Benson/Cave News
News from the 4th Grade
November 13, 2015
Math News
Everyone has done a great job this week multiplying multi-digit numbers. We will finish up topic 5 on Wednesday with our Topic 5 test. We will go back to topic 14 and work on metric measurement on Thursday.
Students were given about 30 minutes each day in class to work on ALEKS. Students have until Sunday night to make sure they have mastered 5 topics. They can work on ALEKS in class or at home. If your child did not master 5 topics, please allow them to work at home and get this done. This will be a grade each week from here on out. Parents can log into their child’s account and see their progress. ( I used to have to do that several times a week with my son.) To access ALEKS from home, go to aleks.com. Your child will need to share their username with you. Their password is: aleksmat
Don’t forget that you can access your child’s text book at www.pearsonsuccessnet.com Their username is their school number id and the password is richland2.
Science News
We learned a lot this week about the 8 planets in our solar system. We went out onto the football field to have a visual of the distance between each of the planets and their distance to the sun. This was an eye opener to many of our students. We also did a rotation around our classroom and researched each planet along with the sun. Next week we will talk about the moon and each child will have a “moon log” to fill in. They will need to go out each night and record what the moon looks like. If they miss it at night, maybe they can catch it on their way to school. After filling this in from Wednesday, November 18th until Tuesday, December 8th, it will be taken up for a grade.
Language Arts News
This week most of the students finished their research and completed their writing about ships.
They did a great job researching. We read several books that related to Veteran’s Day and finished the week with a Readworks story called “Meet a Soldier” where students could see some ways that other schools across the country celebrate Veterans.
Next week in reading we will practice with skills from the reading selection “Kid Reporters At Work.” The skills include using context clues, identifying antonyms, comparison and contrast. On Wednesday students will take a test to review the skills being taught. On Monday I will collect reading logs. The next reading log will be distributed on Monday. It will be due on Monday, November 23, 2015. Students should bring their reading log everyday since it is homework. The question of the week should be answered in complete sentences.
Social Studies News
Many students did really well on the explorers test last Monday. Since this week we focused on Patriotism and Veteran’s Day, we did not start our next unit of study. Students did a great job on their letters to Veterans that were displayed in the hall. The next unit of study will be Colonial America. We will focus on the original 13 colonies that were settled by the English. The Week 8 Social Studies Weekly introduces some settlements that most students are familiar with including the history behind the first Thanksgiving. Students will be expected to read the stories in this newspaper and complete the crossword puzzle for Week 8 by Tuesday. Then we will compare and contrast the New England, Middle, and Southern Colonies.
Fourth Grade News
We need your child to have headphones or ear buds in class everyday. We use them every day. They also need them every time we go to the computer lab. Please make sure your child brings them to school everyday.
Our Brattonsville field trip has been rescheduled for Tuesday, December 15th. We will leave at 8:00am so your child will need to be at school between 7:30 and 7:45. If they are normally a bus rider in the morning, please bring them to school that day. We will be back in time for normal dismissal, so they can ride the bus home if that is their normal mode of transportation.
Something fun for your family: Arbor Day Celebration at the Carolina Children's Garden--Saturday, December 5, 2015--11:00am-1:00pm
Join us in celebrating trees with storytelling and crafts including acorn planting,leaf headbands, leaf rubbings, and pine cone trees. Talk to your favorite tree! Walk between our Treasured Trees Nature Walk and Tree ID. Help us plant an umbrella tree. Free seedlings to the first 100 children.
The Carolina Children's Garden is located at Clemson/Sandhill
900 Clemson Road, Columbia 29229
Original Artwork--If you would like to order from the Original Artwork that was sent home last week, please have your order turned in no later than Monday, November 16th.
PTO is having a winter sale:
Long sleeve t-shirts $11
Sweatshirts $15
Hoodies $20
Ending Thoughts
You may email us anytime there is a concern. Click on our name below for a direct link to our email.
Thanks for sharing your children with us each day!
We are now working on measurement using metric units. We will work on this unit for the 2 days next week and when we come back after the Thanksgiving Break, we will finish it up and test probably on Thursday, December 3rd. 
In reading this week students completed their essays about ships. Now they are ready to publish their writings. This week we began reading a story selection in Treasures titled “How Ben Franklin Stole the Lightning.” Students are learning how to identify the author’s purpose for writing a story. On Tuesday, there will be a test on this story. Students can use their textbook with the test for the comprehension questions. Please encourage your student to write the correct page number where they find the answer in the story beside the question to earn extra credit points. On Monday I will collect reading logs. Since next week is a short week, there will be no reading log assigned. .
In social studies we are studying the original 13 colonies that were settled by the English. Students were given a map for their notebook to name the colonies. Now our focus will be on comparing and contrasting the colonies based on their location - New England Colonies, Middle Colonies and Southern Colonies. Students are learning about the New England Colonies first. We will compare and contrast the Pilgrims and the Puritans. Then we discuss the first Thanksgiving.
Next week will be a 2 day week due to the Thanksgiving Break. School will be closed Wednesday-Friday. Have a wonderful holiday!
Next week in reading we will practice with skills from the reading selection “Kid Reporters At Work.” The skills include using context clues, identifying antonyms, comparison and contrast. On Wednesday students will take a test to review the skills being taught. On Monday I will collect reading logs. The next reading log will be distributed on Monday. It will be due on Monday, November 23, 2015. Students should bring their reading log everyday since it is homework. The question of the week should be answered in complete sentences.
Last week we started writing about a ship that we learned about in the booklet “Ships of Discovery.” We will continue our research and writing about ships next week. The reading selection for next week is “Kid Reporters At Work” which comes from the Treasures textbook. The students will define the vocabulary and read the selection. There will be a quiz on this story on Thursday. Students are encouraged to use their textbook when taking the quiz. They can earn 1 extra credit point for each question if they put the page number where they found the answer in the story. On Monday I will collect reading logs. The next reading log will be distributed on Monday. It will be due on Monday, November 16, 2015. Students should bring their reading day since it is homework. The question of the week should be answered in complete sentences.
