Dear 4A Families,
I hope you all enjoyed yet another beautiful weekend, despite the lost hour of sleep! The extra daylight hours are always nice, but the time change can throw off the sleep schedules a bit.
We have a very special event this Friday. The “Of Cedar and Salmon” program will be set up in the School Hall all day just for the 3rd and 4th grade students. This multi-media, multi-cultural, hands-on educational program is designed to teach students about the native art and culture of the Pacific Northwest Coast. This program supports and supplements the 3rd and 4th grade studies of Native People and cultures. Parents are welcome to come at any point during the day to check out the displays and program.
If you have not yet requested an oral biography time slot and still would like to, please do so by this Thursday. I will finalize the schedule on Friday, randomly assigning the remaining students their time. Let me know if you have any questions.
Only two weeks until presentations begin!
At this point the students should be quite involved in their topic having read their main book, and perhaps reread portions. Note taking is the next step. Dividing the subject’s life into sections can help. Focus on one section at a time, beginning with for example; childhood, then schooling/education, young adult, adult, etc. During this time other sources of information should be included and added to notes. It is always better to have more information than needed as it can be removed later.
Plenty of time should be saved to practice. Students should practice in front of mirrors, family and friends. Pacing, expression, voice projection should be areas of focus. With practice comes confidence. The students should know their topic well—when they do their presentation will be fun!
Lent: This Thursday the 12th the students are invited and encouraged to attend the 7:45 am Mass. This is the day I have signed up 4A. If your child is able to attend they should plan to arrive on time. I will be sitting on the on the “school side pews” fairly near the front.
Just a reminder that 4th grade has “adopted” St. Vincent de Paul as our year-long outreach focus. Thank you for your monetary donations. When we get closer to Holy Week I will advise you as to any other needs they have. Thank you so much.
Brown Bag Friday: There has been an amazing number of lunches brought in last two Fridays by the school. This Friday we will again collect lunches and the extra item for March 13th – disposable razors/shaving cream (sample size) Thank you!
Math: We are moving into our fraction units. Our study of fractions is being reinforced in music class as well as students learn to read and understand musical notes. Look for corrected division tests from last week. I scored the test in two parts, the front page as basic computation, the back page as problem solving and computation. As I mentioned last week I will give the students time to work on their homework in class whenever possible to reduce extra homework as they work on their biography projects.
Reading: This week we will read “Riding Freedom” a historical fiction story about a young woman who overcomes many challenges in order to reach her goal of becoming a stagecoach driver. We will consider the essential question, “What traits to successful people have?” Metaphor, personification, compare and contrast will be integrated skills as we read.
Spelling: Lesson 16 words were passed out last Friday. The test will take place this Friday as usual.
Religion: Lent will continue to be a focus in our religion lessons. We will be incorporating our Steps to Respect lessons and begin our unit on the Ten Commandments—all of which work together nicely. Our focus will be on how the Ten Commandments apply to our actions and choices today.
Nicene Creed: The students did a great job with their memorization of the first section of the Nicene Creed. The second section needs to be recited by March 19th.
Check your child’s filer for lots of corrected tests and assignments including spelling( 2), division test, reading test and work.
Enjoy the week!