The Carstens’ Class Chronicle
October 2011
www.hgsd.k12.wi.us
fit in reading time. In that case,
your child can read additional
minutes on some other day so that
they continue to meet the goal of
reading 140 minutes every week.
Please remind your child to record
the pages read at home in the
Reading Log. Please remember to
sign your child’s log each day.
Heritage School
On Thursday, October 6th, our
class will be traveling back in time
to the year 1877, when we visit
Heritage School in Sheboygan.
The students will experience
school life in a one-room
schoolhouse. It is a wonderful
educational experience and a lot of
fun! They will spend the morning
learning lessons as they were
taught 134 years ago.
From
reading at the recitation bench, to
doing math problems on a slate
board, to writing with pen and ink,
the students will be actively
involved in learning what school
was like in 1877.
Please
remember to have your child dress
as they did in 1877 and have
him/her bring an appropriate
1877’s lunch.
Thank you for
helping your child prepare for this
special day!
Daily Independent Reading
Most of the students have been
keeping up with their daily independent reading at home. Thank
you for seeing that your child is
completing this important daily
reading practice. Remember that
all 4th graders are expected to read
at least 20 minutes every day. Of
course, they can always choose to
read more than 20 minutes! The
same expectations are in place on
the weekends. I realize that some
days your child may have family
obligations that make it difficult to
Current Events
In reading we have been
talking about our classroom as a
reading community. We have read
picture books where the characters
interact in a community and are
developing our own sense of a
classroom community that works
and learns together. We have
identified various ways that we can
choose a “just right book” for
independent reading so everyone is
reading a book at an appropriate
level. The students have started
developing stamina when reading
to self so they can read for a length
of time without disturbing others.
The students have also been
working on writing short essays
using the 4-Square Method –
which is just a way of organizing
their thoughts before they begin
the actual writing of the
paragraphs. Currently the students
are working on an essay about
their trip to the Pigeon River and
pond. The focus is on writing
complete sentences and organizing
their thoughts into paragraphs that
support a main idea. After we go
to Heritage School, the students
will be writing essays about the
differences in education between
1877 and 2011.
We have finished our review of
graphing and Chapter 2 on place
value and numbers into the
millions. They will be taking the
Chapter 2 test this week. Please
continue to practice the basic facts
at home.
Our science field trip to the
Pigeon River was great – even in
the rain! Thank you to Mrs.
Cassity, Mr. Danen, Mrs. Dirker,
Mrs. Kane, Mrs. Matte, Mr.
Mueller, Ms. Phillips, and Mrs.
Zerger
for
supervising
the
exploratory groups.
It was a
wonderful way to introduce our
unit on ecosystems, water quality,
the water cycle, groundwater, and
erosion. Now it’s on to water and
land experiments!
Classroom Webpage
www.hgsd.k12.wi.us
Please remember that class
information is posted on the school
district
website
under
my
classroom name. You can check
the webpage for photos of our
class, recent newsletters, and
homework. There is also a link to
the Scholastic website where you
can order books. Other links take
you to websites that offer kidfriendly information, games, and
math practice.
Check out this new math
webpage that has fun math practice
activities and games.
But be
careful, they can be a bit addicting!
http://www.coolmath-games.com/
Enjoy some of our
Autumn Poetry!
Challenges of Life
Critters climbing in the trees,
Collecting nuts and finding shelter for winter,
Deer growing thick coats and fighting to survive,
Birds migrating far away to escape the coming cold,
Northern Pike hunting smaller fish
in the freezing, icy water,
Wolves turning white, camouflaged in the snow,
They pounce on their prey and satisfy their hunger,
Otherwise they won’t make it through winter.
Alex Zerger