Naaktgeboren's Class Blog

Greetings Families, Today, I told my students before we started the spelling bee that I hate administering the spelling bee. I like the spelling bee itself, but I hate seeing students who worked so hard misspell a word. It is gut-wrenching. None-the-less, it is a worthwhile school tradition. I first want to note how happy I am and how proud I am of the scholars who chose to participate. In my four prior years of teaching, I've never had so many students choose to participate. We had many students make it to the third and fourth rounds. I'm very proud of the effort they made, and they should be proud of their achievement. 4B Spelling Bee Winner and First Runner-Up I am proud to announce the winner and first runner-up of this year's 4B spelling bee. The winner of the 4B spelling bee is Madyn. The first runner-up is Emily. Madyn will move on to compete in the school spelling bee with her 1st-5th-grade peers. Emily will attend the event as the first runner-up. If Madyn...

Monday - No Test or Quizzes Tuesday - Science Quiz - Meteorology Wednesday: Spelling Bee (class spelling bee to determine who will represent 4B in the school bee) Thursday: Math Quiz and Greek and Latin Roots Review Check (1-44) Friday: History Quiz (Arizona) and Science Test (Meteorology) Science Quiz Study Questions 1. ____________________ measures atmospheric pressure. 2. ____________________ move in a consistent direction over time. 3. ___________________________ is caused by global winds curving from the Earth’s rotation. 4. All weather happens in the _____________________. 5. A _____________________ is created when two air masses of different temperatures and humidity meet. 6. ________________ are big storms that form over the ocean. 7. _______________________ are the scientists who read, study and analyze the weather report. History Quiz Study Questions 1. How many regions is Arizona divided into? 2. What is Arizona's most important water source? 3. What are Ar...

Greetings Families, Here are the lessons for next week. Lessons Writing/Grammar : Students will complete the essay we are writing as a class. They will work on typing their essays on Monday and will practice revision on Tuesday. If the students are able to keep the schedule, they will turn their attention back to grammar on Wednesday. Commas splicing, sentence fragments, and run-on-sentences will be the focus of their study. Comma splicing: joining two independent clauses with only a comma Incorrect: John ate cake, Sara had a burger. ( two dependent clauses ) Correct: John ate cake, but Sara had a burger. ( but - coordinate conjunctions need a comma ) Correct: John ate cake while Sara had a burger. ( while - subordinate conjunctions do not need a comma) Sentence fragments: using a dependent clause as a sentence Incorrect: While the dogs barked. ( dependent clause ) Correct: The cats ran while the dogs barked.  Correct: White the dogs barked, the cats ran. Ru...

Greetings Families, As I sit at home this evening, I am reminded of the great privilege I have as your child's teacher. Each year, Mr. Gillingham interviews many candidates who desire to be your child's teachers. Many great applicants are denied the opportunity I have to shepherd and teach your child. I do not know why I have been graced with the gift when others have not. For that favor, I am tremendously grateful. As a teacher, there are many benefits I enjoy that often go unknown to many. For some, teaching a child math is simply giving them skills to perform operations. However, math teaches the soul to desire order and truth. There is something wonderful about knowing that two plus two will always equal four and that the earth will always follow its elliptical orbit. In history, students not only learn facts about things of the past. They wrestle with the human condition and understand the complexity of virtue and vice. They see that the lives our ancient kinsmen in tr...

Greetings Families, I hope you are enjoying your weekend and that you are looking forward to a short week and the holiday to come. I have my father-in-law and a niece and nephew coming in for the holiday. I'm hoping we can do something fun with them over the time we are here. I'm thinking the zoo might be a good option since my family has memberships and we can do that for free. Homework Survey The headmasters are surveying your thoughts on homework. Here is a short blurb they've asked to be put on the blog. In an effort to provide a fruitful homework experience for our scholars, we rely on the feedback of our families. Parents, please share your feedback by completing this homework survey I do ask that you take the time to complete this survey. I think fourth grade had around a 30% survey response last time. With such a low response rate, it is difficult to know whether the survey represents all of the fourth-grade families. Last time, the results suggested tha...

Greetings Families, I hope you have enjoyed your long weekend. This morning, I was able to take my three oldest to the Phoenix Zoo. It was a nice chilly morning. Here are the lessons for this week. Lessons Grammar/Writing : This week and next, students will start their first major writing project. Students will be writing about the importance of water conservation and what steps can be taken to conserve water. This writing project will be very teacher lead and teacher guided. The students' essays will likely all be very similar, it not the same. Students will be graded on their effort and contributions. History : This week, the whole week's worth of lessons will take place on Tuesday, Wednesday, and first thing Thursday morning. I'll place the schedule for the presentation below. Please remember that if you plan on attending your child's presentation, you need to be at the classroom at the start of the block time and prepare to stay for the entire block. Ther...

Greetings Families, I've already had one student bring their project in a week early. Please consult the calendar on the blog for your child's specific presentation time. Projects begin next Tuesday, November 13. Best, Michael Naaktgeboren

Greetings Families, I hope your off to a good start on your weekend. The students seemed excited for the half day. Some of them didn't even realize it. Here is the lessons for next week. Lessons Math : Students have completed their study of adding and subtracting fractions with a test today. Overall, the students didn't do as well as I had hoped. Many failed because they don't know their math facts. Others failed because they didn't follow the pattern we had used every day in class and on homework. They tried to do the math in their head and got it wrong. Most who did poorly did so because of the word problems. This is often the case. It is my hope that students will start mastering their multiplication facts, following the patterns for solving problems I am teaching, and learning how to think through word problems. Next week in math, students will study mixed numbers. They will understand that a whole number and faction go tother to make mixed numbers. How to...

Greetings Families, If you were able to make it to Read-a-Thon and took some pictures, please send them to me. They are looking for pictures to put on Facebook. Thank you for your support. Best, Michael Naaktgeboren