Dear 4A Families,
Happy first full week of October! We are looking forward to an exciting month ahead. Thank you for making the time to come in and pick up and drop off last Friday and Saturday! I know Ms. Benson and I are happy to have that project “In the bag :-)”
Religion/Language Arts: We are beginning our study of saints in preparation for the All Saint’s Day Mass. We do not yet know what form this will take, but the students will be taking part in some type of meaningful celebration of the Saints–stay tuned. Each student has been assigned the saint that they will write their report on as well as portray. The majority of the work for this report will take place during our Zoom meetings, except for one homework assignment this week, that is due no later than Monday, October 12th. Detailed directions for this homework assignment were sent home with the bag of supplies you picked up on Friday or Saturday. PDF versions will also be available on Google Classroom and in the tab above called “Saint Project.“ The students will be prepped fully in class on Monday with an example of the homework. It is very important that you and your children take time to carefully read through the directions for this assignment. We give the students several days for this homework assignment to provide ample time to thoughtfully work on this homework each night. Please be sure the list of facts and all highlighted materials are complete and ready to go by Monday, October 12th. Thank you!
Remember to also keep practicing the Prayer of St. Francis. All students need to be able to recite this prayer from Memory by October 26th at the latest.
MAP testing is scheduled to begin this week on Thursday. We will begin with the math section this week. This is the first time the students will be taking this test at home. There will be tech support from school, but we encourage a parent/adult to be present when the students are logging in. Please do not assist your child with answers to this test. This is a diagnostic test we use to track progress. Thank you for your support.
Spelling: All students have a Spelling Word packet for the next three weeks in the folder of papers received at the most recent pick up. The PDF versions of the spelling words will always be available on Google Classroom and in the Spelling Words tab above. The test will be this Friday, and this week it will be a handwritten test we will complete during our LA Zoom meeting.
Reading: We are finishing up “I Could Do That! Esther Morris Gets Women the Vote” this week. Students learned so much about voting, government, and democracy last week. This week, students will be reading about different African American Suffragettes and teaching each other about those women. Our culminating project will include creating a ballot box, voting button, and writing about why your vote matters. Be sure to ask your child about the right to vote
Social Studies: We will continue our skill building lessons using latitude and longitude to find specific locations on a map. We will also review the map skills of using compasses, map scale and keys. In the most recent pick up the students were given map study sheets for upcoming state tests. In 4th grade we review the locations and abbreviations of the 50 states. Our first test will cover the NE States and take place on October 20th. We will create a study sheet in class on Monday. Extra copies of the study sheets will be available in Google Classroom and in the Map Study Sheet tab above.
Science: This week, we will begin Activity 2 of our Brain module. We will be exploring the senses and discussing inputs and outputs through the brain. We will go through sense stations to test our own senses and learn about the parts of the brain that control each sense. We will not have an official taste or smell station this year. If you’d like, you could have your child create a taste and/or smell station for you at home!
Math: Our class work will continue to focus on adding and subtracting large numbers. Thank you for signing up for Xtramath. Students should visit Xtramath at least three times from home this week. Xtra Math is listed on the checklist daily as a reminder for students, but visiting Xtra Math 3-5 times per week is sufficient. Success with fact mastery requires regular, focused practice. XtraMath helps students transition from counting or calculating the basic math facts to recalling them. Quickly recalling math facts, instead of calculating them, frees up mental resources for higher-level operations. Thank you for encouraging your child in this area.
Thank you for your continued support of the magazine sale.