Upcoming Events
Monday, February 26th: Puffins to Forest Grove Public Library 2pm-3pm
Students should bring their library books to return, library card and a tote bag.
Chaperones Needed!
Thursday, March 1st: All Day O&A: Oregon Ballet- Alice in Wonderland
NOTE: We have our chaperones for this event. Stay tuned for other O&A trips in April and May if you are interested in joining us as a chaperone on our outward bound adventures this spring:)
Order the 2017-18 FGCS Yearbook!
Don't miss your chance to order the 2017-18 FGCS Yearbook! Click here to order and pay for yearbooks online with credit/debit. If you prefer to pay with cash or check, you may download a paper form here or pick one up in the school office.
Deadline for orders is 4 p.m. Thurs., March 22.
Level 2 Suggested Weekly Homework:
Reading Homework
Spend at least 20 minutes reading (outside of school) every day.
Reading is on the "honor system" and we ask that you help your kiddo to develop a daily reading routine with good-fit books. At fall conferences, your kiddo brought home the Tower of Books wall poster, which is a fun (and optional) reading genre challenge.
Typing Homework
Level 2 students have typing homework to develop and support important keyboarding skills. Please practice at least 20 minutes per week on: Typing.com
Math homework
It is strongly recommended that your student practice math skills
at least 30 minutes (or more) per week.
This can be completed online with Dreambox or Khan Academy. Students can also play math games, or complete worksheets (you can find grade level workbooks online or at the Learning Palace).
Recent 4th grade Math Topics:
- Multiplication: 1 digit by 2 digit and 2 digit by 2 digit using the "area method"
- Divide 1 digit by 2 , 3 and 4 digits using an area model
- Division Algorithm (AKA: Long Division) Watch a Video!
- Fractions
Prefer a worksheet for math homework? You can download here, or your student can pick up a paper copy in class.
Here are the practice pages for the previous weeks:
- Homework #1: Introduction to Fractions
- Homework #2: Unit Fractions/ Finding Fractions on a Number line
- Homework #3: Comparing Fractions
- Homework #4: Adding & Subtracting Fractions
NEW 4th grade MATH HOMEWORK:
- Homework #5: Adding & Subtract Fractions with UNLIKE denominators AND Multiplying a Fraction by a Whole Number
All 4th grade math students should be practicing their multiples DAILY.
4th graders have set goals and made plans for daily practice and have identified the numbers they needs to work on (ie. 6’s, 7’s, 8’s, etc.). Check in with your kiddo about this!
What's Happening in the Puffin Nest...
This week, a special guest from LAIKA stop motion animation studios visited our classrooms! Students got to hear about working life in animation and also got to see the actual Kubo and the Monkey puppets from the movie up close!
Questions the Puffins asked:
- How long does it take to make a full length movie like "Kubo and the 2 Strings"?
- How many pictures did you take in that movie?
- What is your favorite part of your job?
- What made you want to work with stop motion as your career?
- Do you have any advice for students like us who might be interested in a job involving stories, art and technology?
Our "Fairytale Adaptations" Writing Unit & Stop Motion Animations!
- We started our fairy tale writing unit by reading and listening to many original fairy tales. We saw that it’s all about Characters – Setting – Motivation – Trouble – and Resolution.
- We studied Modern Fairy Tale Adaptations to help us with writing our own. We looked closely at the changes that authors made and noticed that they usually made one big important change to improve the story.
- We wrote our own adaptations of fairytales. We choose our favorite piece of writing from this unit, and used it to create our own stop motion animation!
- We studies our stories, and used them to create a storyboard, characters, and backgrounds for filming the stop motion.
- Sickerella
- The Sly Little Fox
- Hamster Man
- The Little Tae Kwon Do Dojo
- The Pig's New Home
- The Three Little Seagulls and the Big Bad Eagle
- The Naked Mole Rat
Our Class Read Aloud:
Where The Mountain Meets The Moon by Grace Lin. This story incorporates many Chinese folk tales told by the main character's father, which makes it a great fit with our focus on storytelling!
Reading Workshop: Book Clubs
These small group "Literature Circles" engage students in vocabulary study and rich conversations about shared readings. Students can express their opinions, predictions, and questions about a text in a productive, structured way while developing their reading, speaking, and thinking abilities. Ask your kiddo to tell you about the book they are reading!
Our Book Club Books:
- The Wanderer
- View from Saturday
- Bridge to Terabithia
- Holes
- Cricket in Times Square
- How to Train Your Dragon