Weekly Update: Feb. 18-22

Weekly Update

Important Reminders:

• PLEASE practice multiplication facts!  The students need to really know them quickly, and without having to use strategies to solve them.  We will be starting multi-digit multiplication and long division soon, and having those multiplication facts memorized will be a HUGE help!  On Google Classroom (just log in with your child's username and password, then save that to your computer, and you will then have access whenever) I put some multiplication websites and game directions under the "classwork" tab and then under the "Websites" topic.  Thanks for your help with practicing these facts!

• Please remember to check, and initial, your child's planner every night.  Homework and important notes are written in the planner daily.  Thanks for your help with this!
• Please send a snack with your child that is NUT FREE every day, as we do not eat lunch until 12:10.  Thanks!

Important Dates to Remember:

• Feb. 18 - No School
• Feb. 22 - Mystery Reader
• Feb. 25-28 - Leader of the Week = Kate
• Feb. 26 - Mother and Son Dance at Concord
• March 1 - Mystery Reader

MAP Testing Dates:

• MAP ELA  - April 29, May 1, and May 2.  We will test first thing in the morning (9:00) until 11:00/11:30, depending on the test.  
• MAP Math - May 6 and May 8.  We will test during the same time frame as the ELA tests.  

Check Out What We Are Learning This Week:

Writing:  

We will continue with Unit 3:Bringing History to Life.  This week, the students will use the research they gathered last week to begin drafting the chapters for their information piece.  The students came up with some great topics, and focus topics.   While the students are drafting this week, I will pull groups to work on headings and subheadings, elaborating, transitions, introductions and closings, and the organization of their pieces.  The students will take what they learned from the first piece in this unit, as well as from the small group instruction, to complete this piece independently.  We will showcase this piece, and what the students learned about their topics, at our 4th Grade Expert Fair.  More info will come regarding this event, including the date and time, asap.  

Grammar:

This week we will be focusing on Part 2 of Sentences and Fragments, with a direct focus on Dialogue and Pronouns.  After the minilesson on these topics, the students will be using noredink.com for more practice and an assessment.  The students did a great job with independent and dependent clauses last week.  Hopefully we will see an improvement in their writing with complete and incomplete thoughts.  

Reading:  

We will continue with Unit 3: Reading History: The American Revolution.  We have moved on from reading and learning about the American Revolution, and are now learning skills and strategies for any informational text.  We will be focusing on making inferences while reading non-fiction, summarizing non-fiction, and learning strategies for tackling complex texts.

Read Aloud:

We will continue reading another one of my favorites, Walk Two Moons, this week.   Walk Two Moons is a young adult novel by Sharon Creech, narrated in first person through Salamanca Tree Hiddle, better known as Sal. While traveling across the country to Idaho with her grandparents, she tells of her new best friend, Phoebe Winterbottom. Her own story unfolds at the same time.  In this book, the message "Don't judge a person until you have walked two moons in his moccasins" appears over and over.  We will discuss what this means in reference to each character, as well as to ourselves.  

Math:  

We will begin Ch. 11: Customary Measurement.  In this chapter, we will be reviewing customary units of length, measurement, and weight.  We will also be converting these customary units of measurement, which is a harder concept for some because it does require memorizing the units.  We will also be converting time, displaying measurement data in a line plot, and problem solving with measurement.  Our Ch. 11 test is scheduled for Friday, March 1.  Once we have the study guide ready to go, I will add it to the Google Classroom.  I will let you know once the study guide is there for you to use.

***Knowing your multiplication facts is extremely important as we move forward in math, so keep practicing those facts!  We will continue to practice multi-digit multiplication and long division.

***In order for students to show mastery with a standard, they will be doing "Check-ins" throughout the year to show that they didn't just memorize the skills for the test, but that they retained the skills, thus showing mastery.  My goal with the check-ins is to make sure that the 4th grade Math Standards are mastered by all students by the end of the year! ***

Spelling:  

ALL Students received their new Spelling Sorts on Friday, Feb. 15.  The test over these sorts will be Friday, March 1st.  

We will continue to have sight word tests, however they will be every other week so that the students are only taking one "spelling" test a week.  Our next sight word test will be on Friday, February 22nd.   Remember these are the words that do not follow a pattern, and need to be memorized.  Students will need to not only spell the words correctly, but be able to read them in order to "pass" this group of words.  

Science:

We will begin Ch. 7: Matter this week.  We will learn about the properties and phases of matter, how matter is measured and changes, and what mixtures are.  We will spend this week learning all about matter, and next week investigating matter.  

 Have a GREAT Week!