4th Grade Weekly Update Week of October 7th
ELA: This week is all about writing and finishing up our first novel study! We will work on summarizing Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. As a whole group, we’ll look at examples of summaries online, then we’ll use a story map graphic organizer to map out the main format of the summaries. Then, students will take the basic structure of the story map to create their own summaries. Modeling the paragraph will hopefully improve the structure of their paragraphs and give them more depth with examples from the text. Each chapter is a “tale” so summarizing this novel could be tricky individually, but with modeling, it will be easier to prepare for individual writing. The spelling test for last week’s words will take place on Monday. New words will not be given this week, since we’ve finished our novel, and we’re going to be using up a lot of brain power during the day on that writing! In grammar, we will review possessive nouns, abbreviations, and take a diagnostic pre-test on a new website we’ll be using to practice our grammar skills; Quill.org Check out the website! It’s a wonderful enrichment tool that students can use to help identify problem areas and use remediation where needed. Our final test for Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing will not take place until the following week to allow us plenty of time to finish our summaries. On Friday, we’ll use the bulk of the day to listen to Book Reports! Please make sure your student has a chance to practice this week so they are ready to present on Friday! Review the rubric for the best information about what should be included.
Math: We will finish up our Chapter 3 lessons this week: subtraction regrouping twice, subtracting larger numbers, zeros in subtraction, problem-solving choosing the operation and a mixed review of problem-solving. We’ll use our white boards to practice some of the easier skills and play a game called “Race to Zero” to practice subtracting with zeros.
History: We need one more day to finish up our mountain research on Monday to be ready to start brochures with Mrs. Butcher in the computer lab. It will take them a few classes to finish since they’re using Microsoft Publisher, which is new software to most of our students. We will start our next unit about the American Revolution this week. To start, we’ll label a map of the original 13 colonies and go on a map scavenger hunt using an interactive 13 colonies map. Once we’ve hammered down the geography, we’ll begin our unit looking at how the colonists lived and were they came from originally.
Science: Last week, students completed our performance assessment for Microscopes and Magnification Cell. They had fun examining different specimens under the microscope and did a wonderful job correctly identifying the blood sample to help our doctor! The data books were collected to grade and will be sent home with the results of the performance assessment soon! We also started our new unit of study, Chemistry, Matter, and Interactions Cell. Within our first investigation, students are learning the difference between quantitative and qualitative data. They are also learning how to use new scientific equipment, including the triple beam balance!
Other: Get a jump start on your holiday shopping this year at the Bedford Falls annual Wood Acres Book Fair. Did you know that reading for just 20 minutes a day exposes your child to 1.8 million words per year? Board books, early readers, nonfiction, young adult novels – there is something for every grade level. The book fair will be open Monday, October 7th – Thursday, October 10th. Book fair hours will be 12:00 – 4:00 pm Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. On Thursday, October 10th book fair will stay open later and the hours will be 12:00 – 6:30 pm.
Parents of students of all grade and program levels, you are welcome to join us to learn more about Middle School at Wood Acres! Join us on Wednesday, October 9th at 6:30 pm in the Beaker, Jr. Come see examples of the advanced curriculum, elective choices, leadership opportunities, off campus field trips and more! We look forward to sharing with you why Wood Acres Middle School students are very successful when they graduate Wood Acres and why they are recruited by local area high school magnet and private school programs. Email admin@woodacresschool.org to register for the session.
Week at a Glance:
Monday-Spelling Test and Book Fair 12:00-4:00
Tuesday-Book Fair 12:00-4:00
Wednesday-Book Fair 12:00-4:00 and Upper School Meeting in the Beaker Jr. at 6:30 p.m.
Thursday: Book Fair 12:00-6:30
Friday-First Quarter Book Reports Due