Classroom Update - Week of May 28th
Updates/Reminders:
Has your child shared with you the online review program of Education Galaxy, yet? This is a tool that we have been using in class to assess what we have learned so far this year and what we still need to work on to be even more ready for End of Grade testing. Tomorrow (Wednesday), your child will be bringing home with them a report that shows you how they scored on the pretest and areas that they they are strong in and areas for which they still need practice. This is a GREAT way for your child to review at home, too, as it comes with instructional videos, lots of practice and even a few games. Please let me know if you have any questions.
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.
Meet the Teacher for Track Four will be on Friday, July 26th. The times for this event will be released soon.
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 theme analysis summaries. In addition to the novel, the students will also work on determining the meaning of similes and metaphors in the novel.
During ALL Block, we will continue reviewing fiction texts. Some of the strategies that we will be focusing on are:
Good Readers...
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 identify the point of view from which the story is told.
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 simile and a metaphor.
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 learn about the metric system, focusing in particular on the solving word problems involving mass (g and kg) and capacity (L and mL). They will be expected to know that there are 1,000 grams in 1 kilogram and that there are 1,000 milliliters in 1 liter and be able to solve word problems where they have to convert between these units. The students will also work on solving problems involving elapsed time. The students are taught to use timelines to help them visualize and better keep track of how much time has passed. They will take their final assessment on this unit on Monday, June 3rd. The remainder of the quarter will be spent reviewing for the upcoming EOG on Thursday, June 20th.
Questions to Ask Your Child at Home:
How many grams are in 6 kg?
How many mL are in 74 L?
Show me how you would use a timeline to determine how much time has passed between 5:30PM and 8:15PM?
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:
How has North Carolina's population changed over time?
What are some reasons that people move to North Carolina?
What are some important natural resources that North Carolina produces?