Grade 4

JANUARY 2023

 

ELA (English Language Arts): Second trimester writing focuses on narrative writing. Students will be writing sequels to stories we read in class. They will be practicing their creative writing skills, using precise sensory language and incorporating dialogue. Text structures such as cause & effect and main idea/key details will be reviewed through the Wonders reading program and STEMscopes science program. Text features such as headings and captions will also be reviewed. Students are learning the comprehension skill of identifying the point of view in a text. Figurative language and theme/moral will be focus skills in Wonders and with our read aloud book, Maniac Magee.

 

Math: Module 3, “Multiplication and Division” - We continue to work on multiplication and division using place value strategies. At home, students can review their basic multiplication fact families by utilizing the Freckle app in Clever. The link provided contains information about our approach to multiplication and division: Module 3 Parent Tip Sheet. Students will continue to have weekly math homework (Monday-Thursday nights). A packet will be given out on Monday and their daily HW assignment will be written in their planners. It is no longer required that parents sign planners. This is to foster responsibility and independence. However, if you want to continue to sign your child’s planner, feel free to do so.

 

Social Studies: The students will be assigned their first research project. This in-school project will focus on researching a northeast state’s landforms, climate, natural resources and economy, and designing a Google slides project that reflects their knowledge about the state while also strengthening oral communication skills. This project will give them the opportunity to practice and become comfortable with speaking publicly about a topic.

 

Science: The focus this trimester is “Organism Structures and Behavior.” Students will use what they learn from STEMscopes about “Plant and Animal Parts” and “Sense Receptors” to research an animal of their choice. Their animal research project will be done in school.

 

Family Connections: The fourth graders have been asked to show parents/guardians graded ELA assessments on their yellow assessment logs. When students have ELA assessments that are ready to be viewed by a parent/guardian, they write it on their “yellow assessment logs” and in their planners. Please sign/return the “yellow assessment log” indicating that you have viewed the assessment. The assessments will have a 1, 2, 3 or 4 grade next to them. The actual test questions/results can be viewed on the Wonders website under “To Do/My Tests.” As a reminder, students should be reading for at least 20 minutes each school night and completing their reading logs Monday-Thursday. Thank you for your support with checking and signing these logs!

Special Activities - Black History: The fourth graders have been discussing, reading and writing about civil rights leaders/activists such as Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Westley Wallace Law and Nelson Mandela. We are focusing on answering the question, “How can one person make a difference?”

 

November Newsletter

Grade 4

ELA (English Language Arts): The fourth graders are continuing to work on writing informational essays.  Students are using the painted essay format to strengthen their organization of writing informative texts. The big idea of Wonders unit 2 is “What can animals teach us?” Students will be working on the following reading comprehension skills: main idea & key details, cause & effect,  theme- central message or lesson, and point of view. They are also practicing using comprehension strategies such as rereading, asking/answering questions, and summarizing what they read. About every other week, students are given a “Wonders Weekly Newsletter” to keep in their Rhodes home/school folder.  This newsletter gives students and families a preview of the topics, skills/strategies, spelling words, and vocabulary words for the week. It can also be found on the Rhodes school website fourth grade page. 

Math: We are finishing Module 2 this week and then starting  Module 3- Multiplication and division. Please view the link: Copy of Module_3_Parent_Tip_Sheet.pdf. This tip sheet is an overview of what and how we will be working on multiplication and division skills in this module. As part of homework, I will be assigning Freckle Fact practice. Students can access Freckle through the Clever application (they all know how to do this).

****IMPORTANT**** Please ask your child each week if they have graded assessments that need to be signed and returned to school. Papers will be sent home most Thursdays. Thank You!

Social Studies: Geography of the northeast region. Students will apply their knowledge of the painted essay to construct written responses that are social studies related. They are studying the 11 NE states, capitals and postal abbreviations. 

Science: The fourth graders have had a lot of fun experimenting with the battery packs to create a complete closed circuit. Students observed what happens to a light bulb, buzzer, and fan when a circuit is opened or closed. They got very creative with using materials in their desks as conductors or insulators of electrical energy. We will be finishing up our study of physical science by exploring “forces and motion” and  “communicating using wave energy.”

Family Connections: When students are selecting books to read for their reading logs/independent reading , they should be selecting “just right” books. This means that the book is not too easy, but also not too frustrating for them to read. A tip is to use the “five-finger rule:” If there are five or more unknown words on a page, the book is too difficult to read. Students are encouraged to select chapter books from our leveled libraries in both fourth grade classrooms. Another option is to log-in to Clever, click on Renaissance,  and read on Freckle or My-ON.  Both websites/apps have online digital libraries for students to choose books/texts from. Another ELA website available for students to use at home is the Wonders reading program app- “McGraw-Hill.” Students can review vocabulary, play ELA games, and reread texts for the week we are studying. The McGraw-Hill website is updated weekly to correlate with the week we are working on in school. 

Special Activities: We are reading A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens during our read-aloud time. On December 8th, we will be going on a field trip to watch the play performance of Trinity Rep’s A Christmas Carol. Please make sure you have signed and returned the field trip permission slip for your child to attend. 

Monthly Themes -

National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day - December 7th:  We will be using the National Park Service and the Pearl Harbor Events websites, which will aid in our discussion of primary sources and oral histories. Here are the links to both sites:

 National Park Service - Pearl Harbor and  Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day

 MLK Day: We will be listening to and discussing Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I have a Dream” speech.

October Newsletter

Grade 4

 

ELA (English Language Arts): In the Wonders ELA program, we are reading a variety of genres that explore ideas, actions and challenges. Students are working on making predictions, summarizing, asking/answering questions, and rereading text comprehension strategies. They are learning how to identify nonfiction text structures such as main idea & key details, compare & contrast and cause & effect. Students are working on sentence structure and using commas in grammar. In writing this month, students will be learning to write an informational essay to support a focus point. They will be using the “painted essay” format to help them organize their writing into an introduction paragraph, body paragraph(s) and a conclusion paragraph.

 

Math: We are about to start Module 2, Metric Measurements. This module is an extension of Module 1, place value, and it is an excellent transition to Module 3, which explores multiplication and division. In preparation for Module 3, students are studying/reviewing basic multiplication facts at school using the Freckle computer application. They can also use this app at home anytime by accessing it through CLEVER. They have been recently introduced to the Sumdog website. This can also be accessed through CLEVER at home anytime.

 

Social Studies: Beginning with the northeast region, we will be starting our “journey” across the US. In addition to learning about the states in this region, students will be learning about the state of Rhode Island. In partnership with our librarian, students will learn how to appropriately and accurately research topics and then apply their knowledge by creating a digital presentation.

 

Science: Students are participating in activities that allow them to explore energy transfer. This month, they will be working on answering the questions: “How can a battery cause a light bulb to light? & How can a battery cause a buzzer to sound?” We will be using batteries, wires, lightbulbs and buzzers to make a complete electrical circuit. They’ve enjoyed using battery packs to figure out which materials in our classroom are conductors or insulators of electrical energy.

 

Family Connections: It is essential that you and your child know how they are progressing in school. Students have been asked to show their ELA assessment results/scores to a parent/guardian and get their yellow assessment log signed. *If you are unable to access the Wonders (McGraw-Hill) website through Clever at home, please let me know, and I will give you printed copies of the computerized assessments.* Please visit the Rhodes fourth grade website page for more information including “Wonders Weekly Newsletters,” which are also given to students every two weeks.

 

Monthly Themes - Veterans Day: Students will be learning about Veterans Day from videos that will be watched in class and by listening to each other tell about a veteran they know.

 

Special Activities: The students have been enjoying the read-aloud Holes by Louis Sachar! We have been using this story to study character development, plot structure, theme/lesson and figurative language.

September Newsletter

Grade 4

ELA (English Language Arts): Trimester 1’s writing genre is informative writing, so our focus will be writing constructed responses to various forms of text. Students are learning to write paragraphs using the F.A.C.E.S. writing strategy. The F.A.C.E.S. acronym stands for Flip the question, Answer the question, Cite text evidence, Explain the evidence and Sum it up. In the Wonders reading program, the students are learning how to identify plot structure (characters, setting, main events, problem and solution). We are also working on comprehension skills for understanding nonfiction text structures such as compare & contrast and main idea & key details. The big idea of Unit 1 is “How can a challenge bring out our best?” The fourth graders are learning about multiple meaning words, context clues and suffixes to help them develop strategies for understanding vocabulary. Students are practicing spelling words with short and long vowel sounds. In grammar, students are working on writing complete sentences and using correct punctuation such as ending punctuation and commas.

 

Math: We are strengthening our foundation in number sense, with a focus on place value relationships of whole numbers and the “power of 10.” This work includes review of place value, how to express numbers in various forms, the “Read Draw Write” strategy of problem solving and addition computation using the standard algorithm. To strengthen fact fluency, students should review basic multiplication and division facts on a weekly basis at home.

 

Social Studies: We have started off the year learning about civics at all government levels. Students will be learning about latitude and longitude through investigations and discussions of this season’s hurricane locations. Next, we will be learning about our country’s geography, climate, natural resources and economy. As we study the 5 regions of the US throughout the year, students will also be learning the 50 states and their capitals. The students will be asked to demonstrate their comprehension of social studies through constructed responses utilizing the F.A.C.E.S. writing strategy.

 

Science: Our trimester 1 unit of study in STEMscopes is “Using Energy Transformations.” The first subtopic that we will investigate is energy transfer and electric currents.

 

Family Connections: Please check in with your child nightly to see what book they are reading and initial their reading log. Reading logs are collected/checked on Fridays and passed back to students on Mondays. Students should be reading a minimum of 20 minutes per school day Monday through Thursday. However, reading over the weekend is always encouraged! Students will generally have math homework Monday through Thursday. The homework will be a review of previously taught skills. Talk to your child about their knowledge of basic multiplication facts. Weekly review of fact families through the 10’s will be beneficial. Please also check your child’s planner and Rhodes home/school folder nightly and sign their planner. This ensures that you know what your child’s daily responsibilities are.

 

We are pleased with all of the students’ transition to 4th grade!

Dear 4th grade families,                                                                                              8/29/2022

We hope you all have had an enjoyable summer. As with the beginning of each new school year, there are many questions that parents/guardians and students have about what to expect in the classroom. We will be spending a great deal of time the first week of school reviewing the schedule and our expectations. This time will be invaluable in making the rest of 4th grade run as smoothly as possible. At the beginning of August, Mrs. Armstrong sent out a letter to families that contained a link to the PTA recommended supply list. You may send your child in with supplies. However, if needed, we will provide supplies to students.  

We recognize the importance of working as a team both in the classroom and in the real world. Our team teaching model has been and will continue to be an essential component of the 4th grade experience here at Rhodes.Your child has two teachers in 4th grade; Stephanie Pearson teaches math and social studies; Jenna Bradstreet teaches ELA and science. Although there are two teachers and two classrooms, WE operate as one whole grade together. 

Communication:

In order for our team to function efficiently, effective communication is essential! Please email us, call the school, or write a note to us anytime you have a question or concern. When emailing, we ask that you email both of us, since we will both be teaching and getting to know your child this year.

*Please note: We are required to and will be using student initials in emails for confidentiality. 

Rhodes Home/School Folders and Planners:

Please put any notes in your child’s Rhodes folder and check folders nightly for notes and school notices. In addition, check your child's planner nightly. Your child’s Rhodes folder and planner will go back and forth between home and school each day. 

Food:

Students have a “working snack” in our 4th grade classrooms. Due to allergies, the entire school building is nut-free for snacks and lunches. We allow students to have water bottles in the classroom, and ask that they only contain water. However, other drinks are allowed at lunch. Thank you in advance for your support in keeping all of our students safe. 

Attendance Matters: We are at the start of a new school year and we would like to remind everyone of the critical importance of coming to school on time every day when your child is well.

Dismissal:

At dismissal, it is important that children are picked up promptly. Fourth grade walkers and parent pick-ups will be dismissed at 3:05 out of back door #6. Because there may be days when someone other than your child’s homeroom teacher is dismissing, an ID is required to release your child. Anyone, including parents, picking up a student will need to ALWAYS provide the school with an ID. No Exceptions. Students will not be released to anyone whose names are not on the dismissal form. Please send in a “change of dismissal” form or a note when there is a change for the day. Student safety is our number one priority. 

We are looking forward to a great school year!

Sincerely,

Stephanie Pearson (math & social studies) Jenna Bradstreet (ELA & science)

[email protected] [email protected]t