Weekly News--February 16th

Benson/Bodrick News

News from the 4th Grade

February 16, 2018

Math News

We took our math test this week.  I will be sending them home on Monday.  Please sign and return them no later than Wednesday.  Once I mark off that you have seen it, I will let students bring them back home to keep.  I tried to make notes when students mixed up area and perimeter and/or forgot their units.

We started our new unit on fractions.  We are stepping away from our blended classroom a little and going back to a more traditional approach.  Students will have classwork each day that will be gone over at the end of class.  I have walked around before going over the answers to make sure everyone is working to their potential.  When finished with classwork, students will be able to do other enrichment activities (games, projects, etc.) until we go over classwork.  We will take a quiz on Tuesday or Wednesday of next week on equivalent fractions and placing fractions on a number line.  We will start adding and subtracting fractions and converting improper fractions into mixed numbers and mixed numbers into improper fractions midweek.

We will spend a good portion of this nine weeks on fractions.  Zearn is a math program that students have access to.  There are some great videos on fractions in Zearn and some great learning activities.  Students are always welcome to work on lessons in Zearn to help their understanding.

Students also need to make sure they are completing at least 5 topics each week in ALEKS.  They should be able to master a topic in 10-15 minutes.  If they are working longer on a topic, they need to ask for help so they can master that topic.  The more topics they complete, the better at their math skills they will become.  This is a great program that will help bump up their math scores and skills.  Please encourage your child to complete these topics--they can be done at school or at home.

Please have your child practice their multiplication facts.  There are many games on www.multiplication.com that they would love to play that will help them.

If you still need to join Seesaw, please click here and follow the directions.

Science News

We continued our discussion on life cycles this week.  I am very happy with so many of the students’ life cycle models that have been posted in Seesaw.  If you do not see your child’s post in Seesaw, please remind them that they were due this past Monday.  They will be deducted 10 points for each week it is late.

Students worked in pairs this week reading about different animals.  They completed Venn diagrams on the similarities and differences between the two different animals.  To the right is an example of one of the articles we read and what was learned from it.  Next week we will move on to characteristics of animals and plants being inherited or learned.

Fourth Grade News

Related Arts Schedule for next week

PTO is sponsoring a Mother/Son Bowling Night on Friday, February 23rd.  It will be at Royal Z Lanes on Two Notch Road.  The cost is $12 per person which covers bowling, shoes, a slice of pizza, and a drink.  Fliers were sent home so that you can fill out and return with your payment.  There are 2 sessions you can sign up for--4-6 or 6-8.  Time slots will fill up quickly so please return these soon.

Columbia Fireflies Reading Logs

If students complete 4 books (appropriate reading level) by Feb 28th they will earn a ticket to the Columbia Fireflies game, free hot dog dinner, and a surprise gift at the game.  Completed reading logs should be sent to the Media Center.  Also, our own BHE Chorus will perform the National Anthem at the game.  Game day is Tuesday, April 10th at 7:05pm