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18 Jan 2019
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Hello 4th Grade Families!

General Studies with Mike:

Congratulations to all fourth graders on a fantastic Martin Luther King presentation!

We are at the midpoint of our math unit on fractions, and students have now learned how to add and subtract fractions and convert mixed number fractions to improper fractions (and vice versa). Students have enjoyed working with fraction tiles to represent equivalent fractions with differing values in the denominator. You can help reinforce new math vocabulary at home when helping with homework by using words and phrases like “numerator,” “denominator,” and “simplest form.”

We are well into our second read aloud, Rain Reign, by Ann M. Martin. This emotionally compelling novel is written from the perspective of a young girl with Asperger’s Syndrome. We’ve had some really wonderful class discussion about what it’s like to feel different and how to form a community where we can celebrate our individual strengths and support each other’s weaknesses. The book also provides a wonderful word study of homophones, as the main character, Rose, keeps an organized list of these types of words. We are keeping a class list of all of the homophones Rose mentions in the book.

Students are continuing to work in book clubs. Two groups finished their books last week and began new books this week – Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume and A Dog’s Life by Ann M. Martin. We are continuing to discuss character traits (using text evidence to support our claims) and to identify themes (life lessons) within the texts.

We’ve begun drafting our opinion pieces to be published within the next few weeks. Students were presented with the prompt, “What is one thing you would change about school,” and the variety of topics has provided for interesting discussions during share times. This week we tackled introductions, and students created interesting leads, attempting to seamlessly transition into a thesis statement. The thesis statement is a new concept for students this year, and we have discussed that the thesis serves to organize the content that’s about to come so readers know what to expect.

Hebrew with Ilana S.:

This week the fourth grade presented there activities for Yom Talmid – Student Day. The students were excited and had a great experience to plan and be able teach their friends.

Fourth grade Judaics:

It has been an absolute pleasure getting to know the energetic and industrious fourth graders better over these past few weeks.  As you all probably know already, Chelm stories are the big rage in fourth grade Judaics!  Most of our students are finalizing their writing and beginning to assemble their children’s books that they will share with their kindergarten buddies.  In Chumash we learned about how Rebecca prepared Jacob to trick Isaac by dressing him like Esau.  The students located various verb patterns, translated the verses and asked amazing kushiyot (text-based questions).  Questions included, “Why won’t Rivka discuss this plan with Yitzchak?” (Ben), “Why would Rivka just like Yaakov?  She has two sons?” (Noa) and “Why doesn’t Rivka give the blessing herself?” (Nomi S).  Students answered each others’ questions through a chalk walk by walking around the classroom and writing answers on chart paper to at least three questions.  Since the verses are so visual, we decided to act them out.  And in their usual style, the fourth graders went all out (see pictures below).  Our first fourth grade Torah readers, Leia and Maya, did a tremendous job this week, setting high standards for their classmates.  The fourth graders have been really excited about learning trope in class, and can now sing the first few trope symbols while acting them out with their bodies!  The week ended by drawing comics about Baal Tashchit, or the law in the Torah to not destroy fruit trees during times of war, and a fantastic Tu b’Shevat fair led by our seventh grade.

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