Curriculum Night & Student Council speeches

It was great to meet most of you last night at curriculum night! Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedules to come into our classroom and learn about the 4th grade curriculum. The students' are so lucky to have such supportive parents who truly care about their learning and success. Many parents asked me for apps or websites to help support their children at home. In the coming weeks I will compile a list and add them to the blog for your reference.


 Twenty three out of 25 students ran for student council and presented their speeches this afternoon. Each and every one did a fantastic job! I could tell that it was a very meaningful experience to each child, and a lot of thoughtful preparation went into each speech. It takes courage to get up and speak in front of a group, so it's great to see that so many students felt comfortable and confident amongst classmates. Even if your child was not elected to Student Council, there will be plenty of opportunities to participate this year. Congratulations to all students who ran!

Team work!

Each week our class has team game on Fridays. This is one way that we are able to work on skills like cooperation, leadership, and sportsmanship while having fun! The first week of school we tried an indoor activity where students needed to build a tower of cups by using an elastic with strings attached. The groups did great! While only two groups were able to finish, students had a great time problem solving and communicating about strategies. During our conversation after the activity, many students reflected on how important it was to stay calm and move as a group. Below are some pictures from our experience.

Growth Mindset

The students of room 327 have been learning about how we all can grow our brains! We read Your Fantastic Elastic Brain by JoAnn Deak and The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires and have discussed the big ideas from the two books. We learned that mistakes help our brain to grow and stretch and to stay calm and persevere through challenging situations. Students will be working on creating their own commitments on how they will work to grow their brain this year in 4th grade on Wednesday!

Reminder! 4th grade Curriculum night is September 29 from 6:30-7:45.

Today's temperature was a welcome relief from the past few hot days. But nevertheless, this week has been full of learning opportunities! Students took the writing baseline assessment, where they needed to write an informative piece on something they knew a lot about. They also took the math problem solving baseline assessment, and I saw the use of great strategies! We cooled off in the Media Center with some independent reading time and later "buzzed" about our books to a classmate. Today we set our classroom rules, had some fun at the first All School Meeting and did a team building activity  where cooperation was the name of the game.

Any donations of tissues, paper towels, Clorox wipes or ziplock baggies are much appreciated in Room 327!

Thanks for your help,
Miss Leifer

First Week of School-Done!

Good morning! 

The first week of school has flown by! We have had a great first few days, building routines and getting to know one another. Students have taken addition fact quizzes, discussed what a good classmate looks like and sounds like, written letters to themselves to read on the last day of school, and started to build friendships through getting-to-know-you activities. There is lots more fun ahead!

Next week we will continue to work on practicing classroom routines as well as begin writing and math assessments. 

Please remember that there is no school tomorrow, Friday September 4, 2015, due to a Professional Development day. There is also no school on Monday September 7, 2015 due to Labor Day.

I hope everyone has a great long weekend!

Miss Leifer