Spring Creek Cardinals
4th Grade Newsletter
JANUARY 2018 EDITION
Welcome Back!
It is hard to believe that our students are five months away from being a 5th grader!!
This semester we are all working on and preparing them for success in finishing 4th grade and making a smooth transition into 5th grade.
Please read all the information in the newsletter to best support your student.
MATH Update
During the month of January we will be continuing delving into multiplication with larger numbers. The students have learned three methods of multiplication, including the “multiplication mat”, “partial products” and the traditional algorithm as well. Ask your child which method they prefer, and have them work out a problem for you so you can experience what they have been learning. Later in the month we will be concentrating on learning “long division”, as we called it when I was in elementary school. We will be discovering what dividing a number means; mainly that we start with a given amount and break it apart into equal groups. One method we use will be dividing using a “Fair Share” so that each group has the same amount. Therefore, if you have twenty-one pencils that you want to share equally between seven students, how many pencils will each student receive, what will be their fair share of pencils? Another method for division that which is used is repeated subtraction, in which we continually subtract the same amount from the amount we start with until there’s none left. After they understand what division means, we will learn about division using “Partial Quotients”. Again, this is different than probably most of you learned about in school. Finally, they will be introduced to the traditional way of dividing numbers, also known as “long division”, although we will call it the “traditional algorithm” for division. Eventually we will discuss what to do when there is a “remainder”. Of course, during this whole time we will be emphasizing problem solving involving all four operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
Another aspect of our daily routine includes a review of previous concepts taught through our “bell ringer” pages. Each day on the “bell ringer” page the students review a concept we have learned earlier in the year. I grade their problem each day and if they have the problem wrong, I meet with them immediately to discuss what mistake they made on the concept and make a correction. In this way, the students can continue practicing all learned concepts and continue growing in their math understandings. You can see how your child is doing on the review as the “Bell Ringer” pages are returned in your child’s Monday Folder. If you have any questions on this or anything else happening in math, please contact me at jeberle@csisd.org.
READING/WRITING Update
ELA in Mrs. Dungan's room
I am so glad your children are back at school! I missed "my kids" over the break. I hope everyone enjoyed a relaxing break and read a few books while curled up on the couch. I read several books over the break. One is called Joey Pigza Loses Control by Jack Gantos. It is about a boy with ADHD and has divorced parents. Joey learns how to take control of his behavior while negotiating living at each parents house. The other book is Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy by Karen Foxlee. In this fantasy book, Ophelia rescues a magical boy, battles the Snow Queen, and saves the world. Both were excellent reads!
We begin a unit on reading nonfiction this month and analyzing the structure of the text and how the structure aids comprehension. During class we will be reading nonfiction, but at home I would like to see students continuing to read fiction novel. This month students will be given a homework project to complete over a novel. The project will be due on February 2nd and expected to be completed at home.
Essay writing will continue to be our focus in January. We will continue to learn strategies to revise the content of our essays in order to create a clear, concise topic with supporting evidence. Mentor sentences will be a technique we use this semester to take the opportunity to notice what published authors do when crafting a sentence and then applying this craft in students own writing. In grammar, we will be studying possessives, compound sentences, conjunctions, and commas. Commas usage is a big deal in 4th grade, so if your child comes home talking about being a CSI or a hungry monkey, just know we are learning how to use commas!
Poetry Fridays continue this semester and are a highlight of our week. I invite parents to write a poem of any sort and any topic to submit. I will share those in class on Fridays. So, if you are interested in writing a poem, please send me a message! I think the kids will love finding out one of their parents wrote a poem to share with our class!
YOUR STUDENTS WOULD LOVE COMMENTS ON THEIR POEMS! Each week students add poems to our blog, but very few entries have been commented on! Please share their blog posts with family in friends through Facebook or twitter. Our classroom blog experience will be more meaningful when comments are left and students see how their writing is valuable to others. Hope you will visit at www.mrsdungansclass.weebly/poetry
SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES Update
In Social Studies:
First we will pick up from where we finished the Fall semester, looking at the impact of Mexico's independence from Spain and how this impacted the events of Texas. Then we will discuss the major events that surrounded the Texas Revolution. Students will also be able to discuss the events that led to the annexation of Texas to the United States.
**WEEKLY QUIZZES** resume!
Encourage your student to participate and ask questions in class.
In Science,
First, we will review the key concepts we learned in the Fall semester then we will look at weathering, erosion and deposition and the formation of soil and soil types. If your student finds examples of these concepts around your house or while you are out running errands, take a picture of it and email it to me. Have them identify what it is and we can use that in class! The more your student can "see" science outside the classroom, the easier it is for them to understand.
As a reminder, Encourage your child to review the vocabulary on the website.
Upcoming Events
January 12- Awards Assembly
January 15- MLK Holiday
January 18- District UIL
January 29- Fourth Grade to Symphony
January 30- Spring Pictures
Spring Creek Elementary
Website: http://sc.csisd.org/
Location: 2450 Brewster, College Station, TX
Phone: 979-694-5838
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CSISDSpringCreek
Twitter: @sc_elementary