We are digging deep into our 4th grade curriculum.
In math, students have already worked their way through place value and rounding concepts, and have since moved into addition strategies. We will be starting subtraction strategies later this week. The big thing we want students to be able to do is solve these problems with accuracy, so slowing down and taking their time is extremely important. The biggest mistakes I see are, students copy the numbers wrong, they forget to add the one when they carry, or they still don’t have their facts committed to memory. Our big focus this year will be on multiplication, but that doesn’t mean they can forget their addition and subtraction facts. Practicing these facts with flash cards or using technology (such as Moby Max Fact Fluency) will be very beneficial. I’ve seen some hard work so far, and I look forward to seeing them push themselves even further as we get into more difficult math concepts.
In reading, we are working on becoming stronger readers of narrative texts. One of the ways we do that is by pausing periodically to really think about what is happening in our books. Who are the characters? Which characters do we care about? Why do we care about them? What is happening to those characters? When students can stop and think about the text, they’re more likely to remember what they’ve read.
You can do this at home as well. If you read together at night, make sure you pause every few pages and talk about what’s happening. We want students to develop a love for reading, and one way they do that is by really caring about the characters in their books.
We finished reading Stone Fox as a class last week. All students developed a strong relationship with both Little Willy and his dog Searchlight. If your child hasn’t talked to you about this book yet, I encourage you to ask them about it. There were a lot of sad students at the end of our book. We will be watching the movie to complete a compare and contrast activity sometime next week. Also, even though this book was read aloud, all students are encouraged to take a Reading Counts quiz on every book they finish this year, whether it is read independently, with a partner, at home, or read aloud in class. It helps them assess whether or not they’re understanding the texts. If they didn’t pass the quiz for some reason, they are encouraged to try the quiz again the following day. Ask your child how they did on their quiz.
Our current read aloud is: Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing by Judy Blume. What are you reading at home?
In writing, we are working on drafting our first personal narrative. Students spent a lot of time brainstorming ideas and planning for this piece. They created a story mountain last week so that they had a true plan for their writing. Today, we began drafting their narratives. Many of their stories are very simple, which is what I expect at the beginning of the school year. What we’re working on now is adding the internal thoughts and feelings to our writing. Our big goal for 4th grade narrative writing is to elaborate and extend our stories. Students do a phenomenal job sharing their thoughts and feelings about an event when they’re telling a friend, but sometimes struggle to translate that to paper.
If you want to work on this at home, encourage your child to keep a journal. They can write about the different things that happen to them during the day, and how they feel about the different experiences they had. This has many benefits. It allows students the opportunity to practice their writing skills, allows them an outlet for their feelings, and gives you a glimpse into their day. If you need journal prompt ideas, let me know. I would be more than happy to give you some ideas.
In social studies, we have been digging into some pretty complex ideas in economics. Students have explored the roles of both the produces and consumer of goods and services. We’ve looked at the United States economy and how it is a great example of a Market Economy. In a market economy, the power rests with the consumer. The consumer’s demand for a good or a service dictates the supply producers will have as well as the price they will choose to sell their good or service. Today, we looked at the circular flow model of how the money we spend at businesses eventually makes its way back to us.
Students will be applying all of these skills to their Market Day project. I hope all of you received the green letter last week explaining Market Day. This year, Market Day will take place on Friday, September 28th. Students have until them to work with their business partner (student chosen) to work on their good or service (student chosen) to “sell” at Market Day. Business Plans were sent home last week. Please talk with your child about their plan. If you have any concerns at all, please do not hesitate to reach out. The students are all very excited for Market Day and I do not want it to be a stressful project at home. Let me know if there is any way I can help.
Upcoming Dates
| Monday, 9/17 |
PTC Meeting at 7pm |
| Tuesday, 9/18 |
Fire Drill at 9:15am |
| Wednesday, 9/26 |
Evacuation Drill at 9:30am |
| Friday, 9/28 |
Alward Newsletter Goes Out |
| Market Day for 4th Graders |
| Week of:
10/1 – 10/5 |
Spirit Week – Additional Information Coming Soon |
| Monday, 10/1 |
Fire Safety Presentation from the Fire Department 1-1:45pm |
| Wednesday, 10/3 |
Count Day – Please do not schedule appointments for this day |
| Friday, 10/5 |
Super Hero Walkathon |
| Monday, 10/8 |
Lock Down Drill at 10:45am |
| Thursday, 10/11 |
Board Meeting at 7pm |
| Friday, 10/12 |
Early Release for Students at 12:15pm |