Month: May 2019

Reading

Reading:  Rump- The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstiltskin.This funny fractured fairytale goes behind the scenes of Rumpelstiltskin. “A most magical feat,” writes Newbery Honor-winner Kirby Larson, “Liesl Shurtliff spins words into gold.” 

In a magical kingdom where your name is your destiny, 12-year-old Rump is the butt of everyone’s joke. But when he finds an old spinning wheel, his luck seems to change. Rump discovers he has a gift for spinning straw into gold. His best friend, Red Riding Hood, warns him that magic is dangerous, and she’s right. 

With each thread he spins, he weaves himself deeper into a curse. To break the spell, Rump must go on a perilous quest, fighting off pixies, trolls, poison apples, and a wickedly foolish queen. The odds are against him, but with courage and friendship – and a cheeky sense of humor – he just might triumph in the end. 

The purpose of this unit is to have students relate to a character in a book to their own life. Rump is the main character who is on a mission to find his destiny. Where he grows up the meaning of your name determines your destiny. Unfortunately, Rump only knows half of his name, which makes others and even himself sometimes see him as a lesser person. Throughout this novel, Rump is learning more about himself and what he is capable of doing. The purpose for 4th graders to read this novel and to be a part of this unit is because students should learn that they are much more capable of what they think they can do. This unit is used to give inspiration to students and help them connect with Rump through the realistic struggles he goes through. Rump being a realistic character allows his struggles to be relatable and allows for his successes to also be realistic to students reading! The lessons of “you’re not alone with your feelings” and “you are much more capable of what you think you are” are important lessons for students to learn at such a young age. This is a time in their life before they enter those dramatic teen years. One of the biggest struggles of teen years is having thoughts of being alone or not being good enough. This unit allows for students to live through Rump’s story and hopefully apply it to their own life when needed! Of course this unit is important because it will get students to read an engaging text, but this unit is important because of the lessons found within and the skills students will use throughout to understand this novel. 

Essential Questions:
What is destiny?
How do you find your destiny?
What do you do if there is more than one side to a story? 

For a little bit of fun, children can watch the original tale of Rumpelstiltskin on YouTube: 
https://youtu.be/4W_53-fIYdI

Some students have been asked to reread the chapters covered in class each day. This is a great way to recap what we’ve covered and practice their listening, fluency, and comprehension skills.

Writing :We’ve begun our final writing topic for the year – Expository Writing – Writing to Inform. This will involve researching topics and writing to inform their readers.

Numeracy: In Numeracy we will be reviewing our study on fractions and going deeper into fractions. We will learn to add and subtract with like and unlike denominators and with mixed numbers.

Science: Students will be wrapping up our study on weather and taking a test this Friday. A study guide will go home as review for vocabulary and some critical thinking questions. 

• Continue to work on planet project and please let me know if there are any questions or concerns. 

Spelling:No spelling test this week as we complete DRA Assessments

Social Studies:Discover the links between Central America and the Cayman Islands.
NOTE: Unit 4 tests will be next Monday and Thursday.

Homework 

Numeracy/Science

• Tuesday: Weather study guide
• Wednesday: Mathletics  
• Thursday: Any unfinished numeracy work from class (fractions packet) 

Literacy 

• Monday: English workbook p. 115
• Tuesday: Read Rump ch. 28 – 29, Update Padlet and English workbook p. 117
• Wednesday: Read Rump ch. 31
• Thursday: Read for 30 minutes and update Padlet 

Tests

• Science test all grade 4: Weather 
• 4B will have a Bible test on the Trinity.

Reminders 

Bible Verse 

“God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”                    2 Corinthians 9:8

Reading:  Rump- The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstiltskin.This funny fractured fairytale goes behind the scenes of Rumpelstiltskin. “A most magical feat,” writes Newbery Honor-winner Kirby Larson, “Liesl Shurtliff spins words into gold.” 

In a magical kingdom where your name is your destiny, 12-year-old Rump is the butt of everyone’s joke. But when he finds an old spinning wheel, his luck seems to change. Rump discovers he has a gift for spinning straw into gold. His best friend, Red Riding Hood, warns him that magic is dangerous, and she’s right. 

With each thread he spins, he weaves himself deeper into a curse. To break the spell, Rump must go on a perilous quest, fighting off pixies, trolls, poison apples, and a wickedly foolish queen. The odds are against him, but with courage and friendship – and a cheeky sense of humor – he just might triumph in the end. 

The purpose of this unit is to have students relate to a character in a book to their own life. Rump is the main character who is on a mission to find his destiny. Where he grows up the meaning of your name determines your destiny. Unfortunately, Rump only knows half of his name, which makes others and even himself sometimes see him as a lesser person. Throughout this novel, Rump is learning more about himself and what he is capable of doing. The purpose for 4th graders to read this novel and to be a part of this unit is because students should learn that they are much more capable of what they think they can do. This unit is used to give inspiration to students and help them connect with Rump through the realistic struggles he goes through. Rump being a realistic character allows his struggles to be relatable and allows for his successes to also be realistic to students reading! The lessons of “you’re not alone with your feelings” and “you are much more capable of what you think you are” are important lessons for students to learn at such a young age. This is a time in their life before they enter those dramatic teen years. One of the biggest struggles of teen years is having thoughts of being alone or not being good enough. This unit allows for students to live through Rump’s story and hopefully apply it to their own life when needed! Of course this unit is important because it will get students to read an engaging text, but this unit is important because of the lessons found within and the skills students will use throughout to understand this novel. 

Essential Questions:
What is destiny?
How do you find your destiny?
What do you do if there is more than one side to a story? 

For a little bit of fun, children can watch the original tale of Rumpelstiltskin on YouTube: 
https://youtu.be/4W_53-fIYdI

Some students have been asked to reread the chapters covered in class each day. This is a great way to recap what we’ve covered and practice their listening, fluency, and comprehension skills.

Writing: Use descriptive words and sensory images in our writing to EXPLODE THE MOMENT.

Numeracy: Students will be learning how to find angles and know their characteristics. They will have a challenge at home to complete, so be ready! 

Science: Students will begin a new topic on weather. We will be learning how air pressure affects weather and how to describe, label and illustrate the outcomes. 

Social Studies: We began our focus on our Central American neighbors and we’ve been having fun learning all about these countries. Students were given an in-class project to work on over the next couple of weeks. They were each given a Central American country to research, create a poster for, and then present. This is a great discovery project and a wonderful way to teach others what they’ve learned. 

Reminders

NO SCHOOL FRIDAY AND MONDAY!                                                              Enjoy celebrating an extra day off and hope you can ‘discover’ something new on Discovery Day! 

Homework and Quizzes 

Monday: 

• Literacy: Padlet and reading for 30 minutes 
• Unfinished Rump booklets

Tuesday:    

• Numeracy: Angle Challenge, this is from their practice book. Have a family competition!
• Students need to bring in their total points and a list of all the items they found. Example: Window corner – Right angle 
• Literacy: Padlet, reading for 30 minutes 
• Unfinished Rump booklets

Wednesday:

• Numeracy: Practice book p.303-304
• Literacy: Padlet and reading for 30 minutes 
• Unfinished Rump booklets

Thursday: 

• Numeracy: Angle’s quiz
• Literacy: Padlet and reading for 30 minutes 
• Unfinished Rump booklets

Monday’s Numeracy Challenge: Instructions

Assessments

Students will be completing STAR testing in Literacy and Numeracy as well as DRA testing (reading, fluency and comprehension) this is for next year to see where students are in their reading levels. 

Bible Verse

Students were given a hard copy of all the verses for the remainder of the year! Please check they have these in their folders. 

Fruit of the spirit: Kindness

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32

Hello! One day already done from testing and just 4 more to go. This week is pretty simple but there are a few changes to keep in mind.

1. PE is ONLY on Thursday for BOTH 4A and 4B. 
2. No homework! 
3. Students should continue reading each night and to make it more fun, maybe read aloud or to them and take turns (:  *there will also be 2 awesome teachers doing a live reading on Facebook if you’d rather do that 😉 

We hope you guys all have a wonderful week and continue to get those bedtimes settled in, healthy breakfast and lots of rest as they get ready for the rest of the week and testing!