Sunday, September 23, 2012

Curriculum Night and Pringle Update

Last Thursday night was curriculum night for grades 3-5 at Klem South.  Thank you to all the parents who attended!  The kids were so excited to get a note from you!  For those parents who were unable to attend, I put the powerpoint presentation on our class web page and sent home the handouts with your child.  The powerpoint has lots of information on how our curriculum has shifted with the common core and how you can help your child at home.  If anyone needs paper copies of anything, please just send me a note, and I would be happy to send home printed versions!

Another thing we did at curriculum night was sign up for parent/teacher conferences in November.  There are still days and times available.  If you have not signed up for a conference, I will be sending home a note of the available days/times.  I will ask you to mark three choices.  I will do all that I can to have your first or second choice for our conference.

Our Package the Pringle project is in full swing!  Students were organized into their teams, and have started to plan how they will build a package to get that Pringle to Hong Kong with little damage!  This week, the groups will finish their plans, and start building their packages.  They will have the opportunity to test their package and make adjustments throughout the process.  Our goal is to have the packages mailed to Hong Kong next week!  I have just heard that our partner class in Hong Kong will be mailing them to us very soon!  The kids did VERY well last week working with their groups.  I heard lots of excitement, encouragement, and big plans coming together! 

This week should be another exciting week!  Don't forget....this Friday is the fourth grade Fun Run!  All fourth graders in Webster will be at North Ponds Park for a mile fun run.  It is a great event and we are sure to have fun!  Have a great week!!










Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Package the Pringle and Kisses

How many parents thought I was crazy when I sent home the information about our engineering project, Package the Pringle?  We will be working with Mrs. Smith (a former 4th grade teacher here at Klem South) and some of her classes at Hong Kong International School.  Mrs. Smith and her family moved to Hong Kong this July to teach at HKIS as a science/math specialist at the upper primary school.  This project will allow the students to become engineers as they design and create a package that will protect a single Pringle potato chip as it is shipped overseas to their partner classroom.  We will be working with Ms. Abercrombie's fifth grade class.  Throughout the process, students learn and experience the engineering design process,  employ problem-solving skills, and work cooperatively with team members.  We will be creating a video to introduce ourselves to our partner class in Hong Kong as well as document our progress, make spreadsheets to collect package measurement data from each team, and create and analyze graphs of their data.  This week we will be starting by having our groups brainstorm how we can create a package and what materials we will need to create this package.  Friday, September 14th we would like all materials in school, so groups can start creating and building next week!  This is sure to be a fun learning experience, even if Mrs. Burns is a little crazy!!

As we go out to the busses each day, I tell the students that we need to be sure to say good bye to each other.  We spend all day together, and saying good by is not only good manners and polite, but it is a great way to end the day!  As the students go off, we say good bye with a hug, handshake, high five, fist pump....whatever they are comfortable giving.  Fridays I like to do something different.  This past Friday as we were lining up, I told the class that on Fridays, not only do I like to say good bye with a hug, handshake, high five, etc., but I like to give a kiss as well!  You should have seen the looks on their faces!  The shocked lookes on their faces turned into giggles when I explained that the kiss I like to give is a Hershey kiss!  Since I began teaching in 1998, I gave all of my students a Hershey kiss on Fridays.  It was just a little something to say good work for the week and to let them know that I care about them and appreciate their hard work.  Sometimes we run out of time and I can't pass them out, or I forget to pick them up at Wegmans when I am grocery shopping!  But for the most part, I pass out one Hershey kiss to each student who wants one on Fridays.  If you would prefer that your child not have a piece of chocolate, or your child can not have it, please send me a note so I can be sure to do something a little different for them. 

So far, we have been having a great time in 4th grade!  We are learning the routines and getting ready to be back into full swing very shortly!  Thank you all so much for all of the help and support you give your child!  Please do not hesitate to let me know if you have any questions or concerns! 

Have a great week!!

Mrs. Burns


Wednesday, September 5, 2012

The First Day of Fourth Grade

Today was a great first day of school! We had fun making new friends and learning about what 4th grade was all about. Here are a few of the things we did today: we spent time going over our daily schedule, went to physical education with Ms. Forsey, learned about the expectations for walking in the hallway, had lunch in the cafeteria, and organized our supplies. In the afternoon, we went outside for recess. We will be going outside for recess every day (unless it is raining or too cold). We also spent a lot of time working on our agendas. We started writing in the special area classes and went over what they will be doing for homework tonight. Tonight's homework was writing in some important dates. One of the goals for our class is to learn how to be responsible and organized. The agenda will be a valuable tool for your child. As a reminder, they will need to bring their agenda to school everyday. We will be using them a lot!

One question that I got over and over again was, "When are we going to start homework?" My answer to that was, "Tonight!" Tonight they needed to complete their Get To Know Your Agenda activity, where they were inputting special dates into their agenda (we only did important dates through December...we will do the remainder of the dates at a later time).  We will gradually add more homework each night so we can ease into the routine of doing some work each night.  We will also be bringing home our agendas, red take home folder, as well as their homework binder.  We will talk more about the homework binder in the next few weeks.

Overall, we had a great day!  As we were lining up to go to the busses at the end of the day, I asked everyone to raise their hand if they had a great day.  All hands were raised!!  They also told me that they will be back tomorrow...I know I will be!

As always, do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions/concerns.  We are going to have a great year!!!