April 20

I guess if it is going to snow in April, at least we had a snow day! I hope everyone had a little bit of extra fun Sunday night and Monday when we received the gift of a snow day called the night before!

This week in Reading Workshop we continued to work in our Historical Fiction book clubs. Groups have been looking for those moments that seem to be written and bold and are pausing to ask, “Why is this important?” “How does this add to our change what I have been thinking?”

We have started a new unit in Writing Workshop. Students will be learning how to write a 5 paragraph Literary Essay. Students have a short story that they are reading closely (finding little details) to help them understand the characters traits, motivations, struggles and relationships. They will be using these observations to create a thesis for their Literary Essay. Students also chose a theme to write about and found reasons that support their theme.

In Math we have finished Topic 13: Find Equivalence in Customary and Metric Units of Measure. Students took the practice test on Thursday, and we reviewed today. If your child has to take the paper test, they will have some review sheets to complete this weekend.

In Social Studies we are continuing to learn about Economic Systems. We discussed Supply and Demand and talked about the upcoming Market Day! On Wednesday students brought home a Market Day planning sheet. This sheet is due back to school on Friday, April 27!

As we approach the end of the year, we have a lot going on. Please note these dates.

Important Dates:

Tuesday, April 24  – 4th Grade Link Up Concert at The Frauenthal

Friday, April 27 – 4th Grade Earth Day movie field trip (cold lunch needed) more info. to come soon

Tuesday, May 8 – Front Porch Night

Friday, May 11 – Market Day

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, May 15-17 4th Grade M-STEP Testing

Friday, May 18 – Visit SL Intermediate School

Thursday, May 31 – Chicago!

Friday, June 1 – Bocce Ball and Rocket Launch

Tuesday, June 5 – Camp Pendaluan with Jeffers 4th grade (more information to come home soon)

Wednesday, June 6 – 4th Grade Celebration, 6:30pm Spring Lake Middle School

Friday the 13th!

We have had a great week coming back from break and getting right in to the swing of things. There is a lot going on the next two months so please note the important dates at the end of this post.

This week in Reading Workshop we have been working on reading Historical Fiction. The class was divided into book club groups and each group is reading a different historical fiction novel. Students have been keeping timelines of the history of the time period oin their book and of the main character’s history. We have discussed how a character’s perspective is shaped by not only the time period that they live in, but also by their role and their age. The have also learned to look for symbolism in the small details.

We have started a new unit in Writing Workshop. Students will be learning how to write a 5 paragraph Literary Essay. Students have been assigned a short story that they are reading closely (finding little details) to help them understand the characters traits, motivations, struggles and relationships. They will be using these observations to create a thesis about the main character for their Literary Essay.

In Math we have begun Topic 13: Equivalent Units of Measurement, both Customary (U.S.) and Metric (the rest of the World). We have learned how to convert from one unit of measurement to another for example: gallons to ounces, tons to pounds, miles to feet, kilometers to meters. Although the math is simple multiplication, the problems do need to be read carefully and students need to use their persistence! Our practice test for this Topic will be on Wednesday.

We have begun our Economics Unit in Social Studies. This unit culminates with our 4th Grade Market Day. Information about Market Day went home on Wednesday. Students will need to have a completed product plan turned in by Monday. Please help your child figure costs to make 12-15 of his/her chosen item and the cost of 1 item. Remember they may NOT spend more than $8.00 on materials, supplies and labor! We have discussed that nothing is “free” at some point in time, someone had to purchase it, for example; I have rocks in my landscaping. Clayton used some to make his project, although we did not purchase them for the project at one time they were purchased. I charged Clayton 5 cents a rock. They should also price their item between $o.25 and $2. A good rule of thumb is to mark the item up by 50%. So, if it cost 25 cents to make it, it should be sold for 50 cents. To figure the price of 1 item, tae the total amount spent on materials and labor and divide it by the number of items made. The date of Market Day is Friday, May 11.

Important Dates:

Tuesday, April 24  – 4th Grade Link Up Concert at The Frauenthal

Friday, April 27 – 4th Grade Earth Day movie field trip (cold lunch needed) more info. to come soon

Tuesday, May 8 – Front Porch Night

 

Friday, May 11 – Market Day

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, May 15-17 4th Grade M-STEP Testing

Friday, May 18 – Visit SL Intermediate School

Thursday, May 31 – Chicago!

Friday, June 1 – Bocce Ball and Rocket Launch

Tuesday, June 5 – Camp Pendaluan with Jeffers 4th grade (more information to come home soon)

Wednesday, June 6 – 4th Grade Celebration, 6:30pm Spring Lake Middle School