Happy First Week of March!
February came and went very quickly! We have some exciting projects ahead, including the Oral Biography. Last Friday we spent a good chunk of the afternoon organizing our filers, boxes and desks. From this point forward, the students should be keeping their planners in the very front pocket. This pocket is also where 
students are asked to keep graded tests and papers to show to you! I have been finding many corrected papers loose in their desks and boxes. Please check this front pocket regularly. Also, if you have papers you want your children to give to me, they should put it in that pocket as well. The items for
each subject area are now placed behind the tab, so Math is now the second pocket. Thank you for helping your child keep the filer organized. The papers in the filer will contain work in progress (other than the very front pocket).
Oral Biographies: The students will bring home information on the Oral Biography Project this week, and the directions will posted in an Oral Biography tab on the website. I will be going over the details of this project with the students on Monday, and we will be practicing strategies in class that will help them plan, work through and present this project. All students need to have biography choice approved by me no later than next Wednesday, March 10th. Please refer to the information sheet when choosing a biography choice. We have a good selection of books in our classrooms, and have pulled some books from the library for the students to select from as well. It is good to have more than one choice, as we prefer to have no duplicates. Presentations will be made between April 28th to May 6th.
Lent: Grade 4 Lenten Outreach Overview:
- Collecting for Uganda. We’re asking students to each bring $10 during Lent to help boost our Uganda collection. We’ve reminded the students to come up ways to earn their $10 to donate to Uganda. Our overall school collection has been low due to remote learning, so this is a great opportunity.
- Rice Bowls. The students are learning about Catholic Relief Services and how the Rice Bowl money is spend around the world to help those in need!
Thank you so much for your support!
Girls on the Run!: We have 4 spots left on our Girls on the Run team! Girls on the Run is a program just for girls that focuses on learning social skills, building self-confidence, and promoting healthy habits for mind and body. Ms. McNerney and Ms. Benson will coach this season, and we are going to pay special attention to the safety of all girls. The program will run on Tuesdays and Thursdays after school until 4:30, and it will start on Tuesday, March 30th. If you’d like to register, you can do so here. If you have questions, please contact Ms. Benson at kbenson@holyrosaryws.org, watch our short video HERE, or visit the Girls on the Run website here. Finally, you can find more detailed information about our Holy Rosary site here. We can’t wait to see you at Girls on the Run!
Religion: We will be wrapping up our work on the Sacraments this week. Corrected Sacrament tests from last week are in your child’s filer. The students will be taking and “Open Note and Book” test on the Sacraments this week. Lent remains the heart of all of our religion lessons. The students will be introduced to the Ten Commandments as our next religion unit begins. We will focus on how the Ten Commandments apply to our actions and choices today.
Math: We are about ready to wrap up the long division chapter. Students have been gaining confidence, and all of them have been working hard. Students will continue to have homework about 2x per week. The extra practice will help with understanding the concepts more fully, and it will prepare students for fifth grade and beyond, where homework will be a more regular occurrence. Please check in with your child and their homework each week. Thank you for your support!
Science: This week, we are continuing our discussion of rocks and volcanoes. We will think about the following question: Why do some volcanoes explode? We will be doing a class demonstration that illustrates different types of lava and their thickness. Normally, children would work in small groups with the materials, but due to our current situation, we will be doing a whole class demonstration. I’m encouraging all students to do this experiment at home. Please go to the science tab for the materials and instructions.
Social Studies: Look for corrected 50 State tests in your child’s filer. We will be wrapping up our work on Lewis and Clark this week. Next we move to a study of early settlers, starting with the Oregon Trail. Our next map focus will be on the major rivers of the United States. The students will start some online review this week. Knowledge of the rivers will be important as we move forward in our studies of the Oregon Trail and Washington State History.
Reading: Students should be practicing their Miracle on Ice/Coach Brooks fluency. The students should memorize portions of the speech, and be able to recite the speech with fluency, expression and heart! They should use PVLEGS to guide their practice. The students will be making a video of themselves reciting the speech on Friday and submitting to Seesaw. Parents, please help with the video. If you use the camera on their iPad it is easy to post to Seesaw. In class we are working through a special selection on Sacagawea. The students will be writing and illustrating a “journal” from her point of view as we focus on the target skill of visualizing.
Language Arts: The students will be starting a writing project in class called the “mini-bio.” This is not the same person they will do for their big Oral Biography project, but along with the Miracle on Ice reading fluency assignment, will help them prepare for their oral biography presentations.
Spelling: There is a spelling test this week. I passed out the new spelling lists to the students on Thursday and they should be in their filers.
Have a great week everyone!
Mary
