Classroom Update - Week of April 29th

Updates & Reminders:

• School is been cancelled on Wednesday, May 1st.

• A green half sheet went home today in your child's Friday Folder. This sheet is to seek information about your plan for your child(ren) next year. Please complete this and send it back to school with your child by Friday, May 3rd.

• Also, in your child's Friday Folder was a flyer from School Kidz. If you wish to purchase a school supply kit for your child for the 2019-2020 school year you may do so by visiting www.shopttkits.com Account # 54483. All orders must be submitted by Friday, May 3rd.

• 3rd Quarter, Track Four Report Cards will go home on Friday, May 3rd.

• Information about SSA (Single Subject Acceleration) Opportunities for the 2019-2020 School Year is now available. Please visit the WCPSS Single Subject Acceleration webpage for more information about SSA. In addition to an overview of SSA and the nomination window dates, you will find an informational video about SSA. Nomination forms will also be available on this site beginning on April 1st and may be turned in at school during your track's nomination window. The SSA nomination windows for each track are listed below. Nomination forms may not be turned in before the first day of your track's window. They cannot be accepted after the close of the school day on the last day of the nomination window. Track 4 - May 10th through May 23rd.

• To help keep up with the daily bus departures, MES is beginning to tweet out from their Twitter account when buses depart campus. This twitter feed can also be found on the MES website main page, so please use that page to stay informed

• The 5th Annual Stampede 5K is on Sunday, May 5 from 2-5pm. The proceeds from this fun family and community event will go directly to the MES PTA to fund educational resources, programs, and school improvements.

• Field Day for Track Four is Monday, May 13th.

• Memorial Day is Monday, May 27th - No School! Enjoy the 3 day weekend!

• Mark your calendars - Fourth graders will be taking the EOGs on Wednesday, June 19th (Reading) and Thursday, June 20th (Math). Please let me know ASAP, if you know that your child will be out either of those day, so we are able to plan accordingly.

• Friday, June 28th is the last day of school. Report cards will be sent home this day, as well.

E.L. Education:

This week, the students will continue reading the historical fiction novel, The Hope Chest. In class, the students will be reading this novel together and focusing on determining the gist of each chapter and unfamiliar words. They will also work collaboratively to identify key themes in The Hope Chest and recognize that novels can have several different themes throughout the book. They will be using the text to find specific evidence to support these themes and write complete summaries of the chapters we read.

During ALL Block, we will continue to review nonfiction texts. Some of the strategies that we will be focusing on are:

Good Readers...

• "rev" up their brain for reading by activating their prior knowledge.

• stop often while reading ensure that they are comprehending what they read.

• go back into the text to "fact check" text evidence and highlight your support.

• eliminate incorrect answer choices and star or put question marks next to possibilities.

How to Help Your Child at Home:

• Discuss with your child the events that are happening in The Hope Chest and the themes that are present. Have your child share with you the text evidence that supports those themes.

• Have your child share with you what makes up a proper summary.

• With the homework passages, encourage your child to carefully think about and find textual evidence to support their answer choices and discuss those answer choices together.

Math:

This week the students will work on recognizing lines of symmetry in 2-dimensional figures by folding, drawing, and observing lines. They will also notice patterns of lines of symmetry in regular polygons, as well as create geometric design along a line of symmetry. On Thursday, the students will start to learn how to measure angles using a protractor. They will also identify right, acute, obtuse and straight angles.

Questions to Ask Your Child at Home:

• Discuss the number of lines of symmetry in 2-D shapes around your house.

• Have your child show you how they learned to measure the size of angles using protractors.

Science:

During the second week of this quarter, the students will collaborate and think critically as they begin an investigation of magnetism and electricity. On Monday, students induced magnetism in order to make a temporary magnet. This week, students also will investigate magnetic poles and breaking the magnetic force. Later in the week, students will begin investigating electricity as they make a simple circuit to power a motor. This week, students will continue to observe the moon each night. Please use the following site if you are unable to observe the moon on a particular night: Moongiant.com