Dear 4A Families,

Happy Spring and 4th Week of Lent. I hope you all had a great weekend. We have a wonderful week of learning ahead in 4th grade this week. The Book It Theater play that was postponed, is rescheduled for this Tuesday. We are excited to have them come to perform. 

Report Cards will be emailed home this Friday.  We are proud of the progress the students are making, and excited for a very successful final trimester. Be sure you also check your child’s filer for a goldenrod colored paper with information about the guidelines for fifth grade math placement.

Lenten Outreach Thank you for your generous contributions to St. Martin de Porres and the Rice Bowl for our Lenten giving. This week the collections are as follows:

Friday March 24th St. Martin de Porres:

Last Names A-L: Men’s deodorant (regular or travel sized), toothbrushes, toothpaste (travel size toothpaste)

Last Names M-Z: Brown Bag Lunches (perishable OK)

Religion: We will be finishing up our study of each of the Sacraments and the students will use their notes to complete a test for understanding this week.   Just a reminder that all students need to be able to recite the Memorare from memory by April 5th at the latest.

Early next week we will be teaching our second Save Environment lesson of the year. The topic for the spring lesson is: Empowering children to tell a safe adult when something bad, uncomfortable, or confusing happens is an important aspect of child safety. Students will be able to identify the boundary differences between secrets, surprises and promises. We will also discuss that boundary rules apply to online activities.  Parents can also access the content of lessons (for all grades) and an overview of the program here.  If you do not want your child to take part in our lesson  you will need to fill out this opt out form.

Language Arts: This week the students are working on their initial entry for their Flat Stanley Journals. Each student is creating a flat person that will be going on adventures with your family.  Our plan is for each student to have two similar flat people, so that one can perhaps be kept in the car—always ready for a great  photo opp, like a trip to Costco, the dentist, a haircut, bike ride, beach etc.  Anything can become a story.  The laminated Flat people should be coming home by Friday this week. More information about this project and what the students will need to create at home will be coming as a separate packet and will be in your child’s filer by Friday as well. 

Oral Biography Project:  Now that the students have their biography choices approved it is all about the reading.  Students should plan to read through their book twice during this initial phase.  As they read students use their sticky notes to mark pages/events that they plan to use in their talks.  They should jot down ideas/reasons like, “I will use this scene for my brilliant beginning”, or “Be sure to include this quote.”  When they get to the stage of writing their note cards they can use the stickies to help organize their thoughts.  Remember, along with their main bio, students should have at least two additional sources of information.  This could be another book, internet research, even a movie if applicable.  Please keep track of the sources so the students have them when we create our bibliographies in class. 

Spelling: This week’s words were passed out last Friday.    The test will be Friday the 24th.

Reading:  Students begin the novel, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Prior to reading, we build background by learning about the great artist, painter and sculptor: Michelangelo. Students are exposed to the characteristics of Renaissance art, as well as Michelangelo’s early life.

Math: As we began our unit on fractions last week the students reviewed prime and composite numbers as well as factors and multiplies.  This week, students work with equivalent fractions using the terms: numerator (number on top of a fraction) and denominator (number on bottom of a fraction), and simplest form.  As you know, reducing fractions to the simplest form involves multiplication and division!  Keep up on that fact practice.

Social Studies:  Our journey on the Oregon Trail continues—and the students may even have a chance to play the old school version of the Oregon Trail game!  The River and Lake test will be this Friday, March 24th.  The students know where to access the online practice site from the 4A page.  Only the rivers and lakes traced with thick black are required.  The others are extra credit.

Science: Students will be finishing up the last lesson in Unit 3: Brain, Nerves, and Information Processing. Students will be able to learn how our brain works and functions. Students explore the brain’s role in receiving information from the senses, processing that information, and controlling the muscles to enable movement. In the activity, Think Fast! students test their reflexes with two very quick experiments and one more involved activity. They learn about how we process information in our brains and then respond to that information in different ways.

Have a wonderful week everyone. Thank you for all you do!