Halloween Message From Mr. Frazier: Students may wear costumes to school on Halloween, October 31st, the theme will be around their favorite storybook character. Costumes may NOT contain any weapons, blood, or gore. Costumes should not be scary and masks will not be allowed during the school day. Students who come to school in costumes with the above items will need to change. Students will be participating in regular activities for the day, such as specialists and recess, so please make sure they have appropriate shoes and jackets. Thank you.
Important Dates:
10/30 Book Report due
10/31 Storybook Costumes (optional)
11/2 PTSA Fall Carnival (6 – 8 pm)
11/12 No School - Veteran's Day Observed
11/14 – 16, 19, 20 PTSA Book Fair
11/16, 11/19, 11/20, 11/21 Early release Days For Conferences
11/22-11/23 No School - Thanksgiving Break
12/12 Nature Vision lesson: Native Plants and People (Thank you PTSA!)
12/20-1/1 No School - Holiday Break
1/2 School Resumes
2/5 Camp Waskowitz outdoor field trip (rain, snow or shine…. Plan for a cold, wet day)
3/21 Toymaker Workshop (afternoon)
3/27 4th Grade Music Concert
5/30 10:45 – 11:15 am Wax Museum (tentative)
Take Home Folders / Return to School every Tuesday:
Review and Keep at Home: Math practice pages, main idea and supporting details practice, 20 minutes 20 days entry form letters, Social Emotional Learning activity on empathy
Sign and Return: weekly tracker, reading log
Goal for the Week: Finish reading my book report book.
Coming up this week in class:
Completing walk-to-math Topic 3: Place Value, analyzing and comparing our first three reading texts, continuing our Unit on the United States Government, reading Washed Up, and creating Piet Mondrian-inspired art in our Museo art lesson!
Book Report: The Newbery (or Battle of the Books) book jacket is due on Tuesday, October 30. The mystery word is Executive. There is more information and examples on the 4th grade website: http://cves4.weebly.com/project-newbery-book-report.html.
Example project work timeline:
Oct. 1-7 Start reading the book; finish at least one book report section
Oct. 8-14 Keep reading; finish three more sections
Oct. 15-21 Finish reading the book; finish packet (rough draft)
Oct. 22-29 Complete the book jacket, working on one or two parts per day
Parent-Teacher Conferences: A rough draft of the conference schedule is attached to this week's email newsletter (not online on the website). Please check to confirm that I have your time correctly on the schedule. If you need to change your time, or if we have not yet scheduled one, please let me know as soon as possible! If students are accompanying parents, they may read or draw quietly in the hallway. Conferences are scheduled for 20 minutes.
Social Emotional Learning: We will be using the Second Step program in our classroom to teach these critical skills. (see attached letter)
The Second Step program teaches skills in the following four areas:
1. Skills for Learning: Students gain skills to help themselves learn, including how to focus their attention, listen carefully, and be assertive when asking for help with schoolwork.
2. Empathy: Students learn to identify and understand their own and others’
feelings. Students also learn how to take another’s perspective and how to show compassion.
3. Emotion Management: Students learn specific skills for calming down when
experiencing strong feelings, such as anxiety or anger.
4. Problem Solving: Students learn a process for solving problems with others in a positive way.
Math Facts: Fourth grade students must be fluent in all multiplication and related division facts up to 12. Please use our on line program REFLEX https://www.reflexmath.com/go (username: [email protected]) or visit the 4th grade blog to learn strategies and interactive ways to practice math facts at home.
Math: Topic 3: Place Value. Goal: I can compare, order, and round multi-digit numbers using place values. I can show numbers using a variety of forms.
At-home Reading: Students are expected to read 20 minutes a night, with a goal of 100 minutes each week. Your signature is required on their weekly minute totals every Monday evening. I will be checking for signatures every Tuesday morning.
Reading: Our reading lessons focus on:
- Using details and examples from the text as evidence to support comprehension
- Describing characters and setting
- Determining the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text
- Engaging in collaborative discussions
Writing: We are finishing the biography reports with revising, editing, and adding a visual aid with a meaningful caption. I am leading the class through this first multi-paragraph explanatory writing. Students have been working on note taking, introducing a topic with a clear purpose, writing body paragraphs with meaningful elaboration, and wrapping it all up with an effective conclusion. This has been teacher guided writing.
Conventions: We are working on adjectives, root words, suffixes and prefixes.
Social Studies: Students will be learning about the United States government with an introduction to the branches and levels of government, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution.
Volunteer Opportunities: Thanks, again, for all you do to support children, teachers and learning! Our class Signup can be viewed here: http://signup.com/go/UZYqOEz
If you'd like to volunteer and are not yet on the calendar, please let me know!
Please visit our 4th grade blog…. http://cves4.weebly.com/
In our partnership to ensure success for your child, good communication is critical. If you ever have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to e-mail me at larsone@svsd410.org. I’d love to hear from you and look forward to working with you this year.
With thanks,
Emily Larson
4th Grade, CVES
[email protected]
www.cves4.weebly.com