Weekly Classroom Update - May 28th

• Last week I sent out a SignUp Genius for our Spring Student Led Conferences. Please use this link to sign up. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080e4cabaf2ca7f85-spring

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

• 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.

• Our End of the Year Class Picnic will be on Tuesday, June 26th from 1:00-2:00PM at the picnic tables in the front of the school building. We will be celebrating with Ms. Wade's class and more information will follow closer to the date.

• Meet the Teacher for the upcoming 2018-2019 school year will be on Tuesday, June 26th for tracks 2, 3, and 4 from 5:30-6:15PM.

• Our last day of school is Friday, June 29th. Report card will go home with your child that day.

Reader's Workshop:

This week the students will work on studying the genre of traditional literature (folktales, tables, myths, and legends). On Monday (next week), they will take a fiction assessment on both realistic fiction and traditional literature texts. The students will learn to apply the following strategies when reading traditional literature:

• Readers identify how a character changes throughout a text.

• Readers identify the problem and lesson learned

• Readers make a mind movie to better understand how a character feels.

• Readers make inferences about a character based on their dialogue and actions.

• Readers use “read around the word” and “fill in the blank” to determine the meaning of unknown words.

Students will continue to have two reading passages to complete for homework each week that coincides with the genre we are currently focusing on. Students are required to annotate their thinking by showing their thought process as they are reading, as well as applying the strategies they have learned thus far.

Questions to Ask Your Child at Home:

• What are the characteristics of the traditional literature genre?

• What reading strategies do good readers use when reading traditional literature texts?

• Show me how to annotate your thinking when reading traditional literature..

Writer's Workshop:

This week in writing, the students will continue to work on drafting their persuasive writing. They will work on finishing their three strong body paragraphs, and will complete their conclusion this week. As they draft their writing, students should make sure that they are including the Fab 5 in each body paragraph.

Fabulous Five Must Haves in Each Body Paragraph:

1. Clear Topic Sentence

2. 3-5 Well Elaborated Details

3. At least 3 Transitional Words/Phrases

4. Descriptive or Content Specific Vocabulary

5. Clear Concluding Statement

Questions to Ask Your Child at Home:

• Who is your intended audience?

• What ideas do you have that support your topic?

• What persuasive words and phrases are you using in your writing to make it more convincing?

Math:

In math this week, the students will work on line plots. They will be working on plotting fractional numbers on a line plot and then interpreting what that data describes. On Friday, they will take an assessment on this standard (it is a quick unit). For the remaining two weeks leading up to the EOG, the students will work on reviewing previously taught math concepts in preparation for the EOG.

Questions to Ask Your Child at Home:

• Why are line plots used?

• Can you show me how you would construct a line plot?

Social Studies:

This quarter in social studies the students will be learning about North Carolina’s geography, environment, and culture. This week 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?