4th Grade MP3 Campus

School Data is open on the 1st for parent reviews. These are due by the 5th. We hope the cut and paste grade level newsletter will be helpful to supplement your remote learning plan reviews. Thank you for submitting in a timely manner and if you need help please reach out to your SLPC.

Topics: Class routine, getting to know each other, growth mindset, math as a visual, factors, prime, composite

Activities: We are off to a great start in math. We spent our first few days of class getting to know each other a bit and brainstorming goals and expectations for a successful year as mathematicians. We spent our second week completing the math portion of the iReady fall diagnostic so that students have a resource to focus on skills that might be needing some extra practice. Then we turned our focus to visual representations of numbers and the patterns that are evident. We broke down the numbers from 1-35 and looked for repeated shapes as well as other patterns that jumped out at us. One big idea that we noticed was prime versus composite since all of the prime numbers were a single layer circle made of smaller circles while the composite numbers were made of the factors (for example 12 was squares of four circles arranged in a triangular shape). This vocabulary was introduced but more importantly students started to apply it to the next task which was creating a mini poster featuring one of patterns they thought were important.

Teacher Tip: Fact fluency plays a big role in mathematical success. You may want to note if there are any addition and subtraction as well as multiplication and division fact families your student still needs to work on. As a fourth grader they are expected to be fluent with basic facts for all 4 operations.

Teacher Info: Mrs. Kurashige, skurashige@meridian.wednet.edu

Topics: class routines, getting to know each other, draft book rules, story topics, story writing, iReady assessment

Activities: We are off to a great start in Writers Workshop. We are getting to know each other and are learning our classroom routines through an art activity, games, and even a fun pop quiz! We jumped into our narrative writing unit, discussed where good story ideas come from, and we each created a list of possible story topics. Then students each wrote a short story which we will use to set writing goals for our narrative unit. We also took time to take the Reading portion of the iReady Assessment.

Teacher Tips:This is a fantastic time of year to check in on grade-level sight words. You can access sight word lists and other excellent resources at sightwords.com. Tracking trend data can be so motivating and useful (i.e., “9/25 - Can read 44 /100 and spell 40/100 First 100 Fry sight words.”)

Now that we have wrapped up the iReady Assessment, it is a great time to try the iReady Instructional Activities. These lessons are fun and interactive to keep your student engaged as they learn. We recommend students complete 2 lessons per week of personalized learning iReady lessons in math and reading. Your student can access the personalized instruction through their waffle just like they did to take the iReady assessment. Your student can access the personalized instruction through their waffle just like they did to take the iReady assessment.

Teacher Info: Mrs. Giesen, jgiesen@meridian.wednet.edu

Topics: Students will identify sources of stored energy, learn that light from the sun is the source of most of the energy on Earth, observe energy sources doing work, learn how organisms use stored energy in food as fuel for life processes, learn how energy can be converted from one form to another, observe that energy can be carried from one place to another by waves, electrical current, and moving objects, learn that organisms and machines convert stored energy to motion and heat.

Activities: Students worked in small groups to explore a variety of stations with different energy sources. They learned that some sources of stored energy are muscles, wax, the sun, and batteries. They learned that this stored energy source was converted (changed) into heat, light, motion, and sound.

Teacher Info: Mrs DeWaard, hdewaard@meridian.wednet.edu

Topics: Class routine, getting to know each other, growth mindset, common vocabulary Axels, Beams, Bricks, Flats, Plates and Slants

Activities: We are off to a great start in Robotics, Engineering and Design. We spent our first few days of class getting to know each other a bit and brainstorming goals and expectations for a successful year as Engineers. Innovators and Problem Solvers.

Challenge Project- Cups and Sticks- STEM projects provide hands-on experimental learning. Curiosity is piqued and students investigate many workable solutions using critical thinking skills and explore by manipulating materials to design or solve a problem. Student teams were challenged to build the tallest tower using only fifty cups and fifty large craft sticks. Constraints: Limited to using only the provided materials (No glue, tape, or staples). You cannot alter (cut, break, pierce...) materials. Cups cannot touch. Sticks can touch both sticks and cups. Towers were measured by counting the levels of cups. Students recorded the height of their towers as they continue to adjust their design to increase the height of their towers.

Challenge Project-Students work collaboratively to design an assembly line system to sort parts and pieces to prep their WeDo 2.0 kits. As a group they adjusted their initial system design to improve the function of their assembly line system. Students practiced cordial discourse to solve or adjust system failures.

Teacher Tip: Robotics, Engineering and Design topics and activities can be included in your Independent Science class monthly reviews.

Teacher Info: Mrs. Brannen, lbrannen@meridian.wednet.edu

Topics: class routines, getting acquainted, reading mystery, comprehension, text evidence, identifying nouns/adjectives, cause/effect

Activities: Our first day started with playing get-to-know you games, reviewing classroom routines, brainstorming expectations of what a thriving class looks like and sounds like and reviewing knowledge about the 3Bs (Be safe, Be respectful. Be responsible.) Throughout the past weeks, students have worked on two different projects: a focus project on cause and effect through the reading of Meet Addy and a reading mystery activity. Everyone in class was captured by this this story and requested that we read the next in the series. This book brought about some deeper conversations about this time period in American history. The mystery project venture incorporated reading, comprehension work, analyzing parts of speech (nouns, verbs, adjectives) and highlighting answers found within text. My goal through this project was to not only build reading skills but to also foster a sense of teamwork.

Teacher Tip: The iReady assessment identifies current progress with both phonic skills and comprehension. Students now have access to individualized instruction/practice activities. Using the iReady app three times a week for 15 minutes will be a positive addition to the core curriculum you're already using at home.

Teacher Info: Mrs. Elgersma, gelgersma@meridian.wednet.edu