4^th Grade News and Notes

We had a great time on the field trip this week. The students seemed to really enjoy it and the knowledge they gained will be very useful in our upcoming lessons on the branches of government, government services, and elections. The week of the elections we will be having a special day that the 4^th grade students will be voting on the president in class and we will be graphing the results. We will also be having a special food treat that day!

Next week we will begin a novel study. We will be reading Frindle. This will be our first novel study and we will be reading much of the book together. There will be periodic comprehension activities that go along with the book and periodic quizzes. There will still be a spelling list but it will be generated from another source then the workbook pages you are used to seeing. In writing, we are continuing to work on our letters and grammatical structure in our writing.

In science this week we have been learning about animal adaptations and camouflage.  We learned the parts of an insect and did experiments with crickets.  Next week we will learn to specifically classify animals and learn the attributes of fish, insects, amphibians, reptiles and mammals.  Please note that the microscope papers were given back. There is a note attached to it explaining that if a child isn’t satisfied with their grade, they can redo the paper and resubmit it.  This is a one chance deal. Lastly, we will have an animal vocabulary quiz on Thursday of next week. Please be looking for a study guide on Monday.

We are currently taking a break from our math text to work on memorizing our multiplication facts. Students will take a separate test for each set of facts (2’s, 3’s, 4’s, etc.) on the following dates. We will be studying in class with flashcards separated into the sets. Students will make a pile of the ones they don’t know and write them 5 times each and then be quizzed. They will then repeat the process until they know the set. I suggest the kids study at home this way too. It’s really not that time consuming for the adult. A cheap way to make flashcards is to buy index cards and make them yourself. Each test will be worth 20 points. They are doing great in class, but many need reinforcement at home.

Quiz Dates:

2’s = 10/23/08   3’s = 10/24/08   4’s = 10/26/08   5’s = 10/28/08   6’s = 10/30/08   7’s = 11/3/08     8’s = 11/5/08     9’s = 11/7/08