Classroom Update - Week of April 18th and 23rd

Upcoming Events / Reminders:

• There will be lots of important paperwork that will go home with your child on Thursday. Below is a bulleted list of the information that you can expect to find:

• While we were tracked out MES implemented new school wide behavior protocols, so we can teach our students how to become respectful, productive citizens. There is a very detailed letter explaining the changes and it is very important that you review this at home with your child. The last page is for you and your child to sign and return to school as soon as possible.

• Spring Pictures - Please review the individual pictures and pay for the pictures that you like and return the ones that you are not interested in keeping. Class photos will also be going home with the students who purchased these ahead of time. If you did not purchase a class photo, but are interested in having one for your child, Strawbridge sent a few extras. If you make out a check to Strawbridge Studios for $10, you can still get a copy.

• School Kidz Supply Lists for Next Year - This is an easy way that you can order school supplies for the next year online and they will be ready for your child on their first day. The due date for having them turned in is Friday, May 4th.

• A purchase order to buy an autographed copy of the books (The Creature of the Pines: The Unicorn Rescue Society #1 and The Inquisitors Tale: Or, The Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog) written by Adam Gidwitz. He is an author who will be visiting MES's 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders on Monday, April 30th. The pre-order form is due by Friday, April 20th, which does not give track 4 much time, so please take note of that Thursday night, if you are interested.

• Scholastic Book Orders will be going home as well, for those of you who would like to purchase book(s) for your child. All orders must be placed online (there is a sheet stapled to the front explaining this) by Monday, April 30th.

• Information about the Morrisville 5K Stampede Run

• Students will take the 3rd Quarter Reading Benchmark on Monday, April 23rd. There is nothing that they need to do to prepare for it, except get a good night's sleep the night before.

• Third Quarter Report Cards go home on Friday, April 27th. Please look for them then and make sure you sign and return the manila envelope.

• The Beach Field Trip (Fort Fisher Aquarium & Masonboro Island) is Wednesday, May 2nd. All students must be at school no later than 6:45AM. The charter bus will be departing at Morrisville at 7:00AM sharp! Please check your email early next week for more detailed information, as well as reminders about what to pack, travel itinerary, etc.

• Children's book author, Adam Gidwitz will be visiting Morrisville Elementary on Monday, April 30th to talk to the 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders about his books and becoming an author.

• School Kidz online orders for school supplies are due by Friday, May 4th.

• Morrisville's Got Talent for Track 4 students will be on Friday, May 11th. If your child is interested in performing, they should complete THIS form online.

• Field Day for Track 4 will be on Friday, May 18th.

• Morrisville 5K Stampede will be on Sunday May 20th from 2:00-5:00PM at Morrisville Elementary. To register, please visit this website: https://runsignup.com/Race/NC/Morrisville/Stampede5KRun

• Memorial Day is Monday, May 28th - there will be no school

• 4th Quarter Interims will go home on Friday, June 1st.

• Tentative Dates for the EOGS for 4th graders will be on Monday, June 18th (Math) and Tuesday, June 19th (Reading). These dates are subject to change and the entire week of June 18th is blocked off as potential testing days. Please let me know, as soon as possible, if you think your child will miss this week of school.

Reader's Workshop:

This week and next week in reading, the students will be working on recognizing the differences between idioms, adages, and proverbs, as well as using context clues to determine their meaning. In addition, they will work on finding the main idea and supporting details in nonfiction texts. They will read different articles with a partner and work on organizing the main ideas and supporting details of the different sections onto tree maps. Students will find that paying close attention to the first and last sentence, repeated words, headings, and thinking about what the section is mostly is about are helpful in finding the main idea. The students will also work on creating a complete summary of the text. Later next week, the students will move on to finding textual evidence to support their thinking in all of the genres.

Questions to Ask Your Child at Home:

• What strategies do you use to help you in finding the main idea?

• Tell me about the main ideas of the sections that you read in your partner activity.

Writer's Workshop:

This week and next week in writing, the students will work on learning what persuasive writing is and how it is different from the opinion writing that they wrote last quarter. The students will see good examples of persuasive writing through the mentor text, Dear Mrs. LaRue: Letters from Obedience School. The students will then work on brainstorming things that they like and things that they want to change to then finally determine which argument is the strongest and the one that they will want to write about. They will organize their information on a tree map and then start writing, once that graphic organizer is complete.

Questions to Ask Your Child at Home:

• What is the difference between persuasive and opinion writing?

• What topics are you passionate or feel strongly about?

• What topics do you dislike and want to change?

• What topic did you have the strongest argument on?

Math:

In math this week and next, the students will learn about decimals numbers, which will be a continuation from where we left off last quarter with fractions. They will be focusing on the following objectives in particular:

•Writing decimals as fractions and words

•Recognizing how a decimal number can change when a tenth or hundredth is either added or subtracted

•Comparing and ordering decimal numbers

•Rounding decimal numbers to the nearest tenth and hundredth

Questions to Ask Your Child at Home:

• Can you write the following decimal (0.34) as a fraction? In words?

• How would the decimal 0.7 change if you added two tenths? What if you subtracted 3 hundredths?

• Order the following decimals from lease to greatest: 0.4, 1.2, 0.38, 0.04. What strategy did you use to help you?

• Can you round the following decimal (0.67) to the nearest tenth? To the nearest hundredth?

Social Studies:

This quarter in social studies the students will be learning about North Carolina’s geography, environment, and culture. This week and next the students will spend time investigating the ways in which the population, transportation, landscape and communication has changed since statehood. They will be utilizing a lot of online resources, as well as become more familiar with reading different state maps.

Questions to Ask Your Child at Home:

• What are some ways that North Carolina has changed since statehood?