It was nice to meet with some of you for conferences this past Wednesday. Everyone should receive an email from sign up genius a few days before as a reminder of your conference time. I'm also happy to email your time so please let me know if you need it. We will meet in the office conference room if you have a conference on Saturday, February 6th. Otherwise, we will meet upstairs in our classroom. Mrs. Weiss looks forward to seeing everyone!
Today we started something new with all of the 4th graders! It is a program to reteach and enrich our scholars in math. All of the teachers met to decide which students needed specific skills retaught from our last unit (multiplication/division). Two of our teachers retaught students during this time (Ms. D and Mr. Lukehart) so students had a smaller group to work with and could continue work on the concepts. The other students had enrichment with Mrs. Darley and Mrs. Weiss. Our enrichment program this week was a group problem solving project. Students will be moving from group to group as we work on different concepts. Our hope is to help our students grasp concepts they are having some difficulty with while enriching our students as well. We will be doing this on Friday mornings (but not next week!).
Next Friday, February 12th we will celebrate Valentine's Day. Students took home a class list with names on Thursday. We explained to students that they are welcome to pass out Valentine's to the class but they do not have to do it! Please do make sure that your child has a Valentine for everyone in the class if they are passing them out. We will have a few treats (Mrs. Weiss contacted the parents that have signed up at Curriculum Night) and enjoy the party time before the long week -end!
Don't forget we have early dismissal on Thursday, February 11th and Friday, February 12th. There is no school on Monday, February 15th for President's Day!
Fondly,
Leslie and David
Reading: This week we continued reading about Denmark during the Holocaust with Number the Stars and an article titled, "Denmark: Resistance to Nazi Germany." We discussed how Number the Stars is historical fiction while the article is nonfiction. We also talked about how these texts both describe Denmark during this time period. Many students liked the story about King Christian X that is in both Number the Stars and the article. Ask your child about the Danish king, Christian X.
Writing: This week we filled out a graphic organizer on our biography subjects and started writing the first drafts of our biographies! We also discussed what makes a good, "catchy" introduction and what are some good ideas to include in our creative projects. Ask your child what makes their introduction catchy.
Centers: This week we worked on using the
Math: This week we continued to work on fractions. We learned how to decompose fractions (break apart) using the area model and multiplication. We added a few interactive pages in their math journals too so we did the fraction work not only in our book. It was really nice to see how easy the multiplication sentence came to them after using the area model. They understood why we multiply not just what to do. Next week we will decompose fractions using division. Ask your student if 3/4 is = to 6/8 and if 3/4 is = to 5/8.
Social Studies: This week we started our book creator assignment for the Southeast. Students have a choice to work with a partner or to complete the assignment independently. They are working on one iPad in class but will be able to share the final product with each other. Some students chose to work independently while others wanted a partner. We will continue working on these book creators in class for the next two weeks and then we will share them! Don't forget to bring in pictures of your family in the Southeast. It would be fun to share. Ask your child if they are doing their own book creator or if they are making one with a friend.
Science: Our students are now learning about magnetism from Mrs. Darley. Ask your child what they learned this week!
Miscellaneous Information
- Refugee Project link
- Oak Park District 97 presents...The 2016 Young Scientists Conference! It will return after a 3-year hiatus on Saturday, March 19, 9 AM - 10:30AM & 11AM -12:30PM at Horace Mann School. The Young Scientists Conference provides D97 students in grades K-8 an opportunity to interact with scientists in hands-on workshops. Workshops are led by professionals in all fields of science. Many scientists also volunteer throughout the year in educational partnerships with D97 schools through Oak Park Education Foundation's Science Alliance Program. Students are assigned to one 90-minute workshop based on grade level. Students must register and are selected from homerooms by lottery to help assure that all schools and grades are represented. Participants will be notified by late February. Please register at http://www.op97.org/
ysc2016/. Registration ends February 10th! If you have any questions, please email at youngscientists@op97.org. - Oak Park Education Foundation: Battle of the Bots (a FREE fun outing for elementary families) is on Feb 6 at Julian Middle School
- Oak Park Education Foundation: OPEF's Open House will be on Feb 27 at Beye (new location); it's a great way to introduce families to OPEF, with a morning of FREE hands-on projects for K-6 kids; plus folks can learn more about and register for Summer BASE Camp
- Oak Park Education Foundation: Staszak Annual Gala on 4/16; Peter Sagal, host of NPR's "Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me" newsquiz, will be our host! Always looking for volunteers to help with this important event, if you or someone you know loves to plan a party -- or if you have an angle on potentially awesome auction donors -- please email opefgala@gmail.com (which will reach Gala co-chairs Kandy Shapiro and Carrie Cotter)
