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Greetings 4th Grade Families!

General Studies with Mike:

We just began our math unit on whole number multiplication and division. Students have learned the algorithm for two-digit by two-digit multiplication, and will continue to practice throughout the remainder of the unit. Students should continue to memorize their multiplication times tables through the number 12 at home. You can find multiplication games at timestables.com/games.

We’re nearing the end of our read aloud, The Tiger Rising By Kate DiCamillo, and are beginning to discuss the literary theme of the story. We define literary theme as a “life lesson,” and identify the theme of a book by asking ourselves, “What does the author want me to learn from reading this story?” Feel free to discuss literary theme at home by asking your child to identify a theme of a book you are reading aloud or a movie you watch together.

We connected writing to social studies as we worked on publishing our historical realistic fiction stories set during the Age of Exploration. Thank you to all the families who celebrated the students’ hard work at Tuesday’s publishing party. Students are excited to move on to nonfiction writing as we prepare to begin a new unit on argumentative writing.

Judaic Studies with Margaret:

In fourth grade we immersed ourselves in the grammar of the Torah. We learned about contractions, how sometimes the Torah puts two words together to show ownership or belonging. We applied our knowledge to the scene where Rivka overhears Yitzhak talking to their older son about the blessing. We noticed how often the Torah combines two words and what the purpose might be.

Additionally, we worked on our Kushiyot and Commentary project for the fourth grade publishing party on Tuesday. We looked at the pages in the Torah and noticed how our sages proposed questions based on the text. They answered their own questions and responded to each other’s theories. In our class, we asked questions about words or phrases we wanted more information about. Not only did we think through our own answers, we also practiced agreeing or disagreeing with our friends’ theories and keeping a list of the commentary. We were excited to show them off at the publishing party on Tuesday!

Hebrew with Ilana Swisa:

This week the 4th grade were busy with the rehearsals for the Chanukah Play. The students are very excited and they work with enthusiasm on their part; practicing their lines and how to act it, practicing singing and dancing the songs and writing a summery about the play.

The play is on Monday, December 10th at 5:15. As you know the 4th grade are leading the play and I will send an email with more information related to the play.
Shabbat Shalom