October 31- November 4

We are going to Riversedge Nature Center on Wednesday from 8:10-1:15 to hike part of the Ice Age Trail and to learn more about glacial landforms. Students should dress warmly and bring a bag lunch. On Tuesday, we will be celebrating the completion of our narrative pieces in writing. Students will get to share their favorite part of their story and we will have a special treat. In math, we have finished timed tests up until 10's. Your child will be bringing a letter home this week indicating which facts they have passed. Retests for any number will be on Tuesday and Thursday.

Here are some pictures from Art for Youth this past week...

Place Value Sections Method for 2 digit by 2 digit multiplication:

Expanded Notation Method for 2 digit by 2 digit multiplication:

October 24-29

We had two spirit days at Glen Hills last week. Students participated in Packer Day and Hat Day. They also had their Halloween YAC which was all the talk this morning! This week we have Art for Youth on Monday, a visit from the North Shore Fire Department on Thursday, and boys have swimming in P.E. on Friday.

Book clubs are starting this week and students chose to read Rules, Shiloh, Wayside School, and Dragon Slayer. We are also finishing up our final drafts of our narrative stories in writing with a focus on editing this week. In math, there will be a quiz on Wednesday where students will need to solve multiplication problems using some of the new methods learned in the unit. We will be moving on to two digit by two digit multiplication as well as multi-step word problems.

Algebraic Notation

Students will use the distributive property of multiplication to solve problems using the algebraic notation method demonstrated below.

October 17th

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! This week, we will be having our first Art for Youth with Mrs. Gapinski and the kids are looking forward to it! The girls will be swimming in P.E. on Friday. The Halloween Y.A.C is also on Friday. This is always an exciting event where students get to spend time together with their classmates outside of the school day. The costumes are always fun to see!

In reading, the students will be starting book clubs. Mrs. Sgarlata and I will be giving book talks for 10 different books and students will be able to list their top 3 or 4 choices. Students will mostly be reading these books in class, while sometimes bringing them home to keep on their reading schedule. They will be meeting regularly with their book clubs to have discussions.

In writing this week, students will continue to work on their rough drafts of their narrative essays. We will work on weaving in setting and creating strong endings.

In math, students will continue to work on multiplication using place value sections method (video for this method was posted in last week's blog entry), expanded notation method (see video below), and algebraic notation method (coming soon). They will also take their 7's and 8's timed test.

Author Visit and Homework Update

Last week, Ben Hatke, author of "Mighty Jack" and "Zita the Spacegirl", came to speak to the 3rd, 4th, and 5th-grade students in the commons. He talked about how he comes up with his ideas for graphic novels. He showed the students how he illustrates his graphic novels using action in replacement for dialogue. It is wonderful for the students to see writers in action, as they themselves are working on narrative pieces of writing during writers workshop. We even used Hatke's idea of drawing small actions to plan out how their stories will go in class.

We started our second unit in math which focuses on multiplication. I will be giving the students periodic timed tests for each set of basic facts. Last week, the students took the 1's and 2's test. Today they will take 3's and 4's, and on Friday, they will take 5's and 6's. As they pass each set, they will receive a sticker. One day a week I will allow students to choose a set to retake to earn their stickers if necessary. Please continue to work on these facts at home! I appreciate all of your help with this!

The students will have a test in social studies on Friday about glacial landforms in Wisconsin and where Wisconsin falls on the map. We will have a review day in class on Thursday. The students can bring home their social studies books and vocabulary lists to study at home during the evening this week.

As a reminder, students should be reading for at least 20 minutes per night as part of their homework assignment. If children are reading silently, they should be reading "good fit books", which are books they can read and understand independently without help from an adult. These books are not too hard and not too easy. I have taught the children strategies for finding good fit books, so hopefully they will use them at home!

I update the homework assignments on my school web page each week. Please note that we are switching around the way math homework is done. The students will complete what they can of the "Homework" side in class and they will complete the entire "Remembering" side at home.

Here is the link to the homework site:

Mrs. Becker's Homework Page

Have a great week!

Happy October!

I hope you all enjoyed your long weekend! We had a busy week last week. I had the pleasure of helping out at the Glen Hills cross country meet on Wednesday. It was fun to watch current and former students run. Go Glen Hills!

In reading RtI class, some of the students have been reading Newsela articles, all centered around a current event topic of their choice, with a partner. They are compiling the information they have found and creating a video to post to Padlet to teach the rest of the class about their topic. All students can access Newsela at home to work on reading comprehension at their individual reading level.