Dear 4B Families, 
Welcome Back.
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas holiday and that you are ready to jump into the New Year 2017! We have some exciting learning adventures ahead.
On Monday we will spend some time sharing about our holiday breaks and considering some New Year’s Resolutions, especially those that apply to our studies and relationships at school. We will also review our classroom and school procedures and rules this week. Reviewing routines and procedures will help us start the year off right.
Religion: The Seven Sacraments will be our focus for the next few weeks. The students will also need to be working to memorize our next prayer, the Memorare. Students will have a study sheet in their filer. We will say the prayer regularly at school, but students should practice the prayer at home nightly as well. Right before bed is a perfect time to practice! On the 6th we will celebrate Epiphany with a classroom door blessing. Check your child’s filer for corrected Liturgical Year tests.
Reading/Language Arts: Be sure to look for corrected Charlotte’s Web final tests in your child’s filer this week. Grade sheets for the Quote Posters will also be in your child’s filer. We are moving back into our anthology this week as we begin a mini unit on Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement. This unit will lead into our larger biography unit. Stayed tuned for more!
Our language arts activities will focus on the four types of sentences; declarative, interrogative, imperative and exclamatory. Students will be able to both recognize and compose quality sentences of each type, understanding the importance of proper punctuation in conveying meaning.
The students will begin work on an informational writing piece related to an inspirational news stories from 2016 involving children and teens. More information to come on this project, which may include some home research.
Spelling: Spelling lesson 2 this week will focus on words with short and long e sounds. All students will have a study sheet in their filer and the test will be on Friday as usual.
Math: We will review and finish up chapter 4 this week. Look for nightly math homework. Mastery of multiplication and division facts remains a priority.
Social Studies: The students will be tested on the West/Southwest States on 
Tuesday the 10th. The 50 State test will be January 19th. Our class work will focus on early explorers of our state. We will be reviewing the Explorers by sea then moving into the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
Science: This week we will be reviewing our lessons on light from before the break. We will also compare how light and sound travel. Finally we will participate in some experiments showing how sound travels.
Don’t forget the January $1.00 donation for Uganda. Thank you for your support of our Ugandan friends.
Have a great first week of 2017!