Week of August 8-12
We hope your child enjoyed their first day of school! Students reviewed procedures, met their classmates, received supplies and workbooks, organized desks, and had a full day. They had Music/Spanish, and hopefully came home excited to tell you about their classmates and teachers.
There was not enough time for everyone to share their “All About Me” bag, so next week, we continue these. Students should bring four different items in their bag that represent them as a person (what they like, what hobbies they have, sports, free time, collections, photos, etc.) Be creative! Your child is encouraged to recommend a favorite book they are reading or finished over the summer.
These are the topics we will cover in fourth grade for August 8-12.
Language Arts
Grammar – Review parts of speech, namely nouns, pronouns and verbs. Students learn chants and songs this year to accompany their exploration of grammar and use their Well-Ordered Language workbook to become master grammarians.
Poetry – None this week.
Literature – We meet the characters of Dorothy, Toto, Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. It is a modern fairy tale written by L. Frank Baum and first published in 1900. Next week we read Chapters 1 and 2. No reading groups yet – these will begin sometime in late September.
Latin & Greek Roots – We will study 72 Latin and Greek roots in fourth grade. Each week students will create flashcards for these roots. Derivatives of the roots become their spelling words for Friday's test. These are the derivatives of “Pre” and "Post” next week: predict, precede, prevent, prefix, precaution, postpone, posthumously, postscript, posterity, posterior
History: We explore maps this week in our history geography unit. Students will study scale and distance in their text books and ponder distances around the world. If you can, please help them determine the distance from their home to school as would drive. They also will explore Lines of Latitude and create a flashcard to explain to you this Thursday.
Science: We begin learning the steps of the scientific method. Students will conduct several experiments by making a hypothesis and then examining results. Experiments involve the effects of milk on different types of cereal and others! Students will discuss testable questions such as: Which type of bubble gum makes the biggest bubbles? Which brand of paper towel is most absorbent? Which liquid dissolves skittles fastest? Which liquid is best for preserving apples?
Math: We begin by reviewing numbers to 1,000,000. We will group into and count by hundreds of thousands, tens of thousands, thousands, hundreds, tens, and ones. We will represent numbers in various contexts. Students have new Singapore math workbooks this year and the first semester is called 4A.
Art and PE are M/Th. Music and Spanish are T/F. Typing is on Wednesdays. If you are interested in after school care (called Athenaeum) or Wednesday clubs, please refer to info that was sent home. Our school has wonderful resources!
That’s all for now. Have a beautiful and restful weekend!
Truth, Beauty, Goodness
Mrs. Shroll (4B)