Category Archives: 4th Newsletter

Mrs. Grusecki: newsletter 12/9

By lgrusecki | Published: December 9, 2011

Religion  In Chapter 12 we are focusing on the Eucharist and how it strengthens us to be active followers of Christ. We will have a test next Thursday, Dec.15th.

Math  In Chapter 6 we are focusing on multiplying two digit numbers by one digit numbers. It is very important that your child knows all of his/her multiplication tables up to the 12′s.I have been stressing this since the first week of school.

Social Studies  We are finishing up out study of the Southeast. The test on Chapter 7 will be next Wednesday, Dec. 14th.

Reading  Today we began our novel study of Henry Huggins.The students are working together in literature circles.They will be analyzing character, plot, and summary. They will also define new vocabulary.

Spelling  The new words for Unit 6 are: special, ran, full, town, and complete. Please make sure your child reviews all the words they’ve had so far as it is a spiral program and they will appear again.

Thanks to those who provided baby wipes this week. We still need tissu. We are on our last box.

Please remember to bring in stamps and food for the Christmas baskets.

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KENNEDY NEWSLETTER 11-28-11

By Kathy Kennedy | Published: November 28, 2011

RELIGION

The students will learn that in Advent we prepare for the coming of the Lord.  We will then begin Chapter 9.  This chapter will present the First Commandment which teaches us that there is but one true God.  The test on Chapter 9 will be the week of December 5th.

 READING

We are going to begin reading the novel, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing this week.  The students will have a packet with questions to complete while we are reading the novel as well as activities such as creating a commercial, writing a news article, and writing a how to speech.  This will all be done in the classroom.  There will be a test at the end of the novel.

 MATH

We are continuing with Chapter 5 where the students will write equations to represent and solve problems and relate equations to function tables.  The test for Chapter 5 will be on Friday, 12-2.  In Chapter 6, the students will be multiplying two and three-digit numbers by one-digit numbers with regrouping.

 LANGUAGE ARTS/SPELLING

In Shurley English, we will be learning about subject pronouns and possessive pronouns.  We will also learn about coordinate conjunctions and compound parts of sentences and review homonyms.  The test on chapter 4 will be the week of December 5th.   SPELLING – We will begin unit 5 this week.  The five new core words are fire, ready, green, yes, and built.  In this unit the students will learn the frequent spelling patterns for /j/ and review prefixes and suffixes.  The Unit 5 test will be the week of 12-12.

SCIENCE

The students will present their planet projects this week.  We will also begin our study of physical science where the students will learn that energy causes changes in the states of matter.  In Chapter 11, they will learn that the physical properties of matter can be used to identify it even if it has changed states or been mixed with other matter.

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KENNEDY NEWSLETTER 11-11-11

By Kathy Kennedy | Published: November 13, 2011

RELIGION

We will continue with Chapter 8 to learn about God’s law and learn about ways we can show love for others by our actions.  The Chapter 8 test will be on Tuesday, 11-22.  Chapter 9 will present the First Commandment which teaches us that there is but one true God.

READING

We will be reading the story, “Justin and the Best Biscuits in the World” from  our reading textbook.  We will review the skill of prediction and the test will be on Friday, 11-18.  Next week we will  be reviewing different reading skills.

LANGUAGE ARTS/SPELLING

In Shurley English, the students will be learning about the preposition flow and transition words.  The test for Chapter 3 will be on Friday, 11-18.  In Spelling, the students will be working with prefixes and suffixes and reviewing the frequent spelling patterns for /s/.  The Unit 4 cloze story test will be on Thursday, 11-17.

MATH

We are continuing in Chapter 5 where the students will be using variables to write expressions, comparing expressions, and writing and solving equations with variables.  They will also be relating equations to function tables.  The test for chapter 5 will be the week of 11-28.

SCIENCE

The students will review for the chapter 10 test which will be on Thursday, 11-17.  The students will then present their constellation report to the class.  The students will receive the directions for their next project on Monday, 11-14.  Please review the directions with your child and sign the letter attached to them.  The due date for the report is stated on the
letter.

 

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KENNEDY 10-28-11

By Kathy Kennedy | Published: October 28, 2011

RELIGION

We will finish Chapter 5 this week and the test will be on Wednesday.  Next the students will be learning about the Church’s liturgical year and how in ordinary time we celebrate the life and teachings of Jesus.  Then we will begin learning about God’s law and His covenant with Moses and the Israelites.  

 READING

In the last newsletter, I stated that there would be a test on Skinny Bones.  We will not have a test on this novel.  The grade will be based on the packet that the students will be completing while we are reading the novel.  We are continuing with reading the novel for the next two weeks.

 LANGUAGE ARTS/SPELLING

In Shurley English, we will be learning about prepositions, objects of prepositions, and prepositional phrases.  We will also be learning the subject/verb agreement rules and learn to identify complete subjects and predicates in sentences.  SPELLING – We will begin Unit 4 – the five new core words are rest, perhaps, certain, six, and feel.  In this unit we will learn frequent spelling patterns for /s/, how a vowel followed by r stands for a new sound, and review prefixes and suffixes.

 MATH

We will continue to work on Chapter 4 where the students will learn to multiply 3 digits and divide with a remainder.  The test for Chapter 4 will be on Friday, 11-4.  In Chapter 5, the students will use the order of operations to simplify expressions, use variables to write expressions, compare expressions, and write and solve equations.

 SCIENCE

We will begin Chapter 10 where the students will learn how the Earth and its moon move.  We will explore why seasons exist, learn how the Earth’s tilt affects the seasons, and identify planets and other objects in the sky.    With this chapter, the students will be working on a project where they will create a travel poster or a power point presentation of a brand-new vacation resort on a planet in the solar system or a planet’s moon.  They will be receiving directions for this project the week of October 31st.  The test for Chapter 10 will be the week of November 7th.

 

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Mrs. Grusecki: Newsletter Oct. 28,2011

By lgrusecki | Published: October 28, 2011

Religion  Review “open book” Chapter 8 on Monday.Test on Ch. 8 is Tuesday. Next week will begin the study of the First Commandment.

Reading  We are reading the novel, Dear Mr. Henshaw.The students will work in small groups analyzing text,defining new words, and making inferences. Students will be assessed through quizzes, projects, and written tests.

Social Studies  In Chapter 5 we are studying The People of the Northeast. Students will learn about the Narragansett Indians. They will learn what goods the Europeans and the Native Americans trade. The children will also learn about the Iroquois Confederacy.

Language Arts  Students will continue to learn the parts of speech,and rules of punctuation. They have learned the noun,verb, and sentence jingles.

This week we will begin Unit 4 in Spelling.

Math  We have begun our chapter on multiplication and division. Please make sure your child practices for at least 10 minutes per night on their facts.Next week we will begin quizzes on the facts.

Reminders  Halloween parties will begin at 1:50 p.m. Students may not wear masks or bring props to school. Please refain from bringing candy to school.

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KENNEDY October 13, 2011

By Kathy Kennedy | Published: October 14, 2011

The Fourth grade classes will be attending the 8 AM mass on Friday, October 21st.

RELIGION

We are continuing with Chapter 3 the week of 10-17.  The test on Chapter 3 will be on Thursday, 10-20.  Next we will be learning about the peace and unity that comes from receiving God’s love and forgiveness through the Sacrament of Penance and reconciliation in Chapter 4.

 READING

We are going to be reading the novel Skinny Bones for the next two weeks.   We will be covering skills such as inference, character traits, setting, and genre.  The students will complete a project for this novel that they will be able to choose.  Look for the sheet with their choices sometime the week of 10-24.  The test on this novel will be the week of 10-31.

 MATH

The test for Chapter 3 will be on Tuesday, 10-18.  In Chapter 4, the students will begin with learning the multiplication properties and division rules.  They will also use a multiplication table to discover patterns in multiplication and division and learn different ways to multiply and divide.

 LANGUAGE ARTS/SPELLING

We are finally beginning to write expository paragraphs the week of 10-17.  We will also begin learning about prepositions, objects of prepositions and prepositional phrases in Shurley English.  SPELLING – We are beginning Unit 3 – the five new core words for this unit are able, dog, shown, mean, and English.  We will be learning frequent spelling patterns for long /e/ and how when h follows certain consonants, it stands for a new sound.  The test on Unit 3 will be the week of 10-24.

 SCIENCE

The students will be learning how temperature and landforms affect the water cycle.  They will also understand what air masses are and how they move and learn to recognize what symbols on a weather map represent.  The test for Chapter 9 will be the week of 10-24.

 

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KENNEDY 9-30-11

By Kathy Kennedy | Published: September 30, 2011

RELIGION

We will finish Chapter 3 this week and the test will be on Wednesday, Oct. 5th.   The week of October 11th, we will then begin Chapter 4 where the students will learn about conscience and the way it helps them make good choices and brings them closer to God and others.

 READING

For the next two weeks we will be reading stories from the reading textbook.  The first week, it will be “Amelia’s Road” which is a story about a little girl who moves from place to place with her migrant family.  The skills that will be covered are problem and solution and making inferences.  The next week we will be reading “Sarah, Plain and Tall” which is a story about a mail-order bride who leaves Maine to start a new life on the prairie.  We will be reviewing story elements with this story.  The tests for both stories will be on Friday of the week we are reading it.  

 MATH

We will continue Chapter 3 where the students will use rounded numbers to estimate sums and differences, decide whether an estimated or an exact answer is needed to solve a problem, add numbers using regrouping, subtract whole numbers with  five and six digits, and subtract when some numbers are zeros.  The test for Chapter 3 will be the week of October 11th.

 LANGUAGE ARTS/SPELLING

Shurley English – The Chapter 2 test will be on Tuesday, 10-4.  We will be doing expository writing for the next two weeks.  We will be going through the processes of pre-writing, writing a rough draft, editing, and publishing final paper.   The students will receive the directions for their first book report on Monday, 10-3.  The book report is due on October 17th.  SPELLING – We will be identify and using the frequent spelling patterns for /k/ and using syllables to help spell words.  The Unit 2 test and skill lesson test will be on Thursday, 10-6.  Then we will begin Unit 3.  The five new core words for unit 3 are able, dog, shown, mean, and English. We will also identify and use frequent spelling patterns for long e.

 SCIENCE

The students will also be presenting their scientist’s scrapbook to their class.  We will also begin Chapter 9 where the students will learn about the water cycle.  They will learn about how the water cycle is related to weather, how land features affect the water cycle and how weather can be predicted.  The test for Chapter 9 test will be the week of October 17th.

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Mrs. Grusecki : Newsletter Sept. 30,2011

By lgrusecki | Published: September 29, 2011

Religion: In Chapter 3 the students learned about free will. In Chapter 4 we are learning about conscience and how it helps us make good choices.Friday,Oct.7 the children will have an Open text Review(p.66) On Tuesday, Oct. 11 they will have a test on Chapter 4.

Reading: Next week we will begin our study of Skinny Bones . We will be working on comprehension skills,analyzing character, setting, and plot.The children will work in literature circles. Our study will last about two weeks.

Math: Next week we will begin our study of Operations and Algebraic Reasoning. Chapter 3 focuses on adding and subtracting whole numbers. The children will learn about the commutative a, associative, and zero properties of numbers.

Social Studies: The children are working on Chapter 3 Earning and Learning. The focus is on the economy and free enterprise. The test will be the week of October 10. Please make sure your child understands not only what the terms mean but the main ideas and how they relate to each other. The packets on each lesson should be used as a study guide. The workbook pages are also useful for review. If your child is finding Social Studies difficult I would suggest reviewing daily. There is too much material to wait until the night before a test to study.

Language Arts: We are continuing our study of punctuation and grammar rules. The students should know how to pick out nouns( common and proper) in a sentence. We use Daily Oral Language in the classroom every day. Editing a sentence with proper capitalization and punctuation should come easily.

The new spelling words areable, dog, shown, mean, and English. Don’t forget all previous words are continually repeated. Your child should already know all the priority words-words given out at the beginning of the school year.

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Kennedy newsletter 9-16-11

By Kathy Kennedy | Published: September 18, 2011

FYI:  The fourth grade classes will be attending the 8 AM mass on Tuesday, 9-20.  Please have your child go directly to church with their backpacks.

RELIGION

We will continue Chapter 2 this week where the students are
learning how to live out the Beatitudes as a disciple of Jesus. The chapter 2 test will be on Friday,
9-23. We will then begin Chapter 3 to learn that God gives us
the freedom to choose to love and follow Him. The students will also learn that
choices that lead us away from God are called sins.

READING

We are going to continue to read the novel Frindle
this week. The students received the directions for the end of the book project
which is a character profile. This
project is due on Sept. 26th. The
test for Frindle
will be the week of September 26th.

MATH

We have been learning how to order and compare numbers and money.
This week the students will learn how to round numbers and money amounts and
how to create and read a bar graph. The
test for Chapter 2 will be on Thursday, 9-22. In Chapter 3, the
students will be learning how to use the addition properties and subtraction
rules to solve algebraic problems. We will also be adding and subtracting large
numbers so it is very important that the students know their addition and
subtraction facts. Please practice the facts with them if they do not know them.

LANGUAGE
ARTS/SPELLING

In Shurley English, we will be reviewing the five parts that make
a complete sentence, identifying and using adjectives and article adjectives in
sentences, and reviewing the four types of sentences.  We will also be learning how to revise
sentences to make them better.  The test on Chapter 2 will be the week of
September 26th.  The
students will then begin expository writing using the three-point format.   SPELLING-
We will begin Unit 2 this week.  Make
sure to check your child’s spelling notebook for the five new core words for
this unit.  Also, continue to review the
words misspelled on the Unit 1 test which can be found at the back of the
notebook.  In unit 2 we will be looking
at the frequent spelling patterns for long /i/, working with homographs,
reviewing breaking words into syllables to help with spelling, and looking at
the frequent spelling patterns for the /k/ sound.

SCIENCE

We are beginning Chapter 8 this week where the students will learn
that Earth’s surface has landforms that have changed and continue to
change.  They will learn about the
different types of landforms on Earth, what causes changes to Earth’s
landforms, and about fossils and the fossil record.  This
is a short chapter and the test for Chapter 2 will be the week of September 26th.

 

 

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Mrs. Grusecki: Newsletter 9/16 Continued

By lgrusecki | Published: September 16, 2011

Math  Students are working on Chapter 2 in Math. The following are the skills covered: Compare,order, and round whole numbers and money.; Find and compare values of collections of bills and coins. Make change ; Solve problems using skills and strategies.

Religion In chapter 2 the students learned thatJesus teaches in  the Beatitudes the way to true happiness. In Chapter 3  the students are learning that God gives us freedom to choose to love and follow Him. They are learning that choices that lead us away from God are called sins. The test on chapter 3 will be next Thursday, 9/22

Language  The students are working on identifying capitalization rules and punctuation rules. We are identifying subjects and verbs through the Shurley English jingles. Students are learning what an anology is and how to recognize them. We will continue working on editing skills and identifying the parts of a sentence.

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Mrs. Grusecki:Newsletter 9/16

By lgrusecki | Published: September 16, 2011

Social Studies   We are reviewing Chapter 2. The final test will be next Wednesday 9/21. In Chapter 3 students will learn about Americ’s rich resourses. Other main ideas covered in Chapter 3 are: people trade for goods and services they need and each region in the US and nations of the world depend on each other.

Reading We are finishing up our study of the novel Frindle next week.Students will be required to complete a book report and vocabulry words for a grade. This will be completed in class. A study guide is going home today pertaining to this assessment.

 

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Kennedy – September 6, 2011

By Kathy Kennedy | Published: September 2, 2011

The first two weeks have flown by, and we are getting settled into our classroom routine.  Starting next week, I will begin posting the homework on the website daily.  I have also spoken to the students about receiving extra help outside of classroom time.  I am available everyday except Wednesdays, starting at 7:30 AM and after school for about 15 minutes if the students need extra help in any subject.  I also will be putting the student’s names and passwords in ThinkCentral (Science) so that the students may access the Science textbook on the internet.  I will send home a letter explaining the procedure to do that in the next couple of weeks.  If you ever have any questions or concerns, please e-mail me.  It has been a pleasure getting to know your children and working with them for the last two weeks.

RELIGION

The chapter 1 test will be on Wednesday, 9-7.  We will then begin Chapter 2 where the students will learn that our savior, Jesus Christ, leads us to happiness.

READING

For the next two weeks, we will be reading the novel, Frindle.  The students will have a packet to use while we are reading the novel.  We will focus on traits of characters in the story along with setting, making connections, and summarizing.  There will be a test at the end of the novel.

MATH

There will be a test on Chapter 1 on Wednesday, 9-7.   Next we will be covering operations and algebraic reasoning in Chapter 2.  The students will learn how to use the properties of addition and subtraction rules, using mental math to add and subtract two and three digit numbers, and rounding numbers to estimate sums and differences. The students will also be reviewing adding numbers using regrouping and subtracting numbers up to five digits.

LANGUAGE ARTS/SPELLING

Shurley English – Students will continue identifying nouns, subject nouns, and verbs in sentences.  Adverbs, adjectives, and article adjectives will also be introduced.  The students will also be writing sentences using the Subject noun, verb, adverb pattern.  We will be reviewing the four kinds of sentences and the end mark flow.  SPELLING – There will be test on Unit 1 the week of 9-12.  The students should review the five new core words in their spelling notebook.  The skill tested on the unit test will be short and long vowel sounds.  In Unit 2, the students will learn frequent spelling patterns for /i/ and /k/, review idioms, and work with breaking words down into syllables to help them spell the words.

SCIENCE

The students have begun to study the rock cycle.  They will continue with learning about how weathering and erosion affect rocks.  They will also learn what soil is, how it forms, and about the different types of soil.  The test for Chapter 1 will be the week of September 12th.

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Mrs. Grusecki 4th gr. Newsletter

By lgrusecki | Published: August 29, 2011

8/29 continued

Religion: We are learning how Jesus shows us the way to His Father. By following Jesus’ example we grow closer to God.

Social Studies: We are learning about the different regions in the United States. The United States has many different, landforms,resources, and climates.

Reading: Students are learning about character, setting, and plot. We will make inferences from the stories. Our first story is The Lost Lake.

Language: The children will continue learning the jingles and parts of speech in the Shurley English program.

Spelling: Our spelling program is different from a customery spelling program in which each unit opens with a word list followed by activities to prepare students for a Friday test. Our research-based program design ensures that students learn to spell for writing, not just for a test.It  is a spiral program and each child moves at his/her own pace. I sent home the core and priority words learned in 4th grade at the beginning of school. The students should already know how to spell the priority words. Students have a spelling  notebook and folder which should be in their desks each day.

Math: The first chapter focuses on place value. Students should be able to recognize and identify different uses of numbers; read, write, and identify place value of digits in whole through hundred millions. Students will learn how to solve story problems using various skills and strategies.

Science is taught by Mrs. Kennedy. Please check her website for Science.

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LGrusecki:Newsletter 9/29

By lgrusecki | Published: August 29, 2011

Dear parents,

  Welcome to 4th grade. Here are some policies and information that you will need to know for 4th grade. Also,I am presenting an overview as to what we are doing in class

 Homework- All homework should be turned in the following day unless it is a long term project. If a student is absent, an extra day is allowed. If a student is absent for more than a day, I will let you know when it is due.

Field Trips- the 4th grade classes will take two field trips. You will be advised with a permission slip at that time.

Tests will be announced in advance. The students will write the dates in their assignment books. Long term projects will be posted in the newsletters. Any test grade that is below 80% must be signed and returned.

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