Mrs. Spreen's Class Blog

Madison's News: Hello, This will be a short post because we have been busy with all kinds of extra events due to the season. We have a short curricular post for you: Science - We are wrapping up our Light and Shadows Unit. Make sure you study for the test on Thursday.  Please remember the marking scheme will be: I - independent, N - needs a little support and B - beginning to demonstrate knowledge of the concepts. Social - There is no more Current Events until after Christmas Math - We are continuing to work on Multiplication using arrays and mental math. LA - We are still working with Mrs. Fleming on writing.  When you are writing a story, "show it don't tell what it is" is what we are learning. Extra news: We enjoyed the play ANNIE.  The performers were excellent! Our Christmas Concert went off without a hitch - nice job by all involved. Have a happy holiday! Hopefully you get a new book over the break that you can use for our challenge! Jada'

Hello! Monday Today music was fun and in a week we will have the Christmas concert - December 7 at 6:30pm.  Also, we will be making gingerbread houses out of milk cartons.  Please remember to send supplies in by December 16. Tuesday Math - We started multiplying. We were using our desks to create arrays.  We then had to make groups of numbers to make the equations. LA - We did another pretest for the STARS reading program. In writing we worked on the beginning of our 'stuck' story. Science - We saw what things were opaque, transparent and translucent. we used flashlights to determine the category of objects. Social - We are still making our posters. PE - We did a few 'Just Dance' dances because the gym is being used for concert rehearsals. Wednesday and beyond... LA - We continued the STARS pretests,and are now finished all 5.  Mrs. Spreen will review them over the next few weeks and have a plan for our reading units beginning after the break. We h

Hello! Welcome to the weekly blog of 4C! Today (Monday) we had a great social studies discussion about some of the challenges that the Oilsands face.  We also discussed some possible solutions to these challenges. In Science, we discovered what happens to objects when they are covered with different colours of acetate. We began working with Mrs. Fleming in LA.  It was great! We also continued reading our new library books in the hope of accomplishing the 40 book challenge. Some of us have read many books while some have only read a few - but we are all reading! Keep reading and don't forget to write it down in your Reader's Journal to refer to when you conference with Mrs. Spreen. In math, we continued working through parts of sets and solving word problems using addition and subtraction. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday's notes: In math we are continuing to work on large number addition and subtraction.We are working with numbers up to the hundred thousands

Hello, all! By now you will have realized that I am among the world's worst bloggers.  I apologize for this; however, I am about to try something new that will hopefully help to keep this blog a bit more current. Starting later today, the student who has received the "Student of the Week" (SofW) award for this week (and the weeks to come) will also have as her/her privilege, the 'write' to post the weekly blog.  The SofW will be writing a daily update, but we will only publish it on Friday - after I have had a chance to help with the editing. As always, we will continue to write in our daily agendas - although some may think it is archaic, I believe it is still a good practice to have.  If you have been checking this blog for current information about the curricular material we have been covering, I hope you have also been checking your student's agenda as this is where we have been staying current.  Just a friendly reminder to also be signing your stude

Hello! We have been working hard in our classes, and there is a lot to share.  First, I want to let you know some important information. Halloween activities are going to be in the MORNING of Friday, October 30.  Please send your child dressed in his/ her costume.  The costume parade will be during the assembly, followed by regular assembly activities, then a modified morning.  Our class will be doing Halloween related centres for the morning, and sharing special snacks just after the 'normal' recess break. In the afternoon, we have a special drum presentation.  This presentation will take most of the afternoon, which is why we are having Halloween activities in the morning.  If you have any questions about the day, please call or email me at the school. Math - we are working on number sense of comparing numbers and ordering them. The students are experiencing a lot of success with this unit! LA - we are continuing to work on 'context' and how it is applied to

Hello, It has been a while since I have written an academic blog, and today is the day to get it done.  It seems as though the last few weeks have slipped past with amazing speed.  We have accomplished a lot, and the students should be proud of the hard work they have done thus far. LA - We have begun our Quick Writes, and the students appear to be enjoying them as they will ask to do one if I do not have it scheduled.  If you are unfamiliar with what a Quick Write is, please ask your student. We are also working on editing skills and comprehension .  We have had many interesting stories which we have dissected using our highlighters! We have also begun our 40 book challenge.  Many students have at least one book checked off of their 'bingo card' of genres.  One area that we need more practice is in the recording part of our Reader's Journal.  I understand that this is quite different than in previous years, but I hope it won't take too long to get into the new

Hello, Your child may be bringing home his/her first formal math assessment for this year.  There is a unique marking scheme which I would like to explain. I have used a three letter scheme - an I, N or B. "I" means  INDEPENDENT.    The student can complete all or most tasks associated with this concept without adult help. "N" means  NEEDS ASSISTANCE.  The student can complete some of the tasks associated with the concept but requires adult support to be successful. "B" means  BEGINNING TO DEVELOP THE SKILL.   The student is beginning to understand the concepts related to the skill, but requires a lot of adult support to be successful. All students will fluctuate between these three levels throughout the year depending on the concept and the level of understanding.  This is normal.   As the year progresses, there will be more assessments given and each one will be 'marked' according to this scheme. I will use this same marking scheme for all core c

Hello, We are once again honouring our students with the 'Student of the Week'. For this term, the students will be nominating each other to receive the award. The nominator must identify 3 qualities/characteristics/behaviours which make the nominee a great candidate and provide examples. The students submit the nomination form to Mrs. Spreen, who then looks through each nomination paper to determine the week's recipient based on both number of nominations per week and the reasons for nomination.  Mrs. Spreen has veto power and can choose a student based on a specific event or behaviour. Each student honoured will receive a certificate at the Friday morning assembly. I will email the adults of the recipient of the award earlier in the week to allow for them to make necessary arrangements to come to the school for the assembly. As student of the week, the recipient will be asked to prepare a short presentation about himself/herself to share with his/her classmates on

Hello, and welcome to the first official post of the school year!  This will be a very long post, but please read through it to find out information that will be pertinent for this year. This is not an inclusive information posting, and I may post more or send information via paper or agendas. Each category is noted by a highlighted title.  Grab a coffee (or tea or pop or...), relax, and get ready to read... DRUMHELLER - This information was also sent home on paper. I have posted it here so you can refer back to it if you misplace the paper copy. The grade 4 students will be going to Drumheller again this year!   This information package will introduce parents and guardians to some of the details of the trip. The last page is a commitment agreement which must be signed and returned to the school by October 16, 2015 (this was done by paper, do not look for another form) along with a $25.00 commitment deposit indicating that your child is to participate in this opportunity