Benson/Bodrick News
News from the 4th Grade
December 7, 2018
Math News
We have had another great week multiplying 1-digit numbers by 2-, 3-, and 4-digit numbers. Students are working very hard to master the different strategies and are finding out which one is their favorite. Please continue to encourage them to learn their basic multiplication facts. This will help tremendously as we move to 2-digit by 2-digit multiplication next week.
The next two weeks, we will be completing topics 7 and 8 in the textbook. However, to make it a little more fun, we will add a little holiday spin to our work. Students will be given a Holiday Multiplication checklist that looks like a game board on Monday. They will go around the game board throughout the two weeks completing the activities. Some of the activities include a snowball fight, color by number multiplication, and a bonus activity with multiple activities on planning a trip to Grandma’s for the holidays. I will be working with small groups on hands on activities to learn multiplication and assisting any that need help. Please encourage your child to keep pace with the activities. They should be able to complete the required work within the two weeks and we will hopefully test before the break. If we don’t do a formal test before the break, there are 2 graded assignments worked into the checklist that will count in the gradebook.
Reminder: Study Island Assignment #6 is due next Friday. Several students have not done any lessons on this assignment and it was assigned 2 weeks ago. Please encourage your child to complete these lessons so that they can participate and complete their game board next week. Math stations booklets are also due Tuesday, December 18th. Students have been working on these for 2 weeks and several have turned them in already.
There will be no homework packet next week so that students can work on their holiday checklist instead.
Please continue to encourage your child to complete their ALEKS topics each week. This is a great way to get up to 10 extra credit points each week.
Science News
Moon calendars are due next week on Thursday. Students should have been observing the moon for the last 3 weeks--one more to go.
This week we talked about why the Earth has day and night. Ask your student what they learned about rotation and see if they can explain day and night to you. They also could probably tell you how old they would be if they lived on Mercury. (It’s about 7 times their age right now.)
Next week we will talk about shadows and move onto seasons.
ELA News
READING LOGS
Reading logs are assigned every week. Students are expected to read for at least 20 minutes and then respond to their reading using the question bank provided in their binder for fiction and nonfiction books. Your child is only required to answer one question a night on the reading response sheet provided. Please check weekly - if not every night - to make sure that your child is completing this task. I will now be grading the logs based on the actual quality of the responses. Students will still receive a grade of 100 at the beginning of the quarter - but I will take off 1 point for every day that is not completed thoroughly. If the log is not submitted on Friday, students will lose 5 points from overall grade. If you have any further questions about the reading log, please do not hesitate to email or send a message via Class Dojo.
NO READING LOG NEXT WEEK
READING/WRITING - Text Dependent Analysis
This week we concluded our unit on Folktales and Theme with the popular Brothers Grimm story, “The Fisherman and His Wife”. Over the course of two weeks, we read this more complex text multiple times for different purposes as we learned to analyze in order to respond to a text-dependent analysis. We discussed the components of an essay - introduction, body (or development as it is referred to on the SC Ready Writing rubric), and conclusion - and worked diligently on composing our piece - students answered the following focus question “Why does the sea change colors throughout the story?” Students learned about different ways to hook readers - asking a question, painting and picture in the reader's’ head, and using quotes/figurative language. We talked about the importance of organizing thoughts before writing and completing a graphic organizer. Students will finish the final parts of their essays next week and add conclusions. I am hoping that will get to do some creative projects - like watercolor paintings so students can paint what they see - just as it is described in the text!
Social Studies News
This week, students learned about The Columbian Exchange - the exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and new ways of life between the New and Old World (Eastern and Western Hemispheres). Students were expected to by the end of the week summarize the Columbian Exchange and again were required to label a map of Earth’s continents - this time, the four major continents involved in this exchange - North and South America, Europe and Africa and the items that were shared between them. In the coming weeks, we will learn about Early Settlements and Colonization in the New World.
Fourth Grade News
Related Arts Schedule for next week
Ending Thoughts
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