Ms. Kreul's Class Blog » Curriculum Highlights

Student Blogs

mkreul — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:51:49 +0000

It’s so exciting to see 4K students starting to publish work on their individual blogs from home. The class will be going to the computer lab for 2 more sessions of keyboarding using Type to Learn, then they will have more time in school to practice their writing and word processing skills as they write articles to publish online.

Please share your fourth grader’s blog address with families and friends and ask them to post comments. Thank you!

Social Studies Travel Site

mkreul — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:50:19 +0000

In the last newsletter you learned that Mr. Burgos, a fourth grade teacher from Cumberland, is developing an amazing social studies website to accompany the fourth grade social studies curriculum.

The URL for his website has changed to:
http://web.me.com/ferminburgos/Social_ Studies_Alive/Welcome.html

Mr. Burgos has also invited fourth graders and their families to contribute travel information to the social studies site.
If your family is planning to travel to one of the locations mentioned on the web site, please contact Mr. Burgos at
adan.burgos@wfbschools.com to find how your family can become world famous traveling correspondents.

Drug Defense Program

mkreul — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:47:02 +0000

4K will be starting an on-line class being offered by the Health Education Center in conjunction with Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in December. It is a Drug Defense program targeting fourth and fifth graders. This interactive program explains different drugs and the effects these drugs have on the body, beginning at the cellular level. Students learn about the consequences of using drugs and the impact the media plays on decision-making. The course is six to eight class periods long and will be completed during the Science and Social Studies block in the computer lab.

Imagination Station

mkreul — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:45:42 +0000

Students are working hard on planning, drafting, editing, revising, and writing the final copies of their Imagination Station pieces. 4K students are scheduled to publish on either Dec. 2 or Dec. 16. They are very excited about this opportunity to publish their writing.

Lit Circles

mkreul — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:44:32 +0000

Fourth graders are currently participating in literature circles, using a series of books that is connected to our social studies study of the regions of the United States. This realistic fiction series, called Challenge and Change, is published by National Geographic.

The four books that lit circle groups are reading are Blown Away, Finding Home Again, Big Sky Country, and The Big Catch. The books tell the story of children from the Southeast, Northeast, Southwest, and Northwest who face big challenges in their lives and how they cope with the challenges with help from family and friends.

Word Processing

mkreul — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:03:25 +0000

Remember that Reading Log pages can be downloaded from the class blog so students can type their reading log entries each week. A great way to practice keyboarding skills!

Over the next few weeks, fourth graders will be finishing up their keyboarding lessons using “Type to Learn.” As the year goes on, they will have the opportunity to word process some of their class assignments, so the keyboarding practice will come in handy!

Web Sites for Kids

mkreul — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 01:01:59 +0000

ReadWriteThink Printing Press - Cool online tool for creating newspapers, brochures, flyers, and booklets at home

Math Activities – A variety of activities for each grade that match the units in the WFB math series

Poetry Folders

mkreul — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:59:26 +0000

Each week fourth graders work on fluency, expression, pace, and interpretation as they read poems from their Poetry Folders.

Class Blogmeister

mkreul — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:57:55 +0000

This week students are learning how to post articles to their personal blogs on the 4K @ Richards Class Blogmeister blog in school. They can post articles at home, so in today’s Friday folder there is an identical copy of the directions to keep and use at home.

To see work by 4K students from the past 2 years, click on the links for 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 for the 4K@ Richards blog under Blogroll from the class blog page.

O.R.E.O. Challenge

mkreul — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 22:51:18 +0000

4K took the O.R.E.O. Project challenge this week and snacked on yummy cookies while working on math skills.

Each student was allowed 2 attempts to try to stack as many cookies as high as they could. As one student stacked cookies, his or her partner helped count the cookies. After the attempts were completed and recorded, the class worked together to find the important landmarks from the data they collected.

Here are the results from the 4K stacking challenge:

Maximum number of cookies stacked – 25 cookies
Minimum number of cookies stacked – 15 cookies
Range of the number of cookies stacked – 10 cookies
Mode of the number of cookies stacked – 21 cookies
Average of the number of whole cookies stacked – 20 cookies

Ready to stack the cookies

Stacking cookie towers

Cookies galore

Lit Circles Coming Soon

mkreul — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:57:18 +0000

The class will be learning how to do Literature Circles in 4KR next week using a variety of Junie B. Jones books. Students will write comments similar to reading log entries and discuss their thoughts with a small group of classmates in the circles. Book reviews too!

Math Activities at Home

mkreul — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:55:58 +0000

What activities can you do at home with your fourth grader to practice math skills, as well as provide challenging math activities?

Check your fourth grader’s SRB – Student Reference Book – for the math games on pp. 184-208. These games can be modified to provide practice and/or challenge, depending on the needs of the student playing the games.

Card games and board games that include math as a component can provide practice and challenge in an enjoyable format. Monopoly, Cribbage, Solitaire, and Rummy are favorites in my family.

There are mathematics web sites* available online that can be used to provide opportunities for students of all ages:

*As always, an adult should carefully supervise children who are online.

TFK – Time for Kids

mkreul — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 18:56:46 +0000

Time for Kids – or TFK – is the news magazine we read each week to find out what is happening in the US and around the world.

Visit the student site for TFK for learn more about this week’s issue and lots more…

TFK for Students

Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing

mkreul — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 19:39:49 +0000

A Group Book Review by 4K on Sept. 18, 2009

Do you have a pesky little brother or sister? If you do, you’ll love Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume.

Peter Hatcher is a 9 year old boy with an annoying 3 year old brother named Fudge. One day the boys went to the dentist because Fudge tried to fly like a bird from the monkey bars at the park. He knocked out his two front teeth. At the dentist Fudge refused to open his mouth. The dentist and Mrs. Hatcher made Peter open his mouth so Fudge would too. Fudge always wants to copy Peter and be just like him.

If you like funny books, you’ll like the part when Fudge gets to be in a commercial for Toddle-Bikes. Do you have a little brother or sister? You’ll really understand the book because you know what little brothers and sisters are like! If you’re a fourth grade teacher, you will want to read this book to your students because it’s about a fourth grader. Is realistic fiction one of your favorite genres? You’ll love this book, too!

You’ll like this book if you have siblings, students, or just love a funny story. Run, don’t walk, to your library or bookstore and pick up a copy of Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. It’s a comedy that any kid with a little brother or sister can relate to!

Math Pretests

mkreul — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:45:54 +0000

4KR math students will take pretests prior to starting each new math unit beginning with Unit 2. Students are reassured that pretests are not scored or graded for report cards.

Teachers will use information from pretests for planning instruction, pacing lessons, and organizing partnerships and small groups.