At Laytonsville Elementary, we strive to always be SAFE, RESPECTFUL, and RESPONSIBLE

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Weekly Newsletter, April 9-13, 2012

Weekly Highlights:
April 10: Welcome Back to School
April 11: Science begins
April 12: Clubs begin; report cards distributed

*Mrs. Sagona has challenged the school to read 1 million minutes by May 15. If the students and teachers reach the goal, each class will earn an ice cream party and an additional recess. Students should continue to read each night for 20 minutes (at least) and record this information on their reading logs. We continue to record the minutes we read each day in school on the log as well.

In March, Ms. Hudson's reading class read 50,285 minutes.  In Feburary, we read 40,950 minutes.  That's an increase of 9,335 minutes in ONE MONTH!  I am so proud of the job we are doing.  Keep up the great work!


Math 4:
Mathematics is the study of patterns and relationships. In this unit, students explore the patterns that exist in the multiplication and division of multi-digit numbers and within the measurement system for time.

In Grade 3, students multiplied multi-digit by single digit numbers and practiced a variety of strategies for multiplication and division. Earlier in Grade 4, students developed fluency with single digit multiplication and division and applied their knowledge of factors and multiples to whole numbers and fractions. In this unit, students examine the patterns in multiples of ten and the inverse patterns that occur in division. They refine and apply the strategies learned in Grade 3 to multiply multi-digit numbers and divide multi-digit by single digit numbers. Students also recognize that the context of a division problem determines how any remainder will be used.

Grade 3 students learned to tell time to the minute and to determine elapsed time using clocks and calendars. In this unit, students tell time to the second and investigate equivalent periods of time. They determine elapsed time without the use of manipulatives and use elapsed time to determine start and end times.

THIS WEEK: We will be determine and estimate elapsed time using digital and analog clocks. Students have been given their review packet early, so they can begin to practice for the unit assessment.

The review packet is due on April 24. Our unit test will take place on April 25 & April 27. April 26 is Take Your Daughter/Son to Work Day.

http://www.multiplication.com/

A great website that allows students to work at their own pace on word problems/real world application of multiplication & divsion:
http://www.thinkingblocks.com/

We continue to use the Khan academy website to help practice our math at home. This is a great site where students (if a login is created) can track their progress and have example problems to work on. It has been featured in CNN as an up and coming way for teachers to assess individual students learning.

http://www.khanacademy.org/



Science: Observing Earth Matter
Studnets will explore rocks to build on their knowledge about matter and to observe that matter is comprised of minute parts.  Before examining rocks, students will use magnification tools with common materials to observe the small parts in matter that make up the whole.  Students will hone their observational skills and descriptions in preparations for comparing the physical properties of rocks and minerals.
A link to the landforms website discussed in class:
http://www.edu.pe.ca/southernkings/landforms.htm


Reading:
Our stratgey focus this week is making inferences.  When you infer, you go beyond the surface details to see other meanings the details suggest or imply but are not stated in the text.  Inferences can be found in four main ways:
dialogue between characters
actions of characters
physical descriptions of characters
inner thoughts of characters (not spoken in dialogue)

READING HOMEWORK: Students are asked to read 20 minutes each night at home and record on their reading log. This is an independent book of their choosing. Our book talk will be due Friday, April 13.



Writing:
This week will begin to prewrite about a quarter 4 writing project.  We will brainstorm things we know about, things we are interested in, things we have questions about to determine the "what" and "how" of our next project.


A link to a website for additional information on the 6 Traits is below:
http://www.edina.k12.mn.us/concord/teacherlinks/sixtraits/sixtraits.html


Spelling:
Sort 19 will focus on vowel alteration. We will review long and short vowels.  We will discover by sound exploration that not all root words are long vowels and not all derrivatives are short vowels. Our spelling test for this sort will be on FRIDAY, April 20.


A great resource we found includes other ways for students to practice their spelling, even some apps for devices. The spelling activities that we suggested in the students spelling journals are just suggestions. Please feel free to adapt as your child needs to.

http://support.weta.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=43183.0&dlv_id=48444

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