Q3W3

   Q3W3

Our team hopes your families are enjoying the holiday weekend remembering the truth of what freedom stands for in our nation.

"So even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." -- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Reminder:

-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.

-All late assignments will receive a 10% deduction per day late in Q2-4.

NEWS:

This Friday we have our third and final set of Galileo tests for the year.  Our next big tests will be the AASA in April.  Please try to have your child present this Friday, well rested and having eaten breakfast.

Dress Code Notes:

Only school logo sweaters are allowed to be worn in the building. Non-dress code sweaters/fleeces/jackets can be worn at recess only and must be in their backpack/cubby while in the building. Now that the weather is getting cooler, remember that long sleeve shirts worn underneath a polo can be white, maroon, navy, or black. Black or blue leggings are allowed under skirts, but they should reach the sock line (not capri length).

CURRICULUM:

ELA:

     POETRY  "Paul Revere's Ride" stanza 3 is due this Friday, January 19th.  This poem spans 13 weeks (into Q4) and culminates in a grade-wide reciting of the poem in entirety for the parents. 

This Poem is a behemoth of a memorization task for scholars.  It should be taken seriously and can be enjoyable to accomplish such a task.  In Fourth Grade, we do not have any "at-home" projects per se. Consider the memorization and recitation of this work a 13 week-long project endeavor.  It can even become a family practice to memorize the weekly stanza. 

Helpful Practices for Memorization:

-Listen to the poem in it's entirety, daily

-Scholars should write out the stanza memorization for the week (hang it on the bathroom mirror)

-Illustrate or act out the stanza

-Look up unfamiliar words or phrases to understand the meaning

-Re-write that section in your own words (modern language)

-Perform a word while another person says every other word until scholar can say it independently

-Practice reciting in the mirror

-Make up body or hand motions to certain lines and phraes

-Write the stanza out on a whiteboard and erase a word or phrase

-Tell yourself everyday, "I can memorize this, and so did the Fourth Graders before me!"

   LITERATURE  In Q3, we'll spend the first weeks using our Literature time on our Poetry unit.  This week we will cover the poetic elements of imagery, message and sense of identity & narrative Poetry.  As a class we will build a quatrain poem practicing rhyming scheme.

Starting Thursday, January 4th, Students will need the poetry anthology from the required list, "The Harp and Laurel Wreath".  They will also utilize this book in fifth grade.  

**In Q3W4, the fourth grade will begin the next book in the Chronicles of Narnia series, "Prince Caspian".  If your child has never read the prior, "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe", please ensure they read it before we begin the next book.

   In the COMPOSITION program for the week we will work on identifying the poetic elements in poems. This is a short week in composition due to Monday's day off and the Galileo testing this Friday.

    In GRAMMAR, we continue prepositions and prepositional phrases in WOL. We will distribute the "2B" Well Ordered Language books to students and they will complete lesson 'A'.  A preposition is a word or group of words used before a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase to show direction, time, place, location, spatial relationships, or to introduce an object. For example in the sentence, "The horse jumped over the fence" "over the fence" is the prepositional phrase with "over" being the preposition. Analyzing and diagramming prepositional phrases is a key concept to master in fourth and fifth grade grammar understanding.

 In LATIN AND GREEK ROOTS our roots this week are lithos and petros (both meaning rock, stone). Their derivatives are: lithograph, lithosphere, monolith, lithology, lithic, petrified, petroleum, petroglyph, petrous, Petrography. 

Math:

In Math, we will conclude Chapter 6 concepts with chapter review and the test. The Chapter 6 Test is scheduled for 1/18 after several days of chapter review.  Students should make corrections in the blue workbook in order to prepare.

History:

In History in W3, we will continue our unit on Early Islamic Civilizations and African Kingdoms. We will read chapter 4 about the Islamic cultural influence, and we will analyze and identify Islamic architectural sites.

Science:

We will continue our study of the Earth and its structures in W3. We will continue by learning the concepts of Pangea, continental drift and plate tectonics. 

Continental Drift

Remember, the blog is updated weekly. Be sure to come back frequently to see any upcoming events or changes in fourth grade.