Mrs. McClure – Fourth Grade
Posted on March 8, 2012, by Alexis McClure, under Fourth Grade.
PrintDuring the months of March and April, fourth grade will be moving in like a lion, out like a lamb!!! Please make sure you are checking the website. Here you can find all the classroom activities such as homework, due dates, and notes. I will try my best to continue to keep everyone at home updated to where we are in class.
English/Spelling/Reading:
We will continue to be tested on Shurley as well as spelling, however, this is going to change to a weekly activity. Each week, the students will receive words for spelling either based on Dolch Sight Words (most frequently misspelled words), or concentrating on a specific spelling pattern . The students will have dictionary work, practice spelling work, as well as paragraph writing work weekly.
Shurley Method will continue as we work our way through the pronouns, possessives, direct objects, and lastly indirect objects. We have worked over the last 5-6 weeks on intense writing procedures. We have used a series of activities to help the students become better writers. The students should now be able to form a bubble map or other thinking maps to create an outline-like structure to help them form & organize their ideas to begin their very descriptive writing. We hope that you will enjoy the Treasure Books that will soon be ordered for publishing. Here the students wrote for the first time a story/picture book that will be published about a super hero.
Our current novel is The Watsons Go to Birmingham. We will soon leave this novel and begin on our next reading piece, Matilda. Please note that the students have been asked to do a combination of work for comprehension on this current novel. Students should have their comprehension pieces in their class binder, in the reading section. With having this information, the students are able to begin studying vocabulary and keep up with comprehension of the novel.
Math:
We will continue the weekly check-ups. This helps the students to put previous and current concepts fresh in their minds and build long term memory. We will soon move on to Fractions while still working on multiplication and division. Please continue to practice multiplication as well as addition and subtraction facts with your students. The more we practice, the quicker our response time becomes.
Science:
We just began discussing the atmosphere of the Earth. We will continue to discuss this until Spring Break. Upon on return we will review and test over this material. The next section we will move into will be the Solar System! Yippee! This is going to be out of this World!
Social Studies:
Currently we are reading and discussing what happened after the Texas Revolution. In this section we have discussed Redbacks, debt that we owed to the US., our first president of the Republic of Texas, and much more. We will continue after break to press through the years of Texas History but reading and talking about the Republic of Texas joining the United States and the continued growth of the state, the Civil War and the divide in the United States. WHOOO HOOO Texas History!
Religion:
We are currently discussing the reason for the Lenten Season leading us to Easter Sunday. During Religion, we also will continue to discuss, in detail, each of the Commandments. We do use true life experiences that relate as well as reflect living by the Ten Commandments.
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Mrs. McClure – Fourth Grade
Posted on September 19, 2011, by Alexis McClure, under First Grade.
PrintHi there fantastic 4th grade parents! We are off and running so far this year. Here is what we have been working on and what is coming soon!
We will continue working in the Shurley Method on punctuation and capitalization skills and learning the rules for the above. We will also continue working with sentences and how they would be labeled. We will be adding these parts of speech: Prepositions and objects of the prepositions. Along with these, the students will continue to locate the simple and complete subject and predicate of a written sentence. YIIIPPPPPEEEE! I love Shurley! Don’t forget Shurley tutoring on Tuesday mornings at 7:30am!
We will continue to read How to Eat Fried Worms during our reading block. Students should make sure that they keep ALL comprehension questions and vocabulary sheets for these chapters in their binders. We will use these to study for our test at the end of the novel, which is quickly approaching. Please note, I will give a study guide as well as a week’s notice for the test. Watch emails and class website for this information to be released. Every student should be reading 30 minutes Monday-Thursday. This is standard homework for the 4th grade that does not change. The first book report grade has been released, posted on the website as well as in several emails. This date is October 14, 2011.
In Science we have just completed Vascular Plants and their parts. We are just working our way into our last booklet of Nancy Larson. We will be reading and learning about amphibians and reptiles. Along with this, the students will have a research project on one of the above animals they chose in class. Again, this due date has been published in emails as well as on the website. This material is to be completed by the student at home and returned by September 15th, 2011.
In Social Studies, we continue to discuss the climate, landforms and regions of the United States as well as in Texas. This is to prepare us for the upcoming lessons of the first people in America as well as in Texas. THE FUN IS JUST STARTING!!
In Religion we have discussed a variety of material including faith, sin, and what the Gospel teaches about how one corrects. God creates only good; however, it is a bad choice or decision that leads someone down a path of destruction, and much more. We will continue to discuss these topics; i.e. What happens to my relationship when I sin? How should I handle being angry with another person. How would God expect me to act and is it always easy to do what Jesus would want me to do. Who is speaking to me when I make certain decisions?
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Ms. Mikula – Fifth Grade English/Language Arts
Posted on September 19, 2011, by Savannah Gilburt, under Fifth Grade.
PrintFifth graders at St. Elizabeth are in full swing with the new school year as we have already been drawn into the book Loser by Jerry Spinelli, opened our hearts to poetry, challenged ourselves to common misspelled spelling words, and continuously growing in our grammar.
Reading
We have started reading Loser by Jerry Spinelli. We are all thoroughly enjoying it. Students are laughing as we discover what the main character, Zinkoff, will do next. We are also using new vocabulary from the book, and students are encouraged to use it in their everyday life. To help us with vocabulary, we have played a fun game called Taboo. Students have had so much fun trying to get their teammate to shout the correct word, by describing the word without using the vocabulary word. They frequently ask to play this game again and again.
Spelling
We have begun this school year by learning the correct spelling of 100 most common misspelled primary words. These words may seem easy, but as we have taken this journey we have found that they are harder than they seem. By remembering the right context and spelling rules, students have started to master these words.
English
We are using the Shurley Method for learning grammar. Veteran students are familiar with the set-up and jingles. As a new family member of St. Elizabeth, I am still learning, but am catching on as the students want to sing them often. We have a great time marching through the classroom singing about nouns, verbs, and sentences.
Poetry
On Fridays, we open our minds and hearts to poetry. We have discovered what “Heart Mapping” is as the students have explored what is important to them and what has had an effect on their lives. By filling in their hearts, they are given an endless list of topics to write about. We look forward to seeing these writers bloom.
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Mrs. McClure – Fourth Grade
Posted on April 18, 2011, by Alexis McClure, under Fourth Grade.
PrintEnglish:
4th Grade will continue to work on Shurley Method techniques. We are currently working on our Direct Objects and the adjectives that describe them. We have also started to work on negatives in a sentence as well as conjunctions and labeling sentences as the following; sentence, fragment, sentence with a compound subject, sentence with a compound verb and lastly sentences with conjunctions. We will continue to work on this as well as adding in the last few pieces for the year, indirect objects and their adjectives that describe.
Reading:
We are currently finishing up the chapter “Onions” in Esperanza Rising. There will be a quiz coming up the week after Easter break. Your student has all the comprehension questions and vocabulary. This test will be on the Wednesday following Easter break, April 27, 2011. We will review in class. Students should be studying ALL material that is located in the comprehension questions and vocabulary sheets for each chapter up to chapter 8.
We will finish out this novel, and the last novel to read this year will be Matilda. Please make sure that you have a copy for your student. I have a couple to loan during the time we are working on that novel.
Social Studies:
We are currently wrapping up the Civil War. The students have truly enjoyed this chapter in hearing about auctions, plantations, the Union and the Confederate states as well as the assassination of President Lincoln. We will continue to move through this chapter on the Civil War in the next week. Returning after the Easter Holiday, we will begin to move into the 20th century where we will discuss the railroad, the cattle kingdom, and WWII.
Make sure you are checking emails and the web-page. As new dates come up, we will have them posted in the announcement box. Fourth Quarter book report dates have been posted online. CHECK OUT THE DATES!!!
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Mrs. McClure – 4th Grade
Posted on March 7, 2011, by Alexis McClure, under Fourth Grade.
PrintHOWDY PARENTS! I hope you are all doing well! This is what is going on in ELA and Social Studies for the end of February and March.
ELA
In Shurley Method, the students will continue to work on all the parts of speech from subject nouns to interjections. We began a new part of speech in the middle of February. This new piece was for the Direct Object. We will continue to work on these and later take a quiz to see if we have mastered this new piece. Our next piece in Shurley method will be the indirect object. This will not be introduced until we are all on the same page.
In Reading, we will continue to work in small groups for reading as well as whole group. We will be finishing our current novel, The Watsons Go to Birmingham by the end of this month or early March. I will be sending home all the questions and the review as the time approaches as well as the next novel we will read.
During the month of March we will also begin working on our treasure books. We will begin choosing the journals we would like to include in our book and begin editing Friday, February 18th. We will send out more information as the time comes to order extra copies of your student’s own personal published book.
Social Studies:
As we move from February into March, we will continue to discuss the divide or break between Texas as a Republic and Mexico. We are currently reading and talking about the the first president of Texas that was voted in by the people as well as how the Texas Revolution was funded and the first battle of this revolution. We will continue in the next chapter by reading, discussing, learning and later watching THE ALAMO! The kids are really enjoying this part of Texas History! As the Texans demonstrated in the first battle of this revolution on the cannon in Gonzales, “COME AND TAKE IT!”
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Mrs. McClure- 4th Grade
Posted on January 18, 2011, by Alexis McClure, under Fourth Grade.
PrintWelcome back! I hope this year brings us many happy times here in the halls of St. E’s.
During January in 4A ELA we will continue to work on grammar with the Shurley Method as well as in our grammar text book. In the next month, we will be adding direct and indirect objects as well as 3-point paragraphs. These pieces will be introduced in small pieces as the children are ready for the new information. We are currently reading the novel No Talking! We will test over the novel by the end of the month and begin our next novel, The Watson’s Go to Birmingham. Please make sure that your child is reading nightly. This is most important in continuing to build their reading fluency. I have just received all lexile scores and will be Dibbles Testing the students during class. The children will be increasing their reading time to 30 minutes nightly beginning 3rd quarter. This is to prepare them for the following year with Miss. Vercillo. Please also take note that all book reports should be given on the novel that your child is reading at home and logging on their reading log. Each student is given notice of the next book report due for that quarter. We have discussed in class as well as in emails that have been sent home this year about certain books that can not be used for a book report. All book reports should be based on books that are on your child’s reading level; comic novels do not count as book report material. However, if your child does read and complete one of these comic novels and wants to do an extra book report, s/he may do so for an extra prize at the end of the semester.
The fourth graders have just started discussing and reading about the American Revolution. We will continue to discuss the need for freedom and independence in America, starting with the first 13 colonies in America to their will to want to explore westward. This will include adding states to the United States of America and eventually begin to lead to the battle of the Alamo where Texas breaks free from Spain/Mexico. Please take notice that during the Alamo section, 4th graders will watch the movie, Alamo. I will be sending home an email alerting you of a permission slip that has been sent home for you to sign. This will be written consent that your child will or will not be permitted to view the movie.
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Mrs. McClure-Fourth Grade
Posted on December 8, 2010, by Alexis McClure, under Fourth Grade.
PrintHi there Mommas and Papas! It’s amazing how time has just blown right by us this year. As we bring November to a close we do the same with our current novel The Taste of Blackberries . All novel material as well as the study packet will have come home by November the 19th, 2010, and we will have our novel test on Tuesday November 30th, 2010.
In Grammar, we have continued to work both in the Shurley Method as well as our grammar book in the classroom. We are currently working on prepositions and their locations in the sentences and the number of prepositions that we can have in sentence. We continue to practice labeling subject nouns, verbs, helping verbs, prepositions, etc. We have also extended the simple predicate to include not only the main verbs, but the helping verbs as well. This will better prepare the students for Ms. Vercillo next year in 5th grade.
In the month of December, we will continue to work with the above information; however, we will work with conjunctions in sentences as well as compound subjects and compound predicates. We will add new pieces as the students become ready.
In Social Studies, we have moved to the unclaimed land of North America. We have started to discuss the explorers, the reason they came to America, the developing of new colonies and how they are claimed and ruled/governed. Lastly, we have discussed the movement of the Spanish and the fight with the Aztecs in Mexico that turned all power of the country over to Spain. We will next move into the Spanish and French in Texas. We will begin to discuss the raising up of missionaries and presidios and early towns in Texas. Along with this, we will talk and read about the explorers from both France and Spain who explored through parts of Texas and their battles with Native Americans in the the state. As I tell the children in class, we are just getting into the fun and interesting things that happened in history. They mostly like this piece of our year because we are reaching a part of Texas history where colonies are beginning to form and take shape, and the fight at the Alamo is ahead. As the Texans wrote on the Mexican cannon they received as a gift, “COME AND TAKE IT!” These are the fun times in Texas history in 4th grade.
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Mrs. McClure – Fourth Grade
Posted on September 29, 2010, by Alexis McClure, under Fourth Grade.
PrintHAPPY OCTOBER, MOMMA’S AND PAPA’S !!!!
ELA
During the month of September, we worked on Shurley Method material, adding in possessive nouns, pronouns and continuing to work on Prepositions and Objects of the Prepositions. We will also begin working out of our other grammar book. Our 4th grade writers are doing pretty swell in their daily journal writing. We published our first piece to be presented outside the class room.
SOCIAL STUDIES
We will continue to work on our lap books for chapter 1. We have completed sections 1 and 2 which are discussing hemispheres, lines of latitude and longitude and more, and we are moving on to climate and Texas plants and animals. We will have a quiz coming up for sections 3 and 4 followed by a chapter 1 test. Be looking for dates to be posted on class website as well as planners and emails.
FOURTH GRADE TO-DO LIST
Make sure that all spelling homework that is not workbook material is to be done in the spelling comp book. Each student should be reading EVERY night at least 20 minutes, and Lap books should be studied even if we have quizzed over the first set of sections. This is key in being as prepared as possible for class in social studies. Last but not least, please make sure you are checking the class web page. It is updated daily with homework and important dates and reminders.
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Mrs. McClure – Fourth Grade
Posted on December 10, 2009, by Alexis McClure, under Fourth Grade.
PrintELA
We will continue to read Esperanza Rising. We will review when we come back from break. We will then pick up and continue to read the story. We will be working on vocabulary, comprehension, setting, and characters. In English we will continue to work on helping verbs as well as our recently learned direct and indirect objects. Our work will be both out of our English books as well as from the Shurley Method.
Social Studies
We are currently working on Colonization in Texas. We will have a quiz over sections 3 and 4 this Thursday and a chapter test over sections 1, 2, 3, & 4 on Thursday, December 17th, 2009. Please make sure that your students are studying nightly over ALL sections of their lap book. As you know, this is a nightly assignment and helps them bring the information into their long term memory. When we return in January we will begin discussing the Texas Revolution.
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Mrs. McClure – Fourth Grade
Posted on November 11, 2009, by Alexis McClure, under Fourth Grade.
PrintEnglish Literature Arts
We will continue working on the 3-point persuasive paragraphs in English as well as Shurley Method labeling. In Reading we will be finishing up our current novel Henry on the Paper Route. The upcoming test date for this novel will be coming home along with your student’s study guide. We will begin Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz-Ryan following the test. Please make sure you have a copy for your student. Please make sure your student is reading daily for 20 minutes and logging their times daily.
Social Studies
We will complete our lapbooks for the chapter “New Settlers in Texas” this week and we will be moving on to discuss “Colonies and Independence.” We will have a chapter test over the material in our lapbook. Students are asked to study this material as well as their quizzes for Chapter 4. This chapter test will be held next Tuesday, November 16, 2009. We do have weekly vocab and key concept quizzes at the end of each week. Please make sure your student is studying their lapbook nightly.
We are planning our trip to St. Joseph’s Nursing Home this year as a Corporal Work of Mercy. Please check with Mrs. Campos in the office to make sure you are up-to-date with your Safe Environment. We would love for all of you to attend. Have a very warm and blessed Thanksgiving filled with many colorful memories.
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