4th Grade News
March, 2019
102 Days Smarter & Counting!
We are right in the middle of the 3rd quarter, and we are so proud of all of the hard work our students have put in so far this year! Your child has put in over 100 days of perseverance and effort! As the year progresses, we are continuing to look for independence, both academically and socially, in our soon-to-be 5th graders.
Homework Reminders
Fourth graders are expected to complete up to forty-five minutes of homework each night.
Each night students should:
Read for 30 minutes
Review math skills/facts (i.e., TenMarks or iXL)
READ! READ! READ!
Items Needed
Tissues! Hand sanitizer! Your donations are, as always, very much appreciated and well utilized.
Reading News
Some of our reading time this month will be spent researching for our informational writing projects. We will continue synthesizing two or more texts or resources to gain a full understanding of a subject or topic, then respond to questions about it.
Additionally, we will have another round of novel-reading to quench our thirst for literary text. We will spend a lot of our time looking for "signposts" - places in the text to stop and think - and analyzing character, setting, plot, and themes.
Students will always be asked to prove their point by citing text evidence.
As your child is reading at home, encourage them to talk about their book.
You could ask, “Do you like the book and why? What does the writer do to keep you interested? Do you think it is well written?” Have your child give specific examples from the story to support their answer.
Math News
As we enter March, we will be wrapping up Unit 7 and moving into Unit 8 - Measurement & Geometry. Students will work with shapes and types of lines, and even measure angles!
During and after this unit, students should be able to say...
(This is our only Geometry unit this year; all standards/targets come to mastery.)
→ I can identify and name points, line segments, rays, lines and angles.
→ I can identify perpendicular lines, parallel lines, and intersecting lines within shapes.
→ I can classify triangles and quadrilaterals.
→ I can identify and draw a line of symmetry in a figure.
→ I can construct angles by drawing 2 rays that share a common endpoint.
→ I can identify types of angles (acute, right, obtuse, straight) within a circle.
→ I can communicate an angle measurement with reference to a circle.
→ I can use a protractor to measure and draw angles.
→ I can identify a larger angle as the sum of two angles.
Science / Social Studies News
In March we make a return to science, studying Waves of Sound and Energy.
Waves of Sound: This unit helps students develop the idea that sound is an actual thing, a wave of vibrations traveling through the air. Equipped with this understanding, students can begin to make sense of how sound and music work.
Energy: This introductory energy unit will encourage students to think about the energy that things need to move. Students will explore how energy makes things go, from powering vehicles to moving one’s body. Students will experiment with rubber band racers to discover the relationship between how much energy is stored in a material and how much is released. They will investigate the role that hills play in making roller coasters move and the energy transfer that happens when two objects collide. Students will realize that thinking about the world in terms of energy helps them make sense of how and why things speed up and slow down. Hands-on activities focus on engineering, testing hypotheses and using results to develop their ideas.
Writing News
As we head into March, students will begin researching topics for the second chapter of their informational writing books. This chapter includes information about a more specific, self-selected topic. They are all so excited to learn more and teach readers with their finished pieces!
Students will be expected to include important elements of information writing, such as key details, important/relevant vocabulary words, and text features in their writing this quarter.
We are writing to teach, so ask your child what he or she is researching and encourage them to teach you more about their topic!
March Calendar / Events
1: 2-hour early dismissal
8: STEM Night (6pm)
13: Helping Hoops Game @ UHS
Contact Us
Megan Baum
Sandy Cafarelli
Melissa Chapman
Dreda Kelley
Jill Maenner
Cris Pack
Caitlin Roy