Hello Fourth Grade Families

General Studies with Mike:

Happy New Year!

We began the second semester with new student groupings and new seats within the classroom. Students are enjoying the opportunity to work with new partners and groups.

Shortly before Winter Break, we completed our math unit on whole number multiplication and division. During this short week back to school, we began the next math unit on fractions. We reviewed how to add and subtract fractions with common denominators and how to reduce fractions to simplest form. We will continue to manipulate fractions, turning improper fractions into mixed numbers and adding and subtracting unlike fractions.

Students are well into their guided reading book club books. They are working in new teams and continuing to answer questions for and analyze themes within the texts Morning Girl by Michael Dorris and The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare. Students are excited to have the chance to discuss common texts with their classmates.

We paused our social studies unit on Colonial America to learn about Martin Luther King in preparation for a Tekes on January 18. We learned about the events leading up to the Montgomery Bus Boycott and will analyze King’s I Have a Dream speech, discussing what type of language he uses to make the speech so compelling.

Judaic Studies with Phyllis:

Happy New Year everyone! The fourth graders are working hard and having a blast in Judaic Studies! The exciting news in Chumash is that the students have signed up for Torah readings!!! I will send out an email with all of the class dates soon, but if your child is reading in January, you should get an email today. To kick off our study of trope, the were given the challenge of finding 15 different trope symbols in their Chumashim, and I am pleased to share that EVERY student reached this challenge! When the fourth graders learned that there is a symbol, the Shalshelet, that only appears 4 times in the entire Torah, they were eager to locate those sightings. With clues the red group found all 3 in the book of Genesis! Over the past few weeks we have also introduced a number of new grammar structures, including male and female verb forms and possessive nouns. After locating and highlighting vocabulary that fit these patterns, the students were able to translate new verses with both speed and accuracy. We are enjoying the story about how Rebecca helped Jacob pretend to be Esau to receive the blessing, and will continue to practice these skills as we move forward in the story. When we are not working on Chumash, we are busy writing our own Chelm stories that we will eventually turn into picture books and read to our kindergarten buddies. Like the traditional stories, our stories take a Jewish halacha (law) or tradition and turn it on its head. Finally, ask your child to tell you about our fun hangman system! Not only have we been doing a lot better on limiting call outs, but it is a great deal of fun.

Hebrew with Ilana S.:

This short week the fourth grade were busy working on their project “Yom Talmid” – “Student Day”. They wrote an activity that they want to do in the class and prepared the materials. There are some materials and of course some sweets that they are planing to bring from home. Please ask your child about Yom Talmid and what he needs to bring. Next week the students will present their activities. They all excited to be a teacher for one day and present their fun activities. Shabbat Shalom.