Newsletter April 23rd

Dear 4B Parents,

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend enjoying the sunshine. I don’t want to jinx it, but I think spring is here to stay! It was so much fun seeing you all at the auction Saturday night! Congratulations to Mrs. Guthrie who won our 4th grade class project.

Class pictures will be taken tomorrow, Tuesday, April 25. Please have your student wear Perfect Uniform, which includes a red sweatshirt, sweater or vest—no ripped knees! You can sign up online here. Thank you.

Curriculum and Homework:

Religion: We are finishing up our chapter on the 10 commandments this week with a test on Friday. The children have both study guides in their filers.

Math:  Our upcoming math lessons focus on adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing fractions, which will lead us into decimals in the coming chapter. Look for math homework each night this week.  Thank you for checking over your child’s work for accuracy.

LA/Spelling:  The list for Lesson 21 was sent home last Friday.  The test will be this Friday as usual.  Our class language arts activities will focus on poetry. April is national poetry month and we will be looking at different styles of poetry.

Reading: We are well in to our reading of From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler. All mystery books need to be selected and approved by Tuesday, the 24th.  Students are encouraged to bring their mystery books to and from school, as there are reading opportunities during the school day.  Be sure you have read over the blue direction sheet for the book report.

Flat Stanley: Part of weekly homework includes writing in the Flat Stanley journals. Remember, journals are due  The entries can be any outings.  Stanley likes to go to Costco and try samples, to Alki for bike rides, to the movies, the dentist—or orthodontist—sometimes he even gets his teeth checked.  Be creative.  If you are short on ideas is can be fun to stage a story/pictures about what Stanley does when his person is at school.  Let me know if you have questions or need ideas.

  • Journal entries must be neatly and thoughtfully completed. A well-written paragraph that includes a topic sentence, at least three-five descriptive sentences and a conclusion is expected.
  • Each entry needs to have at least one example of figurative language
  • Word choice is important.  Avoid repeating words like “fun”, “great”, “cool”, “then” etc.
  • You can find examples of both figurative language and word choice on the Flat Stanley direction page.

Science: Last week we looked at the life cycle assessment of paper. While looking at the environmental impacts, we discussed ways to improve methods to lessen those impacts. Some methods we discussed were to use solar panels at paper making factories, recycling water used during the paper making process, and recycling paper to reduce the amount of paper made. We even made recycled paper. This week we will be applying that information to the materials we will use as insulation for our solar ovens. Then we will test to see the temperature loss of each material.

Social Studies:We will be finishing up our Oregon Trail Simulation this week. The “family groups” will orally share the events of the trail to their classmates as part of the follow-up. The students will be bringing home a map study sheet on Thursday the 26th labeled with Washington rivers, mountains, and other bodies of water. This will be the study sheet for a test on May 10th. You can also practice most of the features with this online practice site.

Homework:

  • Spelling Lesson 21. Test will take place on Friday.
  • Math homework most nights
  • Select and have a mystery book approved by Friday, the 27th
  • Flat Stanley journal entries.
  • Practice recorders.