Parents of 4B,
This week the scholars will be reviewing the expectations of the classroom. We have discussed the purpose of being at school and concluded that the purpose is to learn how to learn. In 4th grade they are acquiring many skills and learning new concepts, but most important is that they understand how to properly learn those skills and subjects. As we progress through this week, and the rest of this quarter, please encourage your scholar to continue to fight the good fight and be confident in their ability to contribute to our class. This week: -Please keep your eyes out for field trip permission slips. They were sent home with your scholar and need to be filled out and with payment by Thursday, November 9th. -In Spalding we will be learning 30 new words over the course of the four day week. The Spalding assignments have been shortened to two recitations. thank you for your help in support in this critical area of their education. -In math they will continue to explore multiplication. There will be a test on Thursday. -In history they will learn about the crusades and we will begin to learn about the Islamic culture. -In science we will explore conductors and circuits. -In English Language Arts they will begin their grammar fix-it books and learn how to make their own key-word outline of a text. -In literature we will begin to cast and recite the play "Twelfth Night." Thank you for your time and support. Respectfully, -Mr. Conklin Parents of 4B!
I am proud to have these scholars in my classroom. They have put in an honest effort and have hit the ground running for their second quarter. With will-power, a commitment to truth, and the support they have at home and school, they have everything they require to succeed this quarter. This week: -In Spalding we will learn 30 new words with a spelling test on Friday. Please encourage your scholar to complete all three sections of the Spalding homework. -In Math we will explore multiplication and division into the thousands place. -In grammar they will learn about verbs and the tenses. -In literature we will have a Seminar on King Arthur Tuesday. The rest of the week they will practice key-word outlining. -In Science we will look closely at electricity and the requirements for a complete circuit. -In history we will look at and discuss The Hundred Years War, Joan of Arc, and the Bubonic plague. All very heart-warming. Thank you for your time. Respectfully, -Mr. Conklin Parents of 4B,
Welcome back to another exciting quarter of learning and virtuous pursuits! I am pleased with our journey through first quarter and I look forward to the work we shall do in the present quarter. Please keep in mind that every day is a half day this week. The week ahead: -In Spalding we will work through the pages for rule 12 and spend a little time learning new words in list Q. -In Literature we will finish up the grand tale of King Arthur. -In Math we will look at column addition, subtraction, multiplication, and work on mental math skills. The scholars will have fewer math problems for homework because they should focus on doing a few problems well rather than doing a lot at various levels of excellence. They will have a quiz on mental math on Thursday. I enjoyed the time I got to spend in conference with several of you today. I look forward to seeing the rest of you throughout the week. There are still slots available. Respectfully, -Mr. Conklin Spalding:
Last week we returned to the rule pages and continued to fill them out. We discussed the different ways English converts base words with a silent final e when an ending that begins with a vowel is attached. This week we will `move into list Q as the scholars have shown themselves to be adequately prepared to advance through the spelling word lists to a more challenging level. next week is fall break. Literature: Last week we continued the great work and dived deeper into the history of the great realm of Logres and the knights of the round table. This week we will continue to read King Arthur as we investigate the famous quest for the holy grail. Math last week we returned one last time to factors before having a small quiz and then dived into the ponderous nature of order of operation. this week we will return one last time to order of operation. REMEMBER to remind the scholars that we move left to right and do operations inside parentheses, then multiplication and division and finally addition and subtraction. we will conclude our first Unit with our FIRST mathematics test this thursday. Science/history: this week we will continue to dig deeper in the wonders and mysteries surrounding the discovery of the atom and medieval Europe. Upcoming tests and Quizes: Tuesday: History Test Wednesday Pronoun and Noun Test. Thursday: Math Test Science Test My deepest apologies for not posting last week. I intend to keep you all fully informed
but last week I missed the crucial step of clicking "done" after typing everything. This Week.In Spalding we should be getting into the swing of our words this week. We will be doing about 10 words a day in list N. Expect Spalding homework to come home on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. In Literature we will be reading about the Knights of the Round Table and some of their most heroic adventures. Be sure to ask about how King Arthur survives the plots of his sister the sorceress Morgana le Fay, or how Gawain survives his encounter with the Green Knight! In Mathematics we are going to be playing with some big numbers, up to 100,000. This can be daunting for students, but remind them that they can think of each place value as its own small group. The digit 7 in the ten thousands place means you have seven ten thousands. Have them draw pictures of their ten thousands, so they can picture it as a real and concrete thing. Each place value is a concrete thing, and the more concretely students think about numbers, the easier they will be able to manipulate them. In History we will be learning about another would be English king, William the Conqueror. We will learn how his conquest in 1066 laid the foundation for much of the history that would eventually lead to the American Revolution. We will also learn about Henry II and his contributions to English law and history. In ELA we will be exploring the Relative Pronoun. Language is a vehicle that transfers and communicates meaning, and the relative pronoun allows us to connect descriptive clauses to nouns. This lets us talk not just about a hand, but a hand "that was burned." Relative pronouns are incredibly important to be able to write elegant and beautiful sentences. We will also continue practicing our summarization skills. Keep having your students orally summarize any story they encounter at home or at the movies! This repeated practice will make them elite summary writers in no time. Upcoming Assessments1. On Tuesday we will have an open note quiz on Nouns and Pronouns. Make sure you review the Personal and Relative pronouns with them Monday night! 2. On Thursday we will have a math test on place value and using operations to manipulate numbers up to 10,000. 3. On Friday we will have a Spalding spelling test and a History test on what we have learned so far in the Middle ages. Parents of 4B,
Thank you so much for your support and friendly communication. It has been a pleasure to teach your children and get to know their parents these four weeks. After all of the stress of Map testing and getting our bearings for the in-and-outs of school, I am happy to say that this is a regular week with few surprises. In Spalding the scholars will be working through the second page of their notebook where they will identify the most common words built on er, ir, ur, wor, and ear. In Mathematics The scholars will be working through division and fraction problems. They will also be taking their first test on Friday over multiplication, division, and fractions. This is a review test so I have no doubt that they will do terrific. In science the scholars will continue to look at the scientific method and work through their first couple of experiments. There will be a a quiz over the scientific method on Friday. In literature the scholars will finish Prince Caspian and begin to seminar on the book. In Grammar They will write their first summary. Based off of The Emperors New Clothes, the scholars will construct first, next , and last sentences for the story. This weekend is an Rest and Relaxation weekend because of labor day so there will be no homework taken home this weekend. Thank you for your time and support. Respectfully, -Mr. Patrick Conklin In Spalding this week we will begin our Spalding word notebook in earnest. We will complete the important rule pages in the beginning of the week and do our first 10 words on Thursday. There will be a spelling test on Friday (the 25th) on words drawn from rule page 2 and the 10 words we do on Thursday. Thursday night students will complete Spalding practice homework, and will require your help to do it correctly. Instructions will be sent home with the students.
In Literature we will continue reading Prince Caspian and bring our story almost to an end. In the chapters ahead this week we will meet some terrifying creatures, and watch as Peter the High King fights the Usurper Miraz in a duel to determine the fate of Narnia. Be sure to ask your students what lessons we have learned from Caspian and the Pevensies. In Math we will continue to build our familiarity with numbers. One skill we will focus on is depicting and manipulating numbers using pictures. The symbols that we use to represent numbers are useful, but they can be restrictive if we cannot imagine numerical amounts outside of them. We will be looking at bar models and pictorial representations of problems in order to see that the world of numbers stretches beyond what we may imagine. For instance, in what ways can we show the difference between two numbers without using a subtraction symbol? Pictures and models are the foundations upon which our ancestors built mathematics, and by understanding these more ancient techniques your students will become more comfortable with mathematics in general. We will have a quiz on Wednesday (the 23rd) to assess how well students know their multiplication facts, specifically the facts for 2-5. In Science we will of course be talking about the astronomy behind a solar eclipse. What causes them, and why are such phenomena so rare? We will also be exploring the fundamentals of the scientific method, focusing specifically on the skill of careful observation. Our ability to observe and learn from our environment is the key to human progress and ingenuity. This has been true from Archimedes "Eureka" moment in his bathtub to the most cutting edge labs of modern day. In English Language Arts we will be reviewing the function of nouns, the "Naming Part" of the English language. Our ability to name things is key to our ability to understand them and create identity and sense out of the world around us. We will see that names can be common or very specific, and that we have the flexibility to use pronouns to take the place of nouns and make our speech more fluid. I hope to help your students gain a deeper understanding of our ability to name things in language, which is far more exciting than commonly understood. Upcoming Assessments1. Math assessment of multiplication facts. (Wednesday the 23rd) 2. Spelling test (Friday the 25th). Words will be drawn from rule page 2 in the Spalding notebook and from the 10 words we practice on Thursday. 3. On Wednesday students will do an ELA MAP assessment to help us determine what skills they will need reinforced for AZMERIT testing. They will each need a pair of headphones for this, so please make sure a pair makes it into their backpack by Tuesday. Thank you, 4th grade parents, for your continual support and the privilege of instructing your scholar.
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