November!

It sure does seem like this school year is flying by! I can’t believe that we are already through the first week in November!
There has been a lot of learning going on in room 16 this week!

In Reading Workshop we have been continuing to study characters. This week we discussed how an object that our character holds close to their heart can reveal things about the character (Rob’s carvings are important to him because his mother taught him to whittle, this tells me that Rob misses his mom and the carvings help him remember her and feel a little less lonely). We also learned that looking at how the other characters treat the main character can reveal information about the main character (Rob lets the Threemongers pick on him, Sistine picks on him in the beginning, this makes me think that Rob doesn’t is weak, vulnerable, he doesn’t stand up for himself and he is probably lonely). These are great conversations to have with your child when they are reading their just right book at home.

This week in Writing Workshop students finished the final draft of their Realistic Fiction stories and then had an “On Demand” writing piece to show all that they have learned in our writing unit. Students also began to learn about Power Paragraphs. A very formulaic type of writing that helps us to write great paragraphs for essays and informational pieces.

In Math students have been learning different methods for multiplying double digit numbers. Students have also learned the “Short Cut or Old School” method. This is the method they will need to master to be successful in 5th grade math. Please make sure that you are checking over your child’s math homework and helping them identify an problems the have solved incorrectly. We will have Our Unit 2 Math test next Friday, the best way to prepare for this is to know your basic math facts, know how to draw an area model and be able to solve a variety of multiplication problems using the shortcut method.

This week in Science we have continued to explore the States of Matter and have investigated solids, liquids and gases. Ask your child to share with you some of the experiments that we have done and what they have learned about the three states of matter.

Here is a photo of our investigation about whether or not gas takes up space (has volume).

Here is a photo of our investigation about whether or not gas takes up space (has volume).

IMPORTANT DATES:
Friday, November 13 – 4th grade swimming

Friday, November 20 – 4th grade swimming

Tuesday, November 24 – Half Day students am (Records Day)

Wednesday, November 25 – Half Day students am (Records Day)

Thursday and Friday, November 26-27 – No School!

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