News From Mrs. Rexroat's Fourth Grade
By Colleen Rexroat
April 23, 2008
What a busy time we have had the last few weeks of school! We have finished our math and reading state assessments, and our students should be congratulated. In both subjects, the unofficial results indicate that our scores look very good. Hurrah! Because of this, the third and fourth graders were treated to a movie and picnic at Syracuse. In the morning, we watched a movie, and for lunch, we enjoyed pizza in the park. It truly was a very enjoyable day. The students have one more state assessment in science to complete which will be next week.
In addition to the AYP party, we enjoyed a field trip to the Garden City Zoo to celebrate Earth Day. We went from station to station learning about different topics concerning recycling and keeping our environment safe and clean for us and our future. In addition, we got to visit our favorite zoo animals. At noon, we had a sack lunch under the protection of a sheltered picnic area because it was raining! Because of the rain, we returned home early. Even with the weather, we had a very fun, educational day.
The High Plains Retirement Village also invited us to a reception last Tuesday as a “Thank you” to the fourth graders for reading weekly to the residents. Refreshments and a gift of a potted plant from the residents were graciously accepted from the students. We just wanted to let the residents know we enjoy reading to them as much as they enjoy having us come. It is an activity that our students look forward to doing every third week. Thank you HPRV for the reception and allowing us to come to visit weekly!
Besides all of the extra activities, we have still maintained our studies because we still have about a month of school left. In math we are studying fractions—adding and subtracting them and then reducing down to lowest terms. We have been practicing dividing by a two digit number, and we are looking forward to learning about Roman numerals, three-dimensional objects, and multiplication of 3 digit numbers by 2 digit numbers.
In reading, we are always practicing to improve our fluency and comprehension. Between our studies, we will have the end-of-the-year testing for the DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment) for each individual child. This takes a lot of time because each child must meet with the teacher individually to take parts of the test. It is an indicator of the growth the student has had for the current grade level. In addition to this test, we will be giving post tests for reading and math after the science assessment is finished.
I would like to take this time to invite parents to come to the Fourth Grade Spelling Bee which will be held May 1st at the Lakin Grade School Library at 12:45 p.m. It is always fun watching our spellers use their knowledge and skills in the spelling bee. No matter who wins the grade level competition, we know each representative from the homerooms is also a “winner.” Please come and give our fourth grade spellers your encouragement.
