Dear 4A Families,
Catholic Schools Week was a wonderful celebration. Thank you to all of the families that have or will be delivering certificates to our local businesses.
Congratulations to all of the 4th graders who did so well on our class spelling bee. We had to complete many rounds before we were able to name our two class winners, Rowen and Presley. Well done!
Mid-tri reports: With all the excitement on Friday I did not remember to pass out the mid-tri reports to the students. They will be in their filers on Monday! Please sign the envelope and return. You will keep the mid-tri.
Students should bring their Valentine boxes and cards to school on Monday, February 14th. The students will share their Valentine Box creations with the class. I can’t wait to see what the creative 4th grade students come up with! All students will be provided with a class list on Monday they can use to write their Valentines.
Math: Students continue to practice long division, adding longer dividends into the hundreds and thousands. This week, students will sometimes need to use zero as a placeholder, which can be tricky. Here is a link to a video that explains the basic steps of long division in case your child needs a reminder at home: long division Keep in mind that it is normal for students to need extra 1:1 help when first learning this and your support & patience at home is very much appreciated.
Reading: This week we will finish discussing the story, Riding Freedom. This wonderful story is based on the true story of a girl that overcomes many challenges to pursue her dream of becoming a stagecoach driver. The biographies we have read in the past few weeks have led to discussions of the traits that have made these people successful. Qualities like grit, perseverance, determination, compassion, overcoming obstacles, courage, faith and so many more have been highlighted.
Spelling: There will be a spelling test this Thursday for Unit 16.
Language Arts: We begin our “Flat Stanley” creative-writing unit. Students read the book Flat Stanley, a story about a boy who is accidentally flattened but makes the best of his situation in a variety of amusing adventures. Using this as a model, students create their own “Flat Person” whose point of view will guide a project in which students tell of their Flat Person’s adventures alongside their fourth grade pal. Over the next several weeks, students will write journal entries–some written at school & some at home–detailing actual and embellished activities fourth graders experience “with” their Flat Person. More details will be sent home next week as the project unfolds. Throughout the project, students will focus on developing traits of good writers: ideas & content, voice, organization, word choice, sentence fluency, conventions and presentation.
Religion: This week we began a new religion unit on the Seven Sacraments. The students will be required to memorize the names and categories of each of the Sacraments for a test on February 18th. In class the students will be learning about each sacrament in depth.
Science: Students will explore how solid rock breaks apart into smaller pieces through a process called weathering (including root-wedging and ice-wedging.) They perform an experiment with sugar cubes to understand why some rocks at the top of mountains are jagged while others at the bottom are rounded.
Social Studies: The 50 state test will be next on Monday, February 14th. I will give the students time during their SS class to practice, but they should plan on practicing at home as well to solidify the locations. Remember, I will provide a list of abbreviations for the students to use for this test. This week we will begin our study of the Oregon Trail!
Have a great week everyone.