Q3W7
Hello!
Another week begins anew, and we are entering the home stretch of the third quarter. Including this upcoming week, there are 4 weeks left in the quarter, and they go by quickly. Week 7 is going to be a fun one, with two full days of exciting events. I am excited for the fun crafts of Great Hearts day and the exciting discovery of a field trip. It is vital to buckle down and ensure that students are doing their due diligence, lest they miss out on some of the fun activities.
News:
Great Hearts Day is Tuesday, February 14th. We will be celebrating Arizona’s Birthday and the Great Hearted behavior that makes our community so virtuous. We will be making crafts and enjoying treats as part of the celebration. It will be fun!
Our next field trip is February 16th to the Phoenix Liberty Festival. No field trip waivers are required; you handled this for your child at the beginning of the year.
For Thursday's field trip, your child must bring the following
- Labeled snack
- Labeled disposable sack lunch (we have coolers for these)
- Labeled disposable water bottle
- Hat/sunscreen (we are outdoors from 9am-2pm) - optional
- Jacket (weather is only reaching 58 degrees)
What: The Phoenix Liberty Festival: Immersion into 1776 is an educational living history event focused on the experiences of soldiers and civilians of both the American and British sides during the American Revolution. To see video from a previous Liberty Festival, click on this link.
Please donate hard plastic bottles! Examples are formerly vitamin water, or Gatorade bottles. We will be using them for a volcano demonstration in which each scholar will be erupting their own volcanoes in small groups! This event is on Friday, February 2/17.
No school on Monday, 2/20, for President’s Day.
AASA Testing Dates: April 6th, 14th, and 21st. Please do not schedule any absences for these dates. These are important tests in which we spend a lot of time preparing.
Curriculum:
ELA:
In grammar, we are learning how to analyze and diagram compound elements such as compound subjects, compound verbs, compound direct objects, compound predicate nominatives/adjectives, and compound adjectives/adverbs. An example is Damon and Nicolle as it is two or more subjects combined by a conjunction.
Literature continues Prince Caspian. Make sure that your scholar has their copy as we will begin reading immediately. We will be reading chapter 9-12 and using them as a source of discussion regarding summarization, paraphrasing, and figurative language.
For our poem, “Paul Revere’s Ride,” the 7th stanza must be mastered by Friday, February 17th. It is important to note that Paul Revere’s Ride is our only poetry recital for this quarter, meaning it has a tremendous impact on ELA grade, so please ensure that your scholar is studying it every week.
In WWE, we will practice for standardized testing with reading packets that discuss different forms of narratives. We will be looking at poems and excerpts that leave a lesson to be learned. This in-class practice will also include questioning that will prepare scholars for testing in the future.
Latin and Greek roots pick up next week with the following roots: biblos-, liber/libri-, and chronos-. Students will be expected to spell the following words: Bible, bibliography, bibliophile, bibliomania, bibliophobia, library, librarian, chronological, synchronize, chronometer, chronic, and chronograph.
For philosophy, we discuss the concept of happiness and comparing what will make you happier in the long run; playing or studying.
Math:
In math, we are continuing our investigation of shapes; mastering area and perimeter, finding unknown sides of rectangles or other figures, and reviewing in preparation for the upcoming test. This is a shorter unit, so ensure your scholar is prepared and mastering the concepts of Unit 8.
History:
In history, we will be learning about the movement of Mexican Independence from Spain. This includes the specifics of the war fought, the man named Miguel Hidalgo, and the challenges the new Mexican government would face.
Science:
In science, we further learn about volcanoes. This includes dissecting the parts that make up a volcano and further analyzing the different types of volcanoes. On Friday, 2/17, we will be conducting our volcano experiments in small groups of 3-4. For this, we need hard plastic water bottles to act as our self-made magma chambers.
Volcano! National Geographic Documentary
Remember, the blog is updated weekly. Be sure to come back frequently to see any upcoming events or changes in fourth grade.