Classroom Update - Week of May 5th

Updates & Reminders:

• If you haven't already, please take the time to sign up for a spring conference. I'm looking forward to meeting with everyone one last time! https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0d4dafa62fa13-spring

• If you wish to purchase a school supply kit from School Kidz for your child for the 2019-2020 school year you may do so by visiting www.shopttkits.com Account # 54483. Order deadlines were extended to Friday, May 10th.

• 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.

• 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 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 then using that to write a clear summary. In addition to the novel, the students will also read several nonfiction texts that will provide them with helpful background knowledge about important people who helped during women's suffrage. As they read these nonfiction accounts, they will also identify whether they are firsthand or secondhand accounts of the event.

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.

• Have your child share with you the difference between a firsthand and secondhand account.

• 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 in math the students will continue to work on measuring and drawing angles using a protractor. In addition, they will learn how to solve for missing angles using their knowledge of complementary and supplementary angles. The students will also investigate 2-dimensional figures later in the week and categorize them based on their attributes. There will be a strong focus on the classifying them based on their lines, sides, and angles. The students will also learn about the two different ways that we can classify triangles. The first way is by their sides: equilateral triangles (equal sides), isosceles triangles (2 equal sides), and scalene triangles (no equal sides) and angles: acute triangles (all angles are less than 90 degrees) right (one angle is 90 degrees) or obtuse (one angle is greater than 90 degrees). The students will take their first math assessment next week.

The students will have an extra 3-4 questions each day for homework that will serve as part of their EOG review. These questions will be given out Monday-Wednesday and should be completed at home and returned to school the next day. We will be checking these questions the next day in class and then your child will bring them home with them each night, so they can review the questions that they struggled with or those for which they still need additional practice. Then, on Friday the students will take a four question quiz based on the types of problems that were practiced this week for homework. Please help support your child with this, as it will serve as a good means of reviewing for the end of grade test.

Questions to Ask Your Child at Home:

• Show me how to draw a 85 degree angle using your protractor.

• What are complementary angles? How can you solve them?

• What are supplementary angles? How can you solve them?

• Show me how many lines of symmetry are in a square? Rectangle? Trapezoid

• What are some ways that we can classify shapes?

• Show me an example of an obtuse scalene triangle? Or an acute isosceles triangle.

Science:

In science, the students are continuing to investigate electrical circuits. They are working toward powering multiple components with a series and parallel circuits. Students should also continue to observe the moon each night and record it in their journal.