Sunday, May 10, 2015

This week in LL38

Happy Mother’s Day!  I hope everyone had a great day.


Region Experts

        Last week we started our Research unit.  The kids were assigned a region of the United States.  We have 3 regions that we have learned about as a class this year.  Students will become EXPERTS on one of the remaining regions.  Throughout our research unit, the kids will need to use what they have learned throughout 4th grade and apply it to their reading to find important facts and take notes.  They will also get to apply what they have learned in writing to teach the important facts. 
        As they begin to write their research paper, they will be creating a nonfiction book, a fictional narrative story about an event that occurred in their region, and an essay that convinces readers about an important topic to his region.  It is fun to see how much progress kids make as they start to apply writing strategies that they learned earlier in the year. 
        In June we will be holding a United States Region Fair.  More information about the day and time will be sent home in the next few weeks. 

Creating Earthquake Proof Buildings

        In science we read a lot about how engineers build structures to withstand an earthquake. We had read specific things that engineers do to create these buildings.  One example is to create a structure that was triangular and had a wider base. 
The kids were very excited to create their own structures using the materials they were given.  When the kids worked in teams to create their own structures many of them used what they learned from the text to create buildings that are similar to those created in the real world!
        Here are some pictures of our earthquake proof buildings….














Ecotarium

        Last week your child should have come home with a permission slip for our field trip to the Ecotarium on May 22nd.  Please send the permission slip and $12.00 back to school with your child by Tuesday.  If you would like to chaperone, please let me know by Tuesday as well.  J


Math MCAS

        Just a reminder that Math MCAS will take place this Friday, May 15th and next Wednesday, May 20th.  Testing begins right away, so please make sure your child arrives to school on time! 





I hope everyone had a great weekend!


~Jen

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