Weekly Newsletter, September 24-28

Welcome to 4th grade! Each week we will send our newsletter to you through our Grade 4 Blog. Please be sure your child's homeroom teacher has your email address. That way you will receive an email each time we update this blog!

Calendar Highlights:
September 24-28: MAPR assessment (Measures of Academic Progress, Reading)
September 28: Early Release Day for students (9:30-12:55; Lunch is 12:15)
October 5: Progress Reports will be sent home to all fourth graders.
October 8: Donuts for Dads, 8:00 AM; Open House: 9:30-12:30




PBIS:
Our school is participating in a Positive Behavior Intervention System. By now your kids should be coming home telling you about their classroom and individual Bulldog Bucks. Students can earn Bulldog Bucks for demonstrating Safe, Respectful, and/or Responsible behavior. They can earn them from any staff member. There are individual and class Bulldog Bucks. Students will be able to use their Bulldog Bucks for rewards both in the classroom and at the school store.

School Store Schedule for Fourth Graders (ever other week beginning this week):
Tuesdays: Mr. Bidwick's Class
Wednesdays: Ms. Dynda's class (this week will go on Monday)
Thursdays: Ms. Hudson's class

More information about PBIS can be found on the link below:
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/studentservices/pbis/index.shtm

Helpful information for 4th grade:

9:05-10:25: Writing
10:30-11:15: Specials (T,W, & F) Science (M, Th & 1 other day, depending on teacher)
11:20-12:40: Math
12:45-1:45: Recess & Lunch
1:50-3:15: Reading Block

*We invite students to bring a nut-free snack to class each day, as our lunch period is late in the day.
*We invite all students to bring a water bottle to class also.
*Students are also encouraged to bring a removable (flash drive) with them to school as well. We do a lot of our work on the computer & many students like to save on their drive to share at home and school. It is not required!


Writing:
During Quarter 1, we will focus on writing personal narratives. Our focus is to write for our reader.  Now that we have studied the writing of various authors, we will write our rough drafts focusing on one moment. 

In addition to studying the works of an author to understand the craft of writing, students will begin to revise their small moments prewriting. They will examine the difference between descriptive and informational writing. In a personal narrative, it is important for the reader to feel the feelings of the author.

Example:
Joe and I play baseball (informative)
Joe taught me how to catch a baseball. (descriptive & specific)

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

Life Science:
Students construct, observe, discuss, and read about land and water ecosystems. Throughout the unit students will explore the concepts of living things and their basic needs, how organisms are classified, the features that make organisms well-suited to their environment, the flow of energy and matter, and how organisms interact with each other and the environment. 

 We will continue to learn how plants and animals are interdependent.  Our focus will also shift to understanding what the Chesapeake Bay Watershed is, what states are included, and how communities within the watershed affect the health of the Chesapeake Bay. 

Our field trip to the Agricultural Farm will take place on October 26.  We will spend the day learning the effects of agriculture, pollution, and fishing have on the Bay.  If you have not turned in your permission slip yet, it is due by October 5. 


Math 5:
• Identify and apply prime and composite numbers less than 100 and rules of divisibility.
• Determine and apply the greatest common factor and least common multiple of numbers.
• Recognize and represent functional relationships using graphs, tables, and rules.
• Compare and order integers on a number line.

This week:
Function Tables
determine the valuable for the variables
Graphing Functions


Math 4:
*Recognize and apply place value patterns in numbers through millions.
• Organize, display, and analyze data using line plots and line graphs.
• Determine and distinguish among mean, median, mode, and range, using concrete materials.
• Classify angles as acute, obtuse, or right.
• Identify and describe the sides, angles, edges, vertices's, and faces of solid figures.
• Draw circles, triangles, and quadrilaterals given their dimensions. *Identify and describe points, lines, line segments, and rays.

This week:  3 dimensional shapes; identifying edges, sides, and vertices's
Reference Book pages 87-89 will support your child's learning.
Vocabulary:
Edge
Side
Vertex


*Students will have a math quiz each Friday on skills covered in the unit to that point.

A great website that allows students to work at their own pace on word problems/real world application of multiplication & division:
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/

Reading:
In class, our focus will be to become an alert reader.  We will create a reading portfolio in our journals to record our findings/data about ourselves as readers.  We will also use Post-its to mark up a text as to what parts of a story interest us versus parts of a story that do not capture our attention.  There is a Post-it note code paper that students glued into their reading journals.  They will use these codes to record ideas as they read independently and in small groups.  Look for your child to bring home a book at their reading level each night.  They should read for 20 minutes and use Post-its to mark the text for connections, predictions, something that surprises them, interesting, important vocabulary, etc.  They should also mark places where the book may have confused them.

Spelling:
*Our spelling program involves the use of developmental word study rather than traditional spelling books. This“Words Their Way” approach allows students to practice target spelling patterns that best address their individual needs as a speller.


*Students will study the same pattern of words for two weeks. They will practice the words both at home and at school. The patterns will vary based on spelling group.

*Our spelling test will be on Friday, October 5.