Dear 4B Families,
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. It was such a pleasure meeting with all of you last week during conferences. I am inspired and excited for the new trimester to begin. The signs of the season are beginning to appear. Advent does not begin until next week, but we will start preparing this week. As we prepare we are asked to look for ways we can serve others. As a school we are asked to participate in several outreach/service opportunities. As you know, the 4th grade students are collecting for the Pike Market Food Bank and Senior Center. We are accepting non-perishable food items for the food bank and hats, scarves, gloves, and socks for the Senior Center. We have boxes in our classroom ready to collect and you can bring in items as early as tomorrow. All donations need to be in by next Thursday, December 6th (our field trip day). Thank you all for your generous donations.
Pike Place Market! Next Thursday the 6th we will be heading off to wonderful Pike Place Market. If you signed up to drive/chaperone you will be receiving a separate email from me this week with an itinerary and notes about the day. Students are required to wear their uniforms, but they can also opt to wear their Gator Gear or their red Holy Rosary Sweatshirts to the Market. Students should also wear good shoes for walking. All students will need to bring a sack lunch and a beverage, and they may bring $5.00 to $10.00 to spend at the Market, but no more please. Students will not be allowed to buy their lunches. The money is to buy a small treat or craft item. It will be fun to visit the Market during the Christmas Season!
Religion: As we prepare for Advent we have two main areas of focus, the Liturgical Year and the Works of Mercy. On Tuesday the students will bring home study sheets for the Liturgical Year test that will take place on December 14th. Along with the study sheets there is also an online practice site for the Liturgical Calendar (Please look under the Prayers to Know tab at the top of the page). The Seven Works of Mercy will also be a part of our Advent religion work. This is the perfect time of year to learn about the Works of Mercy as it is what Advent and the Christmas Season are all about.
Reading/Language Arts: On Thursday the students will bring home a large paper and directions for the Charlotte’s Web Quote Poster project. Quote Posters are due on or before Dec.18th. As we read Charlotte’s Web, we’ve practiced selecting and writing down clever quotes. The students are learning to choose quotes that have significant meaning or provide insight into the characters. As they work through this project at home, they can use books or this link of the story online.They can also bring their quote folders home on weekends, but they need them here during the school week.
Spelling: Our spelling list is for Unit 10 this week. Students will have a paper copy on their desks on Monday. The test will be Friday as usual.
Science: This week we are beginning our first EIE kit, Catching the Wind. Throughout this unit students will identify the role of a mechanical engineer and complete real world tasks. They will be able to identify the different uses of windmills and wind turbines. We will also understand that wind energy can be harnessed to do useful work
Social Studies: Hopefully the students have been reviewing for their NE/SE/MIdwest State test. This test will take place this Thursday, November 29th.The online practice sites for both the locations and abbreviations that can be accessed on this link. Our classroom work this week will focus on the Pike Place Market in preparation for our upcoming field trips.
Math: Our math work this week will focus on multiplication of two and three digit numbers. Much of the homework this week will come home on graph paper so that the students can keep their calculations organized. Keep up the Xtramath work on multiplication and division—at least 4 times weekly (not counting what we do at school). Many students may also be working from their personal flash cards sent home at conferences.
Have a great week!