Weekly Newsletter

Week of March 30-April 3

Reading-Mrs. Bryan

The 4th nine weeks is continuing and students worked hard to finish their Spring Diagnostic for Reading. Many students made significant growth from the beginning of the year, and I'm excited to data chat with the students and share these results with you all soon! This final stretch is the road to 5th grade! We have talked about the significance of this time of year and why it's so important to finish the year STRONG in preparation for the expectations of 5th grade.

We will have our 4th practice session for Georgia Milestones testing on Monday, March 30th. It's vital that students have time in class to familiarize themselves with the testing tools, format of the questions, and also practice with the skills neccessary to be successful on this important assessment. I encourage you to practice at home as well.

Links are posted here: GMAS Parent Night

We finished the Chinese Folktale, Ten Suns, last week, and we started the Tall Tale, Thunder Rose late last week. Focus skills are explaining how the protagonist and antagonist function in the plot of the story, explaining the use of figurative language, and comparing and contrasting the perspectives of different characters in a text.. Vocabulary words are: recall, vividly, accentuated, partial, splendor, resourceful, disposition, commendable, devastation . Our vocabulary quiz will be on Thursday, and the open-book test will follow on Friday.

Vocabulary Slides are posted for review below.

Resources are posted on Google Classroom and under Reading Resources for your reference.

Language Arts-Mrs. Bryan

We are finished with our uppercase cursive letters, which means your child should be writing more assignents in cursive.

Students are working hard to demonstrate proficiency with their cursive handwriting and the ability to sign their first and last name. Please encourage your child to show off their skills. We continuously practive this skill in class, and students have the opportunity to earn bonus points for writing answers in cursive on various assignments.

We are reviewing previously learned prefixes and suffixes, partiularly -ion. Students will also dive into the world of analogies and make connections and comparisons to groups of related words. This is an essential skill of mastering high level vocabulary in 4th grade. We are practicing some peer review tasks, which combine our ELA & Writing standards for the year, a skill that will be tested on Georgia Milestones at the end of April.

In ELA, we are reviewing Interjections with dialogue, comma rules, and commonly confused words (to, two, too, there, their, they're).

We are continuing our Opinion writing. We are finishing a piece on The Amazon Rainforest using 3 sources entitled, What Makes The Amazon Rainforest Unique?

Math-Ms. Yost

Ms. Yost's Website

Unit 4: Fractions

This unit will take us eight weeks to complete. We will learn about fractions and connect them to decimals.

Equivalent Fractions

We will begin by learning about equivalent fractions using concrete models and number lines. We will work with fractions with like and unlike denominators. We will connect our understanding of equivalent fractions with multiplication and division to help us make an equivalent fraction by multiplying or dividing both the numerator and denominator by a fraction with the same numerator and demonominator. See the Equivalent Fractions Video for a demonstration.

Comparing Fractions

We will use our understanding of equivalent fractions to begin to compare fractions with unlike denominators. This will require that we get a common denominator for both fractions which will require using multiplication or division. This will mirror our equivalent fractions lessons except that we will determine which fraction has a greater or lesser value.

Adding and Subtracting Fractions and Mixed Numbers

We will learn how to add and subtract fractions with like denominators and UNLIKE denominators. Additionally we will examine how to add and subtract mixed numbers.

Adding and Subtracting Mixed Numbers and Analysis of Line Plots

We will continue to use our skills of adding and subtracting mixed numbers with line plots. Please see the attached video for more information.

Line Plots- Adding and Subtracting Mixed Numbers

Decimals

We will work to understand how the place value of decimals and how they connect to fractions. We will chart them and put them on a numberline to help students understand how the place value works.

Comparing Decimals

Our knowledge of Decimal place value to compare and order decimals on a numberline. We will use signs such as greater than, less than and equal to to describe two decimals comparison.

Converting Units of Time and Metric System

We in the final skills of this unit which will include using multiplication to convert hours to minutes in the context of word problems. We will also learn about the metric system and use its base ten model to caluculate conversions.

Science-Ms. Yost

Ms. Yost's Website

Unit 4: Space

We will begin an exciting unit this week which will lead us into space.

We will begin with space exploration and how technology has improved over time. Our studies will take us through launches of space propes, rovers, and telescopes.

We have continued our exploration of space into the planets. We will continue to discuss their sizes, their orbits, and specific details of each planet.

Our studies continue with understanding the connection of revolution and rotation to understand day and night patterns as well as seasons. We will begin to understand the phases of the moon. We will continue to track the moon's phases as we move through the month.

We will have our final unit test on Tuesday, March 10th-Wednesday March 11th.

Social Studies-Mrs. Bryan

We are continuing our final unit on The Civil War. We have covered The Causes of The Civil War (States' Rights , Disagreements Over Slavery, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Election of Abraham Lincoln, Secession, John Brown's Rain on Harper's Ferry).

We have also discussed important leaders, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S Grant, William T. Sherman, Jefferson Davis, Robert E Lee, & Stonewall Jackson. You child should be able to have a conversation about these topics to demonstrate their understanding, just ask them! We spend alot of time, reading, thinking, and most importantly, discussing and debating.

We are finishing up the Battles of The Civil War (Fort Sumter, Gettysburg, The Atlanta Campaign, Sherman's March To The Sea, Surrender At Appomattox Court House). Our focus this weeek with be the significance of the surrender, and the effects the war has left on our nation. We will also discuss the assasination of Abraham Lincoln.

There are many helpful slides with embedded video clips posted on our Social Studies page. All of the above mentioned resources are posted for you to help your child review what has been learned. There will be many comprehension grades and open-notes quizzes to help your child demonstrate their understanding.

Classroom Reminders/Upcoming Events

Math Spring Diagnostic Testing Continues-Please encourage your child to finish STRONG and use their scratch paper.

3/30-GMAS Practice Test (Reading)

3/31-PBIS Cookie Decorating

4/1-Field Trip To Ruth Patrick Science Center

4/3-Field Day 12:30-3:00-Parents wishing to sign their child out after Field Day will need to have ID for safety precaution. Please have this ready to ensure a safe dismissal.

Week of April 6-13-Spring Break

4/15-Purple Up Day (Military)

4/27-PBIS Store

4/29-GMAS Testing ELA Section 1 (Peer Review)

4/30-GMAS Testing ELA Sections 2-3 (Reading & ELA)

5/5-GMAS Testing Math Sections 1-2 (Scratch Paper Galore)

Wish List Items-We are in great need of paper towels.

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