Growing Every Day

This Week (May 24-27)

2010-05-24T08:49:00.000-07:00

**Short week, no spelling words...**

**Students need to finish the rough draft of their persuasive papers on "school uniforms" and complete the checklist. The checklist should be signed by a parent and turned in on Tuesday (May 25).

**Don't forget: The Chapter 15 (force and motion) Science Test is Wednesday (May 26).

More Updates

2010-05-17T07:46:00.000-07:00

**Upcoming field trips: Fort Caroline on Thursday, May 20 (Permuy and Gordon homerooms); NASA on Friday, May 21; Cummer Art Gallery on Thursday, June 3

**Spring picture packets have been distributed...please send in your payment or return the packet.

**Students are asked to wear (appropriate) hats to school tomorrow (May 18) to honor our Don Brewer volunteers. "Hats Off" to our volunteers!!

**No spelling words this week...

**SCIENCE--Chapter 15 vocab. quiz this Wed., May 19; The Chapter 15 TEST will be on Wed., May 26. Review all vocabulary, checkpoint questions and worksheets. Read back over the lessons (pages 434-449).

Science Vocabulary Quiz

2010-05-13T06:41:00.000-07:00

Just a reminder...
We will have a quiz on the vocabulary terms from Chapter 15. The terms are all listed on page 435 of the science book.

Class Updates

2010-05-04T07:52:00.000-07:00

Spelling List:
1.multiply 2.imagination 3.favorite 4.computer 5.citizenship 6.invisible 7.undercover
8.enjoyment 9.discussion 10.America 11.unusual 12.example 13.melody 14.temperature
15.understanding 16.experiment 17.explanation 18.oxygen 19.landmark 20.diagram
**The test for these words will be on Friday, May 14. (The homework will be due on the 14th, as well.)

**The rough draft of our "response to literature" is due this Friday, May 7. Each student should go over their draft with an adult.

**Upcoming field trips:
The NASA date has been changed to May 21. A new permission slip was sent home and needs to be returned.
We are still collecting money for the Cummer Art Gallery trip and the Ft. Caroline trip. Please see your child's permission slip for dates and other info.

This Week (April 26-30)

2010-04-27T07:33:00.000-07:00

Spelling:
1.lazy 2.volcano 3.flavor 4.piano 5.recent 6.really 7.item 8.pilot 9.triangle
10.climate 11.gigantic 12.program 13.obey 14.puny 15.prepare 16.vacant 17.pulley
18.menu 19.boundary 20.revolution

NOTE:
**Science Assessment (Sound): Tuesday, May 4
Review pages 406-415, vocabulary terms (wavelength, frequency, compression, pitch), and worksheets from lessons 1 and 2 ("What is sound energy?" and "How is sound made?")

This Week (April 19-23)

2010-04-19T05:39:00.000-07:00

Spelling Words:
1.frighten 2.flight 3.brighter 4.flashlight 5.mighty 6.delight 7.tighten 8.nightly
9.sight 10.brought 11.ought 12.thought 13.fought 14.caught 15.daughter 16.taught
17.fault 18.naughty 19.possibilities 20.journey

**The play will be THIS THURSDAY, APRIL 22.**
**Our school carnival will be on Friday (April 23).**

This Week (April 12-16)

2010-04-12T10:23:00.000-07:00

Spelling Words:
1.action 2.fiction 3.mission 4.divide 5.division 6.attend 7.attention 8.pollute
9.pollution 10.express 11.expression 12.educate 13.education 14.music 15.musician
16.magic 17.magician 18.physician 19.graph 20.carnivore
(*We started working with the words before spring break. The test will be this Friday, April 16.)

Some updates:
**This Wednesday (4/14)will be an "Early Release" day.
**Group picture day is Thursday (4/15).
**The Spring Carnival will be held next Friday, April 23.
**The 4th grade play is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, April 22...but might be moved to the 29th. I'll keep you posted!
**Our book fair will be next week (4/19-23).

This Week (March 22-26)

2010-03-22T12:39:00.000-07:00

Spelling Words: (homophones)
1.herd 2.heard 3.clothes 4.close 5.hour 6.our 7.two 8.too 9.their 10.there 11.ceiling 12.sealing 13.shoot 14.chute 15.strait 16.straight 17.medal 18.meddle
19.face 20.axis

We are back to our normal homework schedule this week.

Some Important Updates

2010-03-04T10:39:00.000-08:00

Here are some updates that have been posted on the homework board:
(You should also find them written in your child's planner...)

**FCAT begins on March 9 and will continue (for 4th graders) through March 11...thank you to those of you who have already sent in snacks!

**No spelling words next week (March 8-12) or the week after (March 15-19)...we are taking time off to prepare for upcoming Science and Social Studies tests that will happen the week after FCAT.

**We will be working on lesson reviews of Science and Social Studies in class. Students know that their "lesson review worksheets" should be used as study guides for the tests. The correct answers will be given in class. It is each child's responsibility to copy down the correct answers and KEEP UP WITH THEIR WORK!! I will be checking for the COMPLETION of all lesson review sheets on Friday,
March 12. As we complete a review sheet, it should travel back and forth from school to home (and then back to school again), every day.
**Science Test (The Human Body)--Tuesday, March 16
**Social Studies Test (Florida...From Territory to Statehood)--Friday, March 19

We're on the Countdown to FCAT!!

2010-03-01T05:35:00.000-08:00

FCAT begins next Tuesday, March 9. I know we will all be ready!!

This week's spelling:
1.enough 2.tougher 3.fifty 4.pharmacy 5.alphabet 6.nephew 7.trophy 8.paragraph
9.telephone 10.photograph 11. giraffe 12.forest 13.figure 14.refrigerator 15.draft
16.phrase 17.traffic 18.chief 19.erosion 20.coordination

Science:
We are continuing our studies on the HUMAN BODY...
In class, we will be working in cooperative groups to make "models" of the systems within the human body.
WE ARE NOT WORKING ON A SCIENCE PROJECT AT THIS TIME!

**Let's have a great week!!**

February 16-19

2010-02-12T13:14:00.001-08:00

Don't forget: Monday is Presidents' Day (No School!!)

Spelling Words:
1.cinder 2.circle 3.cardinal 4.cereal 5.cycle 6.concert 7.dancer 8.celebrate 9.twice
10.dangerous 11.strange 12.ledge 13.damage 14.geography 15.gentle 16.signal
17.regular 18.sugar (no 19. or 20. this week)

Science:
Students should have noted that we will have a test (covering Ch.1, lesson 1 and
Ch.2, lesson 1) on Friday, February 19.
The test will cover information on cells and plants. Review pages 7-9 and 47-49. The vocabulary terms from these lessons are: cell, nucleus, chloroplast, photosynthesis and chlorophyll.

**A big THANK YOU to all of our students for their hard work on our Writing FCAT this past week!! They were focused and ready to write!

FCAT Writes!

2010-02-01T12:34:00.000-08:00

There will be NO Spelling homework this week. Look for a Writing packet with FCAT information in your child's planner. Please review the packet, then sign and return the bottom portion of the cover sheet.
**FCAT Writes will be administered on February 9**

Spelling: (for NEXT week--the test will be Feb.12)
1.also 2.bought 3.cough 4.almost 5.false 6.officer 7.soft 8.stalk 9.halt 10.faucet
11.saucer 12.caution 13.lawyer 14.awesome 15.stall 16.crawl 17.awful 18.because
19.equivalent 20.remedies

Welcome Back!

2010-01-15T05:07:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful vacation! We are settling back in to our "normal" routine. The Writing FCAT is right around the corner! We are working to prepare for either a Narrative or an Expository prompt. The test will be administered on February 9.

We will not have a Spelling test next week because of the holiday on Monday and the planning day on Friday. I am posting the words for the following week (Jan. 25-29).

Spelling:
1.leaf 2.leaves 3.wolf 4.wolves 5.potato 6.potatoes 7.roof 8.roofs 9.family
10.families 11.library 12.libraries 13.journey 14.journeys 15.hero 16.heroes
17.ditch 18.ditches 19.narrative 20.expository

Vacation...We're Almost There!!

2009-12-15T11:03:00.000-08:00

Writing:
Rough drafts of reports are being collected BEFORE the holiday break. I will pass them back in January (with comments/suggestions). The final copies will be due after our vacation. A report rubric and checklist were sent home last week.

Science:
Mr. B suggested a site for the students to check out...I've posted a link under "Favorites"--

Our holiday party will be on Wednesday. I know we're all ready for a celebration!! (and then some rest...)

This Week (December 7-11)

2009-12-07T11:52:00.000-08:00

Spelling Words:
1.lived 2.living 3.rattle 4.rattling 5.studied 6.studying 7.traveled 8.traveling
9.changed 10.changing 11.appeared 12.appearing 13.raced 14.racing 15.hoped 16.hoping
17.wrapped 18.wrapping 19.believed 20.believing

Writing:
We're working on our reports. Students should have already completed an outline and 3 pages of 2-column notes (one for each main idea) on their topic. I've assigned a small portion of the students' rough drafts to be completed for homework each night this week. The completed rough draft will be due on Tuesday, December 15. The final copy will be due after the holidays. Please email me with any questions or concerns (permuyk@duvalschools.org). A rubric will be sent home for parents to review.

Science:
Electricity Assessment (December 8)
Moving on to MAGNETISM....

November 23-December 4

2009-11-24T08:45:00.000-08:00

I know we are all excited to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends!
Don't forget: No school Wednesday, Thursday or Friday (November 25-27)

Spelling: (Compound Words)
1.anyone 2.however 3.everything 4.himself 5.birthday 6.herself 7.somewhere
8.afternoon 9.chalkboard 10.daydream 11.downstairs 12.grandparents 13.breakfast
14.outfield 15.scarecrow 16.nobody 17.dragonfly 18.keyboard 19.cupcake 20.sunflower
The test will be on Friday (December 4).

This Week (November 16-20)

2009-11-17T12:57:00.000-08:00

Spelling: (Contractions)
1.didn't 2.that's 3.they're 4.you're 5.couldn't 6. haven't 7.o'clock 8.we're 9.isn't 10.I'm 11.it's 12.who's 13.they'd 14.could've 15.they've 16.you'll 17.don't 18.aren't 19.wasn't 20.shouldn't

Writing:
We're moving on to report writing...
This week, we're learning how to organize our work. We will also be practicing ways to gather information using 2-column notes. The students are very excited! Everyone will be able to choose their own topic to research. More information to come...

Science:
Our focus is still on electricity. In science lab this week, we experimented with conductors and insulators. Ask your child to EXPLAIN what they learned!

Science Lab: Electricity

2009-11-11T13:33:00.000-08:00

How can we light a bulb?

This Week (November 9-13)

2009-11-09T12:57:00.000-08:00

Spelling:
1.across 2.along 3.among 4.brother 5.again 6.front 7.banana 8.appear 9.compass
10.pedal 11.given 12.heaven 13.mountain 14.ocean 15.cousin 16.purchase 17.often
18.color 19.orphan 20.force

**VETERAN'S DAY (Wednesday, November 11)
NO SCHOOL!!

Science Lab: Static Electricity

2009-11-04T14:17:00.001-08:00

Working with STATIC ELECTRICITY...

This Week (November 2-6)

2009-11-03T05:42:00.000-08:00

Spelling (Time and Calendar Words):
1.Tuesday 2.Wednesday 3.Thursday 4.Saturday 5.January 6.February 7.July 8.August
9.September 10.November 11.month 12.year 13.holiday 14.autumn 15.season 16.calendar 17.second 18.minute 19.first 20.transition

Science:
**Vocabulary Quiz on Friday (November 6)**
1.static electricity 2.electric current 3.resistance 4.series circuit
5.parallel circuit

**REPORT CARDS GO HOME TODAY!! (Tuesday, November 3)**
Please review, sign, and return...

This Week (October 27-30)

2009-10-26T11:41:00.000-07:00

Spelling
(Focus: Words with double consonants)
1.follow 2.matter 3.summer 4.million 5.dollar 6.scissors 7.cattle 8.address 9.office 10.suppertime 11.blizzard 12.penny 13.wrapper 14.wallet 15.occurrence 16.village 17.collide 18.battle *19.inevitable *20.boundary

This Week (October 19-23)

2009-10-20T05:55:00.000-07:00

**Reminder: The spelling test will be this Friday, October 23. The test will include short and long 'u' words and the 10 review words for this week.
Friday is the last day of the 1st nine weeks.

Spelling Review Words:
1.neighbor 2.explain 3.receive 4.piece 5.problem 6.doughnut 7.stranger 8.display
9.vein 10.shrimp

Writer's Workshop:
Please sign and return your child's narrative piece.
This week, we'll continue to work on adding "craft" to our narratives. We will focus on dialogue with "special tags" (words that we use instead of "said"). At this point in the school year, I expect that all narratives should include the elements of a story (characters, setting, problem, events/plot, and solution). We're continuing to practice including "engaging beginnings." I'll also be introducing a lesson on interesting ways to conclude our stories.

Science:
We're wrapping up our study of "the seasons." In science lab, we'll be working with heat lamps in an activity that will help us model the amount of sunlight received during different seasons.

This Week (October 12-16)

2009-10-12T10:22:00.000-07:00

Spelling: (short 'u' and long 'u')
1.blush 2.crutch 3.crunch 4.grumpy 5.much 6.umpire 7.uncle 8.none 9.does 10.fuel
11.cute 12.cubicle 13.human 14.future 15.usual 16.uniform 17.used 18.beautiful
19.producer 20.consume

Writer's Workshop:
We practiced writing "on demand" today. Students were given a narrative prompt and 45 minutes to write. In these papers, I expect to see the strategies/ craft we've practiced this year (engaging beginning, elements of a narrative, vivid verbs, and sensory details). I will send this paper home by the end of the week for parents to review, sign, and return.

Science:
Reminder--Vocabulary Quiz on Wednesday (axis, rotation, revolution, orbit, and eclipse)

Class Notes:
Don't forget to bring in Box Tops!! Our first collection date is this Thursday, October 15.

This Week (October 5-9)

2009-10-05T09:52:00.000-07:00

Spelling (Focus: short 'o' and long 'o')
1.strong 2.wrong 3.copy 4.cloth 5.problem 6.bottom 7.whole 8.explode 9.control
10.shown 11.bowl 12.October 13.smoky 14.coach 15.throat 16.toast 17.doughnut 18.foe 19.throw 20.approach

Proudly Displaying Our Work

2009-10-05T06:37:00.001-07:00

Our first narratives are finally complete! Students were instructed to write a story about a special memory with a favorite family member. Everyone did a great job! A few students were chosen to spotlight their work on the bulletin boards outside our class...

Science Lab: Earth Models

2009-09-30T15:01:00.001-07:00

This week, in Science Lab, we made models of the Earth out of clay. We used a piece of string to represent the equator and we marked "Jacksonville" with a toothpick. Next week, we'll use our models in an activity about rotation, revolution, and the seasons.

This Week (September 28-October 2)

2009-09-28T07:43:00.000-07:00

Don't forget to sign and return your child's progress report. Please sign the yellow copy...I can make you another copy, if you'd like one to keep.

Writer's Workshop:
This week, I am reading aloud Verdi, by Janell Cannon. We will reference this book as we begin to study "authors' crafts" like strong verbs and creating a setting for our narrative writing. It is important to encourage your child to read daily. Strong readers can become strong WRITERS!!

Science:
We are finishing up our chapter on the Solar System (Ch.18). Today, students are working on a study guide for the test. The test will be one week from tomorrow (Tuesday, October 6).
In science lab this week, we will be creating a model of the Earth using clay and string. As we transition into our new chapter (Ch.17), we will be investigating the essential question: "How does the Earth move in space?"

Spelling: (focus-short 'i' and long 'i')
1.since 2.which 3.inch 4.string 5.picnic 6.shrimp 7.title 8.mind 9.wild 10.decide 11.why 12.skyscraper 13.buy 14.right 15.lightning 16.write 17.cypress 18.bicycle *19.fumble *20.factors

This Week (September 21-25)

2009-09-21T05:20:00.000-07:00

I can't believe we're almost half-way through the first 9 weeks! Progress reports go home Friday. We also have our Family Learning Night this Thursday. I hope everyone will be able to attend. I'll be posting some pictures from last Friday's "Literacy Kick-Off'" soon...I'm just waiting on a few more blog permission slips.

Writer's Workshop: After spending the first few weeks mastering rituals and routines, we are now busy working on personal narratives about a favorite memory of a special family member. We used a story map (that included the elements of a narrative) as a graphic organizer for planning. We are also learning about the steps in the writing process, as well as strategies for giving our papers an "engaging beginning."

Science: We're continuing our studies on the inner and outer planets. In science lab, we've already built two models of the solar system... using toilet paper and fruit!

Spelling: This week's focus (short 'e' and long 'e' sounds)--
1.then 2.else 3.edge 4.when 5.tenth 6.empty 7.sketch 8.spelling 9.easy 10.eager 11.sneakers 12.mean 13.fifteen 14.receive 15.piece 16.believe 17.people 18.squeeze *19.infer *20.multiple

Welcome!

2009-09-14T08:21:00.001-07:00

Welcome to our class website! You will find weekly spelling list updates here, as well as information on Writer's Workshop and Science. For more general school information, you can click on the Don Brewer link (on the right).
I hope you find this site helpful. Please feel free to contact me anytime (permuyk@duvalschools.org ) with any questions or concerns.

This week's spelling list:
(Focus- short 'a' sound and long 'a' sound)
1.fact 2.began 3.clasp 4.rapid 5.able 6.later 7.space 8.stranger 9.grade 10.display 11.main 12.explain 13.freight 14.neighbor 15.weigh 16.vain 17.April 18.ankle WORDS OF THE DAY: 19.array 20.atlas