November 26-December 7

November 26-December 7

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We are thankful for our school, our students, and their supportive families. Thank you for all the support with my recent microfracture surgery of my torn meniscus. The surgery went as planned and I am following doctor's orders of staying off it until further notice.  I keep in daily contact with Mrs. Tomlinson and I have heard the students are doing well behaviorally and academically. I am doing a lot of the behind the scenes work and she is executing the plans. If there are any concerns please contact one of us. Her email is: carol.tomlinson@ccsd21.org

Report cards will be sent home Friday, November 30th. Please sign and return the envelope as soon as possible.

Language Arts

Our next focus skill in reading is cause and effect. We will be developing this skill through reading stations, differentiated small group instruction, and whole group lessons.

In writing, we are working on developing realistic fiction; specifically, we are creating believable characters by imparting to them struggles and motivations. We hope to end these two weeks by developing a plot with a story arc.

Book Talks are due on Friday, November 30th. We are looking forward to this second round of presentations. Please continue to have your child practice at home. It makes a big difference! Also, the signed November RAH is due that same day. Here is a link to the Book Talk Organizer in case you need another one.

The next set of spelling and vocabulary words are taken from our Social Science Unit (see section below). The test will be on Friday, December 7th.

Math

For the last half of Unit 3, we are focusing on decimals (to the hundredths) by comparing them, exploring their relationships with fractions, and applying them to measurements such as meters, centimeters, and millimeters. Our Unit 3 assessment will be around December 10th. Please be on the  lookout for a study guide to help review for this test.

There will be many multi-digit multiplication problems and new algorithms introduced in Unit 4. At this point in the year, it would be ideal for all students to have automaticity with their multiplication facts. While we provide some time in class for our Reflex Math program, it is not always possible to do a complete session. Please consider implementing this effective and engaging program as part of your child's weekly homework routine.

Social Science

We started our Colonial America Unit by studying the three early English settlements.  This was especially enlightening for the students during the Thanksgiving season. We will continue this unit by studying the three colonial regions: New England, Middle, and Southern. Within each region of study, students will be comparing and contrasting the following characteristics: reasons for settlement, geography, natural resources, economy, and way of life.

*We will resume science after Colonial America.

Social Emotional Learning

For the past few weeks in SEL, we have been working on cultivating a spirit of thankfulness. The students worked on various projects to help them reflect on the people and things for which they are thankful. Even though we are moving on to our next project, we hope that this will be a lifelong lesson.

Our next project is a secret, which will be unveiled during the upcoming winter holidays. It will incorporate writing, art, and family.

Important Dates

• Tuesday, November 27 and Wednesday, November 28: PTO Kids Holiday Craft Shop (optional opportunity for students make crafts for holidays), 11:30-1:00 PM each day in LMC and 3:30-5:00 PM on Tuesday
• Friday, November 30: Report Cards sent home, Book Talk & RAH due
• Friday, December 7: Spelling and Vocabulary Assessment
• Thursday, December 6: PTO Meeting, 7:00 PM
• Monday, December 24 - Friday, January 4: Winter Break
• Monday, January 7: Welcome back!  Longfellow resumes in 2019!

The fourth graders at Longfellow were very busy last week. We enjoyed a spectacular Halloween afternoon and had our first successful book talks of the year. Thank you to all of our parent volunteers who planned and executed a wonderful Halloween Party.

The fourth graders at Longfellow were very busy last week. We enjoyed a spectacular Halloween afternoon and had our first successful book talks of the year. Thank you to all of our parent volunteers who planned and executed a wonderful Halloween Party. 

Here is a peak at the next 2 1/2 weeks:

Reading

We have finished our main lessons on author's purpose and perspective but will continue to use this
skills during the year as we read different types of texts.

We will not start a new focus skill for the next 2 weeks since our main focus will be on writing. (see information
about writing below)

Additionally, we will start our new list of spelling and vocabulary words on Monday and finish introducing the
words on Tuesday. The list for home will go home on Monday and the assessments will be on November 16.
Below are the words for Lesson 5.

I was very impressed on the first book talk! I loved the wonderful eye contact that so many students showed. This month's book talk is on the genre of fantasy. Many students have already chosen their book. If your child still does not have a book, the local libraries (and Longfellow's) are wonderful resources. Here is a helpful list from Indian Trails Public Library. Please help your child pick a "good fit" book. We continue to use the IPICK strategy to help us find a good fit book. Also refer to the lexile levels I will share with you at conferences. The procedure will be identical to the first book talk. Hopefully, the students will not be as anxious as they know what to expect and improve upon. The book talk organizer will be sent home this week.

In writing, students are working on developing realistic fiction stories. The students are learning how to develop believable characters by giving and showing the struggles and motivations of the characters.  We also hope to plot out our stories with a story arc. A story arc will help students brainstorm ideas for the beginning, middle, and end of the story. It will also have them think about the main problem and resolution to the realistic story.

Math

The students were very successful on the Unit 2 Math test. They showed a good understanding of the concepts
presented in Unit 2. In Unit 3 they will learn about equivalent fractions through fraction circles and number lines.
They will also be comparing fractions and ordering fractions. Here is the link to Everyday Math website for your
reference (great place to download and print forgotten home links!)

http://everydaymath.uchicago.edu/parents/4th-grade/em4-at-home/unit_3/

In unit 3, students explore fraction equivalence and compare and order fractions using different representations. They then extend their understanding of fractions to decimals, comparing and ordering decimals using the same methods as they did for comparing fractions.

Science
We are ending our Life Science unit with the animal senses project. The students have been hard independent workers on this project and I'm proud of their work. Tomorrow the students will give a brief presentation (we completed the presentation in class already) and share their creative animal. They will then be on display in the LMC for everyone to see! Feel free to stop by during conferences to look at the animals. 

On November 13 we will have Crabtree Nature Center from Barrington come for a presentation to culminate our unit on Life Science. They will bring some live animals so the students can learn more about special adaptations.

Social Studies
Later this week we are kicking off our Colonial America unit by studying the three early English settlements: Jamestown, Roanoke, and Plymouth. We will discuss the reasons for colonizing the New World, what the main outcome of the colony was, how relationships with Native Americans helped or hurt each group of settlers, and the hardships the colony faced. This is very appropriate timing with Thanksgiving around the corner!

Social Skills

During social skills, the students are learning about complex feelings and understanding different perspectives.   
When discussing complex feelings we will name different feelings we might have about one situation. The goal is
to learn that people can have different perceptions about the same situation and this has the potential to lead to
conflict if not handled the correct way!  We will then discuss correct ways to handle these situations.

Important Dates

November 5 and 7: Conferences-see the sign up genius for details
November 6: No School-Election Day-please get out to vote
November 13: In-house field trip: Crabtree Nature Preserve
November 16: Spelling/Vocab Assessments
November 20: Education Exploration Fair

October 22-November 2

Oct. 22-Nov. 2

Hello everyone! The students enjoyed a fun spirit week last week and the book fair is always a big hit. Thank you to all the families that donated change for our Change Wars! Lots coming up in the next two weeks:

Reading:
The next focus skill for reading will be author's purpose and perspective.  Students will learn and interact with this skill and be tested on Friday, 11/2.  Students often confuse author's purpose and perspective. An author's purpose is the reason an author decides to write about a specific topic. Then, once a topic is selected, the author must decide whether the purpose for writing is to persuade, inform or entertain.  The author's perspective, or viewpoint, is how the author feels about the subject. 

Our next set of words are homophones.  Homophones are words that sound the same, but have different meaning and spellings. While the spelling is relatively easy, knowing which homophone to use in context is the focus.   We will be interacting with the words in a different order than what is shown here.  The test will be on Friday, Nov. 2. Here is the list for your reference:

In writing students will be learning how to develop believable characters by giving characters struggles and motivations. Students will be working on developing realistic fiction stories. We will need your help in editing and offering your students some feedback as we draft our stories.

October Book Talk, 10/31:

Book talks are coming soon! I know some students are a bit nervous about speaking in front of the class but I am CONFIDENT they can do it! Remember, students should have filled out the graphic organizer and RAH calendar and practiced their book talks!  Book talks should be practiced enough times that students have familiarity with them and can look up and make eye contact and engage with the audience. I am not collecting or grading their organizers since I grade based on the student's talking.  I am also timing them and the requirement is 2-3 minutes. Please sign, review totals and return the RAH calendars. The rubric explains exactly how students will be graded and we are expecting proficiency, not the advanced category.  Advanced is challenging to get at this time of the year. Don't forget an object too!

Science:

Students really enjoyed our bird beak simulation and learned specifically how animals have specific body structures that help them survive and thrive in a particular environment.  Along with animals, plants also have specific internal and external structures that help them survive in an environment. Students were engaged in watching our celery experiment and understanding the importance of the stem of plants. Students learned that the xylem carries all the water and nutrients to the rest of the plant parts. The following standards were addressed in our lessons:

• describe  internal and external structures that serve various functions in growth, survival, behavior, and reproduction

• compare and contrast different structures and functions of a plant

Our next lessons will be on sensory receptors. The students will eventually be building their own animals to survive in a specific habitat.  This will be a big project grade with specific requirements. The students will take what they learned in our Life Science unit and create an animal that has adaptations to help it survive. The project is explained in detail in a packet (coming home this week) which should stay in your child's home folder. There are due dates in the packet to help break down this project. The first due date is Thursday, 10/25 and the planning pages are due on this day. These are the first two sides. The students will draw a sketch of their animal and label important structures and list the materials that will be used to create the 3D model. On Tuesday, Oct. 30 the students should bring in materials to start the project. Students will have THREE class days to work on their project. Please check in with your child to make sure he/she knows what materials should be gathered.  There is no need to run to the store and spend money on materials. Try to use things found at home! A list is given in the packet. At home you can brainstorm and discuss your child's ideas and guide them but the goal is to finish the project in the three classroom work days. Whatever is not done in class will have to be done at home. The due date is Monday, November 5. I will be using a hot glue gun in class but NO STUDENT will be allowed to touch the hot glue gun.  We have found that regular glue just does not hold the materials together at all. From previous years, the hot glue is the best option, but again, only I will be using it to help students at school. If you have any issues with this, let me know.

Math:

We have just a few more lessons in Unit 2. Recently we worked with units of time, multiplicative comparisons and classifying triangles and quadrilaterals. We will end the unit with line symmetry and patterns. Students are getting very well adjusted to the math routines and enjoying guided math stations.   Please encourage consistent use of Reflex Math as often as possible. Printing out home links is always a great option, should your child forget them at school. Please bookmark this site:

http://everydaymath.uchicago.edu/parents/4th-grade/em4-at-home/unit_2/

The test for Unit 2 will be on Thursday, Oct. 25.  Here is an extra optional study guide if you want additional review:  (We will also do a study guide in class this week)

Extra Study Guide Unit 2

SEL: 
We are now on LESSON 3: Being assertive. The goal in this lesson is to teach the students assertiveness skills. We will practice 1. face the person you are talking to  2. keep your head up and shoulders back  3. use a calm, firm voice   4. use respectful  words

Important Dates:
Thur., 10/25: Math Test, plan due for Science Animal Project
Fri. 10/26: PTO Movie Night (6-8:30 pm)
Mon., 10/29: Discovery Science in pm
Tues, 10/30: Materials due and begin to work on Science project
Wed., 10/31: Mystery Book Talk is due, Spooktacular Walk and Halloween Classroom parties
Fri., 11/2: Spelling/Vocab Tests, 4 Spelling City Activities and Meaningful Sentences due
Mon., 11/5: Animal Projects due, conferences 4:00-8:00 pm (please check https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0b4faaaf22a3f58-fall4 for your time)
Tues., 11/6: NO SCHOOL, Election Day
Wed. 11/7: Conferences 4:00-8:00 pm

Oct. 7- Oct. 19

October 7-19

I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful fall colors. 

Mid Trimester Reports were sent home on Friday. You'll notice there is a section for comments. Comments were given to students who were marked as Needs Improvement in the academic section or Developing in the learner quality category.  Please do not be alarmed if your child's comment section was left blank. Please sign and return only the envelope as soon as possible.

Reading

Over the next two weeks, our focus skill will be on finding story elements; more specifically, the following: conflict, plot events, and resolution. It is an important skill for fourth graders to master as it will help your child not only understand and appreciate the author's work, but it will help him/her with understand the requirements for Book Talks this year.

October Book Talks:

Our mystery book talks are due on October 31st. Students should be following the Book Talk
Organizer when preparing for their presentation.  A common mistake students make is giving a
"retelling" of the book. I am looking for specific elements: a creative hook, characterization
(complete with traits, actions and motivations of one MAIN character), summary (conflict, plot
events and solution, not a long summary of the book), one additional reading word with TEXT
SUPPORT, a closing and an object brought in that connects to the book in some way.   
Additionally, students should be between 2-3 minutes total.  In order to master this, practicing and
timing are a MUST! A sample Book Talk of the book Odd Velvet was sent home last week.

These book talks support oracy in the classroom. I am looking for good public speaking skills:
making eye contact, using good expression, and pacing. This is might be a challenge and many
students initially rely solely on their notes and have a difficult time looking up. Again, practicing
multiple times while being timed is an absolute must. One last word: when your child practices

his/her book talk with you, please take note if you can understand the story in general terms.
The summary should be clear enough for us to understand the story. I tell the students that they
are usually the only ones reading this book so summaries must be clear.

Also, please continue to fill out the RAH calendars. RAH calendars are due on Oct. 31st.
Students get graded on correct total minutes, parent signature, and filling out the calendar
correctly with minutes totaled up weekly and monthly.  

Global Read Aloud:
Longfellow's fourth grade is participating in the Global Read Aloud 2018. We have LOVED our book, Amal Unbound so far. Longfellow's awesome PTO purchased books for the fourth grade classes. More information is found in the letter below.

Word Work:
Our next set of spelling and vocabulary words are from our life science unit.

Math:

We began Unit 2 learning about square numbers, area, factors, and multiples. With all of these
topics, it is important for students to have automaticity with their multiplication and division facts.
Please continue to have your child use Reflex Max 2-3 times a week to help with this skill. This
program is available to us through the generosity of our PTO, so I want to stress the importance
of students spending time on the program both at school and at home. The goal is to achieve the
"green light circle" as much as possible. Also, here is the Everyday Math link for your convenience as
you help your child with Unit 2. Remember, home links can be printed at home if anything is
forgotten at school.

http://everydaymath.uchicago.edu/parents/4th-grade/em4-at-home/unit_2/

Coming up during the next few weeks: prime and composite numbers, units of time,
multiplicative comparisons, and classifying triangles and quadrilaterals.  

Science:

Students were really excited about our bird beak simulation and learning how animals have specific body structures that help them survive and thrive in a particular environment. Along with animals, plants also have specific internal and external structures that help them survive in an environment. Students will study various plants this week to identify plant structures.  We will also observe celery stalks soaking in water with various food dye. The objectives covered in these lesson are:

• describe  internal and external structures that serve various functions in growth, survival, behavior, and reproduction

• compare and contrast different structures and functions of a plant

We will also be studying sensory receptors. The students will eventually be building their own animals to survive in a specific habitat. This will be a big project grade with specific requirements. More on this soon!

Social Skills:

Our next lesson in our Second Step Program is on listening with attention. Being able to listen with attention is one way to be respectful toward others. It's also an important skill for learning. There will be an optional Home Link sent home this week. Students that complete it will get a bonus ticket.

If you would like more information on what is covered in this program please see Second Step's
scope and sequence for Fourth Grade.

Important Dates:

• Friday, October 12: School Improvement Day; Grades 1-5 dismissed at 12:00; No Kindergarten
• Tuesday, October 16-Thursday, October 18: Scholastic Book Fair. Our class will go to the book fair on Tuesday afternoon.
• Thursday, October 18: Board of Education Meeting at Gill Administration Center, 7:30 PM
• Friday, October 19: Language Arts Assessments

September 24th-October 5th

Fall is in the air!

Let's hope fall weather is upon us! We survived the heat last week and I'm so thankful temps are cooling off the building! Students were troopers and we did try our best to get to cooler areas in the building and get through curriculum.   

Here is a look at the next two weeks:

Reading:

Overall, great job with our new spelling/vocab program.  The majority of the class did well on the spelling and vocab tests.  Students were able to learn our new online resource (Spelling City) and have figured out how to navigate through the options.  You should have received a pink half sheet indicating your child's scores on the tests. I walked around to make sure they were accurate. For future reference, you are always able to log on to your child's account on Spelling City to check out scores and activities completed. Directions were listed on the half sheet. Students can do any activity assigned to them on Spelling City that corresponds with the lesson we are on. They should complete the entire activity though, for it to count as finished.  In other words, starting "Hang Mouse" but then stopping midway will not register as complete. Every lesson the students will complete a Google Classroom Meaning Sentences activity. The sentences will be due (turned in electronically) by Friday, Oct. 5. For the last round of sentences, there were a number of students that didn't have this activity completed by last Friday. Students had to stay in at recess to complete the sentences. Please continue to check those assignment notebooks for due activities:) 

Our next list is the Lesson 2 Math Place Value/Geometry words. Below is the list for your reference. Remember that we will spend two weeks on this list.   We will require that students complete at least four activities on Spelling City before the test.  Please make sure your child is ready before the test on October 5.

We just finished characterization and tested on that skill last week.  The students learned that authors reveal characters through traits, actions. dialogue and motivations.  Students did well overall on the assessment!  Our next focus skill is comparing and contrasting.  We will read our next story in Storytown and interact with the text to compare and contrast characters, setting, and other events.  We will use venn diagrams as a graphic organizer to show what we know about comparing and contrasting.  The students will be assessed on this skill by Friday, 10/5.

In grammar, our next skill is subject and predicate. We will focus on the fact that each complete sentence needs to have a subject and predicate. We will also study fragments and how to turn a fragment into a complete sentence. Lastly we will learn about run-on sentences and how to edit run on sentences.

Book Talks- we will spend some class time modeling the book talks and discussing expectations this week. This week your child will bring home a competed sample of a Book Talk. We will connect SEL (social emotional learning) and Language Art by reading a book called Odd Velvet. I will then model the Book Talk note taking sheet. Please put this sample Book Talk in a safe place so it can be used as a reference in October. Students should have a mystery book picked out by now.  If they don't I will remind them when we go to book check out this week to check out a mystery book. Please make sure the book that's chosen is a "good fit" book.  See the poster below in helping to know what a good fit book is.  Play close attention to the "K" descriptor.  If your child doesn't know 4 or more words on any random page, the book is probably too hard and should not be reading it independently. Ask your child about our 5 finger rule!

Math: 

We are just about to the end of our first unit. Last week, we learned about points, line segments and lines. This week we will finish the unit by studying rays, angles, quadrilaterals and finding perimeters of squares and rectangles.  To prepare for the test, we will always review in class, with both a study guide and review games. The test is projected to be on Friday, September 28. I'm attaching another math review opportunity here for those that would like a second review option (not mandatory). This review should be printed or answers can go on a blank piece of paper. Students that fully complete this review will earn an emoji dollar! 

Unit 1 Additional Math Review

Finally, please be sure your child is going on to Reflex Math on the computer a few times per week at home. It makes a BIG difference. We play in school during math stations as well, but they don't always get the green full circle, which is the goal!  Thank you! 

Social Studies: 

We finished our first unit (Map Skills). Students did very well on this assessment last week. You should have seen this go home! Creative Cartographers Map Project is due Monday, tomorrow. Since this is a project, we expect quality/neat work. Please check over your child's work, using the rubric and checklist to check off requirements! Check for proper spelling and capitalization please! Students will be sharing out some of their favorite items from their map projects with the class on Monday.

Science:

We will be kicking off our first Life Science Unit involving plant and animal adaptations. Students will learn all about plant and animal adaptations and towards the end of next week the focus will be on bird beak adaptations.  Students will do a very fun and engaging simulation pretending to be birds to test out the various beak adaptations to best capture their prey.  We will represent various bird beaks and prey with gummy worms, Swedish fish, raisins and red kidney beans.  WE WILL NOT BE EATING ANY OF THIS.  I don't believe we have allergies in the class to these particular foods but a note will be going home asking your permission for the food items to be handled (not eaten) with specific ingredients listed in each item.  Please sign the note and return it as soon as possible. You should be receiving it by the end of this week.

Social Skills:
During the last few weeks, we learned and practiced a variety of social and emotional skills!  Our recent skill was all about showing empathy. Through websites, stories, and videos the students have mastered this skill. Our next focus skills for SEL is about listening with attention.



Important Dates:
Mon., 9/24: Creative Cartographers Map Project due
Fri., 9/28: Unit 1 Math Test
Tues., 10/2 Picture Retakes
Fri., 10/5: Mid-trimester reports go home. Please review, sign and return report card envelopes
Fri., 10/5: Spelling/Vocab Tests on the Lesson 2 Math words, Google Classroom Meaningful Sentences due ("turned in" on computers)
Fri., 10/5 Discovery Science