Grade 4

OCTOBER

class newsletter

RIS

2012-2013

Important dates

5 October—no school for students

17 October—early dismissal, 1pm

19 October—parent conferences

22-26 October—holiday

29 October—school resumes

HOMEWORK

All students should be reading 30 minutes or more

each night, recording their book and time on their

reading log

Math, Science, and/or Social Studies may also be

sent home each night for homework.

All students are expected to complete homework on

time and submit it to their homeroom teacher.

Literacy

Students have been busy launching Reader’s and Writer’s Workshops in classes. They have now begun writing their first personal narrative and are focusing on characters in their stories in class. We are also giving lessons on reading fluency and comprehension to improve their understanding of the books they read and discuss with teachers and partners.

MAPS and DRA test scores will be discussed with parents at the parent-teacher conferences. We will give each parent a print out of their student’s scores at that time.

Math

The second unit of study in Mathematics in Grade 4 is titled, ‘Describing the Shape of the Data’. This unit focuses on data analysis and probability.

The Long Term Learning Targets in this unit are:

1. I can design an effective survey question to compare two groups.

2. I can organize and represent data about two groups in order to compare the groups.

3. I can describe the shape of the data from a numerical data set, including where the data are concentrated and the highest, lowest, and median values.

4. I can use data to compare two groups.

5. I can use evidence from a set of data to support an argument.

6. I can describe the likelihood of an event in terms of a scale from impossible to certain.

Science

The kids have jumped right into science with our unit

on Earth Materials. They have been exploring the

following concepts in Earth Science:

Mock Rocks—rock and mineral properties

Scratch Test—specific properties of minerals

Calcite Quest—presence of calcium/calcite in rocks

Take it for Granite—using mineral properties to find out

which minerals are in the rock, granite

Earth’s layers, soils, and plate tectonics

Social Studies

Long Term Learning Targets:

I can explain and correctly use the elements of maps and globes.

I can explain and demonstrate the 5 Themes of Geography.

I can compare ways that the earth’s physical and human features have changed over time.

I can examine various types and patterns of settlement and land use and reasons why particular locations are used for certain human activities.

I can identify appropriate resources and geographic tools to generate and interpret information about the earth.

Our first unit in Social

Studies is the 5

Themes of Geography.

This is an exciting unit

focused on learning

how geographers

study our earth,

physically and

culturally. Students

have an opportunity

to learn and apply

mapping skills using

our world floor maps,

desk maps, and

atlases.

Stay Tune….Our Immigration Unit starts on October 29th!.....

Ms. Katie’s class

Ms. April’s class

Sharing our

learning, our best

books, and lots

of smiles among

our hard work!

Mr. Joe’s classScience Investigation into mineral properties with Mr. Randy!