Week of November 8th

Dear 4A Families,

Happy Veterans Day Week! Just as a reminder, there is no school this coming Thursday, November 11th in honor of Veterans Day.  

We want to send out one more huge thank you to all of the 4th grade families for everything you did to help your children prepare for the lovely All Saints’ Day Masses last week. We were so proud of the excellent job all of the students did reading and representing their saints during the masses and when we shared via Zoom with the kindergarten classes.

We have another special event this week when we have our class prayer service on Wednesday honoring the veterans the students wrote about on their flags. We are looking forward to this very special event. In order to be ready to share, your child should complete their Veterans Day Flag Project no later than Monday, November 8th.

Auction: The auction, our largest fundraiser of the year, is ready for your family donations. Please enter your cash or tangible donation here by December 3.

Conferences: Or, as we like to call them, Celebrations of Learning will be held on Monday, November 22nd, Tuesday, November 23rd, and Wednesday, November 24th. Please check the eFC for more information from Ms Horton.  There will be both an in-person and Zoom option. NOTE: If there are no more in-person options that work for you, and you’d like to come in person, please contact me to schedule a time. We will make all in-person conferences work. Just a reminder, all students are expected to attend their Celebration of Learning with their parents. They will be leading some of the discussion. I’m very much looking forward to these Celebrations!

Religion:  We will be starting our next religion unit on the Corporal Works of Mercy.  As Advent approaches, this is the perfect time of year to focus on how we are called to help those less fortunate. Just a reminder that all month the school is collecting canned goods for the HR St. Vincent de Paul Society.  

Language Arts: We will be starting a Thanksgiving Gratitude Project this week. Students will be asked to think deeply and thoughtfully about what they are thankful for. In addition, we are asking that students, as a Thanksgiving service project, contribute to the St. Vincent DePaul food drive. Please help your child find a way to earn her/his item(s) to donate (chores, helping a neighbor with leaves, etc.). Each child will also write a note to go along with the donation. Thank you for your support. We are definitely grateful for you!

Spelling:  Spelling words this week are long and short “u” sounds. Lists were sent home last Friday.  This test will be this Friday, November 12th.

 Reading: This week, we will be reading chapters 8-10. Students are expected to be more independent as we choose high quality quotes and explore new vocabulary from each chapter. We are also working on reading fluently. This includes expression, smoothness, and accuracy. Reading fluency directly impacts comprehension. Finally, students are analyzing characters and choosing character traits based on evidence from the story

Math: Next up…multi-digit multiplication! This chapter will have a large focus on understanding multiplication and solving for large products. It is very important that students continue their daily practice (in and out of class) of multiplication facts. Thank you for your continued support of regular fact practice at home.  Students should complete Xtramath at home at least 4 times a week until facts are mastered for automatic recall. 

Social Studies:    On Tuesday the 9th, the students will take the SE State test. They need to know both the abbreviations and locations.  Friday November 19th,  the students will be tested on the combination of the NE and SE states.   They will have a study sheet in their filer on Monday, and can also review with the online links provided on the webpage. We will start our journey with Lewis and Clark this week learning about how they packet for this epic journey, and well as learn about some of the crew members they hired.

Science: This week, we will finish up our brain model projects by exploring the Peripheral Nervous System. Students will use yarn to simulate how messages travel through nerves as a result of sensory inputs and outputs.

Reminder: Be sure you are checking your child’s filer regularly and taking out corrected papers and test sheets.  I generally fold the tests in half, so be sure you check carefully. Please remove all tests and graded papers to keep the filer less cluttered. Math tests will be in the filers on Tuesday, as we need a bit more time to complete the tests on Monday.  Thank you!

Have a great week–I appreciate you all so much, and thank you Veterans!

Mary