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Reading: We finished Shiloh! Each year that we read this book, I find it to be more and more wonderful as a teaching tool. The kids quickly fall in love with the story, making it easy to teach them about author's techniques, figurative language, summarizing, inferring, and having rich discussions about their ideas related to the story. We are wrapping up the novel with several fun activities; today we watched the movie to compare and contrast it with the book. We will also use Padlet to share our thoughts and opinions about theme, mood, and character development, and we will be making movie trailers using iMovie. Ask your readers how the story ended. Ask them about some of the themes throughout Shiloh, and their opinion of Phyllis Reynolds Naylor's writing.Writing: Rough drafts are typed and peer editing has begun on our narratives! We are using Google Docs to share feedback with one another, working in small groups with me to edit and revise. Next week the kids will bring home a printed copy of their story for you to read. I'll ask you to give them feedback based on the 4th grade narrative checklist. Ask your kids what ideas they have for their next writing piece.
4th Grade Math: We finished Module 2, Metric Measurement this week. The kids took their assessment and and we worked on test corrections. On Monday they'll bring home their tests for you to see and sign. I'll offer make-ups next week. We've begun Module 3, Multiplication and Division. Most importantly right now, I want the kids to be working on memorizing their multiplication facts. Most students need quite a bit of work memorizing their facts, so any practice you can do with them at home would help. Ways you can do this are: skip counting by 2's, 3's, 4's, 5's, etc. Using the kids' fact triangle flash cards to practice facts, or using your own at-home flash cards. Ask your kids to show you their fact triangles this weekend.
Social Studies: Our government unit will cover the concept of a democracy, the 3 branches of government, and the rights and responsibilities of citizens. Talk to your kids about the type of government we have, and the role we play in our democracy.
Science: We're done with Investigation 1, all about soils. We've moved on to Investigation 2, Landforms. In this part, we'll use stream tables to model the effects that water has on land. Ask your scientists about how we built the stream tables and what we observed during part 1 of our first lab.
Miscellaneous:
- Thanks to all that participated in Trick or Treat for UNICEF! We collected a total of $417.24! This money will provide 150 packets of therapeutic food to at least 7 children who are malnourished or provide a kit to give 50 families clean water to drink. Every little bit makes a difference and your support is appreciated. Thank you again!! -The Whittier Third Graders
- Absentee & Retake Picture Day is on Wednesday, November 15, 2017. RETAKE STUDENTS: If you are unhappy with your original photo and want a retake, please bring the original pictures to the camera on retake day. We will print your original order with the new image. Be aware that the retake photo REPLACES the original image. FORGET TO ORDER THE ORIGINAL PHOTO? Go to our website and click on Proof and Re-Orders. Enter your ticket Code (located on order form or call) www.vangoghphoto.com
