Classroom Update - Week of March 5th

Upcoming Events / Reminders:

• Interims went home last Friday, please make sure that you took the time to review your child's progress and send back a signed copy of the report.

• 4th Grade Field Trip to the North Carolina Aquarium and Masonboro Island is Thursday, March 22nd. Please plan on having your child to school by 6:45AM that day. We should be back at MES around 7PM that night. More information and reminders will follow soon.

• Friday, March 23rd is the end of quarter three and track-out day.

Reader's Workshop:

Last Friday, the students began their second novel study unit that centered around social issues. Some of the common social issues that we will be discussing are: Growing Up, Courage & Honor, Culture & Diversity, Overcoming Obstacles, Fitting In, Forgiveness, and Abandonment. The students will study these social issues through a variety of picture books that will be used during the daily mini-lessons and their novel study. The students will have a nightly reading assignment for their novel study. It is on a bookmark that they were given today.

Some specific mini-lesson topics this week will include:

• Good readers reread familiar texts to find and identify the social issues thread throughout the text.

• Good readers evaluate situations or character responses that deal with social issues by responding to prompts.

• Good readers talk about what they know about gender, race, or class before reading a story that has one of these at the core of the story.

Questions to Ask Your Child at Home:

• What social issue(s) is/are found in the book you are reading?

• What details from the text support it?

• What is fair/unfair in your novel? Why?

• What pressures does your main character have?

• How does your main character behave?

• What might motivate or influence your character to behave that way?

Writer's Workshop:

This week, the students are working on another writing opinion piece. This paper will have them use research to support their opinion. They will get to choose from four different topics and they will work on finishing up their planning page, writing introductions and body paragraphs this week using the Fab Five.

Questions to Ask Your Child at Home:

• What are you choosing to write about?

• What is your thesis statement?

• Where are you at in the writing process?

Math:

This week in math, the students will be working on multiplying a whole number by a fraction. They will be using number lines and fractions bars to visually represent how to multiply these numbers. The students will focus on solving a variety of word problems, where they will practice this strategy. They will especially focus on the real world problems of doubling, tripling, and quadrupling recipes. They will take a multiplying fractions assessment on Thursday, March 8th. Friday and the majority of next week, will be spent on describing and extending numeric and geometric patterns.

Questions to Ask Your Child at Home:

• What are some ways that you can multiply a whole number by a fraction (ex. 3 x 1/4)?

• Can you create a real world problem involving the equation 5 x 2/3?

Science:

This week the students are learning about how vitamins, minerals, and exercise help our heath. At home parents can help your child read food labels to see what nutrients are listed for various foods. The students will spend the rest of the week learning more about animal adaptations.