4th Grade News

Reading

Reading is taught in a variety of settings. There is a whole group mini-lesson which highlights a specific strategy. Students then practice the strategy in guided small groups as well as reading independently at a level comfortable for them. Strategies for this trimester include Making Connections and Determining Importance.

Battle of the Books is off to a great start. Meetings will be held every other Monday during the lunch period. Students are keeping track of Battle books they read on a separate recording sheet.

Please encourage reading at home, and think about reaching for the "100 Club" status every week. "One Thousand Club" is just around the corner.

Spelling

We are using the spelling series called Spell-It-Write-It. This series stresses word patterns and spelling rules. We will be practicing these in class with games and assorted activities. Skills this month include proofreading, homophones, and using a dictionary.

Please keep a list posted at home for students to practice throughout the week.

Writing

We will be using workshop format in developing writing skills and learning the 6 traits for good writing. This month our goals are to establish procedures, set a classroom climate, build a backpack of ideas, increase fluency, review narrative writing and take pride in sharing what we have written.

Science

Units of study will include: Matter, Watery Earth, Human Body in Motion, Circulatory System, Healthy Eating and Exercise.

Social Sceince

We are learning about the geography, history and modern life in the Northeastern and Southeastern U.S. Students will be developing map skills, and they will be doing research.

Math

We are continuing our investigation with multiplication. We are learning multiplication through using arrays, interlocking cubes, 100's charts, and skip counting. We are also practicing to find a variety of ways to solve problems. Just like in life, problems can be solved in more than one way with many different strategies. Just a reminder, "How are the Cold Facts coming?"

LRC

One hour a week in Math/computer. In September, students spent 20 minutes daily on keyboarding skills for four weeks.

Fifty minutes a week, computer instruction featuring word processing or research related to the fourth grade curriculum.

At Home

These are some things you might want to do to support your child's learning:

Discuss assignment notebook daily.
Have a set time and place to study.
Encourage daily reading.
Review math facts.
Practice weekly spelling lists
Keep a daily log journaling and reacting to books, magazines, or even television watching.

Other

All fourth grade students have a time of the day they are eating snacks. This is just a reminder that snacks should be a healthy variety and not junk food.

Some appropriate snacks would be: fruits, vegetables, fruit juices, pretzels, popcorn, crackers, cheese, yogurt, etc.

Some inappropriate snacks would be: candy, cakes, pies, any sugary snacks, potato chips, any high in oil or fatty snacks.

Due to the fact that we also have many students with allergies, please try to avoid any nut snacks or peanut products snacks.