As we transition back to the normal classroom routines, the 4th grade will also transition back to “normal” homework assignments:
- Students should be reading 45 minutes every night with their Reading Response Notebook by their side.
- They should be doing short collections nightly because they should be reading actively, having ideas, tracking their characters and their books’ deeply. It is imperative this thinking work be happening as comprehension of higher reading levels relies heavily on it.
- Extended Reading Responses will be due on Mondays. Students should choose their most thoughtful collection to extend. Predictions and surface-level noticings are not grade-level at this point.
- Students will have math worksheets to complete nightly.
- Word Study will continue soon!
Social Studies
We are wrapping up our unit on life in the 13 colonies. In this project-based unit, students chose a colonial job, gathered information about it, and then created a "shop" rich with historical detail. It has been a joy to watch 4-316 create their Colonial Day tri-folds! The grade-wide celebration is this coming Friday, May 3 (See flyer below.) and is sure one of our most exciting 4th grade events. We hope you can take a stroll in our colonial town. As we move on in Social Studies, we will be returning to early United States government. This unit will set the stage for our much-anticipated trip to Philadelphia!
Reading and Writing
We are finishing our brief Historical Fiction reading and writing units this week! Together we learned how fiction elements interplay with historical settings, tracking the characteristics of many historical time periods and their effect on characters. In Historical Fiction writing, students are having the opportunity to step into the shoes of African slaves and Native Americans during Colonial times. They are incorporating historical details of how life was for these repressed groups of people. We are looking forward to the completion of their published journal entries, which are sure to be powerful. Our celebration for this unit of writing will coincide with Colonial Day. We hope that you join us in our classroom after checking out the 4th grade's colonial town in the gym. What else is on the horizon? We are very happy to begin reading and writing genre study in Fantasy!
Math
The show goes on in Math! With the exam out of our hair, we will be spending some time deepening our understanding of fractions. 4-316 grasped fraction concepts quickly during test prep! We will build on these concepts during math workshop. We will then move onward and upward to fractions' best buddies: decimals and percents. Fractions, decimals, and percents all rely on students' success with multiplication and division. Please continue to support your child with mastering these operations. With the summer break on the horizon, multiplication fact recall is vital for success with 5th grade math concepts.
Please check important May dates on the sidebar! And, as always, let us know if you have any concerns or questions.
