Good Evening Math and Reading in the Edges for the Week of 4/13

Name:  ___________                                                       Week of:  4/13

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.                                       32 feet                                             27 feet                  Area:  _________________________ Perimeter:  _______________________	Divide: 573 ÷ 8
Compute:  + 3 A:	100 cm = 1 m 6 m = ______ cm 10 m = ______ cm
Draw a parallelogram with four right angles. A:	734 x 9 A:
Wednesday	Thursday
Round to the nearest ten thousand 567,899                     A:	5 3/7 – 5/7 = A:
1 km = 1,000 m 8,000 m = ______ km 12 km = _______ m	Lisa needed 4 cups of flour for her recipe.  If she measure 1/3 of a cup at a time, how many times did she have to fill the measuring cup? A:
Compute:  83 x 52 A:	8 x 1/7 = A:

Name:  _____________________                   Week of:  ___________________

Reading “IN THE EDGES”

Reading in the Edges- Reflection:  At the end of the week you need to reflect on your reading for the week.  You should keep “notes” about your book on sticky notes or on a separate piece of paper so that you can answer one of the questions below.  You might want to think about which question you will answer at the end of the week so that you can focus on that while reading this week. 

Your purpose…. What is the theme of your book?  Remember theme is the BIG idea in a text.  It is usually one word like kindness, friendship, acceptance, family, compassion, or bravery.  These are just a few of the themes that you might find in your book.  Use evidence from the story to support your answer.  Don’t forget to use punctuation, capitals, and indent your paragraph.  You need to turn in thoughtful 4^th grade work.

         I have explained the theme in the book.

         I have used 3-4 pieces of evidence from the book to support my answer.

         I have edited my answer with one LENS (capitals, punctuation, spelling)-circle one

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My child did do this reading throughout the week.

Parent Signature:  __________________________________

Date/Day:  _____________________________________________ Book Title:  _________________________________________________ Amount of Time:     1-15 min     16-30 min     31-45 min     46-60 min     Other   (circle one)

Date/Day:  _____________________________________________

Book Title:  _________________________________________________

Amount of Time  (circle one):     1-15 min     16-30 min     31-45 min     46-60 min     Other

Date/Day:  _____________________________________________

Book Title:  _________________________________________________

Amount of Time (circle one):     1-15 min     16-30 min     31-45 min     46-60 min     Other 

Date/Day:  _____________________________________________

Book Title:  _________________________________________________

Amount of Time (circle one):     1-15 min     16-30 min     31-45 min     46-60 min     Other

This Week in LL38

It was great to meet with so many of you last week during conferences.  It is a good time of year to give you an update on how your child is doing at this point in the school year as well as give you some information about what will be happening for the remaining few months of 4^th grade.  As the school year continues to move along, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Science

We are going to be starting to work on some exciting science experiments over the next few months.  We are going to be learning the basics of earthquakes and volcanoes.  We will also use that knowledge to help us build structures that would be able to (hopefully) withstand an earthquake. 

During conferences I had a bunch of sticky notes placed outside on the wall of my classroom.  Thank you to everyone that was able to take a sticky note.

Here are the items that are still needed to help us complete the experiments that we have coming up:

ü Package of marshmallows

ü Package of large paper plates

ü Foam pieces (3-4)

ü Large pieces of cardboard

ü 3 aluminum pans

Thank you in advance for any help you can give us.  We will be using these materials after April vacation.  J

I hope everyone has a fabulous week! 

~Jen

Conference Questionnaire

       Today you are able to sign up for conferences for your child.  

Please go to: 

  http://www.ptcfast.com/schools/C_A_Farley_Elementary_School to sign up.  

      If you have trouble, please feel free to email me or call the school.  

     I have attached the Conference Questionnaire that was sent home with  your child today.  Please fill this out and return with your child or you can email your responses to me.  

     I look forward to meeting with you next week!

April 1, 2015

Dear Parents/Guardians,

We are getting ready to plan for spring conferences.  As of today you are able to sign up on the PTC Fast website.   This spring conference will give us an opportunity to discuss how the year is progressing, share concerns, and plan for the remainder of the year.  With that in mind, please answer these questions as best you can and return it to school by Tuesday, April 7^th so that we’re all ready to discuss your child in a timely manner:

1.  What strengths do you see your child showing in fourth grade this year?

2.  What concerns do you have for your child at this point in the school year?

3. What are your goals for your child during the remainder of the school year?

4.  Do you have any social concerns?

5.  What other topics would you like us to discuss?

Excited to meet with you soon,

Mrs. Lewis

            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