Q2W2
This is the first full week of Quarter 2. This week we have Classical Character Day. Make sure your child has their costume pre-approved by their teacher by turning in the permission slip prior to Wednesday.
-10/25 Classical Character Day. Parents are encouraged to come to school and read a beloved passage, poem or story book to their child's class. You must be cleared to volunteer through Raptor prior to the day of (contact the front office). Contact the classroom teacher to set up a time to come in and read. Parents may also choose to dress up as a favorite story character. Students may dress as Classical Character from a Literary selection. No popular culture characters turned into books. The Fourth Grade Team will dress from "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" if you'd like to match that theme. We are also asking Classroom Parents to organize class-wide snack on this day.
-Please send students with the Dover Classics copy of "Robin Hood" for Q2.
-Make sure students are studying regularly throughout the quarter: review History chapters read in class, review Science spiral notes, study Roots definitions flash cards, study multiplication flash cards on missed problems from Rocket Math tests, and reading 6-8, 150 page or more books with journal entries.
-We will no longer check agendas for a signature, but please still ask to see their agendas and homework for correctness.
-All late assignments will receive a 10% deduction per day late in Q2-4.
NEWS:
-Science Comprehension Check on the Water Cycle on Friday, October 27th.
-Math Chapter 4 Test on 10/30. Be sure students are prepared for this test by studying their Green and Blue Math books and making corrections to missed problems. We will also collect the Blue book which is worth homework points.
CURRICULUM:
ELA:
The first poem of Quarter 2 is "Beowulf". It is due on November 3rd, but students may perform as early as they choose.
Beowulf background- Beowulf was a Danish warrior before there was a Denmark. Written between 700-1000 AD, takes place in roughly 925 AD. Beowulf serves the king Hrothgar, and helps him get rid of an ogre who was a descendent of biblical Cain. He then defeats the ogre’s mother, a water witch, and is finally mortally wounded defeating a dragon once he becomes king for a time. Scyld Scefing (Shield Sheafson) was the great-grandfather of Hrothgar, an orphan who became king because of his skill as a Viking warrior. Vikings would have fought in plain clothes with a wooden shield and sword, meant to end a fight in one or two blows. The mead hall mention in the poem has also been found.
**Scholars will read "Beowulf" in 8th grade at CPA.
LITERATURE We are reading more chapters of Robin Hood this week. This is to complete the tale and set us up for Robin Hood Essays at the end of Quarter 2. Be sure your students have the correct edition of Robin Hood (Dover Evergreen Classics) for all of quarter 2.
We continue our COMPOSITION program with practicing the Conclusion paragraph of the 5 paragraph essay with a conclusion on Charlemagne. This will be combined with the Charlemagne Intro paragraph for a grade.
In GRAMMAR, we take notes in the red spiral on Predicate Nominatives. Students should refer to these notes to do homework and writing assignments to include these types of sentences in summary and essay writing for the remainder of the year. We will learn how to analyze and diagram sentences including predicate nominatives in WOL chapter 5. A predicate nominative is a noun or pronoun that follows a linking verb in a sentences and renames the subject. For example: Precipitation is rain, snow, hail or sleet. "Rain, snow, hail, sleet" are the predicate nominatives. Scholars will complete lesson A, B, and C in chapter 5 this week.
Transitive and Intransitive Verbs
In LATIN AND GREEK ROOTS our roots are -phobia (fear of) and -ology/logos (study of). Their derivatives are: hydrophobia, acrophobia, arachnophobia, claustrophobia, hemophobia, autophobia, agoraphobia, xenophobia, anthropology, biology, ecology, geology, psychology, sociology, zoology.
For PHILOSOPHY, we will make Q2 goals based on what we want to improve on from 1st Quarter.
Math:
In Math, we will finish Order of Operations (PEMDAS) and have a very short chapter with word problems of all operations (using expressions with Order of Operations). We will review Chapter 4 concepts on Friday in preparation for the test on Monday. Once graded tests are returned in W3 or 4, students should complete test corrections and submit. Scholars should submit Chapter 3 test corrections in W2.
Math Test Corrections:
Students will attach a separate piece of paper to their graded math tests and write the problem number of each problem missed. They will re-do the problem correctly and show their work. They will also write a short sentence about why they missed that problem. Students can earn up to 5 points for their corrections. Students who missed no problems, do not need to submit corrections.
Order of Operations Intro Khan Academy
History:
In History, we will read chapters 11, 8 and 9 in the History Book about City Life, Life in a Castle, and Days of a Knight in the Middle Ages.
Science:
In Science, we will continue to learn about and review aspects of the Water Cycle for Friday's Comprehension Check. Scholars should use their green spiral notes to prepare a practice comp. check at home to study.
Remember, the blog is updated weekly. Be sure to come back frequently to see any upcoming events or changes in fourth grade.