Fourth Grade

Fourth Grade Focus December, 2011

Language Arts

 In December our focus continues on Traditional Literature with the study of fairy tales, folk tales, and tall tales. Please share the stories your parents told you when you were their age. During this nine weeks students will write a response to literature, due before Winter Break.  Grammar skills and using reference materials, especially the dictionary and thesaurus, will continue to be our focus.  Students will complete a Reference Summative test before Winter Break.  Students should continue studying their spelling words for tests each week.

                                                                 Math     
 We have begun our study of division and the concept of equal sharing and are moving toward multi-digit long division with remainders.  Students will test on division before Winter Break.  Students should practice division fluency daily. Our final unit in math this quarter will be on geometry, including angles, triangles, and polygons.

 

Social Studies/Science   

 We are beginning our study of the early colonies. We will learn about various colonies and how the settlers survived.  This Friday, December 2^nd is Colonial Day, so don’t forget to help your child with a costume! We still need parent volunteers to help your children. Please contact your child’s teacher if you can help.  We will begin our unit on color and light in science before Winter Break.

 

Dates To Remember

December  2   Colonial Day

December  5  Fifth Grade Musical

December 22  Last Day for Students  -  Holiday Party

                        Have a wonderful Winter Break!

Join us for the Thanksgiving Lunch!

                   

Our Thanksgiving lunches will be held next week. Parents, grandparents, and families are invited to join your student on this special day. Adult lunches will be $2.75. The schedule for fourth grade classrooms is below. We hope to see you there!

            McCann/Benton            11:50-12:20

            Davidson                      11:55-12:25

            Kienker                        12:00-12:30

            Fisher                          12:05-12:35

            Goode/Bolton               12:10-12:40

                     

 

Fourth Grade Focus November, 2011

Language Arts

In November our focus is Traditional Literature with the study of fairy tales, folk tales, and tall tales. Take time to share the stories your parents told you when you were little. Our writing for this month will focus on a response to literature. We will continue to work on grammar skills and using reference books including the dictionary and thesaurus. Students should continue studying their spelling words each week.

 

Math    

As we finish up multi-digit multiplication we will begin our study of division. We will begin with the concepts of division and equal sharing and end with multi-digit long division with remainders. Students should be doing daily division fluency practice.  

 

Social Studies/Science

 We are finishing our study of Simple Machines, and will begin our study of the explorers that discovered America. We will learn about what the explorers were looking for, what they found, and the obstacles that stood in their way.  December 2^nd is Colonial Day! We need many parent volunteers to help us with activities. If you are interested please contact your child’s teacher.

 In Science we will begin our unit on color and light.

 

Important Dates

November 8^th is a Teacher Workday – No school

November 15^th Colonial Day planning session for parent volunteers at 2:30 p.m. Please let us know if you can attend.

November 16^th is our annual Thanksgiving Lunch-Families are invited.

                          

Native American Presentation October 25, 2011

Jim Sawgrass, a true Native American, came and spoke to fourth grade on the Tuesday morning of conference week. He spent over 2 hours discussing and explaining the culture and customs of the Native Americans. He brought animal skins (otter, bear, rabbit, deer and alligator!), as well as pottery, arrowheads, weapons, and musical instruments. Priscilla, his assistant, performed three Native American dances in costume for the students, including the Eagle Dance and the Hoop Dance. The students' favorite part was when Mr. Sawgrass shot the bow and arrow three times, each time besting his previous distance. Priscilla fired the musket, which was almost as big as she was! He sprinkled his talk with Native American words from different tribes, teaching them to the students and having them repeat them back to him. It was a wonderful presentation and truly brought the Native American unit to life. Thanks, Mr. Sawgrass!

 

A Special Guest October 12, 2011

Fourth grade hosted a special guest today! Mr. Ken Boone, the on-air afternoon weatherman for WGST, came and spoke to us in the cafe this afternoon. Mr. Boone is the godfather of Mattie Brennan, in Mrs. Davidson's class, and she volunteered him (thanks, Mattie!) for this talk. He addressed many of our fourth grade weather standards, as well as sharing interesting facts about his job and education. He allowed time for questions at the end, as well as giving  pencils for each student and a hurricane tracking map for each classroom. Mr. Boone, we thank you! It was a wonderful wrap-up to our weather unit!