Dear 4A Families,
I hope you all had a nice first weekend of March.
Lent: Grade 4 Lenten Outreach Overview:
- Collecting for Uganda. Please send in at least a dollar (or more). Our overall school collection goal came up quite short last month.
- Rice Bowls
- St. Martin de Porres Friday lunches. These can be perishable as they will be distributed same day. The remaining extra items are as follows: March 9th: Travel size toothpaste and toothbrushes, March 23: Men’s socks.
Each grade also selects an addional organization to support. Grade 4 has been supporting St. Vincent de Paul Society for many years. This year we are collecting socks (Men’s, women’s and children’s)) and blankets. Blankets can be gently used. These items need to be to school no later than Thursday, March 29th. Thank you for your support.
Religion: We will be wrapping up our work on the Sacraments this week. Lent remains the heart of all of our relgion lessons. The students will be introduced to the Ten Commandments as our new religion unit. We will focus on how the Ten Commandments apply to our actions and choices today. Our Second Step lessons will focus on joining in and showing compassion.
Math: Our classwork will be focusing on divsion of larger numbers (long division). This is a skill, like multi-digit multiplicaiton, that takes focused practice to master the algorithm. Just as important is the problem solving piece of our classwork. Students will need to be able to identify the operations that are needed to complete multi-step story problems especially as realated to multiplciation and division. Check your child’s filer for corrected tests from last week.
Social Studies: Corrected river and lake tests will be in your child’s filer on Monday.I was do proud of how well the students prepared for this test. Knowledge of the rivers will be important as we move forward in our studies. We are wrapping up our study of the Lewis and Clark Expedition and moving into our unit on the Oregon Trail.
Reading/LA: We continue with our study of myths and folktales. Students are learning about adages and proverbs along with the elements of the Hero’s Journey. This week we will be comparing the myth Hercules with a traditional folktale.
Oral Biography Projects: Students should be finished or close to finished reading their books at this point. Note taking should be the main goal as they re-read portions of the story they have selected to include in their presentaions. Organizing notes into sections like; childhood, young adulthood, adult/main accomplishments/ later years can help with planning. Focus on one section at a time, plan and write notes, then practice that section before moving on. Remember, these areas need to be included in the presentation. I realize not all of the biograpy choices will have all of these sections (example, Anne Frank will not have an adult section).
- Brilliant beginning that catches the audiences attention. This is often an exciting or important moment of the person’s life
- Childhood/family information
- Schooling/occupations
- Important accomplishments and how they were reached—be sure to include times of struggle and how challenges were overcome
- Later years
- Final thoughts when the student speaks in his or her own voice explaining what they most admire and how this person has positively impacted our world and what we can learn from this person.
I shared some examples of past presentations last week. This week I will be going over all of this again with the students this week and answering any questions they have. The students will also learn about bibliographies and how to write them. Stuents will come home with an instuction sheet to create their bibliographies with their sources of inforamtion. Remember, at least three sources of information are required for this project.
Spelling: Lesson 18 spelling words were passed out last Friday. The test will take place this Friday as usual.
Homework includes oral biogarphy preparations, math work most nights if not completed at school and studying spelling words. On Monday night you will be completing a quick follow-up to our Second Step lesson on perspectives. Thank you for filling out your portion and sending it back to school on Tuesday.
Save the Date for the HRS School Play!
Bring your whole family on the evenings of March 7th and 8thto enjoy Holy Rosary Drama Department’s debut of Porridgegate! This play is full of mystery, intrigue, humor and whimsical entertainment!
When: Wednesday, March 7th & Thursday, March 8th @ 7:00 pm
Where: Holy Rosary School, Main Entrance: School Hall
Cost: Donations warmly accepted at the door
*Delicious treats & refreshments will be available from our Concession Stand.
Have a great first full week of March everyone.