Dear 4A Families,
Happy spring and last week of March. Last Tuesday Mrs. Podell had her beautiful baby girl; Carolyn Macaire. We are so happy for the Podell family and we welcome sweet Carolyn to the world. We also welcome Laurie Farmer as Mrs. Podell’s substitute while she is on maternity leave. She is excited to get to know the students this week.
Oral Biography Presentations:
This week we will have the first of our oral biography presentations. Brady, Gavin and Corbin will all present this Friday. I know the students have been working very hard to prepare. These oral biographies are such a wonderful experience for the students, involving a great variety of skills. The students will all be proud of themselves as they complete this challenging and rewarding assignment.
Just a couple of reminders:
Students should bring in their bibliographies on the day they present. Sources can written on the template I sent home with the students or written on a separate piece of paper. Parents, please let the students write these citations themselves. This is a skill they will be using more and more often as they move up the grades. You can assist/support as needed.
Keep in mind that the speeches need to be a minimum of 5 minutes and a maximum of about 10. Students generally talk faster at school—so it should be a longer than 5 minutes at home to be safe. Please let me know if you have any questions related to the presentation.
Students should bring their costumes and props to school on their presentation day. They will have time to change before they present.
Students should remember to include a brilliant beginning–no staring with “Hi my name is”. The brilliant beginning is often a small reenactment of an important event in the person’s life. The conclusion is also an important element and should not be an afterthought. This is in the student’s own words, they will go out of character at this point. Be sure to take time to review the grading rubric and expectations this week.
Please let me know if you have any questions related to the presentation.
Lenten Outreach Reminders:
Grade 4 Lenten Outreach Overview:
- St. Martin de Porres Friday lunches. The next lunch collection is this Friday, March 29. Remember, these lunches can be perishable as they are distributed the same day. Making a lovely lunch or two is a wonderful Thursday evening family service activity. Thank you for your generosity to those less fortunate.
- Additional Items collected on the 29th along with the lunches are:
- Last name A-M men’s gloves
- Last name M-Z men’s socks
- All families are encouraged to support the Rice Bowl collection.
- In April, both 4th grade classes are signed up to bring in Lunches of Love. Mrs. Robel’s class is bringing in lunches the first week of April. The 4th grade classes can bring in lunches anytime from April 8-19. We will decorate a lunch bag in class next week and create a special card for the lunches that will come home for you to fill by next Friday the 5th.
“It’s not how much we give
but how much love we put into giving.”
— Mother Teresa
Math: “Fraction Action” is our focus in 4th grade. Equivalent fractions, simplest form, mixed numbers, improper fractions, adding and subtracting are all part of our upcoming lessons. As you know, working with fractions is very dependent on mastery of multiplciation and division. Continue review to solidify quick recall should remian a part of regular math homework. We will continue to work to complete most math homework at school this week to give time to work on oral bioraphies.
Language Arts: On Monday the students will be bringing home a direction packet for the Flat Stanley project. We will be completing the first entry at school this week, and then the journals and Flat People will come home on Friday. The first journal entry will be completed at school. Please read over the directions with your child so that you are aware of the expectations for this project. This journal is meant to be a showcase for quality writing. Students are required to complete 5 entries (or more if they want) by the due date of May 22nd. That provides plenty of time to create quality entries.
Spelling: Spelling words for Unit 19 were sent home last Friday. This test will be this Friday as usual.
Reading: We will be finishing up some activities related to our story from last week, Hercules. We will then be moving into a novel unit of the wonderful story From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.
Social Studies: Last week we set up our Oregon Trail simulation and shopped for the trip. The student “family groups” will work through the trials and tribulations of the trail, and hope to make it to Oregon Territory!
Science: Last week we switched gears away from different types of energy and began our Earth Science Unit on rocks, minerals, and soil. We began by looking at different types of minerals and how they are formed. This week we will look at their different characteristics and how they are categorized. Students are encouraged to bring in any rocks or minerals that they have at home to share with the class if they forgot last week. Please make sure the rocks and/or minerals are in bags with the student’s name on it. Thanks!
Religion: We will continue with our study of the Ten Commandments this week. The students will watch a video vinettes that show how the Ten Commandments are relevant in our lives today. We will also be doing our second Touching Safety 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. Look for an overview of the lesson to come home with your child by Friday. Look for a goldenrod half sheet of paper stapled to the worksheet the students filled out for parents and students to sign and return by next Tuesday. Thank you! You can also access the content and an overview of the program here.
Homework Overview:
- Oral Biography!!
- Spelling test Friday
- Math homework if not completed in class
Have a nice week everyone—April here we come!
