Hello Fourth Grade Families!

General Studies with Mike:

We are nearing the end of our unit on fractions. Students can now add, subtract, and multiply fractions. We spent the bulk of this past week solving real-world problems (word problems) involving fractions. We will end the unit at the beginning of the week with and in-class assessment. 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 about halfway through our second read aloud, Rain Reign, by Ann M. Martin and have continued to chart a class list of all of the homophones found in the book. We now have a list containing more than 60 homophones – much more than we ever thought existed in the English language.

Students are continuing their work in book clubs, with different groups reading Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume, A Dog’s Life by Ann M. Martin, and The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare. Students are enjoying the opportunity to create and pose questions to one another about these common texts.

We’ve finished drafting our opinion essays. Students are now familiar with the five paragraph essay format. We will complete the editing and proofreading process early next week and begin publishing on computers.

In social studies, we revisited Colonial America, making hand dipped candles just like the colonists. We also began studying the causes of the American Revolutionary War, focusing this week on the Stamp Act and what it means to have taxation without representation.

Last week, we had a fun buddy date where we made winter themed puppets. Fourth graders enjoyed having the opportunity to help their buddies with this art project.