Hello, again, everyone. This week we went from a couple of days in shorts and t-shirts for recess, to being stuck back inside with sweatshirts being pulled on and a 40 degree rainfall!
We took two days in fourth grade math to complete Unit 9's final test, to make sure there was enough time to catch any careless mistakes or misreading of directions, which does plague many of our students. Now we are exploring reflections and lines of symmetry in Unit 10, along with work on adding and subtracting negative numbers. This unit is quite a bit shorter than the others, so we will be reviewing our lessons by the end of next week already in preparation for the final test there. We will keep you posted on the exact date for that.
This week's spelling list may be more difficult for many, so I am giving everyone some extra days to practice. The test will be next Wednesday. The stories our students are creating, using these spelling words, are quite entertaining and fun - and they get the chance to let their imaginations roam along some unusual routes in trying to use all their words. In Writer's Workshop, we did not get real far in our note taking this first week for our Informational Booklets. We needed to take two class periods to complete this year's final and third round of MAPS assessments in the computer lab for math and reading. Many of our students are becoming noticeably more comfortable using the computer for these assessments, and they are visibly gaining confidence in how they are answering as well. We all feel great that we have completed these assessments for the year!
Now that our first Book Clubs have finished their books, we have given ourselves the chance to trade and exchange, so that students interested in reading one of the other books get the opportunity to do that. We traded around today. We will be doing more reflecting on our reading in our Thoughtful Logs with these. In Social Studies, we are winding up our exploration of the Midwest Region of the U.S., and just like Lewis and Clark, we are pushing westward! I cannot wait for the perfect time in this unit to show our students some National Geographic DVD's of our beautiful National Parks. Watch out - you may get some requests for major family trips!
On Monday at lunchtime, all of West Middleton's 4th graders get treated to a small dish of Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt! Woohoo! We won the contest for best behavior in the lunchroom over a two week period earlier in April! We've come a long way!
Early next week, your student will bring home the last monthly Scholastic Book Order form of the school year. We'll give it a week's time to turn them back in, so I can get our order out in time to receive our new books before the last week of school.
Keep in mind that we are planning our day away at the Cave of the Mounds on Monday, June 3rd. If you are interested in chaperoning, just let me know. The other trip, to Pope Farm Park for a half day, is now questionable - I will keep you informed. It was scheduled by the district on the same day as the Senior Class Trip, and buses won't be available that day! So stay tuned on the status of that one!
As notes of importance come up during this last month of school, I will email you all and keep you up to date. We will be quite busy trying to get all the learning in that we can during our rapidly dwindling time together in fourth grade!
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