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Reading: We continued reading our class novel, Frozen Stiff this week. It's about two cousins who embark on a 2 day camping expedition in the Glaciers of Alaska, but wind up getting stuck for much longer than they expected. We also did some planning and reflecting on our independent reading. Your child should still be reading about 20 minutes each night. You'll find that I try hard not to pile on the homework because this 20 minutes of reading is SO very important to their growth and learning. Ask your reader what he/ she checked out of the library this week. If s/he'll let you, ask to read together. Writing: We had an awesome week of brainstorming for our opinion writing unit. The kids really understand the purpose of the structure of an essay and have started developing the skills to elaborate on their opinions. Monday, writers will commit to a topic. They will learn about how to support an idea with reasons, and to develop those reasons with evidence. They'll learn about different types of evidence and which to use to best support an argument. Ask your child what sort of things they wrote about in brainstorming this week. Most chose personal topics, like a family member, a hobby, a pet, etc. A few chose "controversial" topics like "should kids have cell phones?" Ask your child's opinion about growing up, 11/14 kids/ responses were negative!
4th Grade Math: Our mathematicians really picked up division with ease. I've noticed that if a few days (or... say, 2 weeks of winter break) go by without practice, they need a review, but I'm pleased with their understanding of why it works as well as well as their ability to actually do it. Today we started a section of our unit dealing with factors. Our very long unit has about 3 weeks left before we review and test. Please continue to practice multiplication/ division facts at home! Now you can add factors, too (EX: What are the factors of 24? 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, 24).
Social Studies: This week we learned about the levels of government: federal, state, and local. We will wrap up our unit with the kids writing their own online Kahoot reviews, then move on to our regions unit. Talk to your kids about our role as citizens in our democratic society. Talk to them about our leaders at various levels and what they do and how they get elected.
Science: Our students will be learning about Magnetism and Electricity during second trimester with Ms. Darley. Ask your scientists about building circuits, the properties of magnets, and what else they might be investigating.
Miscellaneous:
- This weather is crazy! Help you kiddos plan accordingly by looking at the weather together at night or in the am.
- Many kids have stopped bringing water bottles. Please keep sending them in! It keeps them hydrated and energized throughout the day.
