Happy 2013 Everyone! I hope this year brings you great happiness.
Language Arts
This year has started off strong with figurative language and narrative writing. Students have been using their writing skills to ‘show, not tell’, and hopefully this skill will be a permanent change as to how your child approaches writing. Ask your child to show you what this looks like! We have also begin to explore how to ‘Magnify the Moment’, which is to take a boring sentence and create a detailed writing piece to make the moment come to life. Ask your child to tell you about how we have jigsawed the class together to create a meaningful story!
Our class has begun a new novel, The Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell. This book will illustrate how the Native Americans were affected by European colonization.
Math
This week we have begun another chapter in our fractions unit. Students have learned how to identify equivalent fractions and are now learning how to add improper fractions and mixed numbers.
The 4th grade teachers have developed a monthly math challenge project available to your child on-line. Please see the class website for more information and/or ask your child about it!
Social Studies
Missions! Missions! Missions! Students have learned about how the Spanish colonized the California coast with missions and presidios. Ask your child to explain the three G’s that motivated the Spaniards, led by Father Junipero Serra, to inhabit the land to help ‘convert’ the Natives to Catholicism.
Science
Next week students will begin the earth science rotation with Dr. Artis. The unit of study will focus on rocks and minerals.
Miscellaneous:
*Please sign and return the attached field trip permission slip for our day at the Cline Winery. Students will be seeing a true scale model of all 21 missions, as well as the crops and a few animals that would have been seen in during the mission era of the late 1700’s.
*There will be no school on Monday, January 21st in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday.
* Please see the attached letter regarding the 4th grade mission building project.
Language Arts
This year has started off strong with figurative language and narrative writing. Students have been using their writing skills to ‘show, not tell’, and hopefully this skill will be a permanent change as to how your child approaches writing. Ask your child to show you what this looks like! We have also begin to explore how to ‘Magnify the Moment’, which is to take a boring sentence and create a detailed writing piece to make the moment come to life. Ask your child to tell you about how we have jigsawed the class together to create a meaningful story!
Our class has begun a new novel, The Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell. This book will illustrate how the Native Americans were affected by European colonization.
Math
This week we have begun another chapter in our fractions unit. Students have learned how to identify equivalent fractions and are now learning how to add improper fractions and mixed numbers.
The 4th grade teachers have developed a monthly math challenge project available to your child on-line. Please see the class website for more information and/or ask your child about it!
Social Studies
Missions! Missions! Missions! Students have learned about how the Spanish colonized the California coast with missions and presidios. Ask your child to explain the three G’s that motivated the Spaniards, led by Father Junipero Serra, to inhabit the land to help ‘convert’ the Natives to Catholicism.
Science
Next week students will begin the earth science rotation with Dr. Artis. The unit of study will focus on rocks and minerals.
Miscellaneous:
*Please sign and return the attached field trip permission slip for our day at the Cline Winery. Students will be seeing a true scale model of all 21 missions, as well as the crops and a few animals that would have been seen in during the mission era of the late 1700’s.
*There will be no school on Monday, January 21st in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday.
* Please see the attached letter regarding the 4th grade mission building project.