January News

• January 1, 2024  New Year's Day (No School)

• January 2, 2024   School resumes

• January 15, 2024  Martin Luther King Day (No School)

• January 25, 2024 Field Trip (Magnet School Planetarium)

• February 14, 2024 Valentine’s Day Celebration!

• February 19-20, 2024  Winter Break

Welcome Back!

This month

We are wrapping up our non-fiction (Severe Weather) reading unit, along with our Personal Essay/Opinion writing unit! We will be transitioning into our Social Awareness reading unit and our Literary Essay writing unit... In math, we will be spending a little more time in our decimals unit before moving on to fractions! It is SO good to be back in the classroom!

Reading

This month the students will move into our Social Awareness reading unit and Book Clubs! We will continue our study of character traits, but also begin studying themes (or life lessons) presented in the stories we read. Students will have the opportunity to read realistic fiction books with others, and then discuss character development and theme. This unit will take us through both January and February.

Writing

This month we begin our second opinion unit called the "Literary Essay."  In this unit, the students will select a short story to read closely and then write their thoughts about the short story using specific examples from the text.  Their first essay will be about the main character from the short story.  They will come up with a thesis statement about the character and then use the 3 body paragraphs of the essay to prove their thinking.  This is complex work for a 4th grader, but they surprise themselves as they embrace and work through this challenge.  The wonderful part about this writing unit is that is strengthens their reading skills as well!

Math

This month we continue to learn about how to plot decimals on a number line, as well as how to compare decimals. By the third week of January, we will be moving into our next unit, fractions!

Social Studies & Science

This month, we will be wrapping up our Connecticut studies, researching famous people and places. Mid-January, we will begin our second Science unit, Our Dynamic Earth. This will include a special trip to the Glastonbury-East Hartford Magnet School's Planetarium for a 90-minute show!