Weekly Newsletter Feb 7th - 14th.

Grade 4KW

Weekly Newsletter

February 7 - February 15, 2019

I hope you all had a relaxing and restful Chinese New Year.

Here is a photo of Ben with an awesome fossil from his collection. It was great that he was able to share this with us.

Language Arts

This week as we delve into our unit, Research Reading, we continue to examine the different strategies involved in identifying the main idea in nonfiction texts. We will also continue to learn important ways to differentiate between important vs interesting information. We will  revisit familiar tools such as our Research Reading Mat, which allows us to focus on questions we may have from reading the non fiction text. We will also begin to examine different non fiction text structures. Students  will learn strategies to assist them in determining the best ways to gather information from text features and pictures and examine ways to generate relevant questions about the text and goal set for the unit. We will also learn, as researchers, how to take effective notes from non fiction texts.

Mathematics

This week we will continue to use the area model to show fractions and introduce number lines  as an additional visual model to help students better understand how to order and compare fractions.

Science

In the next few lessons students will make a Class Sedimentary Rock  Model.  They learn how sedimentary rock layers form. Students will also learn that as scientists learn more and investigate more, they answer some questions but might generate even more questions. They learn about  scientific arguments and how they include a claim that is supported by evidence. As we start the next chapter of our science unit, students will learn about how geologists use observations of, and ideas about, rocks and fossils to make inferences about past environments. They learn that inferences can be made based on what you observe combined with scientific ideas and that science theories are based on a body of evidence and many tests.

Announcements

• Legal Guardianship - If for some reason you have to be out of the country, please advise your child’s teacher as to who will be the legal guardian of your child.
• Water Bottles & Hats - Please check that your child comes to school with their water bottles and hats every morning. Recently, many students seem to be forgetting them at home.
• March 7th & March 8th - Student Led Conferences (SLC) will be held just before spring break. Please contact your child’s teacher if you are not able to attend on either one of these days so that an alternative date can be set up.

Resources

Here is a collection of 5 different Subitizing* Fraction Games you can play at home. The games came from www.BuildingMathMinds.com.

Here is the link: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1gnauE0rjvJFx6cG7_-7lyBSEixBS1xSXbZAzrZylv6U/edit#slide=id.p

*Subitizing: is the ability to instantaneously recognize the number of objects in a small group without the need to count them (example: rolling dice).