Dear Parents/Families of Students in Room 209,
It’s been a hard working January and February in our
class! Let me tell you about what’s in
store for March!
Field
Trip to Fort Vancouver on Thursday, March 28th 10:25 am - 2:20 pm: We will be
heading to Fort Vancouver for a field trip to learn about the fort’s role in
the early growth of our state and the city of Vancouver. We will need at least 4 parent chaperones. Want to join us? Please email me, send a note in your child’s
planner, or give me a call at 604-6650. As
always, you will need a cleared background check on file to head on this trip
with us. It takes about 2 weeks to get
your background check cleared so please let me know as soon as possible if you
would like to join us and do not yet have a background check filled out. Permission slips for this trip will be coming
home this week. Students will need a
completely disposable sack lunch and warm, weather appropriate clothing (we go
rain or shine). It is optional for the
students to bring money (up to $20) to spend in the Fort Vancouver gift shop.
Writing: We’ve
learned that expository writing has DEARFD (details, examples, anecdotes,
reasons, facts, and definitions) and we are learning how to add those to our
writing to accurately explain our topic.
We are working hard on an appreciation letter to someone special to
explain three ways that person is appreciated or is special. We will use DEARFD to help support our ideas
in this letter. These letters are
basically our first five paragraph essays.
These letters will be sent out with students in a few short days. After we complete the appreciation letters,
we will use DEARFD to write a research report about a fur-bearing animal that
we choose to research. Please continue
to reinforce the importance of good editing skills at home. Encourage the use of dictionaries and
checking ALL written work carefully after completion.
Reading: This month will be continuing our focus on
inferencing. To make an inference, we
use text clues and what we already know (our background knowledge) to make
conclusions about what the author wants us to know or learn from the text. Our reading equation for this is TC (text
clues) + BK (background knowledge) = Inference.
We are focusing on inferring the big ideas the author wants us to know
but doesn’t tell us directly. The winter
book report is due March 8th. Encourage best writing on the book report
including strong supporting details, then erase any pencil marks that
remain. The book report should be final
copy/published quality work with full coloring on any sketches. Please keep encouraging your child to be
reading their chapter books to reach their goal of reading at least 500 pages
by the end of the trimester, March 15th. Their reading should be a mix of
silent reading and reading aloud with some feedback from you. Reading silently helps students think deeply
and visualize the events in the book and reading aloud with feedback improves
reading rate and fluency. At the end of
each book, your child should be filling out a High Five Book Club summary by
writing a short summary of the book to demonstrate they have read the book
entirely and then turning it into me for credit. Ask your child where they are with this goal
for the trimester. Students are welcome
to write up their book report book as well. High five Book Club Summaries are due by March
15th. Mid-March, we will move into
learning about how readers ask questions as they read and that questioning
pushes a reader through a text.
Math: We are working hard on understanding
fraction concepts such as identifying fractions, adding
and subtracting with like denominators, finding fractions on a number line and
drawing them with pictorial representations, finding equivalents, writing and
identifying mixed numbers and improper fractions, and moving interchangeably
between decimals and fractions. We are
also moving into working with finding the area of irregular and regular shapes
using an array/multiplication to solve for the total area. Of course, knowing your math facts for
multiplication is vital for learning more advanced concepts for fractions
(simplifying and finding equivalents) and multiplying to find area so students
who have not “passed” their facts through their 12s by March
15th
( a revised date) will stay in one recess each day after that to practice their
facts. Students who haven’t
learned their facts will study with other students who haven’t learned their
facts (using flashcards and other means) to help both students improve. Daily practice for 10-15 minutes is important
to ensure progress. I can’t
stress enough that knowing these facts are instrumental to learning more
advanced concepts and feeling confident in math. Thanks again to all math
fact parent helpers for their help with math facts weekly.
Social
Studies/Science: In Social
Studies, we will begin to learn about fur trapping and trading’s role in the
development of the Pacific Northwest.
Students will choose a fur-bearing animal to research more about. In science, we have been learning about different
environments and the factors that influence them. We have also learned about Food Chains and
the passing of energy through food chains.
Students will also learn about different biomes.
MSP
Released Test Items: These
released items give our class important practice for the upcoming MSP (Measure
of Student Progress) test. These
released test items are used to give students an opportunity to build
confidence with the test and practice important skills. Students will complete some of the released
test items in class and some at home. Most
of the time I will check and ask students to correct missed questions/problems. I occasionally have parents sign the released
items so that you are informed as to how your child is progressing toward state
standards.
MSP
(Measure of Student Progress):
The MSP testing window is April 24th- May 16th. Please do what you can to ensure that your
child is well rested, relaxed, fed a healthy breakfast, and in school (please
do not plan family vacations during the testing window) during those
weeks. Students who are not, have to
make up the test on the alternate days in a different location in the building
and often don’t do as well because they are testing in an environment that is
not comfortable to them. Thank you in
advance for your support with this! J
4th
Grade Pride/MSP Night: Please
join me with your fourth grader in our portable classroom (room 209) from
6:30-7:30 pm on Tuesday, March 19th to see some of our best work,
learn more about the expectations for the MSP this year, and engage in some
activities with your fourth grader. This is an event for fourth graders and their
parents.
I so enjoy working with your students! They are such a kind and special group!
Warmest regards,
Karri Allen
No comments:
Post a Comment