8:30 - 2:30
• Bring a sack lunch and water bottle. There is a small gift shop, but they do not have any food or beverages for sale.

March 14 through March 18 - SPRING BREAK!

Division Steps

1. Divide
2. Multiply
3. Subtract
4. Bring down (or in case of remainder, bring up)

Repeat these steps for each new number created by bringing down.

Check your answer by multiplying the quotient (the answer) by the divisor (the small number.)

589 x 5=2945

Rounding Numbers

1. Find the number you are rounding and circle it.
2. Look to the right of the number.
3. Is it greater than 5?
The number you are rounding goes up one.
4. Is is less than 5?
The number you are rounding stays the same.
5. All numbers to the right of the rounded number become zeros.