Hi Families!
Quick notes to know:
- 1/10 – Aims Webb Reading test (data check in on 4th grade progress)
- 1/11- Aims Webb Math test (data check in on 4th grade progress)
- 1/14- Early Release 1:00 p.m.- teacher meetings (please send nut-free snunch)
- 1/17- No school, Martin Luther King Jr. Day
- Week of 1/17/22 – Spelling Bee
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- Thank you to everyone for your incredibly generous holiday gifts. I was overwhelmed with all of the gestures and cannot thank you all enough for your thoughtfulness! I truly enjoyed all of the treats and gifts! It was absolutely wonderful, thank you!
- There are a few special circumstances coming up these two weeks that may affect our class time. We have Aims Webb testing this week for a winter data check in. Then, next week we will have a spelling bee. I am emailing home the study guide for the spelling bee. We encourage all students to try and will be conducting the first round within our classroom. The winner will then move onto the next round at our school.
- Students go outside anytime the windchill is zero or above. Students will need snow boots, snow pants, a coat, hat or hood, and gloves or mittens. Unfortunately, students who do not have snow boots or snow pants will not be allowed to play in the snow. The fourth graders store their coats, snow pants, and boots in the hall. All students need indoor shoes or slippers to wear in the classroom. Students need a clean pair of tennis shoes to take to PE. The PE shoes can also be indoor shoes in the classroom, where they will remain clean and dry. I highly recommend sending extra clothes and socks to school with your child. Thank you for reminding your child to bring winter gear.
NEXT WEEK:
Reading and Writing,
We will resume our normal spelling homework and groups this week. With the power outage last week, we will be continuing the same spelling sort from last week, with a test scheduled on Friday. Students should follow the normal spelling homework schedule this week.
In writing,
We are finishing our informational essay on ways to help the earth. Students should be completing their rough draft and self editing this week, working towards a final draft. I am hoping the final draft will be completed by Friday but it may spill over into next week. This is an essay with an introduction, conclusion and 3 body paragraphs. Students will continue working on the phases of writing, including research, brainstorming, graphic organizing, writing a rough draft, editing and a final draft. Following this essay, we will start a unit on persuasive writing that will last several weeks.
In reading,
We are continuing our informational unit. This week we are reading texts on nature recycling, sound, wolves and on Martin Luther King Jr. Students will learn more about informational texts and how they are structured. They will read and analyze this week’s texts for structure examples, such as one that is structured as cause and effect, and another text that has several examples of sequential structure. Next week, we will continue to review and analyze text structures. Next week, we will also learn about informational text features such as graphs, captions, timelines, etc. that enhance and add to our understanding of informational text.
We will also continue work on typing, cursive, spelling and a fun writing prompt to help develop and strengthen these skills during daily 5 time.
3rd grade Math,
We are starting Unit 4. This unit begins with measurement concepts and skills. Students tell time to the minute and solve elapsed time problems. Then the class discusses the need for measuring by reading a book about the biggest, tallest, and fastest animals in the world. At the end of the first module, students estimate, measure, and compare the masses of different objects. In the second module, students work with volume and solve measurement-related story problems. The third module introduces them to fractions, using several different models to build, compare, and investigate the relationships among unit and common fractions. A short project at the end of the unit brings it all together, as students measure lengths to fractions of an inch and display measurement data on line plots.
This week, we will be working on completing module 1. Module 1 focuses on measuring time and mass. Students investigate time and mass through hands-on experiences, a new Work Place game, carefully constructed questions and discussions, and a read-aloud. After beginning the module with a unit pre-assessment, students practice
telling time and begin working with elapsed time. The Work Place Tic-Tac-Tock reinforces these skills. Students also learn how to measure mass on a pan balance scale and then estimate, measure, and compare the masses of various objects.
Next week, we will start Module 2 which focuses on measuring volume and solving measurement story problems. Students continue their work with measurement, first investigating liquid volume and then learning a new Work Place activity offering hands-on opportunities to estimate mass, liquid volume, and length. Sessions 3, 4, and 5 feature two sets of measurement-related story problems and two math forums back-to-back. Students compare strategies for solving problems that necessitate
identifying the operations needed, and which in some cases require more than one step and one operation to solve.
4th grade math, Hello 4th grade families!
I hope you all found rest and relaxation over this break. As we return to school, we will be beginning a new unit in math which will span several weeks. This unit will be focusing on place values to 1,000,000 as well as multi-digit addition strategies. The activities in the first module will help students use what they learned about place value to investigate and review addition strategies for larger numbers.
Students will learn the standard algorithm for addition and compare it to other strategies they have learned.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at aluckey@pccharterschool.org.
Science/Social Studies,
Students will be completing our science unit on sound. Students will learn about how the ear works, how sound travels, and what different sounds are. They will also experiment with sound and hearing. We will also read a science book about sound that supports our understanding and reiterates the concepts from our experiments. Following sound, we will start a unit on magnets.
We are continuing phenology and solo spots, alternating each week. Please make sure your student is prepared to be outside on a regular basis with warm outdoor clothing.
I hope you have a wonderful week!
