le 23 au 27 septembre 2024

Upcoming Dates

  • Monday, Septmeber 23 – First night of homework (see Math below)
  • Wednesday, September 25 – Picture Day!
  • Thursday, September 26 – Curriculum Night (6:00-7:00 pm) PLEASE COME!
  • Friday, October 11 – NO SCHOOL

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

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

Mme Jana, French & Science teacher kincaid_j@4j.lane.edu

Le français

We continued our cursive writing instruction this past week with the letters u, i, y, and j. Next, we’ll go back and do a lot of words that use the letters we’ve already learned, which helps with understanding how to attach the letters and their relationship to one another. Also, we are working on alphabetizing and on learning how to use a translating dictionary. My expectation is that they will get a dictionary as they get into class and use it to determine spelling and meaning. We will begin our writing curriculum this week, and it is called “J’observe…” We look at a curated photo and describe what we observe. 

Mme Wolfe assessed the students individually for oral reading fluency and comprehension, and nearly everyone has completed the writing and listening French assessments, so in the next week, we’ll complete the speaking evaluation, and that will be it for formal assessments until January. 

2023-24 student Tubes art

We are continuing our first art project this past week which involves concentration and fine motor control. It takes a few weeks, but you’ll be seeing those lovely projects soon as we hang them up on our walls. They are called “Les tubes.This past week, we began a “Moi!” project which is all about them… in French.

Les sciences

We will begin our first science unit, Soils, Rocks, and Landforms (La terre, les pierres, et les formes du relief) this week. We’ll talk about what the students already know about soil and rocks, and then we begin to break down the components of soils.

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

                                       Math Homework

Nightly math homework begins this week. Math and French  homework alternate weeks. The goal of homework is to help students to practice being responsible for their materials AND to practice concepts we’ve learned in class. Also, you as parents can see what we are doing in math and French class.

Homework should not be stressful or time consuming. If your child doesn’t understand a concept, they can try their best or leave it blank and ask me for help the next morning during our welcome time in class. Parents or  tutors do not need to help teach the concepts on the homework. It is good information for me when a student asks for help. Homework should take no longer than 10-15 minutes. If it is taking longer, please send me a note or email.

Students will have 3-4 math problems per evening. Students will bring their homework to class each day. They may work ahead and do subsequent pages, but the Monday homework will be discussed and corrected on Tuesday. That night’s homework is due at the beginning of class the next day.

Math in class this week

Last week, students learned four models for multiplication (arrays, area models, number lines and ratio tables.) This work continues this week week as students choose the models that work best for themselves in solving both multiplication and division problems. Mid-week, students will determine whether numbers are prime or composite.

We are in Unit 1 of Bridges Math called “Multiplicative Thinking.” See this page for an overview of the unit. You can learn more about our Math Curriculum pilot here. This month, we are focusing on Multiplicative Thinking. At home, you can help your child become fluent x1 through x10 facts. For your reference, here’s an overview of the math standards for 4th grade.

English

In our English unit called, “The Great Heart” last week, students read biographies, annotated the text, and wrote an organized informative paragraph about why the person might be considered “greathearted.” These paragraphs will come home in folders by the end of this week. The goal of this assignment was to use evidence from a text to support a thesis (topic) statement in an organized informative paragraph.
 
This week, students will begin reading a complex non-fiction text called “The Circulatory Story.” Students will be learning about the circulatory system in the human body and will be learning strategies for reading complex text. This text includes a lot of figurative language, so we’ll be identifying and discussing meanings of similes and metaphors in the text as well.
 
Here’s an overview of the entire year of 4th grade in our Wit and Wisdom English curriculum.

 

PE & Recess

Please help your child wear clothes and shoes appropriate for running and jumping on their PE days. Closed toed shoes such as tennis shoes would be great; sandals or boots do not work well for PE.

Blue Class PE days: Monday & Thursday
Red Class PE days: Tuesday & Friday
 
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.

 

Building and Field Trip Volunteers

The school will be requiring that folks who would like to volunteer at the building or on field trips complete a Volunteer Orientation before beginning their support of the classrooms and our students. In 4th grade there are opportunities to volunteer at recess, in the library, and on field trips. Our first field trip will be in December. Later in the year, there may be classroom volunteer opportunities, too.

These will be offered once a week on Wednesdays in September from 6-6:30pm via Google Meet.  

To join the video meeting, click this link:  https://meet.google.com/nyt-vivo-hhx

The September dates will be  9/11, 9/18 and 9/25. Once you have completed the video orientation and District  Volunteer Background Check we will ask that you sign a Charlemagne Confidentiality Agreement at the front office on your first day.