Welcome to a new school year!

This is an exciting time of year to be a teacher. The new school supplies have arrived--piles of pencils, paper, and folders just waiting for your good ideas. I am unpacking all of my favorite books and materials. I am learning the names of the new fourth graders by typing labels and making class lists. Soon, the new school year will begin!

I am always interested in learning and love to find out about new things. On this blog, you'll find links that go along with what we are learning in school, as well as links to other interesting sites that you might enjoy.

Reading

We'll begin our school year by learning about story elements. You can review story elements by visiting this website to see how the elements of a story work together.

Math
Get ready for fourth grade math! You can practice basic facts at this site, "That's a Fact". You can practice each operation on its own, or mixed operations for more of a challenge.

Social Studies
Our first social studies unit will be about maps. We'll look at all of the different ways that people use maps. One of our activities will be hurricane tracking. You can visit this site to find out the latest information about hurricanes.

You may also enjoy looking at all of the resources available on this National Geographic map site for kids.

Science
The big science news of this week? The landing of the Mars Rover Curiosity! You can find out all about Curiosity, as well as check out an interactive 3D rover, at this NASA website.

Our first unit will be about scientific inquiry. If you want to try out an easy experiment at home, try "Tie-Dyed Milk" at Cool Science. Of course, be sure that your parents have given you permission! (We'll do a version of this activity once school begins, as well.)

Your comments needed
If you have visited any of the links or enjoyed reading the blog, please be sure to leave a comment. You may leave an anonymous comment or leave your first name only. All comments to this blog are moderated--that means that I check them before they are posted. :) 

Mrs. Kissner