Weekly Update: April 22-26

Weekly Update

Important Reminders:

• ALL books will be due back to the library for inventory and processing on May 3.  
• 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:

• April 22 - We DO have school - snow day makeup day
• April 22-26 - Leader of the Week = Gwen
• April 22 - Concord Night at Busch Stadium
• April 29 - May 3 - Leader of the Week = Serah

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 are continuing with our Poetry Unit this week, as well as writing a second narrative piece to a given prompt for MAP testing practice.  We will using the MAP scoring guide to look over our piece, as well as sample pieces.  This week in poetry we are finalizing our poems, adding pictures, and choosing one or two that will be added to the 4th Grade Poetry Book.  Just like last week, while students are independently working on their poetry, I will pull groups based on the opinion, informational, and narrative pieces they wrote.

Grammar:

Each student will continue to work on their grammar learning pack on Quill.  This is a personalized approach to learning grammar - each student learning what they need to learn.  

Reading:  

We will continue to work on test prep - reviewing charts and graphs, note taking, context clues, and prefixes and suffixes.  This is not only good practice for a test, but also as a great reminder for our every day reading.  

Read Aloud:

Last week, we began the book Because of Mr. Terupt.  This is a very funny book, with some great messages.  It is definitely one of my favorites.  Ask your kiddo to tell you about what we have read so far!

Math:  

We are going to spend the next two weeks reviewing the big concepts we covered this year: place value, addition and subtraction, multi-digit multiplication, long division, simplifying and comparing fractions, improper fractions and mixed numbers, and measurement.  The students will be given a pre-assessment each day for one of the big topics.  I will use the pre-assessments to pull my groups for that day.  The students will continue to work independently on a new Math Menu while I am pulling groups.  There will be homework for each big topic as well.  

***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:  

Due to testing, there will NOT be any new sorts until Monday, May 6. 

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, April 26th.   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.  

Social Studies:

 We are learning about Government in the next two chapters.  We will focus on The Bill of Rights, how a bill becomes a law, and the three branches of government.

 Have a GREAT Week!