Upcoming Events:
January 18th No School- Martin Luther King Holiday
January 20 Wizard of Oz @ 1pm
Theatre In The Grove
To help cover the cost of the tickets, we are asking families to contribute $5.
All Puffins will be able to attend, even if your family cannot contribute at this time.
Please have your student turn in money directly to Ginny.
January 25 Library Visit
January 28th-29th No School- Grading/Staff Development
Homework due on Thursday, January 21st:
1. Writing: Reading Response Letter- Notebooks due Thursday morning
- Writing Homework Home Support: Ask your child to read the letter they have written out loud. Take a look at the letter and provide them with feedback about what they have done well and how they might make it better. Give reminders about proofreading and working on neat handwriting.
- Directions for completing the Reading Response Letter can be found inside the front cover of the writing notebook. Sentence starting ideas can be found on the last page of the notebook.
2. Reading: Read for at least 20 minutes every night- track at home
3. Math: Complete at least 30 minutes of math practice per week-(more is recommended)
Suggested IXL skills for 3rd grade math practice:
- V.9 - V.11 Perimeter and Area
- U.3 - U.4 Measuring length
- Fractions worksheet: Fractions Week 2 Homework
- Practice saying multiples (skip-counting) for numbers 2-12
- Multiplication facts up to 12: IXL (D.2)
- Division Facts up to 12: IXL (E.1)
Our Week in Review:
4th grade Math:
FRACTIONS CC 4.NF
BIG IDEAS:
Students follow up sessions of focused reading with a four part reflection. In their novel study journals, students list and define new words. They note examples of figurative language. They summarize the chapters they read, pose questions and make predictions about what might happen next in the story. Up next, literature circles!
Literature circles engage students in rich conversations about shared readings. Students can express their opinions, predictions, and questions about a text in a productive, structured way. Students will take on specific group roles which are designed to develop reading, speaking, and thinking abilities.
Writing
We now turn our attention away from narrative writing, to focus on persuasive writing and speeches. Students state an opinion and give reasons to support it. This week, students wrote persuasive essays, created notecards for the main parts of their writing (introduction, reasons/examples and conclusion) and presented their speech to our class. Our kiddos are full of passionate opinions! During this unit, students will work to elaborate more on their thinking, to structure their arguments, and possibly to introduce counterargument as a persuasive skill.
IN & About Science Lab
During our In&About engineering lab last week, students designed water towers that could withstand an earthquake - using only spaghetti, marshmallows and tape! Strong designs incorporated shapes like symmetrical triangles and crosses. This week, we got another chance to create a stronger structure using new materials. The Puffins did an amazing job with teamwork and their popsicle stick water towers showed this!
On Wednesday, we used our knowledge for a new challenge - to build an earthquake-proof dam across a model of Hagg Lake. To help us simulate an earthquake, we have a fantastic shaking table designed by the Roberts family! At home this week, take a moment to observe some of the structures in your home and notice what makes them sturdy, or even try making your own spaghetti tower with your family.
Donate
On Wednesday, January 20th, we will see Theatre In The Grove's production of Wizard of Oz. To help cover the cost of the tickets, we are asking families to contribute $5. All Puffins will be able to attend, even if your family cannot contribute at this time. Please have your student turn in money directly to me (Ginny).
Thanks for your excellent support!
Class Read Aloud
We are enjoying the award winning novel, Flora & Ulysses.