Dear 4A Families, 
We got off to an excellent start with the Oral Biographies last week presented by Meredith, Duke and Thomas! We have another big week of bios ahead, which will be great fun. I am so proud of all the hard work the students have put into this challenging project! We look forward to the rest of the presentations this week! Just so you know, after the students present they will be given a pink reflection sheet to fill out about the project and their presentation. We ask the students to complete these at home with family support. Reflections should be neatly and thoughtfully completed. Please return the reflections no more than two days after your child’s presentation, along with the bibliography sheet. We started this at school a couple of weeks ago. If you are missing the form you can copy another one here. Thank you.
Last Call for Lunches of Love! Thank you all.
Math: We continue with chapter nine, Operations with Fractions. We will do our best to give the students time to get their HW started in class this week as well.
Language Arts: Students learn about diamanté poems and how to use good word choice in order to include nouns, adjectives and adverbs in their poems.
Spelling: The spelling words for the week were sent home with the students last Wednesday. The spelling test will be Friday, May 3rd.
Flat Stanley: I would like the students to bring in their flat people and their journals this week to do some finishing up work with our “At School” entry.
Reading: Students read chapter 6 in The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. This week, our target skill focus is on analyzing passages from the chapter and determining the author’s purpose. Guided discussion questions help focus our attention on important details that arise as the mystery unfolds. Students have been taking short comprehension quizzes after each chapter. These are sent home each week.
Religion: We are starting our studies of The Beatitudes which teach us what we need to do to be truly happy. They guide us in the ways we can live the Great Commandment and love one another. Along with our textbook, the students are watching short videos of students close to their age in everyday life at home and school living the Beatitudes. After each video we write “Live Its” that describe ways we can LIVE the Beatitudes each day.
Science: In the second lesson, students explore how energy can be stored as height. In the activity, Bumper Coasters (Part I), students build paper roller coasters. Students release marbles down the roller coaster track to understand height energy and energy transfer.
Social Studies: Early Seattle history is our focus. Topics include the Denny Party, the crazy history of the building of early Seattle, the Great Seattle Fire and the Klondike Gold Rush.
Happy May Day on Wednesday! Here’s to a great week ahead.
