Weekly Updates for January 30th

It's hard to believe that we have finished the first month of the year!  We will be finished with fourth grade before we blink.  Please remember that third quarter is some of our toughest core content.  Our blog is full of resources to help you in each subject area. Here is what is happening this week:

Social Studies:
We are starting a New Module on Creating a New Government. This week we are discussing the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Preamble. There will be a test  (for Mrs. Derry's class-other classes please check with your child's teacher) on the Preamble on Friday, Febuary 17th. The students will have to recite the Preamble. Please look for the directions coming home on this Friday. Here are some helpful links:
Derry Preamble directions
Copy of the Preamble-printable

Reading: We are almost at the end of Johnny Tremain. The students are having to dig a little deeper in thought and are showing what they are learning through their writing.

Language: Possessive Nouns/Text structure

Writing: We are working on breaking apart writing prompts. We have been discussing Black History Month and some of the African Americans who have made a difference throughout history.

Math:  This week in math, we will continue with Module 5 lessons 12-15.  Students took a Topic B checkpoint quiz on Friday in all math classes. Test corrections are available for these type of checkpoints.  We should finish Topic C by Friday. There will be a checkpoint on Friday or the first of next week. Please check your child's agenda for specific assessment dates.
Maestri and Fortson have assigned Quarter 3 Week 4 morning work that is due on Friday. Please remember that these classwork packets are due each week and that they are graded.

Science:  We are in our Physical Science unit.  This week, we will continue with energy and energy sources.  Please check with your child's teacher for specific science related assignments.

Please don't forget to return your permission slip and $1 for the UT band performance on Wednesday, February 8th.  Students who don't return this will have a study hall period during this time.

Weekly Updates for January 23rd

Please check out what is happening this week:

Math- This week we will be working from Lesson 7 through 11.  There will be a checkpoint quiz this week over Topic B.  Several graded assignments have been returned to your student directly or in the blue weekly folder.  It is important that students review this work with you and make corrections on assignments that score below 85 (our recommendation).  Test/assignment corrections are done on a separate piece of paper and attached to the original work. Please remember to initial or sign the redo work so that we know you have seen it.  These corrections can often mean the difference in a letter grade! 

Science- We are working on our matter unit this week in all classes. Mrs. Fortson's class will have a test over this unit on Wednesday.  Please check your child's agenda nightly for weekly assignments and due dates. 

Social Studies- We are still working on the American Revolution. This is a large unit with a great amount of content.  Mrs. Derry's class will have a test on Tuesday over the Important People and the battles of the Revolution.  They have been given vocabulary, important people and battle study guide. They will be able to use their interactive notebook on this test.  

ELA/Writing-The focus this week is pronouns.  Students will be drafting their informational piece.  

Please check in with your child to make sure that all work has been turned in!  

Weekly Updates for January 9th

Welcome Back!  As I type this, many of you are also sitting at home in the warm and cozy.  We are excited about the start of a new year and a second semester.  This semester will be very important as we continue with our content and curriculum to finish out our fourth grade standards. At this point, most of our students have already developed good organization and time management that will help them be successful for the rest of their lives! Please check the following:

Reading:  This week we will continue with Johnny Termain. Please check with your child's agenda for specific assignments.  Mrs. Derry's class will be working on chapter 7 this week.

Writing/ELA:  Students will be working on the informational draft piece. Our grammar focus will be irregular verbs.

Social Studies: This week we will focus on American Revolution battles. Please check for weekly assignments.

Math:  We will begin our new module 5.  This is our fraction unit.  Please check the math page on the blog for a great module newsletter resource. We will build a fractional understanding and will be incorporating multiple standards versus teaching each one in isolation.  There will be homework assignments most days of the week, so please check your child's agenda nightly.  Maestri and Fortson have also assigned morning work that is due this Friday and a Review Packet A that is due on February 10th.

Science:  This week, we begin our last major unit:  Physical Science.  Our first mini unit will be over matter.  There will be in class notes and assignments. Please check the interactive notebooks for important content related information.  The blog will be updated under Science this week!