4th Grade Newsletter
November, 2018
Annapolis Trip Reflections
A success! Students, teachers, and chaperones enjoyed a great day in our state capital. From the brisk but always fun Harbor Queen tour, to the grounds of the Naval Academy, and through the town of historic Annapolis, it was a day full of sights and learning. This field trip will be a great source of prior knowledge for students as we head into our study of Colonial Maryland. Ask your child to share the history and many stories and traditions they learned from this wonderful trip!
Second Quarter Already?!?
Wow! The first term flew by! Your kiddos are settling in nicely to fourth grade routines and expectations. With November upon us and fall weather finally here, that can mean only one thing...parent-teacher conferences! Please sign up for a conference with your child’s teacher if you have not yet--we want to share all the wonderful learning happening in fourth grade. We appreciate the continued support and encouragement you give to your children and look forward to the opportunity to meet with each of you. Keep up the good work!
Supplies Needed
Some 4th grade classrooms are in great need of TISSUES.
Fun Fact: According to researchers at MIT, coughing spreads droplets as far as 20 feet, and sneezing as much as 26 feet. These droplets stay suspended in the air for up to 10 minutes. Eww. Tissues help contain some of those sneezes and coughs. Send some in. Please. Thank you!
Homework Expectations
Fourth graders are expected to complete up to forty-five minutes of homework each night.
Each night students should:
Read for 30 minutes
Review math skills (TenMarks)
Reading News
We will begin our new quarter looking at extended literary texts through book clubs/novel study!
For the rest of the month, we will be reading informational text. We will revisit main idea and details, and explore the various text structures: Problem & Solution, Compare & Contrast, Cause & Effect, Sequence, and Description.
Students will always be asked to prove their point by citing text evidence. As your child is reading at home, encourage them to cite evidence from the story/text as they discuss their reading with you. (“How do you know that? What does the author tell you? What can you infer about _____?”)
Writing News
For Quarter 2, we will use a variety of resources to guide students through the process of opinion writing. Teachers will provide daily instruction on specific strategies, such as boxes and bullets, and teach students about the tools necessary to write fluently in the opinion genre.
To begin this unit, students will develop an opinion about why they like ice cream with a focus on including evidence to support that opinion. They will write a thesis statement to express their opinion and then write a well-developed persuasive essay.
Math News
We’ve wrapped up Unit 2: Factors & Multiples along with our first round of multi-digit multiplication and division, and are now headed into Unit 3: Understanding and Applying Measurement to Solve Problems.
In this unit…
Students will understand relative sizes of units within the metric system (mm,cm, m, km; g, kg; ml, l) by developing benchmarks through hands on experiences and visual representations. (MD.A.1)
Students will solve multi-step problems involving measurement and conversion of measurements from a larger unit to a smaller unit using mm, cm, m, km; g, kg; ml, l. (MD.A.1)(MD.A.2)
Students will record measurement equivalents using a two column table (conversion table) to use as a tool for problem solving. (MD.A.1)
Students will apply area and perimeter formulas to solve real world problems. (MD.A.3)
The math experiences and instruction students received in third grade will prepare them to apply and extend their understandings as we progress through the fourth grade measurement standards. You can reinforce measurement concepts by asking your child to estimate distances, capacities, and weights in everyday experiences.
*Working on basic facts will always help with math fluency
Science/Social Studies News
We wrap up our first Social Studies unit by creating a mini Native American Culture Museum in our classrooms, sharing research on the Woodland Indians of the Nanticoke, Piscataway, and Susquehannock tribes. We will then explore the Maryland Colony and its founding, important early Marylanders, and colonial Maryland government. Our trip to Annapolis will help to lay the foundation for this unit of study!
November Calendar
5 & 6: School Closed
7 & 8: Conferences - Schools open 4 hours late
9: Conferences - Schools dismiss 3 ½ hours early
21: 2-hour early dismissal
22 - 23: Schools closed for Thanksgiving Break
The CES 4th Grade Team
Megan Baum
Sandy Cafarelli
Melissa Chapman
Dreda Kelley
Jill Maenner
Cris Pack
Caitlin Roy
Website: https://education.fcps.org/ces/
Location: 3601 Carriage Hill Drive, Frederick, MD, USA
Phone: (240) 566-0100
Twitter: @FCPSCenterville