Jamestown Adventures

We have begun our Jamestown Unit in social studies. To kick it off, we spent the morning exploring the land around the Jamestown colony and pretending to be ship captains sent from England in 1607. The Jamestown Adventure website is designed to give students a chance practice decision making skills just like colonists did over 400 years ago. Can you help the colony survive?


Students will receive a study guide for the Jamestown Unit in Thursday folders. They will have an assessment on Thursday, October 8th.

Virginia Jamestown SOLS:
VS.3 The student will demonstrate knowledge of the first permanent English settlement in America by
a) explaining the reasons for English colonization;
b) describing how geography influenced the decision to settle at Jamestown;
c) identifying the importance of the charters of the Virginia Company of London in establishing the Jamestown settlement;
d) identifying the importance of the Virginia Assembly(1619) as the first representative legislative body in English America;
e) identifying the importance of the arrival of Africans and women to the Jamestown settlement;
f) describing the hardships faced by settlers at Jamestown and the changes that took place to ensure survival;
g) describing the interactions between the English settlers and the Powhatan people, including the contributions of the Powhatans to the survival of the settlers.

National Festival of the Book!

This weekend we are celebration the National Festival of the Book in Washington, DC! This event was created a few years ago through the Library of Congress and is a great way for students and parents to not only see some of their favorite authors, but also to get an opportunity to listen to them reading their very own books! Some authors even do book signings where you can get a copy dedicated just to you.

Here are some of my favorite authors that will be there to celebrate:
-Stephen Kellogg
-Sharon Creech
-Lois Lowry
-Judy Blume
-Kate DiCamillo
-Jon Sceiszka
-David Shannon
-Mo Willems

And Parents! There are authors for you to celebrate too - James Patterson, Paula Deen, Nicholas Sparks and John Grisham to name a few.

I will be there all afternoon - hope you will too!

Things to Look Forward to This Week

Tomorrow starts off with week number three of the 09-10 school year!

Here are a couple of things to look forward to over the next five days:

-- Back to School Night is on Tuesday, September 22. The PTA meeting begins at 6:30pm in our cafeteria and then Back to School Night starts at 7:00 in our classrooms. We will be spending time going over the expectations for our fourth graders and spend some time getting to know the classroom and the curriculum. I hope to see everyone there!

-- Tuesday and Wednesday will mark our first quizzes of the year! Tuesday we will have our first math quiz! It will be about geometry and the students will review the material in class on Monday. A study packet of questions to know will come home that night to prepare. Additionally, Tuesday will be a social studies quiz focusing on the geographic regions and features of Virginia. Students should know the different regions, border states, bodies of water and land features of our great state. Look for information to come home on Monday!

-- Scholastic Book orders are due back Friday, September 25th! Choose come great books and bring back the order for by Friday. The more you buy, the more books we get for our classroom!

Happy Bonus Day

Today we celebrated our very first BONUS DAY of the year!

Bonus Day is a time where students are rewarded for their positive behavior in the classroom. Every other week, everyone who has maintained a proper standard of behavior for the two-week period is rewarded with EXTRA RECESS! A full explaination of Bonus Day was sent home in Thursday Folders this week. Please don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions!

Welcome Back!

It has officially been a week since we have started off the 2009-2010 school year and all these fourth graders seem to be having a ball! I have been impressed with the way that each of them are so great at cooperating and working hard to solve tough problems. Fourth grade is a tough year, but hopefully we will get a lot out of spending each day learning from each other.

This blog is a great tool for you to stay in touch with our classroom. Check back frequently for updates about classroom activities, school-wide programs and important dates to remember. Welcome Back!

Upcoming Dates to Remember:

- The Back to School Picnic is rescheduled for this Friday - 9/18 - and will be held on the Maury playground from 5:00 - 7:00pm. Bring out your families and friends to celebrate everyone getting back to school. Get excited for the moon bounces!
- Sept. 22 is Back to School Night and out first PTA meeting of the year. The program begins at 6:30 with the meeting and classroom visits to follow. The teachers here at Maury are looking forward to you stopping by!