Fourth Grade Newsletter
March 2019
Are you doing awesome things in your classroom or school?
If so, we would love for you to present a session during the Summer Learning Events in July.
Pasco County Schools will be accepting session proposal submissions to present during the 2019 Together We Lead Leadership Conference and the Together We Learn Summer Symposium. This call will be open to all staff with innovative approaches to share their high-quality practices that result in supportive learning environments for all students.
Be on the look out for the Summer Learning Call for Proposals invitation which will go out to all staff during the week of March 11th.
ELA
Unit 4 Module Study is available to help you unpack the unit and plan for instruction. During this unit, learners will understand that collaboration leads to creative solutions and those innovations lead to economic growth.
Writers will compose narratives to show their understanding that they can draw evidence from literary texts to analyze, research and reflect. They will also compose opinion pieces to show their understanding that research builds knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.
Evidence and Elaboration
In The Writing Strategies Book, Goal 6, pgs. 210-257 is focused on Strategies for Elaborating. I want to draw your attention to several to try out this month:
- pg. 220, Lesson 6.9 "What Else Happened?"
- pg. 221, Lesson 6.10 Prove It
- pg. 233, Lesson 6.22 Support Your Facts
- pg. 239, Lesson 6.28 Tell What It's Not (to Say What It Is)
- pg. 252, Lesson 6.41 Anecdotes Can Teach and Give Evidence
In Chart Sense for Writing, you will find sample teaching tips to create anchor charts with your students. Check these out:
- pgs. 42-43 Citing Textual Evidence or pgs. 46-47 Incorporating Evidence
- pgs. 136-137 Writers Share Anecdotes
- pgs. 176-177 Researchers Paraphrase, Cite, and Synthesize
Lessons to boost transitional words and phrases:
- pgs. 52-53 Six Types of Transitions
- pgs. 94-95 Transitions Help Your Writing Move
- pgs. 108-109 Don't Be a Bore
Please share sample student writing and class anchor charts by sending me an email.
Collaborative Conversations
- Come to discussions prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation and other information known about the topic to explore ideas under discussion.
- Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions and carry out assigned roles.
- Pose and respond to specific questions to clarify or follow up on information, and make comments that contribute to the discussion and link to the remarks of others. (Click here for sample conversation starters)
- Review the key ideas expressed and explain their own ideas and understanding in light of the discussion.
Document Based Questions- Mini-Qs
The DBQ Core Beliefs are:
- All students need to learn to think.
- Learning to think requires practice.
- Clear thinking is hard work.
- Thinking is clarified by writing.
- Thinking is for everyone.
Day 2 – DBQ Training
- March 12th – 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM – Building 2
- Course # 1362/ Section 13897
#PascoSpringReads
WHEN
Friday, March 15th, 5pm to Sunday, March 24th, 11:45pm
WHERE
This is an online event.
MORE INFORMATION
We hope that you enjoy your spring break and spend some time recharging and relaxing! To celebrate and share great reads over break, please tweet a picture of yourself reading a great book with the hashtag #PascoSpringReads. Each person who posts a picture with the hashtag will be entered into a raffle drawing with the chance to win some additional great reads from our team.
Math
It is that time of year where we start planning for next year and we need your feedback! Please complete this one question multiple choice survey regarding the Eureka Math student materials. Click here for the survey.
During the month of March, Grade 4 students will work with Decimal Fractions in Module 6. This module gives students their first opportunity to explore decimal numbers through their relationship to decimal fractions, expressing a given quantity in both fraction and decimal forms. Students utilize their understanding of fractions developed throughout GR4 Module 5, to apply the same reasoning to decimal numbers in order to build a solid foundation for Grade 5 work with decimal operations. To learn more about these topics, click here to access the Module 6 Study.
In Module 7, students will work on Exploring Measurement with Multiplication. The Module 7 Study is scheduled to be released on 3/25/19. It is recommended that Module 7 begin on 4/8/19. This module study will be posted to the module page of the Elementary Learning Network under the blue bar titled, Virtual Learning Opportunities.
New to Eureka Math? Be sure to join us for our Introduction to Eureka Math session on 3/27/19 from 4:30-6:30 PM. This training will be held at the District Office in Building 2 Magnolia Room. Registration for this session can be found through My PGS under Course #2119 Section #13242.
Science
In March, students will be completing their investigation into Matter. Magnets (SC.4.P.8.4) are not part of the 5th grade science curriculum and annually assessed on the FSSA in 5th grade. The Q3 Science Academy focused on modeling a 5E lesson to help students investigate magnets. You can access the materials for that Science Academy lesson here-Science Academy. Energy becomes the focus of learning after Spring Break. Sound energy is an important concept that is only explored in 4th grade. Using sound as an example in the learning for SC.4.P.10.1 will help students in connecting sound to the forms of energy. Deepening that knowledge in SC.4.P.10.3 is a great place to allow students to creative build devices that create sound at different pitches. Use the curriculum maps to generate ideas on how to provide students a chance to investigate pitch. It will be assessed at the end of 5th grade
Reminder-STEM Fair paperwork is due April 6th. See the STEM Fair Information page for information on submitting paperwork or the number of projects per school.
Social Studies
Celebrating Women's History Month
Women's History Month in March is an ideal time to celebrate the brave, bold, and fearless women who have influenced history. The important role women have played in shaping our nation and the world can often be overlooked, whether in the fields of humanities, science, politics, law, the arts, and more. This month encourage your students to learn about her story. You may find suggested instructional resources to support student learning here.
March 25th is Medal of Honor Day
In Florida, March 25 of each year is designated as “Medal of Honor Day” and Medal of Honor has been added to s. 1003.42, F.S., Required Instruction, p.4. This is a perfect opportunity to embed the Medal of Honor Character Development Curriculum. Since the 25th is teacher planning day, this would be a wonderful way to kick off the 4th quarter on the 26th.
Reminder that the Medal of Honor National Convention will be hosted in Tampa next Fall and they have asked our county in welcoming all the attendees. Please find here directions for a letter writing campaign to have all Medal of Honor recipients welcomed by a personal note from our Pasco County students. Submit your student letters to Tina Stavrou in OLL by May 1st.
Art, Music, PE
PE Teachers please visit the Florida Safe Routes to School website for the free curriculum that is used with the BIke Trailers. We will be hosting a Safe Routes curriculum/Bike Trailer training on March 25th at 9:00 am. Register on myPGS.