We never got to our chapter social studies test on Friday due to the performances and missing kids, so we will take both the chapter test (open book) and the states and capitals test on Monday. We talked about how there are only four states. That means each problem will be worth 25 points. So, studying is going to be a huge plus for those SS grades.
Speaking of grades, Quarter 3, Weekly Report 1 went home on Friday. There were many poor SS grades because there was only the one MLK, Jr assignment. Many kids did not do well on this, due to the fact that the last two questions made them take information in the story and apply to other information in the story. This was too much work for some, and so they just guessed. Therefore, they earned a poor grade. BUT, the good news is there is a lot of time to bring it up. The not so good news is, SS and Science often don't have a lot of grades to average together. So, doing well on each and every assignment is so important. I talked with them abut that, but a reminder from you would also help as well. We also talked about how one missing assignment is the fastest way to bring down your grade. If missing assignments are turned in, the grades will go up a bunch.
Our star of the week, Miss. Dayna, was in the performance so she will share with us on Monday morning. However, Rhys was our star of the week the previous week and he shared a ton! We learned so much about all his hobbies, collections, and fun pictures. What a great kid!
Next week, we will be finishing up our Biography reports in reading. They are coming along great. I can't wait to hang the final projects in the hall for you and other to see. They have worked very hard to show all that we have learned. On Monday, we will be adding the figurative language piece with an illustration. Ask your child what their rebus story entailed. They had fun taking out words and putting in pictures that showed the word they took out. They then had to get with a partner and have the partner read the story aloud to see if they could know what the picture was trying to say. Fun! Our read aloud book is getting really good too. The big raisin soaked sleeping pill trick worked. It was fun to hear the kids laughing at all the pheasants falling out of the trees. What a great book, but it is not over yet! Will they get caught???? Ask your child and see what they predict. We will finish the book up in the next couple of days. Our next read aloud will be done in both 4th grade classes. It will be a humorous book called Owls in the Family. We will learn a ton and our read aloud focus will be summarizing. At the end of the book we will join Mrs. Hankin's reading class for a fun filled owl day! Jeff the Nature guy will also be involved as well once again. Too cool!
In science, we will wrap up our Metric Olympics with a weight lifting event. How strong will your child be?? Ask them how many grams of marbles they think they can lift in one handful. Write down their prediction in the planner to share with me for a $20 reward on Monday. HINT: In math we learned that a gram is about the same weight as a grape. We will find out the true mass this week.
In math, we will be moving onto fractions. I just love fractions, but then again I just love math. As we learn the new skill, we will continue to review the old as well daily. I tested their multiplication tables the other day and it was not too pretty. I think we need to start on the xtramath.org again. It is like they flushed their brains somehow. They still know them, but they don't know them like they know their names anymore. This tells me that they need to study. May I please ask if they have a set of multiplication flashcards could they bring them to school on Monday. Extra sets? Could we borrow them? I want to spend about 10 minutes every day with a partner flashing each other. I think it will really help. We had a few students in the last week end up in tears when it came to long multiplication and division because they couldn't get the right answer when coming up to me to get them checked. The error lied in the wrong answer to a basic multiplication problem. Doing a few long division problems such as 764 divided by 4 each night would really help to. Or, problems like 389 x 23. The more they practice the better they will become and the less frustration they will have. It is very hard for me to watch kids cry because they don't know the basics. Please help your child at home.
Spelling tests rocked once again this week! Thanks for studying again. I have posted the new words to the right for Unit 19.
PS. I also added two new learning game sites. One is called Expanding Vocabulary. It has tons of games that deal with 4th grade words in all different forms. Anytime you work with synonyms, antonyms, or analogies you will learn new words to expand your vocabulary. I also added a math one. I would really love the kids to play the geometry games, especially the ones for triangles and polygons. Have fun!!
