The Week of December 6th

2 more weeks to go before winter break! The countdown is on--this week we begin a new reading AND math unit. Here's a look at what's ahead:

Our new reading unit will focus on "Making a Difference". This week we will discuss being a friend vs foe. The kids will use folk tales to discover the author's purpose and work with literary elements such as symbolism and foreshadowing. We will continue to work with short stories and inquiry in our small reading groups. The students will also have a chance to begin researching their first topic in their PROBE books. Make sure you ask your child what PROBE stands for!

There will be 2 spelling lists this week. We will go back to taking a pretest on Monday and your child will receive his/her list of the week by the end of the day. Both lists deal with words that have a /ur/ sound. Some examples of this are "twirl", "person" and "turkey".

In grammar the kids will work with action verbs. This week we will specifically study PRESENT-TENSE action verbs. We will talk about what they are and how it is essential that verbs agree with the subject(s) in sentences. We will also review how to use quotation marks to show dialogue in our writing.

In writing the kids are working towards making their 2nd "polished" narrative of the year. The kids chose a piece they wanted to work with last Friday and this week we will explore the editing process. The kids will be asked to create additional paragraphs to their original pieces, compose interesting beginnings to hook the reader, and to keep only the necessary details in their pieces to convey their meaning to the reader. We will be finishing these up next week and the kids will have the chance to type out their final drafts.

A parent letter explaining our new math unit will go home with your child on Monday. Unit 5 covers big numbers, estimation, and computation. We will work on extended multiplication facts, estimating sums and products, multiplying multi-digit numbers (using traditional and partial products method), and exploring the powers of 10/exponential notation. Monday the kids will take a pretest on the unit so that I have a better idea of how to extend or review concepts for our class. Regular study links will begin again on Tuesday.

We are working hard on our Native American projects which will be featured in the Native American Fair on Monday, December 13th. We have teamed up with other students in Miss Gudonis' class and are working to create a poster board of information as well as several technology pieces that show off the most important information about our regions. We can't wait to see the hard work on display next week!

Field Trip permission slips went home last week for our Mitchell Museum trip which will be on Friday, December 17th. Please make sure to send in your child's permission slip and money by this Friday, December 10th!. This will ensure that anyone ordering lunch will receive one. Those students who do not order a lunch will be asked to bring a PEANUT FREE LUNCH to school that day and provide their own drinks. We will be eating in the classroom when we get back from the museum since we will miss the regular school lunch hour. A reminder about the lunches will be sent home next week, but please plan ahead to ensure that you have packed your child a PEANUT FREE LUNCH!

Mrs. Vasilakos found a great idea for winter break that goes along perfectly with the Native American unit. On December 29th, the Arlington Heights Memorial Library will have Native American stories that will be told. Visit the library's website for more information. Thanks, Mrs. Vasilakos!

Please help your child begin to take more responsibility for homework or reading logs by allowing them to write their own names on papers and filling out their own logs. By this time in 4th grade, the kids should be independent in this area.

I hope you have a great start to the week! If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know!