Dear 4A Families,
Happy Valentine’s week. I want to send out a big thank you to our wonderful room mom Heather Slee and all that assisted with the auction project last Friday, and that will be assisting with our Valentine party this Thursday. The students need to bring in their special Valentine boxes on Thursday. We will be doing several activities and our math work based on the boxes and the grid planning sheet. Be sure that the planning sheet comes in with the boxes. Of course, students should bring in their Valentines as well! Thursday
is free dress/Valentine theme. Students may wear pink, white, red. No face paint or hair dye. Thursday is also a half-day.
Speaking of the love and kindness that Valentine’s Day brings—this week is also Random Acts of Kindness Week. As part of our Steps to Respect lessons we will be working to incorporate the Random Acts of Kindness goal of spreading kindness. The students will also be challenged to refrain from any unkind words or actions—and if they do slip up to make a sincere apology. Students also need to let their classmates know how they feel if an unkind comment is given. Our society is filled with examples of disrespect, talking back, and violence. It is easy to get wrapped up in this part of our culture—but there is so much good going on as well—and our goal will be to focus on the positive in people—beginning with us! Thank you for your support at home—keeping the kindness going—encouraging acts of kindness at home as well
Reading/LA: Our reading focus continues to be on biographies. This week we will read the story of José Limón a pioneer in the field of modern dance and choreography. The students will be doing a writing project in class related to biographies as well. As part of the “mini-bio” writing project the students will get a chance to practice selecting important information and speaking in front of the class which will aid in their preparation for their large biography project.
Oral Biography: The next step is to read—and take notes. I will be talking with the students about time management suggestions for this big project in class this week. To begin, students might want to have a pad of sticky notes to mark pages/passages that they would like to include in their reports. They can then come back to these pages later and take down specific notes. Students should write a little reminder on the sticky note as to what they wanted to remember on that page. As they read they should focus on the facts of their subject’s life—of course—but also look for fun stories or anecdotes to include in their presentations.
Remember, presentations will be made from March 18-27. Students should be putting most of their effort at this point into reading and learning all they can about their chosen person. Books should be read more than once if at all possible.
Math: Last week we began our work with long division. As you know and will see with homework, when multiplication facts do not come quickly, long division is extra challenging. I have moved all students to division on Xtramath (except for those that have already passed). Keep working on those facts. The time students put into mastering them is well worth the lifelong benefit. Remember, nightly practice is expected for all students that do not know their facts automatically. 5 focused minutes a night is all it takes
Social Studies: We will be working our way over the Rocky Mountains this week with the help of the Shoshone horses that Sacagawea helped the Corps acquire.
- There will be a spelling test this Thursday the 12th for lesson 19. Words were sent out last Friday. There is no spelling test next week.
- Valentine boxes are due on Thursday as well. Don’t forget grid model sheet as well.
- Math work Monday and Tuesday related to long division. Thank you for checking over your child’s work for accuracy.
- Oral Biography
That is about all for this week. Lots of great learning will be happening in 4th grade in the coming weeks. Thank you for helping to keep your child organized at home with his/her studies. Please let me know if you have any questions or need any help from me.
Remember, this Thursday is a half-day and there is no school on Monday and Tuesday next week.
I hope you all have a fun winter mini-break.
