Upcoming Dates:
- 12/11: Report Cards Home
- 12/21-1/1/2010: NO School – Winter Break; School resumes Monday, 1/4/2010
Committee forming to plan for next year's Outdoor Ed trip
Our students will be fifth graders sooner than we know it and heading for Camp Algonquin next fall. Anyone interested in joining a committee to explore ways to raise funds to reduce the cost of this trip please contact Marci Battersby: 386-8098 or marcibattersby@gmail.com
Curriculum Notes:
Custom Typing: Students should be practicing keyboarding skills three to five times per week. If a computer is not available at home, please consider using the computers at the public library or in Longfellow’s media center during Sunrise Study Hall.
Reading: We are continuing to read stories within our “Dollars and Sense” unit. In the story, “Ellias Sifuentes, Restaurateur,” students learned the importance of identifying the main idea and supporting details. This is an important skill when reading non-fiction. Soon, the students will also work on the skill of sequencing. Students will be reminded that writers put events into a logical sequence, or order, so that readers can understand in what order the events occurred. We will do another KWL chart later this year. Although many of the students did well, others did not record at least 5 questions to search for when reading.
Our next reading project is currently being kicked off in class. We are modeling how to record plot events. In particular, students are being introduced to the elements of: conflict, rising action, climax (turning point in the plot,) falling action, and resolution. The students will fill out a story plot sheet after reading their chosen, fiction book. This project is due Thursday, December 17th. Over break, we will ask your child to read as much as possible, but no reading projects or logs will be done.
Writing: In writing students have begun drafting their mysteries. While studying this genre, we have learned a variety of terms including sleuth, alibi, breakthrough, motive, suspect, deduction, red herring, evidence, and witness. Writers have spent time reading a variety of mysteries prior to clearly organizing their own plots.
Alongside our current project, we have begun a sentence study in class. Each day students are reading and creating new sentences, in order to use phrasing and appropriate detail when writing complete thoughts. We are also practicing our editing skills carefully when using sentences.
Soon a note will be coming home regarding the winter writing contest. Each fourth grader will be required to submit a piece. Students will have plenty of time over winter break, as well as the following week of school, to work on this selection. The due date for submissions will be Friday, January 8th. We look forward to participating in this annual tradition.
Math: Students started working on Unit 5 (Big Numbers, Estimation, and Computation) this week. The unit begins with two lessons that focus on extending multiplication skills, in preparation for the introduction of the partial-products algorithm for multiplication. The lattice algorithm is also introduced as an alternative to the parital-products algorithm.
Unit 5 also emphasizes reading, writing, and using large numbers, including the use of powers of 10 to represent large numbers. Estimation is highlighted, both as an important step in adding and multiplying numbers and as a tool to facilitate the communication of large numbers.
Science: In science the students (Ambrosino’s/Sullivan’s classes) are reading and doing activities from the Here’s Looking at You drug education curriculum. The philosophy of Here’s Looking at You believes the best way for children to reduce their risk of having problems with drugs is for them not to use drugs at all, and that message is delivered clearly throughout the curriculum. It also gives students the information and tools to make choices that are safe and healthy. You will find attached to the newsletter information that you may find useful in continuing your child’s drug education at home.
Social Studies: Students (Carter’s/Smith’s classes) have begun their study of Unit 3 (Growth and Expansion) this week. Unit 3 focuses on the changes in Illinois and the nation as the United States population grew and expanded westward. A study guide will be sent home prior to the Unit 3 test, which will be taken the week of January 5th.
