Dear 4A Families,
I hope you all had a nice weekend—have you been on the bridge yet? Now that we are in the swing of things, it’s been great to see your students in academic action. I am in awe of the students’ hard work, and adaptability every day!
I have compiled the 4A Class Email Group. If you are reading this as the paper copy and did not receive a “Newsletter is Posted” email from me on Sunday afternoon please let me know so I can add your email to the group.
Fall MAP Testing: This week, we will begin MAP testing in the area of reading. This testing gives teachers valuable information regarding your child’s progress in reading, math, and language arts. Please take a moment to remind your child about the importance of doing their best to show what they know. As always, please make sure your child gets a good night’s sleep and eats a healthy breakfast in the morning. Thank you for your support during this important testing.
Headphones: Please make sure your child has headphones that can be kept at school! We will be using the iPads in class, and having headphones will help students stay focused and are needed for many activities the students complete with their iPads. Thank you!
Picture Day: Next Tuesday, September 27th is individual class picture day.There will be free dress for all students, so come looking your best. Parents have the ability to preorder photos by visiting the Holy Rosary Yuen Lui page through Tuesday, September 27th. After this date, photos will be processed for printing. Photos will be shipped to the school for distribution. If you choose to order at a later date, there is an additional cost to cover individualized printing, packaging, and shipping. Students who order an individual picture package, will receive a class picture in the spring for free.
Thank you for your continued support of the Magazine Drive.
Our Week of Learning:
As we begin our third week of school, the students are building an understanding of our classroom/school rules and procedures. We will continue to practice and review. Every student in our class has a right to learn and work without interruption and enjoy school. The management plan is in place to ensure that every student in our class feels safe, included, and is able to work and learn without disruption. Our classroom and school rules are based on being SAFE, RESPECTFUL AND
RESPONSIBLE.
When rules are not followed students receive (in the order):
- A reminder
- An individual conference/conversation
- Parent contact
Our goal is always to help students be responsible, respectful self-managers. Each new day is a new beginning. The less time we have to spend managing behavior—the more time we have for great learning! I will be holding students to high academic, behavioral, and social expectations. Thank you for your support.
Second Step: Our Second step lessons this week will review Empathy and Respect, and focus on Listening with Attention. Empathy is a crucial foundation for healthy communication and interpersonal relationships. Listening with attention is a skill necessary for effective communication with others and academic success.
Religion: Bible Blessing: The 4th grade Bibles will be blessed at Mass this Wednesday. Our religion this week will focus on some introductory lessons on both our newly blessed Bibles and the Saints. Students will learn that the Saints are models of faith and that following their example helps us grow in holiness.
Math: Our classwork will continue to focus on place value. Fourth grade students are expected to be able to read and write numbers into the millions and higher. It is important that students be able to read large numbers as well as understand the difference between place and place value. (3,293: The 9 is in the tens place and the place value is 90.) Students will continue to receive daily homework that reviews the skills we learned that day.
XtraMath: All students will receive a letter, with log in directions for Xtramath. Please use the log-in information on the letter to sign your child up for XtraMath no later than Thursday, September 29th We will start using this program in class on Friday. All instructions are on the school flyer that will be in your child’s filer. Check your child’s school/home section of the filer. Tip: Make sure you click “Enroll” (not sign in). Even if your child has used Xtramath in the past, I need you to sign up with the new information on the letter.
Language Arts: We are working on the My Favorite Place writing the students started last week. These pieces are used as a beginning of the year writing assessment that I will reference to help me plan our upcoming lessons. The writing is also a good benchmark for the students to compare their progress as they grow as writers this year. Our class work this week will focus on grammar, punctuation, and cursive!
Spelling: The words this week go with our reading lesson on “Stormalong”. The words are homophones, so the students will need to be able to both spell and explain the meaning of each word. Word lists can be accessed on the 4th grade websites. The test will be on Friday, September 23rd.
Social Studies: The continent and ocean test will take place next Thursday the 29th. We will continue to review in class, and students are expected to practice at home as well. The test will have a word bank of the continents and oceans. Students need to know the locations. The 4A website has links to review the continents as well. Look under the “Map Skills” section on the right-hand links column. I will share these links with the students this week. The 4th graders are also memorizing the Continent poem which they all have a copy of in their filer. It is also available as a PDF on the 4A Website. I will give practice time in class for this, but the poem should be practiced at home as well. All students need to recite the poem by September 30th. Our class lessons will focus on latitude and longitude as we gain skills reading maps using coordinates.
Science: We will be using the Mystery Science framework for science class and starting the Birth of Rocks unit. The first lesson in this unit is about volcanoes! The students will explore the past and present pattern of where volcanoes exist on earth. They will also be mapping and plotting volcanoes. The students will be analyzing the maps and discovering that volcanoes form a “Ring of Fire” around the Pacific Ocean!
Reading:Students read folk/tall tales that contain many examples of figurative language. We are learning to identify elements of literature including: simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole and onomatopoeia. Our target comprehension skill is “characterization.” Students notice character traits that describe the main character throughout the story based on that character’s words and actions. Throughout the school year, these skills and techniques will play important roles in both reading and writing.
Math: Our classwork will continue to focus on place value. Fourth grade students are expected to be able to read and write numbers into the millions and higher. It is important that students be able to read large numbers as well as understand the difference between place and place value. (3,293: The 9 is in the tens place and the place value is 90.) Students will continue to receive daily homework that reviews the skills we learned that day. Please take some time to check over your child’s homework every weeknight.
XtraMath: All students will receive a letter, with log in directions for Xtramath. Please use the log-in information on the letter to sign your child up for XtraMath no later than Thursday, September 29th We will start using this program in class on Friday. All instructions are on the school flyer that will be in your child’s filer. Check your child’s school/home section of the filer. Tip: Make sure you click “Enroll” (not sign in). Even if your child has used Xtramath in the past, I need you to sign up with the new information on the letter.
