The Weekly Update #4

Dear Families,

We had a good week with lots of activities and events! The kids had a lot of fun at our school Fun Run.

Help NRE with your Fun Run donation:

Homework:

Reading: Packets will be given on Friday, Sept 11th, due the following Friday.

Independent Reading: Students should read at least 15-20 minutes an evening or 60 minutes a week. The kids have selected books from the library. Reading together or having your child read aloud to you is still a really great practice in 4th grade.

Math: Math practice will begin on Sept 1st and is typically given 3-4 times a week, and is due the next day. If a student is late or forgets the homework, please encourage him/her to turn it in. I DO accept late work.

A HUGE THANK YOU to our PTO! On October 22nd students will get to view live animals and learn about their adaptations and habitats. Even though PTO has paid for the program parents MUST still give permission on My School Bucks to participate. So please click on the provided link to sign your child up: Nature Educators Animal Program

Here is a brief look at our upcoming learning targets and what we did this past week:

Learning Targets:

I can read fluently and comprehend nonfiction texts.

I can write in complete sentences consistently.

I can accurately add, subtract, multiply and apply place value.

I can learn about places and features of Colorado.

I can learn about our changing Earth and how humans respond to it.

Social Skills: Students learned more about our brains, its parts, and how they work.

Reading: This week we started "Scholastic News". This is a great nonfiction newsletter that we use as a weekly practice of nonfiction reading. It is engaging and challenging. We are working on recognizing different text features, how to use and read them.

We also started working with our Wonders reading curriculum. We are reading about the changes in the Earth such as: volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis. Throughout all of these readings we are working on the nonfiction reading strategy called SQ3R (Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review). This is a way to help kids understand, remember, and use nonfiction reading information more effectively.

Writing: We continued to learn about written responses to questions and how to construct sentences. We will be focusing on sentence structures and types of sentences the next few weeks. We are also working on constructing paragraph reading responses that are organized.

Math: Students started our work in addition and subtraction skills. In fourth grade, we work on these skills with much larger numbers. Students are working on regrouping numbers to make accurate calculations. Next week we will also learn how to use rounding and estimation to check our work.

Here are some ways you can help your child in math at home:

1. Have your child count and use money. In fourth grade we study money, spending, and saving. Students still need to know coinage, values, and how to use money to pass tests. This can be a challenge with our current spending habits. So any way you can involve your child in real life cash spending, counting, etc. can give your child a real advantage.

2. Have your child use an analog clock at home.

Analog time problems show up on placement assessments. This is a primary skill that kids lose without practice that can impact their scores. It is also a life skill since analog clocks are still used in a variety of settings, including school.

3.Have your child practice their multiplication facts. In 4th grade one of our first units is on multiplication with multiple digits. It is very hard if a student does not already know his/her basic facts. So please practice these at home, it will really help your child build confidence in math.

Social Studies: This week students were introduced to using a coordinate map grid. Next week we will use a map grid of Colorado to find a variety of cities.

Science: This week we began reading about volcanoes and earthquakes. Next week we will start using our Stemscope science curriculum and do some activities to model plate tectonics.

Don't forget, there is no school Monday, due to the Labor Day holiday.

I hope you all have a wonderful, long weekend and enjoy our beautiful Colorado weather!

Best wishes,

Hope Crawley

Reminders:

September 07 - Labor Day/ No School

September. 08 - Cold Stone Ice Cream Scoop

September 9 & 10 - Picture Days

September 18 - Fun Run Prize Day

September 21 - Professional Development Day/ No School

September 23 - SAC Meeting

September 25 - Multicultural Night

September 28 - October 02 - Book Fair