Week of Oct. 12th -16th

Literacy:

Book Report: Children should be reading a new book for the next book report. It will be due Oct. 29th. Read, read, and read at home every day!

Read Aloud: We will read a nonfiction text: “Look What Came from China”, by Miles Harvey. We will focus on reading and using features of nonfiction text: table of contents, glossary, and index.

We will also continue to read Weslandia, by Paul Fleischman, a story we began last week, to focus on Analyzing Character and Setting and Identifying the Main Idea and Supporting Details.

Read Aloud for fun! “Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing”, by Judy Blume. This week we will be reading to focus on identifying the main idea and listing supporting details.

Shared Reading: “China, a Great Place”, this is an excerpt from “Look What Came from China”.

Interactive Writing:
“Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing”: We will identify the main idea and supporting details.

“Look What Came from China”: We will be writing a list of our favorite things that came from China. Then, we will write a short essay to explain how we use them, why we like them, or any interesting fact about them that we recall from the book.

Weslandia: Web chart for a character analysis.

Interactive Editing:
We will do IAE using the Shared Reading sample "China, a Great Place" .

Independent Writing:

“Look What Came from China”: Students will write a short essay describing their favorite things that come from China, why they like them, how they have used them, or any fun fact they recall.

Weslandia: Students will write an opinion paragraph telling what they liked and disliked about Walter’s civilization.

Students will also participate in Guided Reading groups and Centers.

MATH:

This week we are continuing with TIME! Today we covered problem solving with time - knowing how to organize and manage time. All lessons/concepts of time have now been covered and students should continue to practice these at home. Tomorrow and Wednesday we will be reviewing all concept of time. Thursday will be a quiz covering only the "Time" portion (section C) of Chapter 2 in their texts.

Friday we will be reviewing ALL sections of Chapter 2 (A, B, and C) and will have a test Monday covering understanding place value, building number sense (rounding, ordering), and time (both forms, lengths of time, and elapsed time).

Timed Test:

Thursday we will have a timed test as per usual. This week it will cover multiples of 4 (the 4s times table). Please continue to review with students on a DAILY basis; 10 minutes daily will mean spending less time cramming for the quiz, and a more consistant score on these tests.

SCIENCE:

We concluded our unit on Water with a final cummulating test on Friday. I was excited for this test, as I took much time to prepare it, including different types of questions (matching, multiple choice, fill in the blanks, and short answer) covering all lessons that we covered. Our review of all matter was to review all of the interactive editing and shared writing that we did as a class and to answer the questions from the text. We also reviewed all concepts (as I knew what was on the test) to ensure students knew what they needed to cover in their studying. I'm unsure if students studied or not, as I was quite disappointed with many of the results of this test. Many students received A+ and A, but many students also received A- and B. These tests will be sent home at the end of the week. Please go over these with your child, as many of these concepts should have been understood after multiple quizes and assignments.

SOCIAL STUDIES:

We will be starting our first unit of Social Studies this week. As addressed at Open House, we will be covering The United States during Social Studies this year. For this first quarter (and possibly into the next as well) we will be looking at the early settlers of the United States and Colonizing the Northeastern United States. Ms. Lofchie in 4C had access to a GREAT activity that is a Social Studies simulation that she has graciously shared with the other 2 sections of 4th grade as well. Divided into separate "colonies", teams of students will face problems typical of life in the 17th-century America and try to ensure the success of their settlements. Students will complete assignments and the grades achieved from these first assignments will determine how many points their "colony" receives. They then use these points to buy cargo and use map skills to cross the sea and select their sites. Students--playing roles as colony leaders, bankers, mappers, traders, or recorders--must make decisions concerning the division of labour, role of government, and defense against possible Indian attacks. Interaction amongst the colonies results in trades, alliances, and sometimes conflict, while Fate Cards affect each colony's success or failure. The wealthiest colony after 15 rounds of play will win. I am SO excited about this unit, as the kids will learn in a fun and interactive way!