Newsletter October 22nd-25th

Math:  We have completed our first 30 lessons in math!  We will keep going strong as we begin lessons 31-34 this week.

Reading: Our theme this week is Baseball, very appropriate for St. Louis this time of year!  This week will start with a short story, "Women Pick Up the Ball" using our vocabulary for the week.  Then we will begin reading "Mighty Jackie: The Strike-out Queen".  
*Book Report* The first book report must be a John Newbery Medal winner.  We go to the library on Tuesday to pick out a book if you do not have one selected already. So pick out a good book and begin reading. We will go over requirements for the book report presentation in the next few weeks.

Kid Blogs:  Here what your child said if they had a raft for the summer on kidblogs.  Feel free to make comments too!
Mrs. Endorf's class
Mrs. Brannan's class

Art:  Our fall leaf banners will be ready for hanging sometime next week!  The students did a great job of  capturing the colors of fall.

Character Development: We had a discussion about how God makes us all unique and special.  We have similarities and differences which make us all unique.  We did a group discussion about three boys who have similarities and differences and how they can get along together.

Chapel Buddies: Thursday fourth graders helped their chapel buddy prepare for their student-led conferences next week.  Kindergartners through 4th graders have the opportunity to lead their conference with their parents and teacher and to share what they are doing in school.

Scholastic Book Orders:  I will only be collecting online orders.  You may place an order online through Friday, October 26th.  Check out the catalog online or the one sent home with your student. Please use our parent code to log in and order your books.  There is also a link to scholastic books on the right side of this blog.  Happy Reading!
Parent Code: J3CX6

Missouri Botanical Gardens presentation -- The students had an opportunity to design and make their own flowers.  A staff member came on Thursday to wrap up our time with plant adaptations with the Botanical Gardens.

See what the students are leaning with Mrs. Killian in music class.

Student-Led Conferences on Thursday and Friday.  Your student should have brought home a yellow sheet with their conference time.  Students will have 20 minutes to lead a conference showing you how they have been doing this first quarter of fourth grade.  
Early Dismissal on Thursday, October 25th at Noon.

Check out Mrs. Brannan's blog for updates on memory work, spelling, and much more!!   

Newsletter October 15th-19th

CCLS Sunday: Join us at Webster Groves this Sunday at 10:45 a.m. for a special CCLS Sunday worship service.  Mrs. Killian has been working with the students to sing a special song during worship, "My Number One".  If you can attend the service please arrive at 10:10 a.m. There will be a service at 8:00 a.m., a reception in between services and a service at 10:45 a.m.  Look forward to seeing you there!

Math:  This week in Math we will be finishing lesson 30 and reviewing for our 5th test.  The test will be on Thursday, October 18th over lessons 1-25.  We will also complete Investigation 3 on multiplication patterns, area, squares and square roots.

Reading: Our theme continues this week about wildlife.   The classes are reading "The Raft."  They are also developing a setting flow chart that highlights events and character's reactions in the story.  The test over "The Raft" will be this week.

Art:  This week the students learned about a type of art called batik. This type of art was used by people in Indonesia and South Eastern Asia.  They would use hot wax to create intricate designs for clothing and other items. In class we used glue to mimic the hot wax designs.  Students made fall leaf banners that they should be bringing home next week.  Remember to check the hallway for other artwork that has been posted.

Character Development: We continued to discuss characteristics of working in a group.  The students listed characteristics such as compromising, listening, acting Christ-like, sharing or taking turns and many others.  Hopefully they can put those to good use in the future!

Chapel Buddies: Thursday fourth graders helped their chapel buddy play Safety Bingo.  The fourth grader would read a clue and the kindergartner would pick which safety item it described.  October is fire safety month.  Make sure your child knows an escape route and a meeting place for your family in case of emergency.  

Scholastic Book Orders:  I will only be collecting online orders.  You may place an order online through Friday, October 26th.  Check out the catalog online or the one sent home with your student. Please use our parent code to log in and order your books.  There is also a link to scholastic books on the right side of this blog.  Happy Reading!
Parent Code: J3CX6

Today fourth graders had a Missouri Botanical Gardens presentation -- ask what they presented about and what class was like today to prepare for Monday.  See Mrs. Brannan for details about our field trip Monday to the Gardens.

See what the students are leaning with Mrs. Killian in music class.

New quarter starts Monday.   Student-Led Conferences are coming soon!  Your child will have a sign-up sheet for times to meet with their teacher in their binder on Monday.  These forms need to be returned by Wednesday, October 17th.

Check out Mrs. Brannan's blog for updates on memory work, spelling, and much more!!   

Newsletter October 8th-12th

Math:  Monday we will review and Tuesday we will test over lessons 1-20.  Then we will continue with lessons 27-29 the rest of the week.

Reading: Our theme this week is wildlife.  We will be reading "Rafting-Ready of Not" and "The Raft."  We are working on new vocabulary words and making a flow chart for the setting and events in the story.

Art:  The students finished their artwork of drawing like artist Pablo Picasso.  Check out the hallway for their hanging artwork!

Character Development: This week we did a group activity to see how groups can peacefully work together and compromise about ideas.  The students were in small groups, they had to act out a machine and present it to the class.  They worked for 5 minutes to prepare a 10 second action scene.  Hopefully the skills they worked on they will be able to use in their everyday lives.

Chapel Buddies: Thursday was so beautiful outside the fourth graders enjoyed playing outside with their chapel buddies.

You may order online through Scholastic Book Club through Friday, October 26th.  Check out the catalog online. Please use our parent code to log in and order your books.  There is also a link to scholastic book on the right side of this blog.  Happy Reading!
Parent Code: J3CX6

**Save the Date** Missouri Botanical Garden field trip
We will start with a classroom presentation by a garden staff member discussing plant adaptations.  Then we will take a trip to the gardens to explore hands on about plant adaptations.  Finally, a staff member will return to the classroom to do a final presentation.  We will be visiting the Mo Botanical Gardens on Monday, October 15th from 8:30a.m. - Noon.
***$9.25 is due to Mrs. Brannan ASAP***
If you would like to come on the field trip with to chaperone we would love to have you.  We are allowed so many adults with a free entry.  If you have a botanical garden pass, can you please let Mrs. Brannan know so we have all adults with free entry.
See what the students are leaning with Mrs. Killian in music class.

Check out Mrs. Brannan's blog for updates on memory work, spelling, and much more!!   

Newsletter October 1st-5th

Math:  This week the students reviewed and took their third math test over lessons 1-15.  Next week we will be working on lessons 22-26.  We are in week 4 of our Fantasy Football scores, the students enjoy randomly picking their teams each week and seeing who they play against in our Fantasy Football league. 

Helping each other with their Fantasy Football Math Scores

Reading: Our theme this week in reading is Astronauts.  The students worked with reading vocabulary this week along with identifying character traits.  We are reading our main story about The Astronaut and the Onion.  

Art:  The students added details to their artwork about cubism like artist Pablo Picasso.  We are working with oil pastels to create the faces and details like Pablo did too!

Just like Pablo Picasso!

Character Development: This week we looked at three different situations dealing with emotions and trying to notice people's body language.  In class we role played different emotions -- try a few  out at home!

Chapel Buddies: The fourth grade students celebrated Clifford the Big Red Dog's birthday this week with their Kindergarten Chapel buddies.

You may order online through Scholastic Book Club through Friday, October 26th.  Check out the catalog online. Please use our parent code to log in and order your books.  There is also a link to scholastic book on the right side of this blog.  Happy Reading!
Parent Code: J3CX6

Interested in Ceramics Club?
Mr. Fiala will have sessions every Thursday after school until 4:30 p.m. at the middle school starting September 20th and continuing through May.  For details contact Mr. Fiala at jfiala@ccls-stlouis.org

**Save the Date** Missouri Botanical Garden field trip
We will start with a classroom presentation by a garden staff member discussing plant adaptations.  Then we will take a trip to the gardens to explore hands on about plant adaptations.  Finally, a staff member will return to the classroom to do a final presentation.  We will be visiting the Mo Botanical Gardens on Monday, October 15th from 8:30a.m. - Noon.

See what the students are leaning with Mrs. Killian in music class.

Check out Mrs. Brannan's blog for updates on memory work, spelling, and much more!!   

Newsletter September 24th-28th

Math:  This week we completed lessons 17-19 as well as our second test.  The students seem to be doing great as we are still reviewing and refreshing concepts taught in third grade.  This coming week we will be finishing lesson 20 and preparing for our third test on Wednesday.  The students are also very excited to be using math to calculate and play Fantasy Football against their classmates and teacher!

Reading: Our next theme in reading is Astronauts.  The students will begin reading and working with vocabulary for The Astronaut and the Onion.  Most students have had time to post about a national park they would like to visit in the future or have already visited.  Take a moment and view your child's blog.
Click the link to read your child's blog:
Kid Blog - Mrs. Endorf's class
Kid Blog - Mrs. Brannan's class
 
Art:  As a class we learned about Pablo Picasso's childhood and adulthood life.  The students began drawing a face to make their own Pablo Picasso creation similar to his cubism artwork.

Character Development: This week we reviewed 10 steps to starting a friendship.  Then, in pairs the students started interviewing of each other; learning more about the people in their class.  Each student had a chance to share one new piece of information they learned in their interview process.

Chapel Buddies: The fourth grade students worked with kindergartners to make their very own squirrel and sing a song that went along with actions.

You may order online through Scholastic Book Club through September 28th, this Friday.  The students have catalogs.  Please use our parent code to log in and order your books.  There is also a link to scholastic book on the right side of this blog.  Happy Reading!
Parent Code: J3CX6

Interested in Ceramics Club?
Mr. Fiala will have sessions every Thursday after school until 4:30 p.m. at the middle school starting September 20th and continuing through May.  For details contact Mr. Fiala at jfiala@ccls-stlouis.org

**Save the Date** Missouri Botanical Garden field trip
We will start with a classroom presentation by a garden staff member discussing plant adaptations.  Then we will take a trip to the gardens to explore hands on about plant adaptations.  Finally, a staff member will return to the classroom to do a final presentation.  We will be visiting the Mo Botanical Gardens on Monday, October 15th from 8:30a.m. - Noon.

Check out Mrs. Brannan's blog for updates on memory work, spelling, and much more!!  

Newsletter September 17th-21st

Math:  This week we completed lessons 11-16.  Monday they will review for our test on Tuesday.  The test will be over concepts taught in Lessons 5-10.

Reading: The students are continuing to read and research about Our National Parks.  They are working on vocabulary and summarizing and finding the main idea with supporting details as we read our stories this week.  During the week students will be posting on KidBlogs about national parks they have visited or national parks they would like to visit.
Click the link to read your child's blog:
Kid Blog - Mrs. Endorf's class
Kid Blog - Mrs. Brannan's class
 
Art:  Friday completed the painting process of our Louise Nevelson art projects.  Check out the hallway for their art creations hanging on the walls.  The next artist we will be studying is Pablo Picasso.

Character Development: This week we reviewed 10 steps to starting a friendship.  Then, in pairs the students started interviewing of each other; learning more about the people in their class.  

Chapel Buddies: The students spent time playing "Hi, Low" with their chapel buddies on Thursday.  They helped the Kindergartners work on numbers 0-10.

You may order online through Scholastic Book Club through September 28th.  The students have catalogs.  Please use our parent code to log in and order your books.  There is also a link to scholastic book on the right side of this blog.  Happy Reading!
Parent Code: J3CX6

**Save the Date** Missouri Botanical Garden field trip
We will start with a classroom presentation by a garden staff member discussing plant adaptations.  Then we will take a trip to the gardens to explore hands on about plant adaptations.  Finally, a staff member will return to the classroom to do a final presentation.  We will be visiting the Mo Botanical Gardens on Monday, October 15th from 8:30a.m. - Noon.

Check out Mrs. Brannan's blog for updates on memory work, spelling, and much more at www.cclsbrannan.blogspot.com  

Louise Nevelson Wood Sculptures

Check out these amazing Louise Nevelson Wood Sculpture projects that our 4th graders are making!