3/4 COMBO

FRIDAY, December 5, 2025

3rd grade

This week in the Dodger Den, we introduced the concept of a five-tool player — a baseball analogy that helps us think about the many ways we can show up for ourselves and for our community. In our version, a five-tool player embodies five key qualities: positivity, respectfulness, caring, quality work, and empathy. Students began reflecting on what each of these traits looks like in action and how every member of the Dodger Den can contribute to the team by developing all five. We’re excited to continue this conversation next week as we build our shared understanding of what it means to be a true five-tool player in the Dodger Den.

This week was full of hands-on learning and lots of excitement in 3rd grade! In Science, students explored motion and measurement through our “Can You Outrun a Dinosaur?” experiment—those fun outdoor photos capture just how much they enjoyed testing their speed and comparing it to different dinosaur estimates. In Math, students began designing their own board games from scratch, applying skills from our addition and subtraction unit as well as their multiplication facts to build rules, challenges, and creative gameplay. In ELA, we continued reading Ways to Make Sunshine with Chapter 3 and engaged in a thoughtful discussion about what it means to be a “5-tool player,” connecting the idea to character strengths and growth as as members of our class community. It was a wonderful week of curiosity, creativity, and collaboration!

4th grade

ELA
This week in ELA, we played a fun class spelling game where students had to quickly find a letter and use it to spell words. We also began typing our Holes compare-and-contrast essays, focusing on organizing strong ideas and using details from the book and movie. In addition, students studied prefixes and suffixes to better understand how words are built, and we practiced answering reading comprehension questions to help improve understanding and test-taking skills.

Math
In Math, we learned how to do 2-by-2 multiplication using both the regular method and the box method. Students got to compare the two strategies and decide which one made the most sense for them. We worked through practice problems together and built confidence solving larger numbers. At the end of the week, we celebrated our hard work with a fun round of Juju’s Curse, where everyone dressed like pirates and reviewed all the skills we’ve been learning in a silly and memorable way.

4 PILLARS OF WELLBEING

This week, as the Combo Crew studied the community pillar, we explored the different values that help us take care of one another. Each group chose a word—like donating, helping, sharing, or cooperating—and created a poster to show what it means in our school.

IMG_0384.MOV

IMG_0380.MOV

IMG_0373.MOV

IMG_0381.MOV

WEEKLY LEARNING SNAPSHOT

While TCS doesn't assign homework, many parents have requested at-home resources to support skill-building. We're happy to provide materials to help your child practice!

4TH GRADE

Spelling Words: Words with the /ûr/ sound