Dear 4B Families,
Happy (almost) October everyone! I love this time of year, and the students will be busy with some fun projects, especially the saint reports. The bulk of the report will be created at school, but I will be asking for parent assistance with some preparation homework this week. Please read below.
Awesome job to Lee, Liam, and Alex, our readers at last Wednesday’s mass! All of the fourth graders did a great job during this special Bible blessing mass.
Religion/Language Arts: This Monday, September 27th, each student will be assigned the saint that they will write their report on as well as portray at the Mass. All of the work for this report will take place at school except for one homework assignment that is due this Friday, October 1st. Detailed directions for this homework assignment will be in your child’s filer on Monday, and will also be available on the website in PDF form. The students will be prepped fully with an example that we will complete at school. It is very important that you take time to carefully read through the directions of this assignment. We give the students four days to provide ample time to thoughtfully work on the assignment each night. Please be sure the list of facts and all highlighted materials come back to school on Friday when we will begin the writing process.
All students will have a copy of the Prayer of St. Francis that they should be practicing daily for memorization. The students will recite this prayer at the All Saints Day Mass.
Math: Our MAP testing this week is in the area of math. Starting Wednesday, we will continue to focus on adding and subtracting large numbers as well as some mini math lessons on geometry, measurement, and some math games. Thank you for signing up for Xtramath.
Students should visit Xtramath at least three times from home this week. XtraMath helps students transition from counting or calculating the basic math facts to recalling them. Quickly recalling math facts, instead of calculating them, frees up mental resources for higher-level op
erations. Success with fact mastery requires regular, focused practice. Thank you for encouraging your child in this area. Note: There is no math homework this week so that families can focus on the Saint Report Homework.
Spelling: Spelling lists for Lesson 3 (short and long “i”) were passed out last Friday. The test will be this Friday as usual.
Reading: We will be wrapping up our study of Stormalong and related tall tale stories this week. We will then move into our first novel, E.B. White’s masterpiece, Charlotte’s Web. Even if your child has read this book before, we will delve into themes and vocabulary that will both inspire and challenge the students. Charlotte’s Web is a beautiful expression of true friendship. The story is also masterfully written to reinforce and build advanced vocabulary and comprehension skills. The book lends itself perfectly to our reading standards and target skills—and never ceases to enchant! (You can probably tell I love this book!) Please include weekly visits to Ms. Corrigan’s website that will always be linked in the “Reading” subject line.
Social Studies: We have been learning about latitude and longitude and reading maps in Social Studies. The students will apply this knowledge as they locate places using latitude/longitude coordinates, as well as read different types of maps including precipitation, population and elevation.
Science: This week, we will begin Activity 2 of our Brain module. We will be exploring the senses and discussing inputs and outputs through the brain. We will go through sense stations to test our own senses and learn about the parts of the brain that control each sense.
