Hello Everyone. Welcome to the last week in January! I'll jump right in.
Math-- We will finish up with chapter 7 this week. The students have done quite well with these concepts, although they can be somewhat challenging to understand. Next week, we will begin our chapter on fractions. Please make sure that your students are using Reflex and ALEKS each day. Students should be completing 20 minutes of math homework per day. Some students are forgetting their math facts. Please make sure that you continue with Reflex so this doesn't happen. It's really hard for students to do math when they constantly have to check their multiplication chart. Language Arts-- Our story selection this week is about the Navajo Code Talkers who helped in the Pacific Theatre. we will be learning about pronouns and antecedents, and sequences when reading or telling a story. This week we will also be completing a Utah Compose narrative essay about William Clark (of Lewis and Clark), and his experiences with the Native Americans with whom he came into contact. We're aiming for a writing score of 25-27. Please remember that students must be completing 20 minutes of language arts homework each day. This could be Lexia, Spelling City, Utah Compose, or reading a fantastic book! Science-- We will continue our study of waves, and in particular light waves. Social Studies-- We have begun to study about the Spanish explorers who entered Utah on their way to California. Looking forward, we will be studying Utah's mountain men, and then having our annual Mountain Man rendezvous on March 13. We will need a few volunteers to help with stations and food. More about that in the future. Thanks! Have a great week!
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Hello Parents! I'm getting an early jump on the weekly update because there are some things coming up next week that you need to know. I'll write about it in each subject.
Math--The 2nd benchmark was a success for most of our class. The class average was 82%, which shows that overall, the instruction has been successful, and your students are doing well at retaining the material that they've learned. Of course, there is always room for improvement, but I am optimistic. Please continue to make sure that your student's homework is completed correctly, and that they are feeling confident with the concepts we are learning. Your student should be doing 20 mins. of homework per night. At this point, students should be working on ALEKS. Please make sure that your students are progressing on their ALEKS pies. The goal is to have finished 100% of the 4th grade material by the end of the year. During math instruction time on Thursday, the students will have a chance to visit our school's space simulator. We are all excited about the simulator! It's such a blast. Language Arts--It is a short week, but we will be having our full language arts block each day. Therefore, we will be having a spelling and vocab. list as usual. Because it's a short week, next week's list on Spelling City will be available beginning tomorrow, 1/18/20, in case your student would like to get a jump on their studies. This week, our story is entitled "Encantado: Pink Dolphins". We will be doing some more comparing and contrasting, and we will also practice summarizing a text. We will also be learning more about pronouns. Great job on term 2's book reports. I will be posting Term 3's book report on this website shortly. Science--We finished a mid-year science benchmark this week, and we will continue our unit on waves. Also, this Tuesday during our math instruction, some visitors from the Museum of Natural History will be coming to our class to present a hands-on unit about fossils, complete with specimens and projects. This is a one of our favorite in-school "field trips" so make sure that your student arrives on time. Utah History--I have absolutely loved seeing all of the beautiful natural colors that your students created for the textile dyeing project. Thanks for your help and creativity!! Next week, we will begin to study about the early Spanish explorers who came to Utah. Utah has a rich and diverse history, and I love sharing it with my students. Misc.--On Friday, it will be our annual Day in History. We will be rotating classrooms this Friday, so that each of the 4th grade teachers can teach a special lesson on something important that happened in 1820. My lesson is going to be about chocolate! Did you know that in the 1820's, a machine was invented to press cocoa butter from cocoa beans, leaving cocoa solids (an important step towards modern chocolate production)? Thanks for reading!!! Have a fantastic week!! Hello and welcome to another week! It's so nice to be back in our routine. Here's what's on the menu for the week.
Math- We are continuing our work on sequences and patterns. We just finished lesson 3 in chapter 7. Administration would also like to have us complete the 2nd benchmark of the year by this Friday. This will be on chapters 4-7, so this week I'll be reviewing multiplication and division. Language Arts- Today we started with our 2nd book, which means that we are halfway through the curriculum! Our story is entitled "The Case of the Gasping Garbage", which is a realistic fiction story. This week, we will be comparing and contrasting information, as well as practicing visualizing as we read. The spelling words are contractions, and we will be studying singular and plural pronouns. Please remember that book reports are due this Wednesday. Information can be found about that under the curriculum tab on this website. Science- We are continuing our work with the different types of waves and the energy that causes it. We will be taking a quiz tomorrow to see how much was learned after our STEM project last week. Social Studies/Utah History- Today we will be starting a fun little project where the students learn about the natural dyes that the Native Americans and early settlers used to dye their textiles. Students will be given an assignment to choose a natural substance to dye a small piece of white cloth. Students will bring their pieces of cloth to class and will present their fabrics and tell us what they used to achieve their color. Also, since it is Martin Luther King Day next Monday, we will be learning about his legacy and how our world has changed because of his peaceful activism. That's it for this week. Please don't hesitate to email or Dojo me. Thanks!!! Hello and welcome to a new year! I hope that you had a fantastic break. Thank you again for all of your thoughtful gifts and cards. I really do appreciate the kind gestures. Let's jump right in!
Language Arts- Our story selection this week is Paul Bunyan. This week's Reading Street spelling words are singular and plural possessive words, which can be a little tricky. Make sure that your student really studies! We will be working on irregular verbs, and summarizing stories. In terms of reading skills, we will be working on using appropriate phrasing while reading. Make sure your student completes his/her Lexia minutes! Please remember that Term 2's book reports are due by January 15. Book report info HERE. Math- We will be finishing up with ch. 6 this week. The test will be on Wednesday. I have high hopes for great scores based upon previous formative assessments. In ch. 7, we will be working on patterns and sequences, which is really fun. After the rigor of learning multiplication and division, it should be a nice change. Keep up with Reflex minutes (and ALEKS if your student has finished Reflex). It is so apparent which students know their math facts. Please make sure that your student continues to practice their math facts. It will literally change the way that they do math for the rest of their lives. Science- In our next module in science we will be studying the energy patterns in waves. We will be learning about amplitude and wavelength, and the different many different types of waves (sound, radio, micro, light, etc.). This week, we will be building a wave model using kebab sticks and Dots candies. I'm excited to build this, and I think it will be a great tool to show students how energy moves through objects to create movement. Since we will be using Dots candies, I hope you don't mind if each student is allowed to eat 1 piece of Dots candy. If you would rather not have your student eat a Dots candy, please let me know. Utah History- We will continue our study of the lifestyles and traditions of the 5 original Utah Native American Tribes. This will continue for a couple of weeks, and then we will move into the coming of the Spanish Explorers. I'm excited for the new year! Our school year is almost one-half finished, if you can believe it. I am looking forward to all of the exciting and interesting things I get to teach these students! Please keep in touch if there is anything that I could do better, or if there's something that your child needs to succeed. Have a great week!! |