Dear 4B Parents,
Welcome back! I hope you all had a wonderful Easter and spring vacation. We now are in the final stretch of the year—hard to believe. As we head into these final weeks it can be easy to lose focus and dream of summer, but so much important curriculum remains which sets the stage for 5th grade. Thank you for your support in keeping your child focused and attentive to these projects, test preparation and homework. Hopefully the students are rested up and ready to go!
Bingo Bash! We are looking forward to the big Bingo Bash this Friday! Last chance if you would like to sign up. Those students attending might like to bring their Flat People and get some pictures. I am happy to take the photos.
Religion: This week we will be reflecting on the Easter Season and making Easter Candle Crosses to decorate our classroom and hallway. We will also be continuing in our Second Step lessons and talking about how to manage strong feelings.
Lunches of Love: 4B is asked to provide lunches for St. Vincent de Paul during the month of April. Please look for a flyer and a paper sack in your child’s filer with more information. Thank you for being so generous. It is greatly appreciated!
Math: Our upcoming math lessons focus on adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing fractions, which will lead us into decimals. We will begin with a review of factors/multiples and prime numbers before getting into equivalent fractions. Look for math homework each night this week. Thank you for checking over your child’s work for accuracy.
Reading: We will be moving forward with our reading of From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler. Along with our reading we will focus on figurative language, vocabulary and root words. The figuratieve language review will work perfectly with our Flat Stanley writing as well.
Flat Stanley/LA: Hopefully your child’s “Flat Stanley” was included in some fun spring 
break activities and pictures. This week we will be creating the journals and writing the first entry at school. I would like the all students to bring in their flat people by Tuesday this week as I will be taking pictures of the studnets with their flat people to include in their first entry. Full directions for the project will come home on Monday and the journals will come home with the students on Friday. Thank you for reminding your children to pack their flat person for school on Monday evening.
Personal Quotes: All year the students have been learning about and researching quotes
on various topics, as well as the people they have studied. To wrap up our Oral Biography Projects, the students will be creating their own personal quotes that match their values and beliefs. These quotes will be displayed with a quote they have selected from the person they represented in their presentation. We will work on the quotes in class, but they will bring home their quotes on Thursday night to share with you and perhaps edit/rivise them a bit. Final quotes need to be ready by Friday.
Spelling: The list for Unit 17 will be in your child’s filer on Monday. The test will be this Friday as usual.
Social Studies: We will be starting our Oregon Trail simulation activity this week. The students will be deciding on what items to purchase with their “family groups” prior to setting off on the trail. As the students travel they will be keeping track of their money, food supplies, health and more in their travel journals.
Science: This week we will be finishing our story, Lerato Cooks Up a Plan, on green engineering. We will also be looking at the vocabulary for our unit. Some of the vocabulary is a repeat from our EIE unit at the beginning of the year which will be a nice way to review at the end of the year too.
Mark Your Calendars!
4th Grade Charity Bake Sale will take place on May 17. We will be needing parent volunteers to help set up, price and monitor/assist with the selling from about 10:00-1:00. You can sign up to come in at any point during these hours. Please email me if you will be able to help out. All families are asked to send in some delicious baked goods to sell. More info coming as we get closer to the date.
Our end of the year field trip is scheduled for Wednesday, June 13th. This trip has two parts that focus on our Washington State History and celebrate a wonderful year. First, we head down under to the Underground Tour and learn about the early history of Seattle. Next we head to Alki Beach, where the Denny Party first landed to have lunch and play in the sand. We will be sending out permission slips later this month. Remember, if you want to drive/attend the on field trips your Called to Protect obligations need to be updated.
- Spelling Unit 17 worksheet Monday, test Friday
- Math homework Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday
- Personal Quote due Friday
- Practice recorders