Happy Spring!

Hello March.....Where does the time go?

In Math, we finished perimeter and area. We will move on to fractions, decimals and percents. Remember on homework if your child receives a "2", it is a passing paper.
A "1" can be corrected and I will take an average of the grades. Some students are not taking advantage of this. Parents if you are struggling with helping your child with math homework, I did send home an answer key for parents to help out. If you need one let me know.

In English, we are close to finishing our research papers and I cannot tell you how proud I am of all the students. As they are being turned in, I am just amazed at how AMAZING they look. We all worked very hard on this! One day this month the students will share their research to the class. All students have a basic understanding of writing a 5 paragraph report. Next in English, we will start tackling some creative writing and how to become a better fiction writer. We will learn all the 6 traits of writing. Fluency, voice, editing, ideas,and word choice.

In Spelling, the 20 word test continues on Friday. Again, the class has about a 90-95% success rate with this in the classroom. Since this is true, we focus on more needed academics.

In Science, we will start learning about vertebrates and invertebrates. We will also talk about mimicry and camouflage in animals

In Arizona, we will study the Mountain Men of Arizona and how they played a role in our history. This is chapter 6 in our Arizona book. At the end of each chapter I send home a study review before the test.

In Reading, we are still reading a story a week from the the 4th grade reading book and will mix it up with a magazine called Storyworks. This magazine covers poetry, fiction and nonfiction stories. We are also working on how to be better writers. Please remember to take advantage of the home program called Ticket to Read. All students have access to this on a home computer. You can count this as your 30 minutes to read each evening.

Field Trips: The fourth grade is planning 2 upcoming field trips. We will go to Old Pueblo and participate in a archeology dig. This will be on March 31. Information will be sent home about this later in the month. We will also go to the Disney movie Oceans on April 26. More details to follow soon.

Student questions:

1. What is 1/4 in a fraction and in a decimal?

2. Explain what voice is in writing.

3. What is a vertebrate and in vertebrate?


Dates to remember:

March 5................all research papers due
March 12...............all powerpoint book reports due (to be completed in class.)
March 15-19............Spring Break (end of grading period)
March 31...............Field trip to Old Pueblo