Mrs. Kirby's Koalas

February 6, 2010

Whew!  The science fair is over...the projects have been terrific!  There are just a few students left to present; absences interfered a bit this week.  We will go back to soil, weathering and erosion long enough to review key concepts.  Look for a short cycle quiz around Wednesday.  After the quiz we will take a break from science and focus on social studies for a while.

Regarding illnesses...allergies have been high (my own have been a nightmare!), we have had a handful of students going home sick, and on Friday the whole class pitched in to wipe down and clean out desks.  We ran out of our supplies and mooched a bit from Mrs. Harper.  We are also low on the foam type of hand sanitizer.  Any donations of sanitizer, tissues, or Clorox wipes would be GREATLY appreciated.  Hopefully this will be the last sweep of the cold and flu season!

A few different things are coming up on the calendar.  Next week there will be another Early Release Day on Wednesday, so students will be dismissed at 12:45.  Students will also be off on Monday, February 15th for President's Day.  Before the three day weekend, the class will have our Valentine's Day party.  I will email out a list with girls' and boys' names if your child would like to get started on cards this weekend.  Finally, after President's Day, the fourth grade is conducting the 3rd Annual Camp Write Along.  We will pitch tents, sing songs, and write all day long in preparation for the Writing TAKS test in March.  If  you have a tent we can use, and are able to come pitch it when the students are off on Monday (teachers will be here), please email me to let me know.

Meaghan Kirby

January 26, 2010

Although the class has been a bit chatty in our room, the students have shown excellent behavior throughout the school.  They earned another touchdown in the cafeteria about a week ago, they have earned the "Golden Bin" two of the last three Fridays, and for the first time ever, they won the Golden Shelf Elf for good behavior in the library!  As a reward, we will have a combination Pajama Day (all day - although they will need their sneakers for PE) and Game Day for the last half of the day.  Game Day is meant for board games and such, however, if a student sends in a note of permission from a parent (email is fine), and if they have earned 10 tickets to spend, they may bring electronic games.  Please limit this to one game system per student.

Group photos are tomorrow!  These are the pictures that will show the whole class head to toe in addition to the individual photos.  Order forms went home for the group photo in last week's Thursday folders, and the forms for the individual pictures in the spring go home after the pics are printed.  If you missed the form and are interested in ordering, the basic photo is $12.  I don't have extra forms, but I am sure that the photographers will have some tomorrow.

The checkpoints on the projects indicate that progress is coming along well!  If students would like to assemble their displays at home, it is certainly permitted, but class time will be available on Thursday and Friday this week.  Final projects are due in class on Monday, February 2, 2010.  Presentations of the projects will take place Monday through Wednesday next week, and the projects being submitted to the Science Fair will be set up Friday morning, February 5th.  The information packet has rubric requirements, but I will send home a class rubric to indicate how it will transfer into grades.  An additional grade will be given for the presentations next week.

Finally, a handful of students received information regarding the Duke TIP program.  Since these were given out on Friday when I was out, I don't know which students received this information.  There are a couple of links on the "Parent Links" page on this website, and I can answer some questions that you may have about the program. 

Meaghan Kirby

January 21, 2010

This week has been super science heavy.  Students checked out science books in the library, worked on science research in the computer lab, and conducted messy stream table experiments in the science lab.  The next science project checkpoint is due tomorrow, and students are required to show evidence that they have been their projects.  The evidence can be their data they have collected, photos of them performing the experiments, or simply a not from a parent saying that they have collected materials or begun the project in some way.  This checkpoint is more to benefit the parents than to benefit the fourth grade teachers.  It is meant to prevent them from turning to you on Sunday, January 31^st and saying, “Oh no!  My project is due tomorrow!”

Because we have been doubling up on our science time, we have reduced the amount of language arts and math time a bit.  You may have also noticed less homework in these subject areas.  Things will shift back to normal next week, so I have been advising students to use the extra time to work on their science projects.  We will have some class time available on the 28^th and 29^th to assemble presentation boards, and the final completed project is due on Monday, February 1^st.  Presentations to the class will be given on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of that week.

January 14, 2010

Whew!  Science, science, science!  The projects are coming right along.  I have an update regarding submission forms to the Science Fair...the Powers That Be have postponed the deadline until Tuesday, January 19th.  The research checkpoint is still the 15th, and the rest of the fourth grade timeline holds.  The Science Fair will be February 5th.

Report cards went home today.   

January 9, 2010

Happy New Year!  Our first week back was a great one!  There are a few new gallery pages to enjoy.  I have been attempting to snap a few photos of each student, but some Koalas keep dodging my camera.  I will keep trying to get a variety of faces.  Speaking of faces, we have two new Koalas...welcome, Erika and Dalton!

The hottest news topic is the upcoming science projects. Every fourth grader is required to complete a project, although they are not required to submit their projects to the fair.  A letter went home on Friday listing the time line with due dates.  It also included a form to submit a topic idea on Monday.  The topics should ideally be in the form of a question, but I can help students develop that if necessary.  Every experiment should have a testable question to investigate, and students should manipulate a variable.  Students are permitted to work with partners, but since the majority of each project will be completed outside of school, they will need to coordinate schedules.  If a busy schedule might keep partners apart, it may be best for those students to work independently.  The letter that went home and the Science Fair information packet can be found on the "Handouts" page on this website.  There is also a terrific website to help narrow down topic ideas.  The link is the first one on the "Kids Links" page.  Students can get ideas from anywhere, but Sciencebuddies.org is a great place to start.

Our math class is exploring different strategies to work on two-digit multiplication as well as division, and we are beginning to dive in to fractions.  I know that these strategies are weird and unfamiliar to those of us who were taught with the standard algorithm.  There are guides posted on the "Handouts" page for students to teach these strategies to their parents.  :)  Please resist the urge to guide your mathematician toward the algorithm -- we will get there eventually.

We were grateful to have an extra bag of pretzels for snack this week!  If you are able to send snacks in, they would be VERY welcome.  We are also low on glue sticks and tissues.  Thanks for all that you give.  Our families truly keep the classroom running smoothly.

Thanks for keeping up with the weather conditions -- students have been dressed warmly for recess on the days it wasn't too cold to go outside.  As always, please email me with any extra questions or comments!