April 7-10, 2025

le 7 au 10 avril 2025

Upcoming Dates   

  • Friday, April 11 – NO SCHOOL – Professional Development for teachers
  • Tuesday, May 20 – 3-5 Music Concert (See below for full information.)

Classroom Needs

We asked each family to bring two full boxes of tissues at the beginning of the year, so if you already did that, feel free to ignore this request. However, we are low on tissues and would love some donations. Please don’t send tissues with lotion in them. Thanks to Tessla and Finnegan’s mom for sending in a maxi-set from Costco and to Ian’s family for sending in tissues. Merci! 

Please ensure that you email BOTH TEACHERS when you communicate with us.

(kincaid_j@4j.lane.edu and hopper_s@4j.lane.edu)

Roller Coaster Schedule

This past week, we began a new schedule, and it went quite smoothly. I had a bit of a hard time with it after doing the same schedule for over 15 years, but it really cuts down on transitions, which are time-consumers, so that is very positive. Students begin the day in the room in which they ended the day prior instead of beginning in the same room every day of the week. It’s called a “Roller coaster schedule,” and it has brought positive comments from other immersion programs. You don’t need to do anything differently, and if any kids end up in the wrong room, we will figure it out. 

Le français

Jana Kincaid, French and Science kincaid_j@4j.lane.edu

There IS  French homework this week. This week’s homework covers four additional rules, all of which we’ve been using all year. The goal is to be able to apple the rules when speaking and writing in normal usage, not just for the exercises. Here is a copy of the homework:  vocab règles avril 2025 l Vocab

We began working in earnest on our francophone country project this week. THIS PROJECT MUST REMAIN AT SCHOOL. If you notice any parts of this project in the materials your child brings home, please send them back to school. This project will take up most of our time for the next six to eight weeks. Your students will have limited access to the Internet during this time via websites I have already vetted. We began with drawing the country’s flag. Most are pretty simple, but a few are quite complicated!

Le petit îlot

We began a new “J’observe…” this week, Le petit îlot (The little islet). This is an actual place, and in the students’ descriptions of the photo, the students have to make an informed guess of where this could exist in the world, just to get an idea of recognizing clues and to raise awareness of climates around the world. We will work on climates during the Francophone country project.

We have three art projects up in the hallway. Our “Tubes” project is in the stairwell that leads down to 4th & 5th grades. The other project is “Les cerisiers en fleur” or “Cherry blossoms” in a limited space, so Mme Wolf selected a few to display in the display across from the office. They will all come home in the next few weeks. We also have a board showing the body parts drawings we made.

Student goal:  I can express myself in writing, conjugating verbs, creating interesting sentences, and respecting the grammar rules I have already been taught.

Student goal:  I can find grammatical and punctuation errors in sentences in French.

Student goal:  I can form lowercase and uppercase letters correctly in cursive.

Les sciences

We will dive back into our Énergie unit this week. We will test objects in a circuit to determine which items are conductors (un conducteur) and which are insulators (un isolant). 

Artist in Residence

This week, fourth grade worked on a tie-dye project with our second artist-in-residence, Tiana Povenmire-Kirk. This project will be completed this week and will take place in both classrooms.

     

Math

Shelli Hopper-Moore hopper_s@4j.lane.edu English & Math

No HOMEWORK this week


 In small groups, students will continue solving problems telling time in French with our intern, Charlotte. This will continue through April.
 

We continue Bridges Module 5: Geometry & Measurement. Last week we reasoned about angles and learned a lot of geometry vocabulary (acute, obtuse, straight angle, degree, polygon, etc.). This week students will use protractors to measure angles and will describe and classify polygons.

  • Determine angles of rotation
  • Measure angles with protractors
  • Identify types of lines and angles
  • Identify and classify types of polygons

Here’s the parent support page to explain the major concepts of this unit.

 

English & Social Studies

A note from our Student teacher:
Bonjour and it’s great to virtually meet you! My name is Breauna Green, and I am a student teacher for Madame Shelli. I am currently in the UOTeach program and will be a licensed teacher next school year.
 
Last week, we worked on grammar and correct punctuation for complex, compound, and run on sentences. This upcoming week, we will be studying possessive pronouns and homophones (example: two, to, too). Keep an eye out for grammar worksheets that we have worked on and corrected together in your child’s home folder. They’ve been making great progress with their sentence structure punctuation. 
 
Social Studies/ ELA unit:
Corps of Discovery & Impacts on Indigenous people
 
We continue our three week integrated ELA/ Social Studies unit about the Lewis and Clark expedition and its impact first people of Oregon. A major theme of this unit is to consider history from different perspectives. Last week we read about how Indigenous have been living in Oregon since time immemorial. This week, we’ll delve into U.S. History and read a short chapter book called Lewis and Clark, In their Own Words. Throughout the unit, students will discuss points of view and impacts of American expansion.

 

 Reminders:

Healthy and Nut-Free Snacks

PLEASE do not send any snacks containing peanuts or any kind of tree nut. Healthy, non-messy snacks are best. Please do not send candy as a snack either.

PE & Recess

At recess, students will be outside even in drizzle. So please have your child wear layers and a jacket or hat during rainy, cool weather. Also, students need secure and sturdy shoes on PE Days:

Blue Class PE & Library days: Monday & Thursday

Red Class PE & Library days: Tuesday & FridayDecember 9-13, 2024

 

Spring Music Concert

What/Where:  3rd-5th Spring Music Concert on May 20 at 6:30pm in Roosevelt Middle School Gym.

Who is invited:  Everyone.  Using Roosevelt means anyone can attend. The gym at Charlemagne is too small for this type of event.     

Arrival:  Students should arrive between 6pm – 6:20pm.  The K-2nd concert will be finishing at 6pm so please don’t enter the gym before 6pm unless you are planning to attend the whole K-2 concert which starts at 5pm.

Departure:  After the concert, we are asking that students and families help put away chairs, clean up the gym and help load up instruments and equipment into vehicles to be transported back to Charlemagne.  

Attire:  Dress ‘nicely’.  

Help:  We will need some volunteers to help transport instruments to Roosevelt from Charlemagne and then back again after the concert.  More info coming soon. 

Thanks,

M. Eric

blochmiller_e@4j.lane.edu

April 2-5, 2025

le 2 au 5 avril 2025

Upcoming Dates   

  • Tuesday, April 1 – School resumes for students
  • Friday, April 11 – No school – Professional Development for teachers
  • Tuesday, May 20 – 3-5 Music Concert (See below for full information)

Classroom Needs

We asked each family to bring two full boxes of tissues at the beginning of the year, so if you already did that, feel free to ignore this request. However, we are getting low on tissues and would love some donations. Please don’t send tissues with lotion in them. Thanks to Callie’s dad and to Olivia Y’s family who already sent some in. Merci! Come on everyone else. 

Please ensure that you email BOTH TEACHERS when you communicate with us.

(kincaid_j@4j.lane.edu and hopper_s@4j.lane.edu)

This week, we will be trying a new schedule. Students will begin the in the room in which they ended instead of beginning in the same room every day of the week. It’s called a “Roller coaster schedule,” and it has brought positive comments from other immersion programs. Third grade has been doing this schedule all term, and they are very happy with it, so we’re going to give it a shot. You don’t need to do anything differently, and if any kids end up in the wrong room, we can probably figure it out. 

Le français

Jana Kincaid, French and Science kincaid_j@4j.lane.edu

There is no French homework this week, it will be the week of April 7. We began talking about our francophone country project the week before spring break and students were assigned their countries. We will begin our research this week.

Most students have completed our newest “J’observe..” writing prompt, “Les garçons et la moto.” The boys are in India, fresh from bathing at the canal in the village of Chachura in Utter Pradesh, precisely here. Many students though the boys were in Africa rather than Asia, but a few kids had it figured out. We will do a new “J’observe…” writing activity the first or second week back to school.

We have two art projects up in the hallway. Our “Tubes” project is in the stairwell that leads down to 4th & 5th grades. The other project is “Les cerisiers en fleur” or “Cherry blossoms” in a limited space, so Mme Wolf selected a few to display. They will all come home in the next few weeks.

Student goal:  I can express myself in writing, conjugating verbs, creating interesting sentences, and respecting the grammar rules I have already been taught.

Student goal:  I can find grammatical and punctuation errors in sentences in French.

Student goal:  I can form lowercase and uppercase letters correctly in cursive.

Artist in Residence

This week, fourth grade will create a tie-dye project with our second artist-in-residence, Tiana Povenmire-Kirk. This project will be completed next week and will take place in both classrooms.

Les sciences

We will dive back into our Énergie unit this week. We will test objects in a circuit to determine which items are conductors (un conducteur) and which are insulators (un isolant).

     

Math

Shelli Hopper-Moore hopper_s@4j.lane.edu English & Math

HOMEWORK- Math review Tuesday & Wednesday; Writing to share with parents on Thursday

On Thursday, please look for the last unit quiz to come home as well as students’ most recent writing assignment.

 In small groups, we’ll be practicing telling time in Frenchwith our intern, Charlotte. This will continue through April.
 

This week, we’ll start Bridges Module 5: Geometry & Measurement. This week we’ll be measuring angles and using protractors as well as learning a lot of vocabulary.   this week’s goals are:

  • Determine angles of rotation
  • Measure angles with protractors
  • Identify types of lines and angles

Here’s the parent support page to explain the major concepts of this unit.

 

English & Social Studies

Current Unit: Corps of Discovery & Impacts on Indigenous people
There’s an opportunity for your family to visit the POW WOW this weekend at Lane Community College. Here’s the link for more information.
 
We begin a three week integrated social studies unit about the Lewis and Clark expedition and its impact first people of Oregon. We’ll start by reading a book about Indigenous People of Oregon and learning from lessons provided by the Grande Ronde Tribe about its people’s traditional way of life living in Oregon since time immemorial. Then, we’ll delve into U.S. History and read a short chapter book called Lewis and Clark, In their Own Words.

 

 Reminders:

Healthy and Nut-Free Snacks

PLEASE do not send any snacks containing peanuts or any kind of tree nut. Healthy, non-messy snacks are best. Please do not send candy as a snack either.

PE & Recess

At recess, students will be outside even in drizzle. So please have your child wear layers and a jacket or hat during rainy, cool weather. Also, students need secure and sturdy shoes on PE Days:

Blue Class PE & Library days: Monday & Thursday

Red Class PE & Library days: Tuesday & FridayDecember 9-13, 2024

 

Spring Music Concert

What/Where:  3rd-5th Spring Music Concert on May 20 at 6:30pm in Roosevelt Middle School Gym.

Who is invited:  Everyone.  Using Roosevelt means anyone can attend. The gym at Charlemagne is too small for this type of event.     

Arrival:  Students should arrive between 6pm – 6:20pm.  The K-2nd concert will be finishing at 6pm so please don’t enter the gym before 6pm unless you are planning to attend the whole K-2 concert which starts at 5pm.

Departure:  After the concert, we are asking that students and families help put away chairs, clean up the gym and help load up instruments and equipment into vehicles to be transported back to Charlemagne.  

Attire:  Dress ‘nicely’.  

Help:  We will need some volunteers to help transport instruments to Roosevelt from Charlemagne and then back again after the concert.  More info coming soon. 

Thanks,

M. Eric

blochmiller_e@4j.lane.edu

March 17-21, 2025

le 17 au 21 mars 2025

Upcoming Dates    

  • Monday- Friday, March 17-21, 2025 – Spirit Week – Read Across Charlemagne! See the poster (below) to know what to wear to school each day if your child so chooses. 
  • Monday-Monday, March 24-March 31 – Spring Break
  • Tuesday, April 1 – School resumes for students
  • Friday, April 11 – No school – Professional Development for teachers
  • Tuesday, May 20 – 3-5 Music Concert (See below for full information)

Classroom Needs

We asked each family to bring two full boxes of tissues at the beginning of the year, so if you already did that, feel free to ignore this request. However, we are getting low on tissues and would love some donations. Please don’t send tissues with lotion in them. Thanks to Todd Gonsalves who already sent some in. Merci!

Please ensure that you email BOTH TEACHERS when you communicate with us.

(kincaid_j@4j.lane.edu and hopper_s@4j.lane.edu)

Le français

Jana Kincaid, French and Science kincaid_j@4j.lane.edu

There is no French homework this week, as I never give homework the week before a vacation time. We’ll begin talking about our francophone country project this week, and we have plenty to do. We had to skip science this week . We’ll start back up after our glorious spring break.

Most students have completed our newest “J’observe..” writing prompt, “Les garçons et la moto.” The boys are in India, fresh from bathing at the canal in the village of Chachura in Utter Pradesh, precisely here. Many students though the boys were in Africa rather than Asia, but a few kids had it figured out. We will do a new “J’observe…” writing activity the first week back to school.

Student goal:  I can express myself in writing, conjugating verbs, creating interesting sentences, and respecting the grammar rules I have already been taught.

Most students have completed their cursive instruction, although it will probably be another couple of weeks before everyone has finished. Now, we use our cursive just in our daily writing. We will rewrite our signatures this week also.

Student goal:  I can find grammatical and punctuation errors in sentences in French.

Student goal:  I can form lowercase and uppercase letters correctly in cursive.

Artist in Residence

This week we got a visit from an amazing artist-in-residence, Nicole Hummel. She is a fluent French speaker, as well as a talented potter, so she instructed the kids in French. We made several items from clay (l’argile), including a glazed monster (un monstre) that will come home soon. The kids loved it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     

Math

Shelli Hopper-Moore hopper_s@4j.lane.edu English & Math

HOMEWORK- Practice telling time & discuss elapsed time in your regular day to day activities.  There is no printed homework, but if your child doesn’t yet tell time on a clock with hands, please practice at home. (See telling time quiz in home folder.)


Telling time is a second grade standard. In fourth grade, we solve problems of elapsed time (Ex. Joe knits for 2 1/2 hours. He starts at 8:15. What time does he finish?).  In small groups, we’ll be practicing telling time in French with our intern, Charlotte. 

This week, we’ll be solving problems with measurement conversions of time and metric volume, weight, and length. We will wrap up the unit Bridges Module 4: Addition and Subtraction. There will be a final quiz on Thursday or Friday. Here’s the parent support page to explain the major concepts of this unit.

 

English

Thank you to all of the parents who sent in snacks for our “survival party” to celebrate the end of our Extreme Environment unit last week. We had more than we needed!

Current Unit: Persuasive Writing
Last week we analyzed several short, persuasive essays. We looked at a simple 5 paragraph structure and “writer moves” such as using reasons, explanation and evidence to support opinions. We also discussed using transition words to help writing flow.
 
Thank you all for reading and responding to your child’s narrative survival stories! I loved reading the encouraging words you all gave your kids. In response to common errors in student writing, last week we started a daily dose of grammar. Though grammar isn’t always super exciting, we’re trying to make it a little fun by including students’ names and interests in their sample sentences. Each day, we will analyze and practice a bit of grammar to, hopefully, elevate student writing. Last week, we focused on complete simple sentences with a subject and predicate. Then, we looked at compound sentences. This week, we’ll practice correctly writing and punctuating compound sentences and complex sentences.
 

Find out more about 4j’s 4th Grade English Curriculum. This fact sheet for parents also includes a full list of the texts we’ll read as well as additional texts that can be read at home to extend your child’s learning.

 

Reminders:

Healthy and Nut-Free Snacks

PLEASE do not send any snacks containing peanuts or any kind of tree nut. Healthy, non-messy snacks are best. Please do not send candy as a snack either.

PE & Recess

At recess, students will be outside even in drizzle. So please have your child wear layers and a jacket or hat during rainy, cool weather. Also, students need secure and sturdy shoes on PE Days:

Blue Class PE & Library days: Monday & ThursdayRed Class PE & Library days: Tuesday & FridayDecember 9-13, 2024

Spring Music Concert – May 20th, 2025 at 6:30pm for 3rd, 4th and 5th grades.

 

Spring Music Concert

What/Where:  3rd-5th Spring Music Concert on May 20 at 6:30pm in Roosevelt Middle School Gym.

Who is invited:  Everyone.  Using Roosevelt means anyone can attend. The gym at Charlemagne is too small for this type of event.     

Arrival:  Students should arrive between 6pm – 6:20pm.  The K-2nd concert will be finishing at 6pm so please don’t enter the gym before 6pm unless you are planning to attend the whole K-2 concert which starts at 5pm.

Departure:  After the concert, we are asking that students and families help put away chairs, clean up the gym and help load up instruments and equipment into vehicles to be transported back to Charlemagne.  

Attire:  Dress ‘nicely’.  

Help:  We will need some volunteers to help transport instruments to Roosevelt from Charlemagne and then back again after the concert.  More info coming soon. 

Thanks,

M. Eric

blochmiller_e@4j.lane.edu

March 10-14, 2025

le 10 au 14 mars 2025

Upcoming Dates    

  • Monday-Monday, March 24-March 31 – Spring Break
  • Tuesday April 1 – school resumes
  • April 11 – No school – Professional Development for teachers

Please ensure that you email BOTH TEACHERS when you communicate with us.

(kincaid_j@4j.lane.edu and hopper_s@4j.lane.edu)

Le français

Jana Kincaid, French and Science kincaid_j@4j.lane.edu

This past week’s quiz was to apply the four rules from last week’s homework. These are not new rules, we’ve been using and discussing them all year. Happily, the average score was 90%, 71% of all students quizzed scored 85% or greater, and the most recurrent score was 107% with 10 incidents. Yay!

Many students have completed our newest “J’observe..” writing prompt, “Les garçons et la moto.” The boys are in India, fresh from bathing at the canal in the village of Chachura in Utter Pradesh, precisely here. Many students though the boys were in Africa rather than Asia, but a few kids had it figured out.

Student goal:  I can express myself in writing, conjugating verbs, creating interesting sentences, and respecting the grammar rules I have already been taught.

A number of students have completed their cursive instruction, although it will probably be another couple of weeks before everyone has finished. Now, we use our cursive just in our daily writing.

Student goal:  I can find grammatical and punctuation errors in sentences in French.

Student goal:  I can form lowercase and uppercase letters correctly in cursive. 

Les sciences

This week, we labeled a drawing of the inside of an incandescent bulb, looked at the inside of a broken incandescent bulb, broke a CFL bulb to see how different it is inside, and we did a little check for understanding as well. Most students seem to understand that for a circuit to be complete, two contact points on the D battery (la pile D) and two contact points on the bulb need to be connected by metal. This week, we get to create a circuit that includes a switch (un interrupteur) and a motor (un moteur)! Also, we’ll be testing a large variety of materials to determine which are insulators (un isolant) and which are conducteurs (un conducteur).

Mme Shelli hopper_s@4j.lane.edu English & Math teacher

Math

YES HOMEWORK: Monday and Tuesday, please ask your child to show you their survival narrative. Wednesday and Thursday: Subtraction with regrouping practice.

Last week, we discussed subtraction of multiple digit numbers. This is a lot more complexity involved than addition, especially with regrouping/ borrowing across multiple place values. Homework this week will review subtraction.

In class, we’ll be solving problems with measurement conversions of time and metric length.

We are currently in week 2 of Bridges Module 4: Addition and Subtraction. Here’s the parent support page to explain the major concepts of this unit.

 

English

Wrapping up our  EXTREME SETTINGS  unit: Look for your child’s narrative survival story to come home on Monday. Be aware that the stories are not error free, but represent a few weeks of work for your child. They’ve met with teachers and peers and revised quite a bit.

Please take a few minutes Monday or Tuesday night for your child to read their story to you. As you talk about the narrative, please give them two compliments and one suggestion on their homework page. The parent page should be returned to school as homework, and the story may be kept at home. Thank you for supporting your child in this way.

We will finished  reading Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen last week. This week we’ll wrap up the discussion of the major themes in the novel. Students will write a short essay about what they think one theme in the book is. Then on Tuesday, we’ll have a survival themed party with a game, Hatchet themed healthy snacks, and a short Netflix episode of You vs. Wild.

Coming up next, we’ll do a short persuasive writing unit. Students will read several persuasive texts to identify text structure. Then, they’ll practice writing persuasively about a topic that interests them. Be prepared to talk about important issues at home like: Should kids get allowance? How much screen time is appropriate? Should kids get more recess at school?

Books to encourage reading at home after Hatchet:

  • Guts: The True Stories Behind Hatchet and the Brian Books, Gary Paulsen
    ▪ Hurricanes, Seymour Simon
    ▪ A Girl Named Disaster, Nancy Farmer
    ▪ The Sign of the Beaver, Elizabeth George Speare
    ▪ Navigating Early, Clare Vanderpool
    ▪ My Side of the Mountain, Jean Craighead George
    ▪ The River, Gary Paulsen (Hatchet series)
    Brian’s Return, Gary Paulsen (Hatchet series)
    Brian’s Winter, Gary Paulsen (Hatchet series)
    Brian’s Hunt, Gary Paulsen (Hatchet series)
    The Wild Robot, Peter Brown
  • Island of the Blue Dolphins, Scott O’Dell
    Time of Wonder, Robert McCloskey

Find out more about 4j’s 4th Grade English Curriculum. This fact sheet for parents also includes a full list of the texts we’ll read as well as additional texts that can be read at home to extend your child’s learning.

 

OBOB 2025- another one for the books!

OBOB is over for this year. Congratulations to EVERY student who read some new books during the competition. Also, congratulations to the Book Bunnies for moving on to our district competition on Saturday, March 15.

 

Reminders:

Healthy and Nut-Free Snacks

PLEASE do not send any snacks containing peanuts or any kind of tree nut. Healthy, non-messy snacks are best. Please do not send candy as a snack either.

PE & Recess

At recess, students will be outside even in drizzle. So please have your child wear layers and a jacket or hat during rainy, cool weather. Also, students need secure and sturdy shoes on PE Days:

Blue Class PE & Library days: Monday & ThursdayRed Class PE & Library days: Tuesday & FridayDecember 9-13, 2024

March 3-7, 2025

le 3 au 7 mars 2025

Upcoming Dates    

  • Tuesday, March 4 – actual MARDI GRAS!
  • Monday-Monday, March 24-March 31 – Spring Break

Please ensure that you email BOTH TEACHERS when you communicate with us.

(kincaid_j@4j.lane.edu and hopper_s@4j.lane.edu)

Le français

Jana Kincaid, French and Science kincaid_j@4j.lane.edu

This week’s French homework asks students to apply four different rules, one per evening by writing one or two sentences. None of the rules are new, but this is a new style of homework. If your child is stressed out and crying because he/she/they do not understand, just send them in with the homework undone, and we’ll discuss it at school. Here is a copy of the homework:  vocab règles mars 2025l Vocab

Rules translated: 

Most students have completed “Les canetons,” and we began a new “J’observe..” writing prompt, “Les garçons et la moto.” We had an interesting conversation about there being so many people on one vehicle, and that nobody is wearing a helmet. This led us to the conclusion that it is very likely not in the US. In the writing, students have to propose where they think the boys are in the world and why they think so. After most students have completed their writing, I will show them precisely on Google Maps where these boys are, and I’ll include the link in the blog.

Student goal:  I can express myself in writing, conjugating verbs, creating interesting sentences, and respecting the grammar rules I have already been taught.

We got together with our buddies on Thursday and finally exchanged Valentine’s cards and did a “Would You Rather?” activity with them. They came to fourth grade instead of our going up to them.

A number of students have completed their cursive instruction, although it will probably be another couple of weeks before everyone has finished. Now, we use our cursive just in our daily writing.

Student goal:  I can find grammatical and punctuation errors in sentences in French.

Student goal:  I can form lowercase and uppercase letters correctly in cursive. 

Les sciences

This week, we completed our first experiment of lighting a tiny bulb (une ampoule) using one or two electrical wires (un fil électrique) and a D battery (une pile D). It was quite fun. We found four ways it could be done with just one wire! This week, we’ll draw and label  the inside of  an incandescent bulb, and we’ll continue to learn about circuits, insulators, and conductors.

Mme Shelli hopper_s@4j.lane.edu English & Math teacher

Math

No Math review homework this week.

Please check your child’s home folder for two quizzes that were sent home on Friday. These were from our last unit on fraction and decimals.

Last week, we discussed place value and standard addition with regrouping (carrying). Look for a short quiz in your child’s home folder this week on Tuesday or Wednesday.

We are currently in week 2 of Bridges Module 4: Addition and Subtraction. Here’s the parent support page to explain the major concepts of this unit.

This week we will discuss strategies for subtraction, both with mental math and with standard algorithm. This is a bit trickier than the additional algorithm and may need more practice.

English

English Language Arts unit:  EXTREME SETTINGS

We will finish reading Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen this week. As we’ve been reading, students have been flagging interesting or confusing parts of the text to discuss with their peers. It has been really exciting to hear the students pose questions and their classmates discuss what they think. They are learning to use the text to support their reasoning and learning to look for clues to confusing words and phrases by reading the context of the story.

At the same time, students are writing a short survival narrative. Be sure to ask your child about their story. They will finish these on Monday and then meet with their peers for revision. I and Mme Breauna, our student teacher, have been meeting regularly with students to revise their stories. We’ve been working on skills such as punctuating dialogue correctly, making logical paragraph breaks, writing with descriptive details, and including “exploded moments” in narrative writing.

Next week, your child will bring a copy of their story home to share with you as part of homework. Though the stories will not be free of errors, there has been a lot of learning and revising happening in class. I hope you’ll celebrate with your child their narrative writing progress.

Books to encourage reading at home after Hatchet:

  • Guts: The True Stories Behind Hatchet and the Brian Books, Gary Paulsen
    ▪ Hurricanes, Seymour Simon
    ▪ A Girl Named Disaster, Nancy Farmer
    ▪ The Sign of the Beaver, Elizabeth George Speare
    ▪ Navigating Early, Clare Vanderpool
    ▪ My Side of the Mountain, Jean Craighead George
    ▪ The River, Gary Paulsen (Hatchet series)
    Brian’s Return, Gary Paulsen (Hatchet series)
    Brian’s Winter, Gary Paulsen (Hatchet series)
    Brian’s Hunt, Gary Paulsen (Hatchet series)
    The Wild Robot, Peter Brown
    ▪ Falling Water: The Building of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Masterpiece, Anna Egan Smucker and Marc Harshman
  • Island of the Blue Dolphins, Scott O’Dell
    Time of Wonder, Robert McCloskey

Find out more about 4j’s 4th Grade English Curriculum. This fact sheet for parents also includes a full list of the texts we’ll read as well as additional texts that can be read at home to extend your child’s learning.

 

OBOB 2025- another one for the books!

OBOB is over for this year. Congratulations to EVERY student who read some new books during the competition. Also, congratulations to the Book Bunnies for moving on to our district competition on Saturday, March 15.

 

Reminders:

Healthy and Nut-Free Snacks

PLEASE do not send any snacks containing peanuts or any kind of tree nut. Healthy, non-messy snacks are best. Please do not send candy as a snack either.

PE & Recess

At recess, students will be outside even in drizzle. So please have your child wear layers and a jacket or hat during rainy, cool weather. Also, students need secure and sturdy shoes on PE Days:

Blue Class PE & Library days: Monday & ThursdayRed Class PE & Library days: Tuesday & FridayDecember 9-13, 2024