Fun in Fourth Grade
A Newsletter About Our Fantastic 4th Grade "Chastain-ians"
Happy Friday, all! I can't believe the first trimester is drawing to a close! Time flies when you are having fun! Please remember that Parent-Teacher conferences are next week. This means that Monday through Friday will be early dismissal at 1:05. I am really looking forward to meeting with each of you and sharing your child's progress with you.
Heartfelt Thanks and Shout Outs
We have another million-word reader! Congratulations, Justin Carter, on your reading achievement! I am so proud of you!
We have some super spellers in our classroom! Rachel Williams and Justin Carter won our classroom spelling bee and will be competing in our school-wide spelling bee. Way to go, kiddos!
Thanks so much to Tanya Carter for help with our take home project last week. Also thanks to Schae Avalos who donated some much-loved books to our classroom library.
I would also like to thank Katherine Mott for her assistance in the classroom last week (as well as for the festive fall decor she delivered to my classroom today -- so thoughtful!) Also, my sincere thanks to Mariana Valdez and Emily Chan for being our math group gurus! I so appreciate all of your help!
Curriculum Updates
Math
- Students will be finishing up their introduction to the order of operations when approaching multi-operations in an equation. I expect the chapter test to be on Wednesday, November 20th. IXL strands that correspond with the work in class include: G.4, H.1 and F.9. Coming up next is algebraic thinking with variables!
Language Arts
- We continue our study of Greek Mythology this coming week and the many expressions that originate in this genre.
- This week, students will be working on Spelling City List #10.
- Students will also be working on Age of Sail Vocabulary Terms at home this week (due to the shortened school day). On Thursday evening, students should take the vocabulary test on Spelling/Vocabulary City for these terms. You will then sign this test just as you do for our spelling lists.
Social Studies
- We are continuing our group research of Native Americans of California. This teacher-guided, in-class project provides students with a solid foundation in research skills, expository writing and collaboration with others.
Other Reminders
Age of Sail Crews
Students were put in crews for our upcoming field lesson, Age of Sail. They are SO EXCITED! Please ask your child about their crew. In the coming weeks we will be learning sea chanties and the ins and outs of their crew responsibilities.
If you haven't already done so, please place your child's order for his or her Age of Sail sweatshirts using our google form here: https://docs.google.com/a/westlakecharter.com/forms/d/1uJVnCbHAXQuCqj5LIJ-FnNAALJd_mjW35PT2mY95ST4/edit
ROAR
Students are enrolled in ROAR (our before-school tutoring program) based on the results of their 1st trimester NWEA testing. The first trimester session has concluded and there will not be ROAR this week. They are evaluating test results and determining which students will be receiving invitations to join the program for the coming trimester.
Calling All Future Programmers
Do you have a budding computer engineer at home? Check out this website: http://code.org/ Computer Science Education Week is December 9th-15th…and CDE has launched this website to support student exploration in coding.
Olympic Triathlon
The event may be over but donations will still be accepted through December 6th. Checks can be put in the WAVE mailbox in the office at any time or through Paypal.
Canned Food Drive
WCS is currently accepting canned and boxed foods for people in need within our community. We have a box outside of our classroom for collection. Thank you for considering!
Dates to Remember...
- Nov. 18-21: Parent-Teacher Conference Week - EARLY DISMISSAL ALL WEEK
- Nov. 19: School Photo Retakes
- Nov. 25 - Dec. 2: Thanksgiving Break
- Dec.20 - Jan. 6: Winter Break
- January 8 & 9: Age of Sail Field Lesson
Warmly,
Heather Chastain