Q3W4
The three fundamentals in the Great Hearts educational philosophy are the pursuit of Truth, Beauty and Goodness.
Last week on Wednesday during Philosophy time, all fourth graders explored the question, "What makes something we say true?" We worked through some Aristotelian claims and determined their validity as true or false. Our conversation then diverged into where we find truth and to who we can look for truth.
We further considered the vast amount of information our culture intakes now as compared to those of the past, especially those of us who have unlimited access to the internet. We recognized that the first sources we find our truth from is our family of origin. Scholars identified that teachers and other adults are also sources of truth. Shockingly however, the first and most prevalent answer to where we find truth was, "Google".
In 4A, we discussed the need for extreme caution for any truth claims we hear on the internet or Youtube. This is because anyone can say anything on the internet, whether true or not. A potential ongoing family conversation might be to ask what your child is "learning" from time online. What truth claims have they heard? Who is claiming that truth, and how do they benefit by people believing it? In a Science lesson recently, I asked 4A what shape the Earth was, and more than one scholar shouted out, "Flat!".
Children have to be taught how to filter claims and ideas heard on the playground or internet. As parents and teachers, our role is to help our children think critically (critical thinking- making sure we have good reasons with good arguments for our beliefs) about the concepts in the information overload of this generation.
My eleven-year-old is particularly inquisitive and usually asks 3 to 300 questions per day trying to make sense of the world. My husband and I try our hardest to not simply provide answers her questions directly, but instead ask her what she thinks the answer is. If she says she doesn't know, we try to lead her to questions using logic about other truths she does know, to help her develop the path to the truth. The goal being, she will remember it better and trust in the logical systems in her storehouse of truth and belief for her future questions.
Thank you for trusting us with your children as guides through the fourth grade curriculum and standards. We are striving to teach them how to think, not what to think.
Anytime they've been alone on the internet is a great time to ask what new things they've heard or what surprised them. This same questioning can go for school as well. Instead of asking, "What did you learn today?" try asking, "What questions came up from what you heard today?"
Reminder:
-All late assignments will receive a 10% deduction per day late in Q2-4.
NEWS:
First Q3 History Comprehension Check this Thursday. “Why would the period we discussed be considered Islam’s Golden Age? Provide accomplishments of Islamic expansion, learning, culture, and influence on the western world.”
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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 4 is due this Friday, January 26th. 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 culmination of our poetry unit, we will finish writing, analyzing and illustrating our chosen poem. Scholars will then read their poem with the class and identify the poetic elements as defined in the red spiral notes. Student poems will be anthologized in a class book for each scholar as a keepsake of poetry.
**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 writing a summary of a narrative poem and complete a dictation for a grade.
In GRAMMAR, we continue prepositions and prepositional phrases in WOL. Scholars will complete lessons B and C in the WOL book, and they will demonstrate understanding with a graded prepositions homework and an in-class grammar quiz on the WOL chapter. 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 we have 3 roots this week:
cen tum – hundred
cent (n) one hundredth of a dollar
cen tu ry (n) a hundred-year period
cen tu ri on (n) Roman military officer over 100 men
cen ti me ter (n) one hundredth of a meter (metron=measure)
per cent (n) number of parts in every hundred; 10 cents is 10 percent of a dollar (per=through)
cen ti pede (n) hundred-footed “bug” (pes, pedis= foot)
cen ti grade (n) temperature scale with one hundred degrees between freezing and boiling (gradus=step, degree)
mille – thousand
mil li me ter (n) one thousandth of a meter (metro=measure)
mil len ni um (n) thousand-year period or anniversary
mil li pede (n) thousand-footed “bug” (ped, pedis-foot)
decem – ten
De cem ber (n) tenth month in the old Roman calendar
dec i mal (n) pertaining to tenths or to the number 10
Math:
In Math, we will begin Chapter 7 decimal concepts in our new 4B Green and Blue Math books. We have these for the students in the classroom. Scholars should keep the 4A books at home until the end of the school year.
History:
In History in W4, we will wrap our unit on Early Islamic Civilizations and African Kingdoms. We will read chapter 5 about the Crusades and review and take the Comprehension Check on Thursday.
Science:
We will continue our study of the Earth and its structures in W4. We will look at how Plate Tectonics works (convection currents inside the Earth move the lithospheric plates on which the continents sit), plate boundaries and the causes of earthquakes.
Remember, the blog is updated weekly. Be sure to come back frequently to see any upcoming events or changes in fourth grade.