Week of September 26th

It has been a great week in 4th grade. Thank you to all of the family and friends who showed up for Special Friends Day and it was great to see everyone at the Fall Family Picnic. Please don't forget to sign up for a fall parent conference if you have not already done so.

In math this week, we finished our decimal must do/may do board and started on our place value projects. Mrs. Howard our technology specialist came and introduced some new digital tools to our learners so they could start on their final product for their place value project. They worked hard on those this week and will continue to work on them next week. 

In reading, we continued our lesson on genre. We explored poetry, mystery, traditional literature, and fantasy/ science fiction. In addition to each genre study, we discussed different types of figurative language, the relationship between cause and effect, how to compare and contrast, and the development of a story plot.

In social studies, we continued exploring the different regions of Texas. Today, we played a game called Kahoot to engage our knowledge on the different regions of Texas.

This week in science, we explored how to light a lightbulb by creating a simple circuit. Please be on the lookout for a picture or video of your learners circuit on their Google site. 

September 19th-23rd

In math this week, we looked at comparing decimals and started to finish our must do/may do board. We introduced our place value project to the classes and Mrs. Berumen came to talk to them about citing their sources from where they find their research.

In science, we started our unit on force, energy, and motion unit with a picture walk and a t-chart on questions and observations. We focused on electricity by exploring the different materials that we will be using during this unit.

In reading, we learned about several more genres. We also learned about first and third person point of view, how to create dialogue, and reviewed nonfiction text features. In language arts, we learned about proper and common nouns and irregular verbs.

In social studies, we reviewed the four regions of Texas and the learners worked on a Mind Mission that reviewed the High (Great) Plains. The learners constructed a bridge across the canyon that could carry the weight of a cow!

Mind Mission time:

September 12th-16th

We have had such a great week in 4th grade! We started using our iPads on Tuesday. We also celebrated Dot Day on Thursday and were able to Skype with other classrooms in Texas. Your child also came home with their tickets for the Fall Family Picnic Auction. So be looking in the binders for those!

In science this week, we took the data that was collected from the bubble investigation and transferred it into a bar graph. We also compared graphs with each other to see the different diameters of bubbles.

In math, we continued our unit on place value. We focused on decimals to the tenths and hundredths place. We also started our first must do/may do board for math. The kiddos worked on writing decimals in expanded notation and word form.

In language arts, we have started our Genre unit. We have started conversations on different fictional and nonfictional genres that help better understand texts. Learners defined, applied, and explored specific genres, such as realistic fiction, biography/autobiography, etc. Moreover, we talked about character traits and summaries. In social studies, we continued to explore different regions of Texas.

September 6th-9th

In math this week, we continued to look at the world population and practiced our different ways to represent numbers to the billions place. We also took a world population quiz. At the end of the week we began our discussion on decimal place value. We will be looking at different ways to represent decimals to the hundredths place.

In science this week,  we continued to explore the Engineering Design Process by help a bubble company that is in financial trouble create a solution that will produce the thickest and largest bubble for the least amount of money.

In reading, we talked about how we need to be great listeners and phenomenal talkers. We also discussed what good readers and writers do.

In social studies, we started our unit on the regions of Texas. We focused on the Mountains and Basins region this week and discovered the important cities, what the climate is like, and what agriculture and industries are important in this region. Moreover, learners were able to begin designing a Mind Mission activity called Captain Climb.

In writing, we took our beginning of the year writing assessment. We also finished up our brainstorming strategies with round robin writing and sentence stems. Learners also took their first grammar quiz. Next week, we will begin spelling and talking about the different spelling patterns.

Please click on the two links below to view some of our after school clubs this year. 

Geography Club 

Destination Imagination Flyer 

Curriculum Night Presentation

Please use the link below to view the presentation from Curriculum Night. Thank you to all the parents who were able to make it. If you were unable to make it and have any questions please let us know. We are so excited about this year! 

Curriculum Link

Week Two

It has been another great week in 4th grade! 

In math, we continued working on place value to the billions place. We practiced writing our numbers in standard form, expanded form, word form, and expanded notation. We also compared the differences between expanded form and expanded notation. 

In writing, we continued our brainstorming strategies. We practiced the wet ink strategy and brain dumping. We also started to look at different homophones and how we can use them in sentences. 

In science this week, we continued to explore the scientific method and engineering design process by answering the question, "Which solution will make the largest bubble?" Some classes were also able to visit the garden, and they measured the perimeter around it to see how much fence will be needed for purchase. 

During language arts we learned how to live 'literate lives' and what is an authentic and good fit book for each and every learner. We also learned when it is an appropriate time to abandon a book. At the end of the week, we worked on good listening.