Hello October!

Good Afternoon,

The classroom had a lot less energy and fun in it today, but I hope the students were able to find some time to sharpen their saw doing some things that they love. Next week is Homecoming week in the district so be sure to check out the dress up days below as well as the date and time for the Homecoming Parade. It's been one busy month to start the school year, but I am proud of the kids for their daily efforts as well as the culture we are creating within our classroom in 4th Grade. I look forward to continuing to build on the start this next month!

Week in Review:

Leader in Me: This week, we learned how to have a growth mindset and perseverance. Having a growth mindset helps us persevere through tough situations. Work together to create a plan your family can use when you encounter a difficult situation.

Writing: Writers were able to pause after the rigor of the writing process to celebrate the hard work they put into their narrative writing. We celebrated with 3rd grade writers where the 4th graders were able to teach about the process they went through as writers to get to their final piece as well as sharing their stories. It's amazing to see the growth in 3 weeks time as writers, and I hope they were able to realize just how much they have accomplished so far. We began our last bend of our writing unit where writers will prepare to take one more story of their choosing to take through the writing process.

Math:  Mathematicians took a short assessment of the concepts and skills introduced in the unit so far, and to measure their growth from the beginning of the unit. Then through a variety of work place games, they practiced the following skills: strategically choosing factors to claim products on a game board, strategies that might be used to work efficiently with the multiple wheel. Lastly, we took a closer look at multiplicative comparisons, working to understand what it really means when we say that something is twice as big, three times as tall, or four times as many as something else. Such comparisons lie at the heart of multiplicative thinking, making them central to the fourth grade year.

Reading: Readers are working on improving their theories in the books they read by searching for precise academic language when describing a situation. Then we discussed the complications to characters, and how they are not just one way but digging deeper into who they are, just like the people around us. Lastly, readers were working to ground all of their ideas they find with strong text evidence to back up all of their claims. With all this work, we always keep in mind that we don't read to just become better readers, but ultimately better people.

Content: Students used a variety of different maps to investigate geography and explain relationships between the locations of places and their environmental characteristics. They reviewed basic mapping skills and vocabulary while working in groups to complete a map scavenger hunt.

  • Thank you to a parent who shared this great resource which can benefit your 4th grader and family! Every fourth grader in the US is eligible to receive a free pass for their family to visit America’s natural wonders and historic sites, which accesses hundreds of parks, lands and waters for an entire year! Visit everykidoutdoors.gov/rules.htm for more information and to get your pass!


A Look Ahead:

  • October 1st - Family Night 5:00-6:30 P.M.

  • October 2nd - Homecoming Parade 6:00 P.M.
  • October 8th - Picture Re-Take Day
  • October 24th & 25th - No School


That's all for this week!

Have a great weekend!


Mr. VW




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