Saturday, November 13, 2021

Thursday was Veterans Day, and we hope you had a good holiday remembering and honoring the veterans who have served in the United States Armed Forces. This week I went to a memorial service at the Arizona National Memorial Cemetery for the father-in-law of my daughter.  He served 22 years including serving in a combat support Hospital as an Operating Room Specialist and eventually earning the rank of Sergeant First Class.  Being there and honoring him brought home the sacrifice all our veterans have paid for our freedom and liberty.  I don’t know if you know, but after we say the pledge to the American flag and our virtue pledge or Archway Pledge, we have begun this year reciting the preamble to the Declaration of Independence. It is a great reminder of the roots of our country and why we love and respect it and its symbols such as the flag.  Join us in sharing with your scholar the love and respect you have for our country.  

The Declaration of Independence

July 4, 1776

We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

This week we will “Kick-Off” our new Kingdoms.  Students will find out which kingdom they are in and the color of their kingdom.  They will be asked to develop/design an emblem/crest for their kingdom.  They will be introduced to the crest/emblem design contest rules and receive materials to begin designing.  Their designs are due December 1.  We will be celebrating Kingdom’s Day on Nov 19^th where the students can wear a shirt in the color of their kingdom.  We are so excited for this school-wide community building program to restart.  Part of the kingdom restart is that students will have the chance to earn core virtue cards which translate to points for their kingdom.  There will be rewards for kingdoms with the most points.  Students can earn these core virtue cards anytime, anyplace, and from any staff on campus for demonstrating one of our core virtues. 

Great learning awaits your wonderful fourth grader in week 5.  Read on for updates in each subject area we teach.

Language Arts 

     Grammar – We will review the jobs verbs can do and introduce State of Being verbs – am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been.  They tell us that something just exists. They could be followed by an adverb:         Will you be home tonight?

or a prepositional phrase:    She is at her desk

or stand alone:                       She is.   

We will also learn about linking verbs.  -  They link the subject with a noun or adjective that is the subject:  Mrs. Maza is a teacher. “Mrs. Maza” and “teacher” are talking about the same noun/person.  Mrs. Maza is the subject noun that is described or renamed by the noun “teacher”.       

     Poetry - "Norman and Saxon" by Rudyard Kipling is our new poem and students will recite it by Friday, December 10th. Kipling imagines a Norman aristocrat in the year 1100 AD, after the Norman Conquest in 1066, giving advice to his first-born son. He warns the young heir to be careful when dealing with the Saxon peasants he is to rule over. 

     Literature -  We read Chapters 18-21 (the end of the book) in Robin Hood. Students continue to discuss evidence of how Robin Hood shows courage and noble qualities or the opposite. This is to prepare them for their essay writing. 

     Composition – Students write a summary and one dictation.  They will also begin their Robin Hood 5 paragraph essay this week beginning with brainstorming, on a graphic organizer, ideas that support whether Robin Hood was a hero or villain.   

     Latin & Greek Roots – Roots this week are – scribe/scriptum = write and

graph = written down, printed, drawn.   Click link on right side for list of words. 

     Philosophy – We will have a Socratic discussion on whether Robin Hood was a hero or villain.  We will think on these questions:  What are the characteristics of a hero?  Can you be a hero and still commit crimes?  What virtues does Robin Hood possess?  Is it ever okay to disregard the law?

 

Math – Last week students subtracted like fractions and mixed fractions, and improper fractions were introduced. This week students will convert improper fractions to a mixed number and mixed numbers to improper fractions and solve word problems involving both.  Students will understand the relationship between fractions and division. We will review all the fraction concepts from unit 3 as well as the concepts from units 1 and 2.  The students will take a cumulative test over units 1-3 Friday, Nov. 19^th.

 

Science – In meteorology, we will review the four different major types of air masses and how they influence our weather on Earth. That will lead us to learn about weather fronts and what happens when different bodies of air meet.  Then we will explore severe weather such as tornados and hurricanes.  We will be asking the students to tell us everything they know about weather and what causes it to happen in a comprehension check this week. 

 

History – Students will learn about some influential interesting personalities and their accomplishments in the Middle Ages.  We will focus on William the Conqueror, Henry II, and Thomas Becket.