Spring Creek Cardinals
4th Grade Newsletter
DECEMBER 2018 EDITION
December is an exciting time at school! We have lots of things going on.
Check out the events & dates at the end of the newsletter!
**If your child has special dietary needs you might want to consider sending something special for him or her to eat during our holiday breakfast party.
MATH Update
From Mrs. Phillips
We have been working so hard that we let December sneak up on us!! Since returning from Thanksgiving break we have introduced our multiplication unit where we will be working through a number of different multiplication strategies. All of our brains work differently so exposing students to different ways of multiplication allows then to pick which one works for them. We will continue for 2 more weeks and end with a short assessment.
We will then slowly transition into division. Division is another unit where students will learn a number of strategies and how to interpret remainders. We have allowed ample time for these units due to how critical it is to have the skills in our “tool box”. We will only introduce division with area models and partial quotients and will continue after the Christmas break.
It is very important that your child continue to practice their multiplication and division facts over the Christmas break. Students can always practice with our XtraMath program at home.
As always, if you have any questions please feel free to contact me by phone or email.
Have a great holiday break and see you next year!
READING/WRITING Update
This month we will be beginning to learn how to write a personal essay. This form of writing will be used throughout their school career and it is important they learn the structure and development of essays. A personal essay allows students to make a claim about a topic and explain why they believe this way. It requires a lot of explanation and detail to support the central idea or thesis. We will spend a lot of time on revision in order to add the types of details that support the thesis.
The topic students are exploring is how to change the world. Students have read articles and books about poverty, racism, civil rights, amazing kid citizens, a variety of cultures, internment camps, and many more difficult topics. Each essay will tackle a topic of importance to the student and explain why it is important to themselves and the world. We plan to finish the semester with a celebration of writing and culture. Be watching for an invitation to join your child’s class.
Throughout the month of November students have accepted the CDW challenge, Continuous Days of Writing. This challenge will continue throughout the holiday break. They will have a tracking chart to mark the days they write. Students are enjoying the challenge so much, that they have asked me to start CDR’s, Continuous Days of Reading. This challenge will begin over the break. You should all be so proud that your children are loving reading and writing enough to do so on their own time! We have decided for any student who reaches 100 CDW’s we will celebrate with an ice cream party! Enjoy your holiday break loving on your family and sharing joy with those around you.
SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES Update
In Social Studies:
In the month of December, we will look at the threats to Spain's control in Texas, Moses Austin, settlement and colonization of Texas and the impact of Mexico's independence from Spain on Texas.
In Science,
This week, students will perform three different descriptive investigations on force. Students will use the "mentor lab" we performed together on Friday (Nov. 30) . Once all data is collected, groups will pick one investigation to then graph the data and present their findings to their peers.
The week of December 10-14, students will research a famous scientist and design a folder book to display what they learned. We will present our project to first and second graders the next week.
What's Happening This Month!
December 13- 4th Grade Musical Performance at 2:00 and 6:30
December 19- Spelling Bee
December 21 - Sing-a-long and Polar Express Reading in the morning
then our winter holiday breakfast party, Early Release Day
**More information will be coming soon about our holiday breakfast party!
December 22 - January 4 = Winter Break
Spring Creek Elementary
Website: http://sc.csisd.org/
Location: 2450 Brewster, College Station, TX
Phone: 979-694-5838
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CSISDSpringCreek
Twitter: @sc_elementary