Thank you to all who were able to make it out to Curriculum Night. I hope you were able to get a good overview of the year and understand more about how our classroom operates. Please fell free to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have throughout the year.
Some important dates coming up:
- No school on Monday, September 4th in recognition of Labor Day - This will also be a Rest and Relaxation weekend (which means no homework!)
- Singapore Math/Spalding Night for 3rd-5th grades - Tuesday, September 5th from 6-7:30 (This event will mainly benefit new families.)
- Love and Logic by Larry Kerby - Tuesday, September 12th from 6:30-8 (This event will benefit all families.)
This week in ELA, we will continue in Pollyanna with discussing imagery and focusing on comprehension. In grammar, we will study synonyms and antonyms and subject nouns. Your children recited the poem, "Dreams" well and this week will receive "Afternoon on a Hill" to recite the week of September 11th. Our first spelling and phonogram tests will be on Friday. There will be 30 spelling words on the test and a separate test for 10 of the phonograms.
In math this week, we’ll be wrapping up our unit on whole numbers by introducing word problems. There will be a test on Friday covering all the topics we’ve studied in math so far, including place value, estimation, factors, and multiples.
This week in History/Geography we will be learning about the 4 time zones in the United States. Students will explore how ET, CT, MST, PST compare with other time zones in the US and across the globe. We will also begin our study of physical maps. Students will learn the importance of these maps and how to read changes in elevation on a physical map.
We are excited to begin this week with our unit on "Geology: The Earth and Its Changes". The unit starts off with the study of the Earth's layers. Students will be able to identify the layers of the Earth through hands on activities as well as building their own 3D models.
**Please make sure you check the agenda each night. The reading logs are an important part of the ELA grade this year, so it is imperative that they are completed well and on time. Each Friday, your child gets a daily breakdown on what the reading log should contain. This paper can be stapled to the reading log or just kept in the take-home folder.
**For the past 3 years, I have noticed that the incoming fourth graders, for the most part, do not know their math facts (not only multiplication and division, but addition and subtraction, too). This is something that we can all help to remedy. We will be doing a math fact program called Rocket Math in school, but you, as parents, will have to take a big part of your child's learning them at home. Please utilize the Grag Tang Math link that I have added. One thing I did with my children was have them do math drill for 10-15 minutes before they could play any computer games, this proved effective with them.
Thank you for partnering with me in these areas!
Thank you also to the Robinson's for donating recess equipment. What a blessing to our class! We have also received much needed tissue and hand sanitizer from many of you. This is already proving helpful during the allergy/cold season that has already begun.
Keep saving those Boxtops!
Thank you,
Mrs. Gore
