Welcome to our class blog! We had a wonderful first couple weeks of school and I've loved getting to know all the students. I can already tell what a great group of students we have! I know this year will fly by and your students will grow by leaps and bounds! Thanks for taking the time to come out to Curriculum Night. If you have any questions, please let me know.
The purpose of this blog is primarily for parents. Here you will find important information regarding our curriculum, activities, upcoming projects, and events! I hope to update this blog about every two weeks.
The students will find their resources on Google Classroom. Please note that parents can't access Google Classroom using their own personal emails. Only students' school emails allow access to Google Classroom. We are trying to get students to be problem solvers and independent thinkers. The Google Classroom is much like a virtual classroom where students can find lots of resources. I will be assigning homework off of Google Classroom. Because of this, students should have access to the internet and a computer/tablet at home, with your permission, of course. If this is a problem, please let me know as soon as possible.
Language Arts:
Every two weeks we will have a new focus skill, spelling/vocab words and writing skill. Last week, we started our spelling/vocabulary program. There are 10 words on the list that are directly related to our Social Studies/Map Skills unit. While our main focus is on knowing the meaning of these words, we will also use these words for spelling. The students will have two weeks to focus on the meaning and spelling of the words. Students will be interacting with the meaning of the words and applying the meaning in context. The definitions can be challenging so I ask that you help your child learn the words throughout the two weeks. Every other Friday, we will assess on definitions and spelling. Here is the first list for your reference:
Please note we will take three weeks for this first list since we have multiple days off these next few weeks.
Students will have a Google Classroom homework assignment for each list of words and should practice the words using SpellingCity.com. I have modeled the Google Classroom activity called Meaningful Sentences and we have signed in and practiced SpellingCity.com two times already. Part of the $7.00 for resources that was on the supply list went to an upgraded premium account for SpellingCity.com. The expectation is for students to complete at least 4 activities on SpellingCity before the test. A list of the Unit 1 words also went home last week. Please keep these in a safe place for your reference.
Please remind your children to complete their RAH (reading at home) calendars. The goal is to read at least 100 minutes a week. This month we will model the book talk format. More information to follow.
Math
Last week we started our first unit in Math. The students completed a pre-assessment of fourth grade concepts. This will help me to differentiate within the classroom throughout the school year. Pretests will not go home, but the tests at the end of the unit will go home for you to see. This first unit in Math is all about place value, estimating, rounding, multi digit adding and subtracting, and some geometry at the end of the unit. The following are the power standards we will cover in Unit 1:
Fluently add and subtract multi-digit whole numbers to solve number and word problems.
Compare two multi-digit whole numbers based on the value of the digits in each place, using >, =, and < symbols to record the results of comparisons.
Draw points, lines, line segments, rays, angles (right, acute, obtuse), and perpendicular and parallel lines.
For your reference, please bookmark this site below! Here you can find valuable information about the updated Everyday Math Fourth Grade curriculum. An added bonus- you can download and print home links! If a student forgets his/her home link, there is no excuse not to get it done! See "Home Link Help"
Expect a home link nightly, except for Friday!
Please encourage your students to play Reflex Math at home! The creators of the program explain that students must play at least 3 times a week to see improvement in fact fluency. We play about 3 times a week at school, but students are not always finishing the green circle. (The green circle is the goal for the day. If the green circle is mastered that means they have made significant progress.) Playing at home will only benefit your child even more! We are aiming for 100% fluency in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. This coming week we will spend two days solving a fun open response question. While the computation can be an easy task, explaining mathematical thinking can be more challenging. We will be working on this throughout each unit.
Social Studies:
Last week we started our first mini unit on map skills. We are reviewing some concepts about maps from previous years and moving into some more challenging topics, like latitude and longitude. In the coming weeks, we will put all our map skills together and the students will be cartographers and will create their own map with specific requirements. This is always a very fun project that students remember about 4th grade. These are the power standards that align with this unit:
Utilize principle parallels and meridians on maps and globes to locate specific places.
Demonstrate an understanding of relative location by using it to describe and locate countries.
Social Skills:
This week we will start our social emotional program called Second Step. The first lesson focuses on the concept of EMPATHY. Students will learn that empathy is the ability to understand and feel how another person is feeling. We describe it as "putting yourself in other people's shoes." We will learn a new skill with each lesson. At times, you will see optional home links that requires your participation.
Important Dates:
September 3: No school, Labor Day
September 7: No school in pm (Teacher Institute Day in pm)
September 10: No school, Rosh Hashanah
September 13: Discovery Science in pm & PTO meeting and dinner at 6:00 pm
September 17: Beginning Orchestra Registration at Cooper Middle School, 6-8:00 pm
September 19: No school, Yom Kippur
September 21: Vocab/Spelling Test on Lesson 1 map skills
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