4B students have been busy!

Math: We are still working on addition and subtraction skills. Most of the concepts and skills have been review, but are important to reinforce, as they are the basis for the more challenging math to come. Students should continue to practice these skills each night, in the homework packet, or on IXL until they master them. A medal will appear on the IXL website when they master each skill and they will earn a star on a chart posted in the class. Students are encouraged to focus on IXL questions related to the skills being practiced in class at the moment, as they program is meant to support the skills currently being learned. An “IXL to Math Text” correlation chart can be found under the “Homework” tab, in the section about math.
 
Language Arts: 4B Reader's and Writer's Workshop is progressing well. Students have been working hard to improve their reading comprehension through the use of specific reading strategies. They have been encouraged to slow down while reading, and to jot their thoughts down on post-it notes as they read. They have completed a “practice” reflection and handed this in for feedback before starting their reflections on a regular basis.  I have met with students to discuss their reading, and their reflections, and how they can write a strong reflection each week. At this point, I am looking for two paragraph reflections. One paragraph should include a short summary about the pages read, and the second paragraph should be a reflection to show the students’ thinking about the pages read, and their opinion. Students are encouraged to include specific details from the book in order to support their reflection. The opinion might be about what occurred in the story or about the author's writing style.

Social Studies: Students are finishing up a booklet about landforms to show understanding of various landforms introduced. Some examples are: archipelago, isthmus, gulf, glacier, peninsula, strait, sound, fjord, and delta. Students have also been working on creating a map of an imaginary island. For this map, they are applying skills they have learned about mapping, and they are also including various landforms throughout the map.

Book Orders went home on Friday, September 27th. The orders are due on Friday the 4^th, but they can be brought in earlier. Each book flyer is filled with popular children's books and books are often at a better price then you would find in the bookstores in Malaysia. It is a great opportunity to stock up on JRB's for Reader's Workshop.

Spirit Week This Week!
Monday: Pajama Day
Tuesday: Crazy Hat Day
Wednesday: Crazy Hair Day
Thursday: Dress as a Book Character Day
Friday: Tiger/Turtle Day

 

Last week in 4B:

Math: Students finished Chapter 2, which focused on money and rounding numbers. Students improved their understanding of money (dollars and cents) by practicing counting and spending play money in class. The Chapter 2 test was given on Friday and students should be proud of their success. Reminder- students are to make corrections at home, and have the test signed by a parent.

Language Arts: We have finished our class novel The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, and students are working on a creating a booklet that highlights some major events throughout Edward's life. This booklet will showcase their understanding of the story, and the important events, and also their summarizing skills. Students have begun to write small moments about a special place in their lives this past week and will continue to work on these short stories this week. They also took a writing assessment on Tuesday and I will be using them to target areas for future writing lessons. Students too the SRI (Scholastic Reading Inventory test) last week in the computer lab, which provided them with their reading lexile score. A reading lexile is one measurement of reading comprehension and students are encouraged to keep it in mind when choosing a  "Just Right Book."

Social Studies: We continued to focus on map reading skills, latitude and longitude, and hemispheres. Students have been putting together a world map that reflects their understanding of the elements of a map. This week, we will be looking at the various landforms around the world. 

Around the School:

This week, September 17th- 20th, is Habitat for Humanity week at MKIS. The following is  aletter for the H4H committee.

To Our M’KIS Community,

The M’KIS Chapter of Habitat for Humanity will have our annual fundraising week from September 17th to 20th to raise funds for our annual build in Kuching, Sarawak. We have many things for you and your family to enjoy during that week, including the following:

·         Your child received a lovely colouring book to decorate. We hope you enjoy reading about Sara and her family who, like millions of children around the world, don’t have a suitable home to live in. We hope this booklet helps families better understand how Habitat for Humanity helps families here in Malaysia and around the world.

·         Throughout the fundraising week, we will be counting class points. Every ringgit donated is worth one point. The class with the greatest number of points at the end of the week will win a pizza party, hosted by the H4H group!

We also have some fundraising activities for the older students and for the entire M’KIS community including Buy a Brick and t-shirt sales in the Breezeway in the mornings and afternoons all next week. Remember, every “brick” and every t-shirt will be recorded as points for your child’s classroom!

Don’t forget about Alternate Dress Day is on Friday, September 20th! Bring RM 5 (or more) to participate. Please show your support by wearing green or blue, or by wearing your H4H t-shirt.

Thank you for your support!

The M’KIS Habitat for Humanity Team

ITBS and other important information

A big thank you to all who helped with or attended the Swim Carnival last Friday. It was a great success and it couldn't have been accomplished without your support. It was fantastic to see all of the students having fun and cheering for their friends and classmates as they all swam their very best. Please stake a moment to look at our "Photos" page to see some of the shots captured at the carnival. Also, thank you for your generous "Free Dress Day" donations to support "Water for Sudan" and the GIN organization here at M'KIS.

I.T. with Ms. Best:In IT class, students have been reviewing their roles as digital citizens. They have been writing important rules to remember on an online, public wall. To view the comments students wrote about "Digital Citizenship," please visit our 4B wall on Padlet at  http://padlet.com/wall/jxynciihru

ITBS Testing:This week the class is taking the ITBS test. Fourth Grade will be administering it between recess and lunch each day. Please ensure that your child comes to school well-rested, and having eaten a healthy breakfast. Please see the school "Link" for more information about this and other important events happening around campus. Also, don't forget to check out the specialists' blogs for other important updates.

Language Arts:
In class, we have been reading The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo as our class read aloud. 

"Edward is a rabbit who was very pleased with himself, and for good reason: he was owned by a girl named Abilene, who treated him with the utmost care and adored him completely. And then, one day, he was lost. Edward goes on an extraordinary journey, from the depths of the ocean to the net of a fisherman, from the top of a garbage heap to the fireside of a hobos' camp, from the bedside of an ailing child to the streets of Memphis. And along the way, we are shown a true miracle — that even a heart of the most breakable kind can learn to love, to lose, and to love again."

As we follow Edward on his journey, we have been discussing the many life-changing events he has experienced. We are practicing a variety of reading strategies and using sticky notes to show our thinking as we have been reading. Along with reading and discussing this book in class,  students are reminded to have a "Just Right Book" in class to read each day for Reader's Workshop.

We are also in the beginning stages of our Writer's Workshop, focusing on personal narratives. We discussed choosing a small moment to write about, while zooming in on exact details to retell a story.

Math: 
Students have been hard at working at reading and writing numbers through hundred millions and recently completed a chapter test. The test went home on Friday for students to review, correct and have signed by their parents. The Weekly Math Challenge has also been going well. While getting the problem correct is nice, showing good effort and  perseverance on a tough word problem is the real goal. Thanks for all of your efforts and support with this.

Social Studies: 

We have continued practicing map skills this week, focusing on using latitude and longitude. After some practice, students found their "home" on a map and recorded the coordinates.