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Update 4/25/22

by | Apr 24, 2022 |

Hi Families!

Quick notes to know: 

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  • Thank you to our wonderful chaperones. Your efforts and time really helped our trip go smoothly. Thank you! 
  • April 28th starts the ABC countdown Please click this link to view each day’s theme. This is optional for students and just a fun way to count down the days until summer break. 

 NEXT WEEK:

Reading and Writing,  

Spelling resumes. We will follow a normal spelling schedule this and next week. Students will have their normal nightly homework with a test on Friday.   

In writing,

We are in our unit on poetry and will continue until May 6th. This week we will study and write a character poem, limericks, cinquain, acrostic and autobiography. Next week, we will work on a season poem, and I am poem. We will end the unit by completing our book cover and an all about the author page. If time allows, we will also share out to the class some of our poems. 

In reading,

We have finished our novel, “Sled Dog School” by Terry Lynn Johnson.  This week we will write a character poem on Matt, the main character in Sled Dog School. Students will also complete a final project on  “Sled Dog School” this week. Students will choose a project that will communicate their comprehension of the events and characters in the story. Project options include an advertisement for Sled Dog School, a report, illustrations for each of the chapters, a game, crossword puzzle or writing prompts. Students will select and complete one for a final grade. Any students not complete with all of their chapter questions (all the way to 19/20) will need to catch up, as these are also for a grade. 

Next, we are going to read “Love That Dog” by Sharon Creech. This is a novel that is written in poetry format. The novel is about a boy, Jack, who is in school and has to write poems for a poetry unit. Little by little, Jack starts to enjoy poems, write poetry and opens up about a really sad event in his life. Intertwined in the novel are the poems Jack is learning, which we will, in-tandem, learn about as well. We will read the novel as a whole class and complete discussion questions after our readings. Students will also follow along and complete a bingo sheet with connections they make to the story. This novel is an easy read because of the format and my hope is it will be completed over the next two weeks. 

Students will also work on their spelling words, cursive and have biomimicry books for read to self time. 

3rd grade Math,  

We are Starting Unit 6 which focuses on geometry. Unit 6 will be the last unit of the year. An overview of Unit 6: Students develop increasingly precise ways to describe, classify, and make generalizations about two-dimensional shapes, particularly quadrilaterals. In Module 1, students explore polygons in a variety of creative ways. In Module 2, they form polygons and special quadrilaterals to build understanding that shared attributes can define a larger category. Module 3 combines geometry and measurement as students measure the perimeters and areas of polygons. Module 4 offers students opportunities to apply what they’ve learned about quadrilaterals and area in the context of fractions.

This week and next week we will be working on Module one and starting module two. Module 1 Investigating Polygons: Students explore polygons while using a variety of tools and activities. The module begins with a pre-assessment. In Sessions 2 and 3, students use examples and nonexamples to explore the attributes of quadrilaterals. In Session 4, the class makes their own sets of tangram pieces. Since 5 of the 7 pieces (tans) are right triangles, a discussion of congruence and similarity naturally arises. In Work Place 6A Tangram Polygons, students use their tangram pieces to begin solving a series of geometric puzzles. 

Module 2 Quadrilaterals: Students continue to strengthen their understanding of polygons. In Session 1, they build a variety of polygons out of toothpicks. After building squares, rectangles, and a variety of rhombuses, students work up to multi-sided polygons having as many as 12 sides (dodecagons). In Work Place 6B Geoboard Polygons, introduced in Session 2, students create polygons to match clues given in the form of geometric attributes. In Sessions 3, 4, and 5 , they sort quadrilaterals and write quadrilateral riddles. Session 6, in which students estimate and measure the perimeters of 5 different quadrilaterals, transitions them into the next module, dealing with perimeter and area in greater depth.

 4th Grade Math

Hello 4th Grade! 

 

This week in math, we are going to be continuing to learn about angles, circles, and symmetry! So far, we have learned about acute, obtuse, straight, right, and zero angles. We will continue to expand our knowledge as well as learn to use a protractor to measure and create angles. We will be learning a few games to play with classmates this week to help enforce the concepts we have been learning. It’s “shaping” up to be a really fun unit! 

 Science/Social Studies  

Studentshave finished our unit on force and motion. Students have learned about gravity and basic forces. Our final experiments were with twirly birds learning about air resistance and building a faster top with balanced forces, mass, and torque to create a fast spinning top. 

We have started a unit on biomimicry; humans imitating nature’s designs. We will continue our biomimicry unit over the next two weeks. This fourth grade unit will explore biomimicry through the study of how nature protects itself. First, the class has explored what humans need to protect and how they already protect themselves. Students have learned about and discussed human survival needs (air, water, food and shelter).  We viewed human inventions that help protect these needs, such as, air purifiers and refrigerators. 

Then, students examined trees, and how they meet their needs of life and protect themselves and their resources. We learned more about trees and how they defend themselves. We also learned about the Wood Wide Web. Next, our class will establish the similarities between humans and trees and the general methods they employ for protection — physical, chemical and sharing resources. As a final project, next week, students will create a tree-inspired protection innovation to help humans to protect something fragile. We also had a guest speaker, a professor of biomimicry, come and teach us about ecosystems and natural events. We learned that an ecosystem has a delicate balance. We also learned when a natural event such as a forest fire happens, it can deplete some of the resources but won’t collapse the food chain. 

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!