Dear 4A Parents,

I hope you all were able to enjoy your Thanksgiving Break. I know I did. It was restful and refreshing!

As we come nearer to the end of  the 2nd quarter, I want to encourage your child to finish strong. Our curriculum continues to be challenging and I hope to instill confidence in your child as they realize how much they can learn by perseverance and hard work.

Important Dates:

• Winter Break starts on Thursday, December 21st. The 3rd quarter starts on Monday, January 8th. 
• Parent/Teacher Conferences for 2nd quarter are January 4-5 (Thursday and Friday). There will be a sign-up for this in the coming weeks. 

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Academics this week:

This week, we will be focusing on finding the main idea and supporting details of certain passages in ELA. We will continue classifying and diagramming sentences, adding a subject pronoun. Toward the end of the week, we will start character analysis in Robin Hood in preparation for comparing and contrasting characters the following week.  

Please continue to encourage your child to keep memorizing Paul Revere's Ride. Many are doing a great job but some are falling behind. Help them to memorize a bit at a time so they can achieve success and then realize they can tackle more. 

This week in math, we will wrap up our unit on the operations of fractions. We will spend one more day practicing word problems, then review for our math test, which will be on Thursday (Nov. 30). On Friday, we will start a new unit about measurement.

In science, we will continue to learn about solar radiation. We will begin learning about extreme weather like hurricanes and tornadoes. There will be a quiz on the atmosphere and solar radiation on Thursday.

This week in history we will continue our study of the Middle Ages. We will explore topics including Eleanor of Aquitaine, the Magna Carta, the Hundred Years War and also the changes in European government during this time.
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Thank you so much for bringing in so many tissues. We should have enough to get us through the end of the quarter : )

Thank you also for entrusting your child's education with me. It is a great responsibility but also a great blessing,
Mrs. Gore

Dear 4A Parents:

Short week, short blog : )

We only have school on Monday and Tuesday this week. There will not be tutoring on Tuesday. It will resume on Tuesdays and Thursday when we get back from our Thanksgiving break.

This week in academics:

We will conduct the spelling bee in individual classes, this week. the top speller in each class will go on to the Lincoln Bee. We will also discuss Paul Revere's Ride and read chapters 3 and 4 in Robin Hood.

In math, we will practice solving word problems that involve finding the fractional part of a whole number. We will have a math test at the end of next week

In science, we will understand the characteristics of the different layers of atmosphere and how the air near Earth’s surface is heated.

This week in history we will study two more important figures during the Middle Ages: Thomas Becket and Eleanor of Aquitaine.
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Thank you to all who brought in tissues. We now have another "Tower of Tissues".

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving.

I am truly Thankful for each of my students!
Mrs. Gore

Dear 4A Parents:

I hope you were able to enjoy the 3-day weekend. Thank you to all the veterans who are a part of our school in some way. Thank you to my husband and Mr. Bergeron : ) 

Important Dates:

• Thursday, November 16th - Mandatory Winter Concert - 3-5 grades preform at 7:00 (There will be no homework given on Thursday)
• Wednesday-Friday, November 22-24 - No school, Thanksgiving Break

Archway Lincoln Winter Concert is this Thursday. This is a mandatory concert. This year, the concerts will be held at the Higley Center for the Performing Arts located at 4132 E. Pecos Road Gilbert, AZ 85295. The 3-5 concert will begin at 7:00 p.m. with students arriving at 6:30 p.m.

The attire for concerts will be as follows:

Boys: Black pants, white dress shirt, black dress shoes, and black socks. Hair should be combed neatly.
Girls: Black skirt, white top, black tights, and black dress shoes. Hair should be pulled away from the face with no distracting adornment. Please follow the Archway Lincoln dress code for guidelines on jewelry.

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone there and hearing the selections the students have been working on.

Academics this week:

We will start our unit on Robin Hood with a discussion about legends, myths, folklore, and fairy tales. We will tie this into writing summaries on short passages about King Arthur. We will also work on the skill of prediction using Robin Hood. In Grammar, we continue to practice classifying and diagramming prepositional phrases. 

Reading Logs did not go home this week. The students will have 20 minute a day independent reading this week, since we have the Fall Concert.

This week in math, we will learn how to find the fraction of a set. This concept involves multiplying fractions by a whole number and a lot of simplifying fractions, so if your child is still working on those concepts, they will get a lot of practice this week!

This week in science, the students will continue learning about air pressure and density. On Friday, the students will understand the characteristics of the layers in the atmosphere. The first meteorology test is on Thursday.

In history this week, we will continue our unit on the Middle Ages. We will focus on famous individuals during the period and how they shaped the society they lived in, and future generations. Historical figures we will focus on include William the Conqueror, Henry II and Thomas Becket. 
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Classroom needs: We will run out of tissues this week; we have opened up our last 2 boxes!

Have a great week,
Mrs. Gore

Dear 4A Parents,

What a fun but busy week we had last week. I enjoyed seeing your children dress up and perform in the Reader's Theater on Literary Day. We have some budding actors in the class : )

Important Dates:

• Wednesday, November 8th - Parent Positive Series - 6:30-8 - Minds of Boys and Girls
• Friday, November 10th - No school - Veteran's Day
• Thursday, November 16th - Mandatory Winter Concert - 3-5 grades preform at 7:00
• Wednesday-Friday, November 22-24 - No school, Thanksgiving Break

Believe it or not, the third annual Archway Lincoln Winter Concert is fast approaching. This year, the concerts will be held on Thursday, November 16th at the Higley Center for the Performing Arts located at 4132 E. Pecos Road Gilbert, AZ 85295. The 3-5 concert will begin at 7:00 p.m. with students arriving at 6:30 p.m.

The attire for concerts will be as follows:

Boys: Black pants, white dress shirt, black dress shoes, and black socks. Hair should be combed neatly.
Girls: Black skirt, white top, black tights, and black dress shoes. Hair should be pulled away from the face with no distracting adornment. Please follow the Archway Lincoln dress code for guidelines on jewelry.

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Academics this week:

We will finish Prince Caspian this week. Last week filled up with other good things and we were not able to finish it. There will be a vocabulary quick check on Thursday for chapters 9-15 and the character trading cards will also be due on Thursday. In grammar, we will continue to work on prepositions. The final typewritten opinion paragraph is due on Monday.

Robin Hood be our next book. Please make sure your child has the same one that is represented under "current literature" in the margin.

This week in math, we will continue practicing adding and subtracting mixed numbers as separate equations and embedded in word problems. We will also start to learn how to multiply a fraction by a whole number. This concept builds on the work we’ve already done with multiples earlier in the year and challenges students to think of fractions a bit more abstractly than we have been doing so far.

This week in science, the students will learn about fog and how water acts in the air. We will being an introduction to weather, wind, air pressure, and density. The students will have a quick check on the water cycle and clouds on Wednesday.

This week in History we will study city life during the Middle Ages and how it differed from life on a manor, as well as the important role of women during this time period. We will also learn about William the Conqueror, the Battle of Hastings and the why William and the battle are important to the English language and Europe.

*This past week in History, we took a virtual tour of Warwick Castle. The students were very excited about it and some wanted to view it further. Here's the link so you and your child can "visit" it together:   

 http://www.sphericalimages.com/warwickcastle/

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Classroom needs: Tissues

Have a great week!
Mrs. Gore

Dear 4A Parents:
This is a busy quarter. I hope you are able to get out and enjoy the weather!

Important Dates:

• Tuesday, October 31st - Read-A-Thon ends - Literacy Day - Dress as a Literary Character (We will have Literature Groups from 12;30-1:00 and we will be doing Reader's Theater, please sign up on the Literature group link to join us for the fun.)
• Friday, November 3rd - Early Release - School ends at 12:30 for Teacher In-Service
• Wednesday, November 8th - Parent Positive Series - 6:30-8 - Minds of Boys and Girls
• Friday, November 10th - No school - Veteran's Day
• Thursday, November 16th - Mandatory Winter Concert - 3-5 grades preform at 7:00
• Wednesday-Friday, November 22-24 - No school, Thanksgiving Break

Believe it or not, the third annual Archway Lincoln Winter Concert is fast approaching. This year, the concerts will be held on Thursday, November 16th at the Higley Center for the Performing Arts located at 4132 E. Pecos Road Gilbert, AZ 85295. The 3-5 concert will begin at 7:00 p.m. with students arriving at 6:30 p.m.

The attire for concerts will be as follows:

Boys: Black pants, white dress shirt, black dress shoes, and black socks. Hair should be combed neatly.
Girls: Black skirt, white top, black tights, and black dress shoes. Hair should be pulled away from the face with no distracting adornment. Please follow the Archway Lincoln dress code for guidelines on jewelry.

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Academics this week:

The students will finish up their opinion paragraph with the typewritten final draft. We will learn how to classify and diagram prepositional phrases. We will also summarize a chapter of Prince Caspian in class. For our end of the book activity for Prince Caspian, the students will make 6 Character Trading Cards. They will be given a sheet with instructions for what each card should have on it. 

We will finish Prince Caspian on Friday. Our next book will be Robin Hood. I have placed a picture of the cover of the book in the margin. Please make sure your child has the book with this cover by Tuesday, November 7th.

We will begin our week in math with a unit test on Monday. After that, we dig deeper into the operations of fractions, reviewing how to add and subtract fractions with different denominators and learning how to add mixed numbers.

The final geology test is on Monday, 10/30. The next unit is Meteorology. We will discuss Aristotle and his thoughts on meteorology. The students will learn about the water cycle, the distribution of water on the Earth, and clouds.

In History we will continue our study of the Middle Ages and focus on life in a castle, and the role of knights in the a feudal society. Students will virtually tour a medieval castle and learn the important components of their structure. We will then turn our attention to the steps it took to become a knight and why knights were instrumental components of the Middle Ages. 
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Recess:
We still have two recess breaks for the hard working scholars. The only change that has occurred is that now two days a week, each class (in their 2 class groups) have access to the playground equipment after lunch. 4A and 4B goes on the playground on Monday and Thursday from 12:25-12:45, directly after lunch. All other times are the same.

Thank you for all the boxtops! We still could use tissue : )

Warmly,

Mrs. Gore

Dear 4A Parents:

It was so good to see all of you for conferences. I appreciate your taking time out to discuss your child's progress. Please don't hesitate to get in touch with any concerns or questions that may come up during the next quarter.

We are in the middle of the Who's Reading Program and I hope your child has been enjoying being a part of the conversations. This program will culminate with Literary Day on October 31st. A permission slip went out last week that you need to fill out if your child is planning on dressing up for this day. Please have them turn that in this week.

I have put up a link for Literature Groups (under Archway Lincoln in the right hand margin of this blog). Each Tuesday, we hope to have 4 parent volunteers to come and listen to the students read and then lead them in a discussion about the chapter. Prepared vocabulary words and questions will be given to you.

This week's academics:

We will be writing an opinion paragraph in class throughout the week. We will have a quick check for vocabulary and characters on Chapters 1-8 of Prince Caspian on Monday. In grammar, we will begin learning about prepositions.

This week in math, we will finish our first fraction unit by studying how to convert from an improper fraction to a mixed number. We will review for our unit test on Thursday and Friday, and the test will be on Mon., Oct. 30.

This week students will learn about some rare geological features including geysers, hot springs, fumaroles, and mud pots. The students will learn about the four types of mountains and three types of rocks. The science test is moved to Monday, October 30th.

This week in in History we will continue our study of Feudalism. Students will play the role of lords and serfs and create their own medieval manor layout. We will have a review day on Thursday providing an overview of Middle Ages thus far. On Friday students will have a quiz on the Middle Ages. The review on Thursday and their Thursday night homework sheet will help to prepare them for Friday's quiz. 
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This quarter, we've begun a system for participation. It's called STAR which stands for Sit up, Tract the speaker, Ask/Answer questions, Respect our space. Each Monday, will will send out a report on how well your child did the previous week in these areas. 

Needed for the classroom: Tissues and Boxtops

Blessed by your partnership,
Mrs. Gore

Dear 4A Parents:

I hope you've had a restful break. I visited my mom in VA and was able to see many family members while there, what a blessing it was! I'm excited for the new quarter to begin and to see your children again :) 

We are in the middle of the Who's Reading Program and I hope your child has been enjoying being a part of the conversations. This program will culminate with Literary Day on October 31st, where your child can dress as their favorite character in Literature.

I have put up a link for Literature Groups (under Archway Lincoln in the right hand margin of this blog). Each Tuesday, we hope to have 4 parent volunteers to come and listen to the students read and then lead them in a discussion about the chapter. Prepared vocabulary words and questions will be given to you. 
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Academics this week:

We will pick up ELA with sentence revisions and continued understanding of setting. The students will receive their copy of Paul Revere's Ride which includes the dates to memorize the stanzas by. This poem is the fourth grade project and will be recited January 8-10. It is a daunting task but if they keep up with the plan, it will be completed well and worth the effort. 

In math this week, we will continue studying fractions. We will learn about mixed numbers and improper fractions and how to convert from one to another. Please continue practicing multiplication and division facts with your student, because these facts keep recurring as we explore concepts relating to fractions.

In science, we will continue our study of volcanoes. We will discuss the types and parts of volcanoes, and types of lava. The students will learn about famous volcanoes such as Mount St. Helens and Mount Vesuvius.

This week in history we will continue learning about the Middle Ages. We will focus on feudalism and the hierarchy of kings, lords, knights and serfs. We will focus more specifically the role of serfs as we progress through the week. 
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One of the main things most of the students in my class need to practice is math facts. I have included a link (under Resources in the right hand margin of this blog) for the Rocket Math App. This is a fun way to have your child learn their facts. I encourage you to utilize this or something similar.

We could use some facial tissue and as always we are still collecting box-tops.

I'm looking forward to meeting with each of you during our scheduled conference time this week.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Gore