Dear 4B Families,
This week’s newsletter will cover both this week and next, February 9-20
I am excited to see the Valentine boxes the students have created. Be sure they bring in not only their boxes and valentines, but also the grid paper with the various views of the box plotted out and labeled. Thank you to our room parents and volunteers who will be providing some fun treats and activities for our party. On Friday students may have free dress with a Valentine theme–reds, pinks, purples, whites….hearts—be creative.
Be sure to return your mid-tri envelope—signed by Friday February 13th. Keep the mid tri! Thank you
Fidget or distraction? Many of the students have acquired quite a collection of fidget items–of which quite a few have are more like toys than tools to aid with concentration. I am going to implement some clear guidelines beginning Monday regarding what qualifies as a focus item. So you might see a pile of non-compliant fidgets coming home on Monday. I am all for a tool that can help students monitor their attention, but to be honest many of them have become a hindrance to learning. Thank you for your support.
On Friday February 27th, 4B will have their prayer service focusing around the story of The Transfiguration. This week our class will go over the details of the service, roles will be assigned, and we will start practicing in class. Later this month we will practice in the school hall. The students will be bringing a hard copy of the script home this week in their filer with their part highlighted to practice.
Religion: On Wednesday the 18th we begin the season of Lent with the Ash Wednesday Mass. Lent is a time when we are compelled to ask forgiveness for our sins and change our lives for the better. The ashes we receive are a sign that we are ready to change our lives. We will be focusing on three types of sacrifice and practices during Lent that will help us grow in our faith: prayer, fasting from excess and unkind actions, and good works or almsgiving. During Lent the students will be reading special Lenten prayers and Bible readings for the season. In class this week we will be reflecting on our plans for Lent. One way we will be incorporating prayer will be in the memorizing of the Memorare . We will recite the prayer daily at school, and each student will have a copy in their filer on Wednesday the 18th. This is a nice prayer to keep by your bedside and recite each night as well. As a school we will be participating in several service related activities to share our gifts with those less fortunate. More to come.
Students should also be studying for the Liturgical Year Calendar test on February 19th. Students can study for the test using their packet in their Religion section or on our websites there are links to online games to help with memorization. They have been studying in class, so they know where to go to find this. We are also learning about the Sacraments.
Spelling: The spelling test this week is on Tuesday, February 10th. Here is the Feb 10th list. The next spelling test will be a spelling test next Friday the 20th. All students will come home with the February 20th list on Tuesday.
Social Studies: The students will be taking their 50 State test on Friday, February 20th. The students are learning about the skills and character traits of Lewis and Clark that were so well suited to take on the expedition. We will also go through all of the preparations needed to take on such a huge journey.
Science: We will be starting the last lesson in the Waves of Sound Unit. In this lesson, students discover that sound is a wave. In the activity, Making Waves, students draw the waves that different sounds make using a virtual oscilloscope, a machine that shows images of sound waves. Then they vibrate a rope to make waves that look like the ones made by the oscilloscope. After this, we will start going through the study guide and practice in class using Kahoot, for the test on February 26th.
Reading: This week, we will continue discussing the essential question, How can one person make a difference? This question aligns with the story we are reading, Delivering Justice. Students will be reading biographies about people that have made an impact in their community and in the world. We will wrap up this story with a comprehension and vocab test. If students struggle with their comprehension, I recommend students bring the story home to re-read before Tuesday.
Math: Keep up regular division fact practice–over the mid-winter break as well especially if those facts are not mastered. Thank you for your continued assistance helping your children work for accuracy on their homework as we master the long division algorithm. Our class lessons will remain focused on long division and interpreting remainders in story problems. We will also include some review of double digit multiplication. On Valentine’s Day we will do some math activities on area, perimeter and volume using the grid paper drawings of their boxes.