FOURTH GRADE NEWS
April 14, 2016
What's Up in 4th Grade!
5th grade Collin County Adventure Camp Open House is on Sunday, April 24th. Please scroll down to see the flyer.
It has been highly rewarding to see our kids creating limericks and haiku in their poetry book. Please encourage your children to bring their own device to school. We will be needing them during Language Arts these coming weeks for our Project Based Learning.
Make sure that your child is reading 20 minutes every night and recording it in their planner. A parent signature is also required to ensure this process.
Please take a moment to see the links below for parenting classes offered in April. The last parenting class will be held on May 16th at Skaggs. Parents with middle school kids will highly benefit from this class as it will make the transition an easier process. Scroll down to learn more from the flyer attached below.
Language Arts
Problem Solving is the theme for the next and final unit in LA. We are extremely excited to announce that our students will be engaged in Project Based Learning (PBL) over the next few weeks. Our PBL is Creative Problem Solving and this project involves identifying a perplexing situation or problem that needs solving. We will brainstorm real-life problems that we have noticed in our school, neighborhood, state, nation, or the world. Afterwards, by researching on the topic further, students will creatively find a possible solution keeping in mind the unit's theme.
For our poetry book, we will discover the poet inside us by using consonance - a poetic device characterized by the repetition of the same consonant two or more times in short succession.
The spelling test is a review focusing on the spelling words that were taught over the last five weeks.
Math
Students will continue their study of personal financial literacy. We will discuss fixed and variable expenses, the role that financial institutions play in today's society, keeping money safe, borrowing money, and lending. Building on the topic's theme, students will solve problems to determine profit, expenses, or receipts. This light introduction to business accounting should promote your child's interest in earning, saving, and sharing money.
We will have a quiz (daily grade) covering Topic 16: Personal Financial Literacy on April 22nd. Students may use the red pages in their math book, pages 915-918 to prepare for the quiz.
Science and Social Studies
Students will begin to think about the recognizable patterns among the Earth, Sun, and Moon system. Our class will focus on creating models of this system in order to better understand concepts such as seasons, shadows, and tides.
Key vocabulary to remember will include cycle, system, gravity, tides, hemisphere, axis, orbit, revolution, rotation, and phases.
From the Teachers
- Reading Logs: 4th grade participates in our Skaggs reading program, The Skaggs Scribe. We require that every student read at least 20 minutes per night and record their time in their planner. Please sign your child's agenda every Friday and students will enter their time on a Google Form where they could win prizes. They may enter this information at school or at home. This is the website students will use to record their minutes: http://tinyurl.com/SkaggsReadingLog
- We would like to encourage your child to bring their electronic devices. Electronic devices are being used in all subject areas every day, along with music and art.
- Be a star for our students and write a check to our PTA. See the information below regarding the Skaggs PTA Check Writing Campaign.
- A fourth grade website just for parents! You will find links, important information, and much more. https://sites.google.com/a/pisd.edu/fabulous-fourth-grade-friends/
Important Dates
4/15 Family Breakfast 7:00-7:30 AM
4/15 Social Studies test
4/22 Word Masters Test
4/25 Early Voting for Bond Election starts
4/30 PTA Carnival from 2:00-4:00
4/30 PTA Environmental Clean Up following the carnival from 4:00-5:00