Mrs. Jackson's
4th Grade Class
Curriculum Updates
Literacy
Our superhero students SMASHED our nemesis—PARCC—last week! I am so proud of how hard they worked!
This week we will start our final unit of the year—book clubs! Students will be immersed in books written by Margaret Peterson Haddix. This is especially exciting because next year Mrs. Haddix will be visiting IHES, so we are hoping by introducing her books now, many students have the chance to read many of her novels before her visit. Like previous book clubs, students will be reading independently and then meeting with groups for discussions and activities. Many students will be bringing home novels to read, so please ask them to share!
We will also start up our final round of spelling. Choice boards will be coming home tomorrow and are due Thursday, May 21st. Spelling tests will be Friday, May 22nd.
Math
Thank you so much to all the parents who helped us have a successful Mini-Metrics Olympics. We could not have run it without you, and appreciate you helping our mathletes have a fun and informative review session!
Mathematicians will start the final chapter of the year today—Area and Perimeter. Over the next couple of weeks we will learn to find the area and perimeter of regular and irregular polygons. This will be a good review of previous geometry concepts, including shapes and angles. We will be getting some hands-on practice both inside our school and outside to enjoy the beautiful spring weather! Students will also be taking one final math assessment—the Semester Math Assessment, or SMA. All 4th grade students will take this on Tuesday, May 19th. This assessment covers all topics we have learned this year, to help us see where students are as we wrap up 4th grade math!
Science
This week our scientists will be putting on their labcoats again to begin our last unit of the year on electricity. Our fourth grade scientists will be building circuits to light bulbs and make motors run. Once they are successful with these tasks, our entry level electricians will learn how to add a switch to to their circuits. In addition, students will learn that electrical conductors are materials through which electricity can flow easily, and that electrical insulators are materials through which electricity cannot flow easily.
Save the Date
May 15th: Memory Book publishing. Students will be creating memory books filled with many special writings and activities from throughout the year.
May 14th and May 15th: Scholastic Book Fair
May 15th: UA Shine Night at 5pm
May 18th: Author Will Hillenbrand visits!
May 18th: White t-shirt needed for tie-dying! Each class will be sporting a different color mix to show off at the end of the year Field Day, so all children will need a white shirt by this date. We will actually tie-dye shirts on Tuesday, May 19th from 2:20-3:00! Please let me know if you’d like to help with the messy fun J
May 20th: Endangered Encounters. All parents are invited to attend a special showcase of the nonfiction feature articles wrote last month, plus a piece of artwork that was done during Unified Arts. An invitation came home today with details! We hope to see you there!
May 28th: Field Day! 4th grade celebrates our last day of school with an elementary school classic!