Nov 6, 2015
Dear Families,
These are the final weeks of the first trimester! The students are amazing.
Curriculum:
Upcoming events:
Thank you.
Kathleen Gormley
[email protected]
Nov 6, 2015
Dear Families,
These are the final weeks of the first trimester! The students are amazing.
Curriculum:
- Science – How the World Works – we are studying animal classification, characteristics, adaptations, and habitat. Students are creating short informational booklets at school about a Colorado animal. The deadline for these booklets is November 18. Work is being done at school.
- Writing – Our focus is on expository writing. Students are writing five-paragraph essays about a chosen animal, focusing on that animal’s defenses and survival. You will see homework on “main idea and detail”, as well as an emphasis on summaries.
- Reading – We are learning how to read informational books and articles in an efficient way, how to take notes, and how to cite sources.
- Math – Students are learning various strategies to calculate using multiplication. Many students have mastered “lattice”, some have mastered “the standard U.S. algorithm” (the way most parents learned), and some are playing with partial product methods. Fourth graders are expected to master multiplication of 2 digits x 2 digits. Please help your student with fluency on math facts.
- Spanish – Students are immersed in Spanish until November 13.
- Reminder about homework - The fourth grade teachers believe that homework presents a perfect opportunity for parents to learn what their students are doing in fourth grade and for students to practice what they learn in school. We choose our homework to be meaningful and to align with what students are doing in class. I have extremely high homework participation – usually 27 of my 30 students return homework. Thank you to those who help these students. I would not send the work if I did not believe it to be useful and that is why I take the time to provide comments on all homework. If you have not seen the homework comments, please ask your student about them. Please note: if your student attends math with another teacher and has homework from her, you may substitute that math homework for mine. Students should still read every night and do the writing homework.
Upcoming events:
- Nov 9 – Penny Harvest begins. Your students will bring home information about collecting coins from the couch cushions and car seats!
- Nov 13 – Thanksgiving lunch at school
- Nov 13 – End of trimester, end of grading period, and end of period to achieve AR goals. More than half of the students have achieved their AR goal and we want more! Please encourage your student to read every day for at least 30 minutes.
- November 23-27 – Thanksgiving break
Thank you.
Kathleen Gormley
[email protected]