Dear 4A Families,
Catholic Schools Week was a wonderful celebration. Thank you to all of the drivers/chaperones that took the 4th graders around to deliver certificates. I have already seen a few certificates in local businesses. Thank you also to the many parents that helped with the Grandparents lunch and any of the other activities that happened during Catholic Schools Week. We have much to be thankful for.
Mid-tri reports will be in your child’s filer on Monday. Please sign and return the envelope by the end of the week. Thank you.
Congratulations to the grade 1-4 Spelling Bee Winner, Mariella and also to Selene for an excellent performance as well. I am so proud of both girls!
Next Thursday the 14th we will celebrate Valentine’s Day but the Valentine Boxes are due on Wednesday the 13th. Hopefully the students used the light homework week last week to start working on their boxes—and —-maybe even thinking “outside of the box”. I can’t wait to see what the creative 4th grade students come up with.
Oral Biographies: The students will bring home information on the Oral Biography Project this week, and they will also be posted in the tabs above by Wednesday. I will be going over the details of this project with the students on Tuesday, and we will be practicing strategies in class that will help them plan, work through and present this project. All students need to have a their person and book selected and approved by me no later than next Thursday the 14th. The sooner the better so students can begin their reading and note taking. Presentations will be made the first week of April.
Reading: Last week the students read an informational text on Stagecoaches in preparation for our story this week; 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.
Spelling: There will be a spelling test on Friday for Unit 16. Word lists were sent home last Friday.
Religion: We will begin our study of the Sacraments this week. We will also continue to work with our Second Step lessons on respecting differences and understanding complex feelings. Being able to notice and then understand others’ feelings is an important part of empathy.
Math: Our math work will continue to focus on long division. We will also be working with area, perimeter and volume as this is a part of the Valentine Box requirement. Mastery of division facts is very important. Students that have not yet passed division on Xtramath should continue to practice nightly. Look for math homework each night this week.
Science: Last week the students took what they had learned building and testing their sails and applied it to building 3-4 windmill blades. This week they will test their blades on a working windmill and hopefully raise a cup containing weights.
Social Studies: The students will be receiving a study sheet on Thursday for our next map focus on the major rivers and lakes of the United States. There is an online practice site for this test on the 4A website under map skills called “River and Lake Review”. There is a PDF and a list of the lakes and rivers in the Map Study Sheets tab. This test will take place Thursday, March 7th, which gives the students plenty of time. If the students visit the practice site for 5 minutes each night they will learn the locations quickly! There will be a word list for this test. In class we are wrapping up our journey of Lewis and Clark this week with some final activities. Our next unit will be the Oregon Trail!
Have a great week everyone.