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St. Francis of Assisi School

 

    Newsletter - Upcoming Events - Homework Helpers - - Field Trips - Reading Lists -  
   
4th Grade Book Requirements - Learn Your States - Math Web Sites                               

 

 

 

 

Welcome to the 4th Grade

By:  Mrs. McCarthy
Mrs. McLuen
 Mrs. Dante
and the Fourth Grade Class

 

 

 

 

4th Grade Newsletter     

Week of April 14th, 2008

Religion:

·         During this Easter Season, we are studying the 7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit.  We correlate these discussions with different saints that have shown us how they have used these special gifts. 

·         We have completed our testing of the “Hail Holy Queen” and are now working on the “Nicene Creed” in class.  We have discussed its meaning and broken the prayer into 5 major parts.  Students will be assessed on reciting the prayer in groups of 3-4 in the upcoming weeks.  Please encourage your child to say the prayer on weekend masses.

·         Each Friday we have mass, the students are asked to reflect on the gospel, homily, songs, other readings, etc. in a reflection journal.

 Math:    

·        We have wrapped up our unit on fractions.  Students were assessed on simplifying, comparing, ordering, adding and subtracting fractions.  This is a challenging skill that will be revisited in 5th grade.  Please work with your child on this skill.  We will work in small groups with students in need.  

·       Our next unit will be on decimals.  This ties in nicely with fractions, so be looking for homework on this unit next week.

·         Please continue to focus on multiplication and division basic facts.  This will appear on the assignment notebook periodically, but maybe not often enough for those who need extensive practice.  Remember that the timed tests are simply an assessment and are not proven to increase the students knowledge of the facts.  Other strategies such as making the facts using objects, writing them out on paper in groups, drawing arrays on note cards, etc. will prove to be more effective for retaining tricky facts.

·        Language Arts:

 

·         The genre for April is Fantasy.  Students will choose a date to present their project to the class after they have had a chance to finish their book.  Check with your child to see when his/her project is due.

 ·         Students are working on their last literature circle of the year! The students will choose a book within their reading range and work together to discuss the book. Each student will need to come prepared for each “meeting” with the assigned pages read and their role completed.  Students not prepared and have their assignment completed with their BEST work will receive a late assignment. 

·        The students will begin work on a unit with pronouns.  They will learn how to replace a noun with a pronoun correctly in their writing.       

 Social Studies:

·         Students will be working on Current Events from the news during fourth quarter.  They will need to bring in a hard copy of the article and fill out a fact sheet describing the who, when, where, what, and why of the event.  We will assign about three students per week on Fridays and their account of the article will be due the following Friday.  Students will record this as homework in their assignment notebook when it is their turn.

·         Please keep practicing all your States, Capitals and two letter abbreviations!! Remember when studying your states: The STATE name needs to be spelled correctly and you must be able to locate each state on a map.

Science

   ·         Our biome unit continues!  Students have chosen a specific biome to research.  They will then create an “island” out of dough, place it on cardboard, and design their island according to their biome research.  More info. to come on times and dates for the students to share their hard work during the “Biome Fair.”

WE NEED 2’X2’ PIECES OF CARDBOARD!!!

 Please send any cardboard pieces to school early next week! Thanks!

 Upcoming Events:                

          

*  4/21     Fine Arts Week!  

*   4/25    Liturgy at 8:45am  (Elementary)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4th Grade Book Requirements:

Students will be required to read 3 books per month within the following guidelines.  These are only independent books and do not include Guided Reading books, Literature Circle books, or those the teacher is reading during Read Aloud time.

Required books with specifications

# required

Monthly due date

Genre of the month with a project

1

Rotation- See assignment notebooks for dates.

AR book with test taken and passed at 80% accuracy or higher

1

Anytime during the month

Choice book with a letter to the teacher in Reader's Notebook

1

Anytime during the month

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

homework_bag  Homework Helpers

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Learn Your States 

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Guidelines for Helping With Homework So You Don't Work Harder Than Your Child!

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4th Grade Math Enrichment Website 

Math Websites

Place Value:

Place Value Puzzler

More Place Value Practice

 

Measurement:

Practice measuring length 
Animal Weigh In

All math topics:

aaamath.com
Contains subtopic categories
examples would be decimals, measurement

Virtual Manipulatives
This site contains virtual manipulatives for most concepts
It also contains logic activities such as MasterMind, Tangrams, Number Puzzles, etc

Word Problems and Brain Teasers:

Education Place-Brain Teasers
Contains word problems of the week,
along with a archive of problems
 

Scholastic Math Word Problems/Mysteries
Word problems that are listed by skill and
difficulty level

http://www.eduplace.com/math/mhm/
Houghton Mifflin Website-our math textbook

Fun Websites about the USA!

Home Pages for all 50 States

50 States.COM

State Flags

Things ToDo.COM - search by state for symbols, facts, history, things to do, famous people & more!   

US Census Bureau Kid's Corner

 

 

 

 

 

4th Grading Reading

Realistic Fiction    Biography    Historical Fiction  Fantasy

Realistic Fiction:

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Regular Guy, by Sara Weeks

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Bloomability, by Sharon Creech

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Where I'd Like to Be, by Frances O'Roark Dowell

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Dear Mrs. Ryan You're Ruining My Life..., by Jennifer B. Jones

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Trout and Me, by Susan Shreve

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Granny Torrelli Makes Soup, by Sharon Creech

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Frindle by Andrew Clements

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Our Sixth-Grade Sugar Babies, by Eve Bunting

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Three Days, by Donna Jo Napoli

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United Tates of America, by Paula Danziger

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Blackberries in the Dark, by Mavis Jukes

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Shredderman/Secret Identity, by Wendelin Van Graanen

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Skinny Melon and Me, by Jean Ure

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Flunking of Joshua T. Bates, by Susan Shreve

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Fame and Glory in Freedom, Georgia, by Barbara O'Connor

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Hideout, by Eve Bunting

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How Tia Lola Came to Stay, by Julia Alvarez

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