It always seems like at this time of the year we are very busy.  This week isn’t any different!   

       Coming Up this Week….

J We have the MCAS Reading Comprehension assessment on Tuesday.  On Thursday we have the MCAS Long Composition. 

J  Your child will not have any “official” homework this week.   I will encourage the kids to read each night especially if they have gotten into the good habit of reading nightly.  They will not have the Reading in the Edges paper to fill out however.   

J Parents can sign up for Spring Conferences starting on Wednesday, April 1^st.  I will also be sending home a Conference Questionnaire on Wednesday for you to fill out and return prior to our conference time.    This can be sent back with your child or you can send your response to me via email.

Here is the link to the conference sign up:    http://www.ptcfast.com/schools/C_A_Farley_Elementary_School

J  On Friday, April 4^th we don’t have school because of Good Friday!

Reading Workshop

            In reading last week we started taking a closer look at poetry.  We read many poems from a book called, My Man Blue.  It is a book of poems that are all about this man named Blue and a boy named Damon.  We had many discussions about Blue as a character.  It was great to see the kids thinking so deeply about these poems.  We also were able to have some debates based on the poems.  Kids were able to state their opinions or what they were thinking and back it up with evidence from the text.  The rest of the class was able to think about whether they agreed with their classmate.  We had many “theories” about the characters.  It made for great discussion and great learning!  We are looking forward to reading more about Blue and Damon this week. 

Social Studies

            In social studies the kids were able to present to the rest of the class what they learned about the West Region of the United States.  Each small group learned about one aspect of the West Region.  They became “experts” and then shared their expertise with the rest of the class.  After hearing from all the groups, the kids reflected on what they learned overall about the West. 

            Each small group then chose a more specific part of the West to learn about.  Some students will be learning about the California Earthquakes, the Redwood Forest, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the National Parks of this region. 

Math Workshop

       The kids are continuing to work on fractions.  We are nearing the end of this unit.  Last week we worked on mixed numbers and improper fractions.  We also learned how to place fractions greater than one whole on a number line. 

I hope everyone has a great week! 

~Jen

Reading Workshop

        In reading we read a play together as a class.  The play was a folktale called Anansi Tells Stories of the World.  We were able to take a close look at what makes plays similar and different to a story.  We found that we need to play close attention to who is talking and where each scene is taking place.  By the end of the week we were able to work on a cooperative group activity around this play. 

        This week we will start to take a look at poems.  We are going to pay special attention to what we can infer from poems that the author doesn’t directly tell us.  We will also take a look at the language that is used in the poems that we read.  Similes, metaphors, and onomatopoeia will be some of the types of language that we talk about. 

Writing Workshop

        In writing workshop we are becoming coaches for our narrative writing. Last week we looked at our writing from October.  It was amazing to see how much progress we made in the past 5 months.  Then, we took a look at a checklist of what is expected in a fourth graders writing.  Based on the checklist, the kids were able to determine what area of their writing that they wanted to improve.  After that, each student attended a “training camp” depending on the area they were going to improve on in their writing.  Each team worked on specific activities that would help them train and get better as a writer.  The kids were then able to take their new learning and apply it to their writing from October. 

        Our overall goal is to create a writing “training” video.  We will give a coaching tip to show other kids how they can improve one area in their writing.  The kids are very excited that they are going to be able to train and help other students!

Math Workshop

        In math we worked on adding and subtracting fractions with the same denominator.  The kids worked very hard with this concept. 

We also had a few discussions about how we use fractions in everyday life.  Any time you and your child come across “real world” fractions, it would be great to point it out.  One idea we discussed as a class was if they were making a recipe at home, they could talk about doubling the recipe and discuss how that would change the total amount of each ingredient.  We also talked about if a recipe calls for 1 cup of sugar and all you have to measure is a ¼ cup, how many ¼ cups would it take to make a cup.  These are all great real world applications of fractions. 

Coming Soon.... 

• As a reminder, you should have received directions last week on how to sign up for conferences.  Conference sign up begins on April 1^st. 

• Also, MCAS testing starts next week.  Fourth graders have testing on Tuesday, March 31^st, Thursday, April 2^nd, and Tuesday, April 7^th. 

        I hope everyone has a great week!

~Jen

We have our Game Faces on!

Spring was in the air (for a little bit) last week.  It was great to be able to get our energy out during recess.  It is crazy to think we hadn't been outside for recess in a few months.  We also had a lot of fun and were very busy in the classroom!

Songwriters…

        In writing we have been reviewing the different writing genres that we have learned this year.  To be able to apply our learning, kids paired up into groups to create songs for one genre of writing.  There are a lot of talented kids in our class! We have quite a diverse group of singers, songwriters, composers, and instrumentalists!  J   Hopefully this different way of reviewing writing genres will help kids remember the planning, organization, and ideas that go into each genre.  Tomorrow we will have a “viewing party” for our song debuts!

Reading Workshop

        In reading we continued to work on comparing two nonfiction texts.   We were able to learn more about the West Region of the United States that we are studying about in social studies through our reading.  We were able to learn about why people came to California in the 1840’s compared to why people went there in the 1930’s.  We had to do a lot of thinking, but we determined that there were similarities and differences.

        This week we will continue to work on comparing two texts with fiction stories.  The students will need to read the two texts at home so that they are ready to talk about the texts in school on Wednesday.  They will be coming home with a packet of the two stories tomorrow as part of their reading homework. 

Math Workshop

        Last week in math we practiced comparing fractions.  We learned many strategies to help us compare fractions.  By the end of the week the kids were able to think about which strategy made the most sense to try out depending on the problem.  It is difficult to have to stop, think about what the problem is asking, and then determine the strategy to use, but it was great to see the students putting in this extra effort when comparing fractions.  J

Monday	Tuesday
Mike is building a fence around his yard.  He buys 120 feet of fencing.  The dimensions of his yard are shown below.  Will Mike have enough fencing to complete his project?  Explain your answer.                                50 ft.    20 ft.
Is 8 a multiple of 24?  Explain your thinking. A:	List all of the attributes of the polygon below that you can think of.
Compute:  24 x 9 A:	List all of the factors of 15. A:
Wednesday	Thursday
Write two fractions that are greater than ½ .                     A:  A:	Show where ¾ would be placed on the number line.  Then show where you would place  on a number line.  Explain how you know where the fractions belong on the number line. A:
There are 25 children in the floor hockey tournament.  Mr. Quinn needs to make 4 teams.  How many children will be on each team?  Explain how you know. A:	Label each angle with the type of angle. A:
Compute:  45 x 87 A:	Divide 233 by 6 A:

We have also been talking about our Game Plan for beating the MCAS! Our "team", which is also known as Lewis' Paper Shredders, were geared up and ready to go last week with their game faces on! We took our team photos and are going to continue to think about what makes each of us amazing! Do not try to mess with this team!

Have a great week!

Mrs. Lewis

This Week in Fourth Grade...

Coming Up This Week….

Reading Workshop

        In Reading Workshop this week we will continue to work on comparing and contrasting two different texts.  Last week we watched a video, read an article, and read an interview all about a tool scientists use called a Critter Cam.  It was fun to look for ideas that the video had in common with the other texts.  We were also able to think about what made each one different.  We will build upon that this week during reading.

Math

        Last week we started to look at fractions on a number line.  We were thinking about how we could divide a number line from 0 to 1 into parts using what we already know about tape diagrams.  To think about where a fraction belongs on a number line we thought about benchmark fractions like ½ to reason mathematically where a fractions would belong on the number line.  We will continue to use benchmark fractions to help us compare fractions and determine where they fit on the number line. 

Social Studies

In Social Studies we are starting to learn about the Western Region of the United States.  We have been getting an overview of this region.  After we understand what it is like to live in this region of the United States, we are going to take a closer look at some of the important places and events that occur in this area of our country.  The kids are going to become experts on California earthquakes, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Rocky Mountains, the Redwood Forest, Yosemite National Park, and the volcanoes in Hawaii.  After becoming an expert on one of these topics based on their research, the kids will create an iMovie to show off all that makes this region special!

I have attached the Good Evening Math for the week…

Name:  ________                               Week of:  March 9^th

Good Evening Math

Directions: This is a daily review of the math we have learned so far this year.  Please do your thinking on a separate sheet of paper and staple it to this sheet.  Make sure to label each problem on your thinking paper.

Monday	Tuesday
Find the area and perimeter of the pool below.                                       15 feet                                             8 feet                  Area:  _________________________ Perimeter:  _______________________	Compute: 4,532 +           = 12,344                      =  ___________________
Find two different equivalent fractions for A:	List all of the attributes of the polygon below that you can think of.
Sort the numbers below into two categories, prime numbers and composite numbers. 5, 12, 24, 13, 3, 17, 18, 21, 23, 25 A:	List all of the factors of 36. A:
Wednesday	Thursday
Round to the nearest hundred thousand 567,899                     A:	Are 2/10 and 1/5 equivalent?  Explain. A:
There are 123 students going on the field trip to the zoo.  Each van can hold 6 students.  How many vans will be needed? A:	What is the value of the 7? 474,881 A:
Compute:  28 x 23 A:	Divide 562 by 3 A:

I hope everyone has a great week!

Mrs. Lewis