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
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
Write a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.