Grade 4 Weekly Newsletter
November 5 - 9
Curriculum
Reading:
This week students will learn to build a larger understanding of their books. They will be encouraged to make interpretations as readers by adding up all the parts or elements of a story. They will ask themselves, “What might the life lesson be? Students will think about life issues and concerns they have and match these to the books they read.They will try to use details from across a text to generate bigger ideas or themes.To help them do that students will stop and write long intheir reading notebooks using the following sentences. 
This week’s lessons:
Lesson 17: Considering issues or concerns, matching these to our books, and describe what the book is saying about these issues.
Lesson 18: Finding meaning in recurring images, objects, and details.
Lesson 19: Reading celebration - students design personal book marks that demonstrate their current reading strategies.
Essential Questions
- How do story events affect characters?
- How and why do readers track how their characters change over time?
- How do readers share and grow ideas with others?
Writing:
In this last bend of our unit, students will take their first steps away from personal opinions, which cannot truly be proven on the basis of evidence, to persuasive writing, in which the relevancy, sufficiency, and validity of the evidence is critical, and how you use the evidence an art. Students will work on gathering evidence from outside sources and unpack that evidence to connect it to their reasons and claim to construct a tightly focused argument. This will ready them to take the leap from opinion writing to argument writing next year.
This week’s lessons: This week students will be publishing their draft of persuasive writing pieces and then reflecting on their writing goals.
They will also be completing an On Demand (Monday) demonstrating all the learning they have made this year. Both their published piece and On Demand piece will allow students to set new goals and continue to grow.
Essential Questions
- How can I use my ideas to develop an essay which is well-organized and persuasive?
- How can I become more independent?
Mathematics:
This week we will be continuing Module 3: Multi-Digit Multiplication and Division
Essential Questions:
- What strategies can be used to compare multi-digit whole numbers?
- How do patterns in our number system help in understanding mathematics?
- How can strategies be used to solve multistep word problems?
- How can the reasonableness of a solution be determined?
- How are multiplication and division related?
The lessons are as follows for this week:
Lesson 1: Solve division word problems with remainders.
Lesson 2: Understand and solve division problems with a remainder using the array and area models.
Lesson 3: Understand and solve two-digit dividend division problems with a remainder in the ones place by using place value disks.
Lesson 4: Represent and solve division problems requiring decomposing a remainder in the tens.
Lesson 5: Solve division problems without remainders using the area model.
Here is the LINK to the Growth Mindset video we began to watch at Back To School Night. We suggest you watch it with your child and discuss what might create a positive math classroom at school. How can you build a positive math relationship with your child?
Social Studies: Connections with History
Essential Question:
- How do geography and people connect to build a nation?
We are finishing up our work on Crow Canyon where we looked at the area, food, homes and artifacts of the Pueblo people of the southwestern United States. We will then assess:
-‘Where and Why did the first Americans settle?’ This will include:
1. location of natural resources and landforms
2. tribal regions and population
3. tribal movements
We will then start our tribal projects. Students will be in groups and research a tribe. They will study their region, food, homes, games/leisure activities, and clothing. This project will run for several weeks.
Grade 4 Homework:
Daily homework tasks will be written into student planners each day. Tasks may include reading for 20-30 minutes per night, writing for 10 minutes per night along with additional mathematics work. Homework may differ according to teachers and students. Any mathematics homework that students find challenging please advise their homeroom teacher so they can progress accordingly. Homework is not meant to be impossible, challenging for students to grow their brains, but not impossible!
Guidance News– How to Be Assertive
“Don’t be a monster. Don’t be a mouse. Be assertive. Be YOURSELF!” – Dr. Pat Palmer
This week students will practice assertiveness skills. Assertiveness means standing up for personal rights in direct, honest and respectful ways.
Students will learn the 3 ways people tend to act in order to get their needs met. Passive behavior (like a mouse) includes ignoring the problem or being unclear with personal rights, needs or wants. Passive behavior is disrespectful of personal rights and needs. Aggressive behavior (like a monster) includes yelling or demanding behavior. Aggressive behavior is disrespectful towards others. Assertiveness is the balance between passive and aggressive behavior. With assertive communication there is respect for others and for personal rights and needs.
Assertive behavior includes:
1. Facing the person you are talking to
2. Keep your head up and shoulders back
3. Use a calm, firm voice
4. Use respectful words that start with an “I” statement. Such as, “I am having a hard time concentrating. Please stop talking while the teacher is talking.”
Upcoming Events
· Tuesday, Nov. 7th - ES Assembly - 5K (7:55 am - 8:25 am, ES Hall)
· Thursday, Nov. 9th - ES Assembly - Poet Kenn Nesbitt (7:55 am - 8:25 am, ES Hall). Parents are welcome.
· Thursday, Nov. 9th - Gr. 4 Assembly - Poet Kenn Nesbitt (8:45 am - 9:45 am, ES Library Classroom).
· Thursday, Nov. 9th - ES Trimester 1 ends/ ES After School Activities Session 1 ends
· Friday & Saturday, Nov. 10th & 11th - Age Group Swimming Invitational
· Sunday, Nov. 12th - ES After School Activities Session 2 (Online sign-up begins)
· Tuesday, Nov. 14th - ES Assembly - 4D (7:55 am - 8:25 am, ES Hall)
· Thursday, Nov. 16th - ES Production Performance (5:30 pm - 7:00 pm)
· Friday, Nov. 17th - ES Production Performance (1:00 pm - 2:30 pm; 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm)
· Sunday, Nov. 19th - ES Production Cast Party (3:15 pm - 4:00 pm, ES Hall)
· Monday, Nov. 20th - Math Workshop for Parents (Grade K-5 teachers), (2:00 pm - 3:00 pm)
News
Core Value
The Core Value for November is Compassion.
Counseling Corner
Positive Discipline
Letting Go: Morning Hassles and Responsibility is a great resource for parents who are trying increase a sense of ownership and responsibility in their children's lives. While the focus is on the morning routine, the suggestions can be used in any situation to decrease resistance and power struggles. Let us know what you think.
Carey Harris Dana Purpura
Guidance Counselor School Counselor
ES Library
21st Century Libraries for Parents: Digital Intelligence
Another great session on fostering digital intelligence yesterday by Santha Kumar, our IT director.
Here is the link to the slides, which contain useful websites to help you monitor your child/ren’s usage. Let us know what other topics you’d like to see covered in our 21st Century Libraries for Parents.
Kenn Nesbitt is here in Egypt!!!
Poet Kenn Nesbitt, who will be presenting at CAC next week, is already here in Egypt! He wanted to arrive early so that he could rest up for his visit at CAC.
All ES grade levels and the MS language arts classes will be seeing Mr. Nesbitt from November 7 to 9. He will also present assemblies for the ES and MS, and he’ll be signing books at the front gate from 3:00 to 3:30 each afternoon.
To read his poems before his visit, you can access the library catalog for the ES. Enter his name “Kenn Nesbitt” and click on “Author.” You will get a list of his books. Any book that has an “e” icon next to it is an ebook, and can be read by clicking on the “Open” button next to the title. You will be prompted for your Follett account; that’s just your CAC single sign on, or our Quick Login. If you need help accessing, please come see me in the library.
MAP and Cat4 Presentations to Parents
David Chadwell shared information about external assessments at CAC. Slideshows:
ES Handbook Birthday Guidelines
Below is the text from our handbook, page 21:
Birthdays
Student birthdays are recognized in the classroom and the Principals have celebratory birthday lunches with groups of students throughout the year. We ask parents to not send in birthday treats. Any private party invitations should include all members of the class. If all class members will NOT be invited, we ask that you use other means besides the school to send out party invitations.
• If you would like to have a birthday party on campus on a weekend, the school does not book the playground area but if the facilities are available, you are welcome to use them. Please leave the premises clean and tidy. No after-school birthday parties as the campus is used by CAC students.
• The pool area CAN be booked for special events outside of the times when the pool is being used for programs or the published Open Swim hours. The cost depends on the time and number of expected guests. You need to visit the pool office during open swim hours to schedule the event and complete a pool rental.
Moving on from CAC before the winter break?
To help us prepare your records in time for your departure, please use the link below to let us know if you are withdrawing from CAC this semester.
A few days before your departure, a withdrawal form that includes several signatures must also be completed and turned in to the Admission/Registrar‘s Office to release records. Withdrawal forms can be picked up from the counseling offices or can be downloaded from the same website.
Announcements
Age Group Swimming Invitational
The Age Group Invitational is coming soon! We will be hosting other schools at CAC on November 10 & 11. This year, 8 and under swimmers will once again have their events on Friday afternoon. They will be joined by those 9 and over swimmers doing 200 and 400 meter events. The remainder of the 9 and over events are on Saturday. All details can be found here.
Time Trial Results
Awards
Age Group Awards will be held Tuesday, November 14 from 3:15 pm - 4:30 pm in the main gym.
Softies
Softies and Extended Season are back this year, but with some changes. We will be combining these two programs and extending the option to join to Grade 3 this year. Instead of doing it at night after JV and Varsity practice, Softies will be a part of the ASA program. Practices will be Sunday, Monday and Wednesday, from 3:15 pm - 4:00 pm. Two days are required, though swimmers are able to attend all three if they choose. This is open to swimmers in Grade 3 and up that have completed at least one season of Age Group swimming. Please sign up through the upcoming ASA signups for trimester 2. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Coach Matt at mlautenbach@cacegypt.org.
After School Activities
Mark your calendars
Session 1 ends next week (November 5 - 9). All parents are most welcome to watch/join their children’s last day/s of the activities during this last week. This does not apply to Production. If your child is in production, please review this link for the Production Timeline
Session 2 coming up!
Sign up open on the ASA website during the week of November 12-18 (open for 7 days including a weekend)
Schedules e-mailed to parents on Tuesday, November 21
Session begins on the week of November 26
Click here for the ASA Website
Repeated Announcements
Tortoise Club
We would Love to hear your questions, comments and information about the Tortoises in the enclosure. Please click the link below to share any interesting information or ask any questions:
Link to the :Tortoise Club Information Sharing
Those will be will be reviewed by Mr. Said and the club members and will be published in the Tortoise Club web. page.
Link to the :Tortoise Club Page
Feedback
Two more weeks! before we end this current session of activities. Thank you to those who submitted the quick feedback form. We love to hear your feedback so we can always improve this program. Please click on this quick Feedback Link
International Festival
The International Festival is one of our main fundraising events of the year. It is scheduled to take place on March 16, 2018. If you’d like to volunteer and help us make this year's International Festival a success, please send an email to Kourtney LaGesse at cacinternationalfestival@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment