Break is over and we have started right back where we left off. The kids did a great job getting back into the swing of things and working hard.
Let’s start off with recess. The weather this week was so crazy. On Monday the kids were playing in snow, or jumping rope on wet pavement. By Thursday there was no snow left and some took their coats off to play. But on Friday we were all bundled up again. Please make sure your child has hats, gloves, snow pants, and boots everyday. Even on the warmest day this week boots were necessary simply because of all the mud. 
Fourth graders attended our latest Green Assembly this week. We will be focused on paper usage and, in particular, using less paper.
It was nice enough to head out to the horseshoe to do Quiet Spots this week. The lake looked so neat as it had so many different patterns of ice on it. You can definitely tell that it has been frozen and then melted a few times.
In PE the kids have started a volleyball unit. This week they worked on bumping the ball. They were able to bump to one another and get some good rallies going. The best part was when they broke into two teams and each had a giant ball that they had to pass around. One team was able to pass it around 28 times before it hit the ground!
In social studies we have started a unit on Colonial America. We have started discussing where the colonists came from and how they traveled to the new world. I read a book about the mysterious Roanoke colony. Ask your child what they think happened to them. We will be discussing Jamestown, Williamsburg, and many more in the weeks to come.
In math, the kids are learning about shapes, angles, congruent angles, and circles (radius, diameter, circumference, etc.). They will learn to use a protractor to measure and create angles this week. Playing math games is a big part of the Bridges curriculum and it’s great to watch them excited to extend their learning.
In writing, fourth graders have been working on poetry. We generally have been starting with listening to poems, then we create a whole class poem on a particular theme, and then they write their own on that theme. It’s fun to see kids who think they have no ability to write poems become poets! The best part is sharing your work with your classmates.
And finally, for reading we’ve been reading small passages of non-fiction. They then need to answer questions about vocabulary and general understanding of what they read. It’s definitely a challenge for some to tackle non-fiction. You might consider reading a few non-fiction books with your child at home to help develop a deeper understanding.
Clearly you can see that we’ve been busy since coming back from break. So, of course, we can rest up on our day off on Monday. Speaking of Monday, we did not get a chance to read the book on Martin Luther King Jr. that we had intended. So we will be reading that on Tuesday. But please talk to your child about the important work that Dr. King did and why we have a day set aside to honor him.
Have a great week!
~ Mrs. Steinbeck