Fourth Grade Fourteeners
September Newsletter
Welcome to the September Edition of the Fourth Grade Fourteeners Newsletter
Heidi Atha: 719-207-1340 heidia@bvschools.org 719395-7051
Dave Bott: daveb@bvschools.org 719_395-7039
Heather Griggs: heatherg@bvschools.org 395-7046
COLORADO HISTORY
We have just started looking through our new Colorado history textbooks. We will be learning the difference between primary and secondary sources. We have also been studying about artifacts, and how important they are to giving us clues about the lives of those who went before us. We will be bringing in our own collections of artifacts for the class to take a peek at. They will be placed on a table at the front of the room and will be kept safe. I encourage you to search for artifacts around you. They are everywhere!
Our first field trip to St. Elmo was excellent. See the pictures below.
Our Field Trip to St. Elmo Last Year
The Ghost House
One of the many buildings to explore in St. Elmo to explore
Time for School
The Hotel
Working together to mine
Reading
Our read aloud this month is Fish in a Tree, written by Lynda Mullaly Hunt. It's a chapter book about Ally, a young girl with dyslexia. Ally struggles to learn to read and write, but she also has amazing talents. See the book trailer below.
Every Kid in a Park
Mr. Bott's Math and Science
Greetings mathematicians and scientists! Our next few weeks will be filled with a combination of assessments and regular math & science curricula. We begin science this year by exploring our solar system the old-fashioned way- with eyes on the skies! We are predicting, observing, recording/sketching and looking for patterns within the movements of Sun and Moon. Please take time to make these observations all hours of the mornings, days and evenings and report back to class! Remember, never look directly at the Sun! Questions to consider: When and where is our moon in our sky? What shape is it? How is it Changing? When and where is the Sun rising and setting? What is happening with our Sun Shadows measurements in class?
In Math we will slowly and carefully complete our beginning-of-the-year assessments over the next week. Take time to study our new bag of Number Bonds for multiplication/division. Ask your child what bonds they are studying and if they feel they are making progress. Have her/him describe the relationship between multiplication and division, and how that relationship is expressed by their number bonds. How many multiplication and division statements can be named from just bond (fact family)? What does it mean? How do we know? Mastery of our mult/division facts through 12's was a goal of last year's Third Grade. This year, application of those facts within multi-digit multiplication, long division, fractions/factoring, etc. will require we know them well, so keep practicing, and thank you for the home support on this critical, prerequisite numeracy skill for which we do not have much time in class to devote!
Lastly, please look for a Khan Academy letter sent home that details our goals with this program, as well as your child's login information for this secure, web based math program used worldwide to enhance mathematics in kids' lives.
Mrs. Atha's Language Arts
Hi, Everyone!
We are off to an exciting new school year with energetic learners! They are curious, creative, and engaged! In Language Arts class we are establishing routines with grammar to understand word patterns; Word of the Day to build vocabulary; Poem of the Day to learn about metaphor, imagery, figurative language, word play, and poetry analysis; daily writing in journals to expand thinking and creativity; the 8 parts of speech to understand the function of words to create interesting sentences; the Six Traits to enhance our writing; and learning to write complete sentences and simple paragraphs, along with cursive handwriting, to be an effective communicator through the written word. Stay tuned to the weekly learning sheet so you can help your child be prepared for activities each day. Thanks for sharing your children with us! Attached are examples of Artifact Day, books we have read about creating harmony, reaching out to others in kindness, trying on new hats, and metaphor work. We look forward to a wonderful year!
Sincerely,
Kathy Keidel