Classroom Update - Week of October 23rd

Welcome Back! I hope that everyone enjoyed their fall track out and is ready to start another terrific quarter! I was so excited to see the students and they all seemed ready to start another quarter of fourth grade. There are many school and classroom updates, so please read carefully and make note of the upcoming events.

Stampede to Success

MES PTA launched the Stampede to Success Giving Campaign right before Fall Festival and giving cards went home in your child's Friday Folder on the last day of quarter one. Please take the time to complete the giving card and contribute what you can. PTA volunteers will be collecting giving cards at the front entrance of the school every Friday from now until Nov 3rd from 8:30 to 9:15am.

Story Book Character Day - 10/31/17!

We are excited to announce that on Tuesday, October 31st will be Story Book Character Day at Morrisville! We encourage all of the students to find their favorite book and create a costume based on their favorite story book character. Please remember no masks. Thank you in advance for your support during this fun day! We look forward to seeing all the creative book character costumes!

Disability Awareness Week

October is Disability awareness month. During the week of October 30th - November 3rd, 2017, students will be participating in activities during their PE time, to help raise awareness about what disabilities are and how they can affect learning. To make this a successful week, volunteers are needed to assist and supervise while students complete activities. Volunteers can choose the time they would like to help. It can be for a hour, 2 hours or all day! Any and all volunteers are greatly appreciated! Please sign up using THIS link.

Parent Ed Night

Thursday, November 2nd is Parent Ed Night at Morrisville Elementary. This a great opportunity for you (as the parent) to attend 2 sessions of your choosing on a broad variety of educational topics, while your child(ren) a fun movie night. The two sessions are from 6:30-7:00 and 7:15-7:45, which check-in starting at 6:00. Please use THIS link to sign up!

Bloomz

All Bloomz points were reset for the new quarter this morning and you might have noticed a change in its appearance. Instead of flowers blooming, the students chose to change to monsters hatching from an egg! The students will continue to receive points this quarter for showing excellent behaviors/choices and lose points for behavior that needs improvement. Please continue to utilize this site as it will serve as a good indicator in how your child is doing each day, as well as a quick and easy way to stay informed.

Upcoming Events / Reminders:

• October 31st is Storybook Character Day! I look forward to seeing everyone dressed up!

• November 2nd is MES's Parent Education Night will be held from 6:00-7:45.

• November 3rd is the last day to turn in your Stampede to Success Giving Cards.

• November 10 is Veteran's Day. There will be no school. Enjoy the long weekend!

• November 21st is Early Release. School will dismiss at 1:15.

• November 22-24 is our Thanksgiving holiday break - no school

• November 30th is our field trip to downtown Raleigh. The students will be visiting our Legislative Building and the North Carolina History Museum. Parent Chaperones will be needed for this trip, so please make sure that you have taken the time to register. More information about this trip will be going home soon.

• December 5th is Literacy Night. Mark your calendars more information will follow soon!

• December 21st is not only an Early Release Day (school will dismiss at 1:15) but also our last day of the quarter.

Reader's Workshop: In reading this quarter, the students will focus on reading a variety of nonfiction texts. They will begin this week and continue into next week by reviewing the different types of text features found in nonfiction. Some common examples of text features are: headings, subheadings, photographs, captions, diagrams, charts, graphs, bolded and italicized words, etc. As the students read nonfiction, they will be paying close attention to these important text features and work on communicating how it helps enhance their understanding of the text by citing specific evidence. The students will also work on identifying vocabulary that is essential to their understanding of the text and work on using context clues to determine the meaning of of unfamiliar vocabulary.

Questions to Ask Your Child at Home:

• What text features did you notice while reading?

• How did the text features enhance your comprehension or understanding of the text?

• What vocabulary is essential to know to deepen your understanding of the text?

Writer's Workshop:

This quarter the students will be focused on informational writing by writing research reports. Their first report will be on an animal that is native to North Carolina. The students all chose their animal today in class and the rest of the week will learn how to take notes that are in their own words and answer their research questions.

Questions to Ask Your Child at Home:

• What North Carolina animal did you choose to research?

• What are the four research questions?

• Tell me more about the animal that you have researched.

Math:

In math, the students will pick up where we left off last quarter with long division. The students will be working on using multiple strategies to solve long division problems. The new methods that the students will be learning are how to divide using the Rectangle/Area Method and the Expanded Notation Method. Please see below for an example of these two methods. The students will be practicing these methods in word problems and also work on understanding remainders.

Area/Rectangle Method: Expanded Notation Method:

Questions to Ask Your Child at Home:

• Show me the different strategies that you have learned when dividing large numbers.

• What is a remainder?

• How can a remainder affect a division word problem?

Social Studies This quarter in Social Studies the students will be learning about our state government. The students will be focusing on how the role of governor has changed over time, discovering what was important to the people in North Carolina when the constitution was created in 1776, and analyzing how our state and national constitution has changed over time.

Questions to Ask Your Child at Home:

• How have the governors in North Carolina changed over time?

• What are the key principles of the North Carolina Constitution?

• How has the North Carolina Constitution changed over time?

• What does the constitution say about the people who wrote it?