Oh, my! October is already half over! We've been working hard and the time is flying. A couple important upcoming dates, and then an update on what we are studying and will be studying.
Thursday, October 19--Curriculum Night 5:45 to 7:30. Attend one or both of two sessions offered by grade levels first through fifth to learn about grade-level content, expectations, and how you can support your child at home. Starting around the second session, spaghetti dinner will be served for all families that have attended at least one session. We hope to see you there!
Friday, October 20--Firwood Jog-a-Thon! Fourth grade will be running from 2:30 to 3:30. Our class color is BLUE. Pledges are not due on this Friday, but must returned by next Friday, October 27.
Thursday, October 26--Family Reading Night 6:00 to 7:00 in the library. Come celebrate the changing of the seasons and reading with us! Mr. C will be there--whee!!
Re: Halloween "parties": the upper grades have agreed that with our tight schedules and the high amount of material we are expected to cover, that having a Halloween party is not a high priority. In our class, we will play some games and enjoy each other's company for a half hour or so. Students may bring a non-sugary snack if they would like (either just for themselves, or to share--I'll also have a few snacks to share). Please, no sweets, as students will likely get plenty of sugar that night. YES, we have school on Wednesday; please factor that into your evening plans for the 31st.
Reading
We have started a fascinating unit on animal intelligence: adaptation, behavior, assisting humans, and more. Small reading groups are reading Black Beauty, The Black Stallion (one of my favorites!), Shiloh, and Anansi trickster tales. We will be reading more trickster tales specific to the Pacific Northwest as part of our upcoming Oregon history unit on Native Americans of the region, too.
Math
We are well into chapter 3: multiplication and division. Students are practicing their basic times table facts at their own pace to ensure mastery. This will make future math so much easier! We are also exploring the relationship between multiplication and division, and the concept of multiplicative comparison (35 is 7 times as many as 5). If your child is still working on mastering times tables, here is a link to a .pdf to print out flash cards. You can also purchase times table flash cards at the dollar store. Here are free multiplication worksheets you can print as well. Your student has access to plenty of practice sheets in the classroom as well, and is encouraged to bring some home for additional practice.
Writing
Fourth graders have finished their personal narratives. These will serve as a great benchmark for their beginning of the year writing skills, organization, and stamina. We have moved on to narrative writing, in the form of a creepy, spooky, or ooky story. They have been instructed to NOT make it gory or violent, as our audience will be second graders at school. The stories promise to be amusing, at least!
Science and Social Studies
We are starting our unit on the study of energy, which will be fascinating and engaging. If you know of an electrician or similar who would have fun coming to talk to the class about their job and tools, we'd love to have a guest speaker!
We will also be starting our study of Oregon Native American tribes, focusing on six tribes from around the state. The big picture concept is that early Native Americans adapted to their environment, and this is reflected in their pre-contact shelters, clothing, food, legends, etc. I am also adding in a brief study of the tribes as they live today: they DO still exist, their lives are a combination of tradition and modernity, just like ours, and their lands are not necessarily their ancestral lands.
Be looking for a fun at-home diorama project coming home soon to all fourth grade students!
Progress Portfolios--I got them ALL back! Thank you! If you are curious at any other time how your child is doing, please reach out to Firwood's office staff who will set you up with ParentVue access information, and you can view the online gradebook, which I update about every two weeks. You are also welcome to contact me via email with questions or schedule a conference for after school. Finally, cleaning out your fourth grader's LEFT at home side of their folder with them on a regular basis will be enlightening.
Conferences--will be held with each family in November. If you have yet to sign up for a meeting time, please click through here and find a time that works for you. You will receive an email reminder a few days beforehand. We will talk about your child's growth in class, as well as any questions or concerns you have.
We have also started a class meeting on some unkind behavior that seems to stem primarily from interactions in the lunch room. Fourth graders have shared some of the inappropriate/unkind language and how it makes them feel to be the target or to see classmates being the target. They have also hypothesized many reasons WHY someone might act that way. We will be working towards some concrete actions and solutions when they experience or witness behavior such as this, and it will focus on being an UPstander (not a bystander) for themselves, their friends, and really, anyone (you don't have to be friends with someone to look out for them).
Sorry, no fun pictures this time.
Thank you for making it this far! Please tell your fourth grader that the password is "kindness matters." If they tell it to me at an appropriate time, they will earn a Marvelous Mustang. Please also encourage them to NOT tell their classmates the password; their folks should be reading the blog, too. :)
