February 2016 – Grade 4

February 29, 2016

Objectives and Homework for February 29 – March 4, 2016

Number the Stars: We will be starting a new class novel this week; Number the Stars. Here’s a quick summary of the utter greatness that you can expect from this book:

As the German troops begin their campaign to “relocate” all the Jews of Denmark, Annemarie Johansen’s family takes in Annemarie’s best friend, Ellen Rosen, and conceals her as part of the family.

Through the eyes of ten-year-old Annemarie, we watch as the Danish Resistance smuggles almost the entire Jewish population of Denmark, nearly seven thousand people, across the sea to Sweden. The heroism of an entire nation reminds us that there was pride and human decency in the world even during a time of terror and war.

Winner of the 1990 Newbery Medal.

Be sure to ask you child/children what they think of the book, and to summarize what we’ve read of the book each day.

Some of the learning objectives (or WALT as we refer to them in Grade 4; We Are Learning To) that we will cover while reading are:

- Describe the characters’ traits, feelings, and motivations in Number the Stars.
- Refer to the text for evidence to support answers.
- Form an opinion about a character’s trait based on the character’s actions, feelings and motivation.
- Explain how the characters’ actions contribute to the sequence of events.
- Engage in discussions sharing their ideas and listening to others.
- Use context clues to determine the meaning of unknown words or phrases in Number the Stars.
- Distinguish literal and non-literal language and determine its meaning.
- Gain information about the past.
- Build upon their background knowledge of World War II.
- Explore themes of friendship and bravery during the times that scare us the most.

English: – Begin sentences with capital letters and end them with the correct end marks.

– Rewrite statements as questions, commands, or exclamations.

Spelling: – Prepare for Vocabulary Test on Friday. Our spelling words will come from our class novel, Number the Stars.

1. contempt – a feeling of scorn towards someone 2. sabotage – destructive action by an enemy
3. rationed – to limit portions, as in food
4. swastika – Nazi political symbol

5. Nazi – political party in Germany during WWII led by Adolf Hitler

6. kroner – Danish currency

7. synagogue – a place of worship for Jewish people

8. rabbi – a Jewish scholar or teacher
9. disdainfully – scornfully, haughtily
10. exasperated – extremely annoyed

11. submerged – go under, dive under water

12. lanky – long, lean, ungraceful, tall

Math: – Represent and interpret data in a line plot.

– Interpret a bar graph.

– Interpret bar graphs to answer questions.

– Choose the best strategy to solve a problem.

Science: – Identify and describe major land-forms.

– Explain how land-forms develop.

– Review learned topics.

Social Studies: – Discuss the importance of fish and fishing to Caymanians.

– Identify ways that Caymanians and Americans worked together and benefited from forming working relationships.

Bible: – Study Bible verse for Friday. Parents, please encourage your child to study their Bible verse every week. These do impact their Bible grades.

– Use context clues to complete an article about being created in God’s image.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore and do no submit again to the yoke of slavery. ~ Galatians 5:1

HOMEWORK:

Monday

MATH: Homework Practice page 18-19

Tuesday

SPELLING CONTRACT – Complete 1 section

ENGLISH: page 72

Wednesday

TERRA NOVA PRACTICE

ENGLISH: page 74

Thursday

MATH: Reteach page 50

SPELLING CONTRACT – Complete final section

February 24, 2016

Wonder Wednesday!

Today, Grade 4 is wondering about:

“How are new galaxies formed?” This question comes from Amelia.

Let us know if any of you find the answer. Your child will receive an extra sticker if you he or she comes to class with the correct answer tomorrow. 🙂

February 23, 2016

Winn-Dixie Party

Dear Parents,

In honor of completing our class novel, Because of Winn-Dixie, we have decided to have a party to celebrate! We’ll be dining on treats that were found in the book (be on the look out for recipes and what your child has signed up to bring) and will also watch the movie.

DATE: Friday, March 4, 2016

TIME: 12:30pm

WHERE: Grade 4 Classroom

THEME: Dog

Hope to see you there!

February 23, 2016

An Alternative Ending

An Alternative Ending: Asking students to create an alternative ending to a book — one that makes sense — pushes them to really demonstrate an understanding of characters and plot. What makes a gripping novel is often that you don’t know what’s going to happen in the end. Asking students to diverge from but build on a writer’s style is very hard — and an exciting challenge for skilled readers.

Create an alternate ending for your book. Have you ever read a book and wished the ending turned out differently? This is your chance to create your own ending for the book!

As an introduction, summarize the original ending of the story. You may then continue to write your own ending.
Your alternate ending must be at least 1 full page.
If you choose to type this, it must be in size 12 font and double- spaced. Include at least one picture to illustrate your alternate ending.

Alternate Ending Book Report Rubric

	Excellent 4 pts	Good 3 pts	Fair 2 pts	Poor 1 pt
Organization	The story is very well organized. One idea or scene follows another in a logical sequence with clear transitions.	The story is pretty well organized. One idea or scene may seem out of place. Clear transitions are used.	The story is a little hard to follow. The transitions are sometimes not clear.	Ideas and scenes seem to be randomly arranged.
Creativity	The story contains many creative details and/or descriptions that contribute to the reader’s enjoyment. The author has really used his/her imagination.	The story contains a few creative details and/or descriptions that contribute to the reader’s enjoyment. The author has used his/her imagination.	The story contains a few creative details and/or descriptions, but they distract from the story. The author has tried to use his/her imagination.	There is little evidence of creativity in the story. The author does not seem to have used much imagination.
Solution/Resolution	The solution to the character’s problem is easy to understand, and is logical. There are no loose ends.	The solution to the character’s problem is easy to understand, and is somewhat logical.	The solution to the character’s problem is a little hard to understand.	No solution is attempted or it is impossible to understand.
Conventions (spelling, punctuation, capitalization, grammar)	a. Few, if any, errors in usage and sentence formation. b. Effective and consistent use of punctuation and capitalization. c. Any spelling errors do not interfere with the reading of the story.	a. Few errors in usage and sentence formation. b. Consistent use of punctuation and capitalization. c. Any spelling errors do not interfere with the reading of the story.	a. Errors in usage and sentence formation. b. Inconsistently uses punctuation and capitalization. c. Spelling errors may interfere with the reading of the story.	a. Many errors in usage and sentence formation. b. Punctuation and capitalization, if present, is used inconsistently or incorrectly. c. Spelling errors interfere with the reading of the story.

February 23, 2016

Objectives and Homework for February 22-26, 2016

Because of Winn-Dixie – A classic tale by Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo, America’s beloved storyteller. One summer’s day, ten-year-old India Opal Buloni goes down to the local supermarket for some groceries – and comes home with a dog. But Winn-Dixie is no ordinary dog. It’s because of Winn-Dixie that Opal begins to make friends. And it’s because of Winn-Dixie that she finally dares to ask her father about her mother, who left when Opal was three. In fact, as Opal admits, just about everything that happens that summer is because of Winn-Dixie. Featuring a new cover illustration by E. B. Lewis and an excerpt of Kate DiCamillo’s newest novel, Raymie Nightingale.

We finished our book! And what a book it was! It left us feeling all gooey inside, but still kept us intrigued…wanting to know more…even thought the book was done! Be sure to check out our previous blog post to see what we were left WONDERING about.

To wrap things up, we’re going to sway a bit away from our usual book report, and create alternative endings or additional chapters. I am handing out a rubric in class today, so be sure to check with your child, to see how he or she plans on adding to or changing the ending of the story.
English: – Unit 4 Check-Up

– Cumulative Review

Spelling: – No Spelling Test as we work on our Alternative Ending assignment!

Math: – Study Guide and Review

– Chapter 7 Test on Thursday

Science: – Study for Chapter 10 Test (Solar System) on Tuesday.

Social Studies: – Discuss the importance of fish and fishing to Caymanians.

– Identify the sea as friend and an enemy.

Bible: – Study Bible verse for Friday. Parents, please encourage your child to study their Bible verse every week. These do impact their Bible grades.

– Examine Scripture about the Holy Spirit.

– Examine ways that God has created us in His image.

“You have received the spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry Abba. Father.” Romans 8:15
HOMEWORK:

Monday

MATH: Reteach page 136 1-3, 7-9, 12, 13

READ

Tuesday

MATH: Reteach page 136 (complete – DUE Thursday)

TERRA NOVA PRACTICE

Wednesday

TERRA NOVA PRACTICE

Study for MATH test

February 22, 2016

Our Winn-Dixie Wonderings…

In hopes of inspiring higher learning and deeper level thinking, we tried out something called Chalk Time today for reading.

One challenge to generating substantive questions and ideas is getting every student’s voice heard. There are lots of reasons for this, such as strong personalities dominating a conversation, a need for space to reflect, or nervousness with speaking in front of others. Chalk Talk is effective because, at its core, it’s an engaging conversation that happens in silence. All voices are honored.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/strategies-for-inquiry-based-learning-john-mccarthy

February 22, 2016

Curiosity keeps leading us down new paths…

We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths. ~ Walt Disney

We’ve are doing even more to encourage curious minds at FBCS. Take a look at our WonderWall in Grade 4. We also have a ‘Did You Know’ section on the front of our door to give us even more to wonder about!

Be sure to ask your child what they’re wondering about today.

February 19, 2016

Say Hello to the, Fourth Grade Falcons.

February 17, 2016

Times Tables

I found this note on coolmath4kids and thought it might be helpful and encouraging for you…and me. 🙂

http://www.coolmath4kids.com/times-tables/times-tables-parents.html

Learning Times Tables
A message for parents (and teachers)

Boy, over the years, I’ve gotten tons of emails from stressed out parents who could just not get their kids to learn their times tables! There are definitely some key things I need to tell you about before you jump into our times tables lessons, etc.

First of all, they are REALLY going to need to know their times tables — REEEALLY well! I cannot stress this enough! Hey, I have college students who do not know their times tables… Let’s put an end to that right now.

There are two places in elementary school math where we lose kids: long division and fractions. Long division hits first… During one problem, they’ll have to divide, multiply and subtract several times. Without knowing those times tables off the top of their heads, this will seem like an impossible task. I’ve had many, many college kids tell me that long division is what turned them into a life-long math-hater… Until I got a hold of them and changed their minds, of course!

Now, did you notice that I talked about multiplying AND dividing in that last paragraph? That’s because they go hand in hand. They go together like ramma-lamma-lamma-a-diggity-diggity-dong! (Sorry for slipping into a song from Grease there!) Please teach the times tables for multiplication and division at the same time!! (See my lesson on “What Numbers Go Together.”

Here’s another important thing and something parents ask me about a lot:

“My child just can’t seem to remember her times tables. She doesn’t seem to UNDERSTAND them.”

Understanding…. Ah… Trust me on this one. The reason your child cannot remember that 7 x 8 = 56 is NOT because of a lack of understanding, it’s because he/she just hasn’t memorized that one yet!!

Whatever you may hear flying around the elementary schools these days, memorization is NOT a dirty word. Yes, definitely have your child understand what multiplication and division means (I’ve got lessons on it). But after that, it’s all about memorizing those puppies. What comes to your mind when you see the numbers 6 and 7? The numbers 13 and 42 should pop right up and it should for them too!

Really, I think that drawing all those set bubbles for big numbers like 8×9=72 is just a lot of busy work. Stick with smaller numbers for these!

Enjoy!!
— Coolmath Karen

February 17, 2016

Objectives and Homework for February 15-19, 2016

We’ll be covering about 5 chapters per week and completing a quiz each Friday.

Some of the objectives that we will be covering while reading are:

Offer observations, make connections, react, speculate, interpret, and raise questions in response to text
Identify and discuss book themes, characters, plots, and settings
Connect their experiences with those of the author and/or with characters from the books
Support predictions, interpretations, conclusions, etc. with examples from text
Practice key reading skills and strategies (cause-and-effect, problem/solution, compare-and-contrast, summarizing, etc.)
Monitor their own comprehension

English: – Use more with long adjectives to compare two things and use most with long adjectives to compare three or more things.

– Use comparative and superlative forms of good and bad.

– Replace weak adjectives with exact adjectives. Use a thesaurus.

Spelling: – No Spelling Test this week because we have Sport’s Day! 🙂

Math: – Multiply a three-digit number by a two-digit number.

– Choose the best strategy to solve a problem.

– Multiply four- and five-digit numbers by a two-digit number.

Science: – Identify groups of stars.

-Observe constellations as points of light.

– Study Guide and Review

NOTE: Study for Chapter 10 Test (Solar System) on Tuesday.

Social Studies: – Understand that Caymanians have been expert seafarers and are respected for their skills.

– Identify the sea as friend and an enemy.

Bible: – Study Bible verse for Friday. Parents, please encourage your child to study their Bible verse every week. These do impact their Bible grades.

– Study and respond to various passages of Scripture that description the relationship between God the Father and God the Son.

“Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.” 1 Peter 2:2

HOMEWORK:

Monday

MATH: Reteach page 129 (D and D 1-12, Lions 1-6)

ENGLISH: Workbook Plus page 67

Tuesday

Math: Homework Practice page 53: 1-3, 6-9

ENGLISH: Workbook Plus page 69

Wednesday

Terra Nova Practice (booklet) – Complete 1 page

ENGLISH: English Workbook page 71

Thursday

MATH: Reteach page 135