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4th Grade
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November 2009
Dear Parents,
Thank you for your attendance and input at conferences. It is with open communication between school and home that the best academic experience can happen for your child.
As discussed at conferences, the fourth grade is now learning about the liturgical seasons, the colors and symbols associated with each and the order in which they occur during the liturgical year. Students were given a blank liturgical calendar to fill in as a preassessment of their knowledge of the church calendar. Following our study of this unit, they will complete another calendar as a summative evaluation of their knowlege in this area. Our next unit will be on the Mass, specifically the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist and the prayers, symbols and traditions associated with each.
The students completed their physical science unit on electricity and magnetism and are on to sound energy. We have discussed how sound is actually a series of vibrations, examined models of the human ear and the function of the outer, middle and inner ear, determined how the pitch and volume of a sound can be controlled and explored which form of matter sound travels through the best. The assessment over this material will be given the week of October 26th. A paper test notice, as well as e-mail notification, will be sent at least two days prior to the assessment. We will then move on to our final physical science unit of thermal energy. The physical science units are the most difficult of the fourth grade science curriculum as many of the abstract concepts must be made clear to students through hands-on activities and explorations. Please encourage your child to review often and well.
The students completed the Northeast region chapters and we are now working from the first chapter of the study of the Southeast region. In these two chapters, we will again discuss the landforms, including the Appalachian Mountains which stretch into the Southeast, as well as the coastal plains of this area of the United States. They have read of the search for oil using off-shore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. They brainstormed advantages and disadvantages of living in island areas, such as the Florida Keys. The students quickly came up with the disadvantages of transporting food and fresh water and providing electricity so far from the Florida mainland. Fourth graders also learned about the Cajun and Creole peoples of the area, including their foods (gumbo), holidays (Mardi Gras) and listened to Zydeco music. As mentioned at conferences, students are encouraged to complete region capitals. Thanks go to Andy F. who forwarded a great website on which to practice state capitals. It is: www.studystack.com. Another great site is www.aaamath.com. This site has math for grade K-6, a spelling component and a geography section where they can also practice their state capitals in engaging ways. Following completion of the chapters over the Southeast, we will move to the Midwest.
Our math studies have focused on addition and subtraction rules and the application of these rules when subtracting across zeros and regrouping when adding. The students also have a math problem-solving packet in which problems are presented in a story-problem format. We discuss the clues we are given as to which math operation we must use to get to the correct answer. For example, when comparing, subtraction is used. When clue words are given, like in all or total, we use addition. Students practiced asking themselves whether they were finding the total or a part of the total. Currently, we are working on adding and subtracting to solve math expressions, equations and inequalities. This is a primer for algebra down the road. Chapters 3 and 4, which we will be moving to shortly, will present the processes for multiple digit multiplication and division. Instant recall of math facts will be vital to student success in these chapters as they learn new math processes.
In reading, we are using Time for Kids, a nonfiction children's magazine, as a current events reading activity. This is an excellent publication with interesting, relevant articles geared to the fourth grade level. Each issue has a quiz over the magazine articles with skills such as determining cause and effect, main idea, author's purpose and locating facts and details. Our whole group reading has also included nonfiction literature. We read about the sinking of the Titanic and completed an activity in which they determined the main idea of each chapter and located text features, in particular pictures and diagrams, that supported the text of the book. In every subject area, the students are encouraged to use text features (bold, highlighted or italicized words, pictures, diagrams, graphs, charts, picture captions to name a few) to aid in their comprehension of the text. This helps students who are more visual learners. We also listen to some materials on tape to help those students who are auditory learners.
Students are completing their rough drafts of their personal narratives. Most have conferenced with me at least once. They are being encouraged to revise their stories to include more descriptive words and to develop "hook" opening sentences to grab a reader's attention and to bring their story to true closure without using "The End." We completed review of the sentence types, sentence structure, identifying complete and simple subjects and predicates and nouns and verbs. The language assessment over this material will also be given the week of October 26.
The signing of the student planners and homework has proved to be beneficial. Late work and incomplete planners has dropped off. They complete a planner update after returning from lunch and we do put up an end of the day checklist that we go through that includes checking for planner entries and that they have all needed materials before they leave school for the day. Some students still need some extra support at school and home to get the needed organizational skills in place. Please continue signing both your child's planner and homework each evening. THANK YOU!!
Thanks to the family of Alexis T. who donated a book to the classroom library. With some books I ordered from Scholastic from the last book order, we have a pretty well-stocked classroom library. Students will be given an Accelerated Reader point goal based on their reading level and abilities. Reading incentives will be given to those students who reach their goal. More information will be shared during their library time with Mrs. Noon and Mrs. Mulcahy, our Accelerated Reader coordinators.
As me move into cooler weather, please make sure that your child has the needed clothing to keep them warm during outside recess. When the snow finally comes (I can't believe I said that out loud), it helps for them to have a large plastic bag to put wet snowpants and boots in, especially those who are riding the bus home and would not want to sit in wet clothing.
Finally, it is hard to believe that we are at the end of October. November will fly by, too, as we have ITBS testing the week of November 9, followed quickly by the Thanksgiving holiday. Looking on to December, the field trip to the Nutcracker ballet will be a wonderful arts experience for the students. Thanks to parents for returning permission slips and fees promptly and to Miss Murphy for coordinating this for K-4 teachers.
NOVEMBER BIRTHDAYS: Alexis on November 6 and Alexandra on November 30th. Happy Birthday!!!!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Battani
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