Good morning dear 4th grade families! This is Mrs. Maza here, and I'll be writing the blog on behalf of all 4th grade classes for the remainder of quarter one. We'll rotate through so you'll hear from each class. I apologize in advance for this extra long post. The first one always has more information than usual. 

This is my eleventh year here, and writing the blogs is something I enjoy doing. I always like to share a little about what's going on in my own life. You DO NOT have to read this part, if you are not interested. I totally get it. Feel free to scroll on down till you come to the line that says: Let's take a look at what we're doing this coming week.

So, as my own class knows, I became a grandmother just over a week ago! My oldest daughter just had her first child, David Joseph (we call him Davey). I'm so blessed, because she lives a mile from school and I get to stop by every day on my way home to see that sweet baby! There's nothing quite as precious as a newborn baby! I have five kids and my "baby" is a junior at CPA. It's been a while since we had little ones in the family.

I hope you have some fun things planned for this long weekend. My goal is to get all of my school work done today, so that I can have a couple days off. I will be taking care of my plants and doing some good ol' housework, but also spending time with family. My kids are coming over for dinner tonight (even baby Davey!), tomorrow I'm smoking a pork roast for whoever wants to come back over for a meal, and Monday we are celebrating birthdays in two of my siblings' families over at my mom's house (five doors down). I am so blessed to be surrounded by family! Quarantining has a different meaning when your family is so large! Whatever you have planned, I hope you have a fabulous weekend!

It was fantastic to have some children in our classrooms yesterday! It finally felt like a return to normalcy, even though face masks and desk shields were present! We laughed, played, did a fun science activity, had conversations, and it was a wonderful day! We know that may be hard to hear for those who have chosen to remain at home, and while we respect your decision to do so, we cannot deny the joy of being in school. We look forward to the day when everyone can be on campus!

Okay, let's see what we're going to be doing in the week ahead.

Language Arts:

     Grammar - We are rolling on through our parts of speech review, and will finish up this week with the final two. We'll learn how to classify and diagram those as well.

     Literature - We will finish up with our first story on Thursday and will have a discussion about theme on Friday while we Zoom. Please be prepared to send in Pollyanna by Friday, or next Tuesday at the latest. We will begin reading it when we return the following week on Tuesday the 15th. 

     Poetry - The kids have been working on "The Moon" for one week and will have one more to get it memorized. Recitations are due Friday. DL (distance learners) may recite on a Zoom this week, or submit a video of their recitation on Friday.

     Latin and Greek Roots - I won't be putting notes about this subject in future blogs, because the format will be the same each week. The kids learn three new roots each week, with five derivatives of each. They have an activity for each day to help them learn the words. Thursday is a review day and Friday is when they will be tested on spelling and meaning. The tests are cumulative; each week there will be a few words from previous weeks thrown in to make sure the kids still know those words. This is also the subject area in which cursive will be required. We are not doing Spalding, but we need the students to maintain their cursive skills from last year. DL must also be writing in cursive at home.

     Composition - We will be using the Writing With Ease (WWE) program for some of our writing instruction, but will also be teaching the students how to write paragraphs and essays. Along with the WWE summaries, we are beginning this week with the dictations. This will be interesting to do virtually, but we hope it will work out. 

Math - We will have a quiz this Wednesday in Math and then next Wednesday will be the final test for unit one. We are aware that some math books are still not in, and are making copies for those students in the meantime. 

Science - We are starting week three of Chemistry, and will learn about physical vs. chemical change this week. I'm so happy to be back in the classroom to teach science! I hope those at home can find the time to try these activities, too. 

History - We will wrap up the short unit on mountains this week. Tuesday will be a day for review; the kids were given a study guide last week, which will mirror the test. The test is scheduled for Friday. Just a reminder that DL must take the test without any notes.

That's it for our curriculum update. Now for a few other notes. 

The Barnes and Noble at Chandler Fashion has received a shipment of both Pollyanna and Robin Hood. These are the next two books we will be reading in 4th grade. 

Please don't forget to sign up to "Follow by email" by finding the tab on the left-hand side of the blog. We will post items that are needed in the upper left-hand corner, after the initial items from our wish lists are received. This will be the spot where you will see if your class is low on tissues or paper towels, etc.

DL will have new Zoom schedules next week. Please check the emails coming from your teachers and check your Google Classrooms. These Zoom sessions will be the only ones with a time stamp on them. Please help your children get to the meetings on time. Setting a timer five minutes beforehand would be very helpful. Remember, these are not recorded meetings; students must be there or they will miss instructional minutes.