FYI: Terra Nova tests are the week of March 1st. Please make sure that your child eats a good breakfast and gets plenty of rest so they may do their best on the tests.
The fourth grade Mass is on Wednesday, March 10th. Please join us if you are able.
The fourth grade classes will be attending the 8 AM mass on Thursday, March 18th.
READING
Room 114 – We will finally begin our unit on the underground railroad this week. The book we will be reading is Corey’s Underground Railroad Diary which the students will read in literature circles. There will not be a test at the end of the novel. The students will receive a grade based on their participation in the literature circle and from activities in the unit. We will continue reading this novel during the week of March 8th.
Room 115 - The class is doing a literature study of Because of Winn Dixie. Students will develop new vocabulary, comprehension skills, and make inferences. After teacher guided reading, they will break up into small groups and share their critical thinking skills.
MATH
Room 114 – We will be working through Chapter 9 this week and next week. The students will be dividing a three-digit number by a one-digit number, dividing money amounts, learning where to place zeros in the quotient, and dividing greater numbers. The test on Chapter 9 will be the week of March 15th.
Room 115 - Students are working on Chapter 10, Number Theory and Averages. They will use a multiplication table to find factors and multiples, explore the term factor and multiple, and find factors and multiples of numbers along with common multiples.
RELIGION
Room 114 – The students will begin Chapter 16 where they will learn what it means to live the fifth commandment by respecting all human life. The test for Chapter 16 will be the week of March 8th.
Room 115 - In Chapter 18 the students learned that the seventh commandment calls us to respect others, their property, and the world God created. In Chapter 19 the students will learn that the eighth commandment teaches the importance of learning and living the truth that comes from God.
LANGUAGE ARTS
Room 114 – We will continue to use and identify adverbs in sentences. There will be a test on adverbs during the week of March 8th. The students will also be reviewing how to write letters, including a persuasive letter.
Room 115 – Students will continue developing their writing skills through curriculum connections. In Grammar we will focus on adjectives after linking verbs, adjectives that compare, and using more and most with adjectives. In Spelling students will begin Unit 8. The core words are state, list, stood, hundred, and ten. We will review compound words and suffixes.
SCIENCE
We will begin the chapter on light and heat this week. The students will learn the properties of light and how light passes through the eye. They will also learn how heat can be transferred and how it is produced and used.
SOCIAL STUDIES
Students are working on Chapter 11, The People of the Southwest. Students will explore the early culture of the Navajo, learn about Spanish missions and cities, see how cattle ranches became legendary, and describe how irrigation affected the economy of the Southwest.
Fourth Grade, March 12, 2010
RELIGION
Room 114 – We will begin Chapter 17 where the students will learn about the sixth commandment and ways we show and share love with others. The test for Chapter 17 will be the week of March 22nd. Next the students will learn about the Easter Triduum and how it celebrates the joy of the cross, and they will learn that during the season of Easter we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus.
Room 115 - In Chapter 19 the students learned that the eighth commandment teaches the importance of learning and living the truth that comes from God. In Chapter 20 the students will learn that lent is the season of preparation for Easter. We will continue working in small groups interpreting Bible stories.
READING
Room 114 – We will continue with our unit on The Underground Railroad. The students are learning about how the Underground Railroad worked, about important people that helped the slaves escape to freedom, and how freedom quilts were used to send coded messages. After we finish this unit, the students will be reading “The Hatmaker’s Sign” which is a story about a hatmaker, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin, and the writing of the Declaration of Independence. There will be a test on this story when we finish reading it.
Room 115 - Next week the students will begin their literature study of Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. We will develop new vocabulary, comprehension skills, and make inferences. After teacher guided reading they will break up into small groups and share their critical thinking skills.
MATH
Room 114 – The test on Chapter 9 will be on Wednesday 3-17. Next, the students will learn to find averages and in Chapter 11 they will learn to divide by multiples of 10 and by two-digit divisors.
Room 115 - Students will begin working on Chapter 11, Dividing by two-digit divisors. They will use basic facts and patterns of zeros to divide by multiples of ten and investigate division by two digit divisors.
LANGUAGE ARTS
Room 114 – The students have been given the 3rd quarter book report assignment. It is a time capsule on a biography. The book report is due on March 22nd. We will begin to learn about prepositions and prepositional phrases and how to identify them and use them in sentences. We are on Unit 9 in spelling where the students are working with contractions and possessives. The five preview words for this unit are fast, felt, kept, notice and can’t. The students will continue with persuasive writing.
Room 115 - Students will continue developing their writing skills. In Grammar we will continue focusing on adjectives after linking verbs, adjectives that compare, and using more and most with adjectives. In Spelling students will continue their study of Unit 8 by reviewing compound words, suffixes, and developing proofreading skills.
SCIENCE
The test for Chapter 14 will be on Thursday, 3-18. The students should use their review, vocabulary and notes in notebook, and the book to study for the test. We will then begin the Unit on Force and Motion. This unit will be about how all movement begins and ends when a force interacts with an object. The students will also be learning more about simple machines.
SOCIAL STUDIES
Students are working on Chapter 12 The Land Of the West. Students will identify the largest system of mountains in the United States, compare and contrast mountain ranges, and compare geysers to volcanoes. We will cover topics such as climates in the West and resources of the west. The final test will be the week of March 22.
Just a Reminder: Fourth grade will attend the 8 AM Mass Thursday, March 19th.