Charlemagne 4th Grade

 

 

No French homework this week. The average score on the months of the year quiz on Friday was 21 out of 24, so 88%. Several students do not yet understand the month order or are not yet aware of which events happen in which months. We will keep reviewing the months with those students who did not perform as well.

Student goal:  I can name, write, and order the months of the year in French.

We continue with leveled reading groups twice a week. I had a few students screened so we can dial right in on where they have gaps. Charlotte Bernard, our intern, is working to tackle those gaps. She is reading individually with students who need a little extra support four days a week. We continue our cursive writing instruction, and are moving on with the more challenging letters, o, v, b, and w. We learned how to conjugate verbs that end in -er, which accounts for 90% of French verbs. We’ll conjugate the verbs venir (to come) and tenir (to hold) this coming week.

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

Student goal:  I can form all the lowercase letters correctly in cursive. 

We continued our French writing curriculum this week, called “J’observe…” and this time, they had sentence starters, but were asked to do the rest of the writing themselves. We did the photo at left, which in English means, “The Bug-Eyed Dog.” A few students have finished, but most students are still crafting.

We continue the “Moi!” project which is all about them… in French. A few students have gotten to the cursive writing part.

Student goal:  With help, I can write a four sentence paragraph about a photo.

Les sciences

This past week, the soil in our vials had settled into layers, so we drew the layers and guessed which soil came from which area:  mountain (la montagne), desert (le désert), delta (le delta) or forest (la forêt). We’re fine-tuning the idea that the components (les composants) of soil  are influenced by where they come from. They are now learning the different components:  humus (l’humus), pebbles (les cailloux), gravel (le gravier), silt (le limon) and clay (l’argile). We’ll draw the different sizes of components, then we’ll move into physical and chemical weathering (l’usure physique et chimique) with some fun experiments.  

Student goal:  I am learning what soil is made of and how regions affect soil components.

Students read a short book called Quest to Digest last week and explored other human body systems topics of their choice last week.

 

Next, we move into a short poetic novel called Love that Dog. It’s a story of a boy who at first refuses to talk about his previous dog and refuses to write poetry. As the school year progresses,  he learns that he can can write poetry if he tries and that talking about his dog is a great way to overcome some sadness in his life. Students will be analyzing and writing poetry and analyzing characters and themes within the novel.

 

Below is a list of do’s and please don’t’s that we hope will make the day enjoyable for everyone.

If students are going to wear a costume, they must wear it to school. Please include shoes that are appropriate for school. No heels, no slippers, and no flip-flops.

Students will not be permitted to change at school. Costumes should not interfere with the ability of a student to go to the bathroom by themselves.

Please note that students will still have recess and any other activities they regularly have on a Thursday. Please send them with a coat, proper shoes, etc. so that they can participate fully the rest of the school day.

Please limit makeup to whiskers, freckles, eye make up, etc. No full face paint or masks.

Costumes must not be too scary or inappropriate for the school environment. Please no gory or grotesque costumes.

No props are allowed: no swords, weapons, wands, etc.

Your student should not dress as another person’s race, religion or culture. A costume can be of a character or an individual who is of another race/religion/culture than your child, but not of a generalized race or ethnicity, religion or culture. Costumes should not be caricatures of any group.

Students will be asked to change clothes for inappropriate attire which might entail a call home.

If you are not sure about the appropriateness of a costume, please discuss with your teacher or the principal.

Is your child a budding writer? There’s an optional Fiction Fantastic writing short story contest for youth open to all Lane County students in grades K-12. We wont have time to do this in class, but families are welcome to encourage this at home. Last year, one of our Charlemagne students won second place! Find out more here: fictionfantastic.org.

 

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 running appropriate shoes on PE Days:
Blue Class PE & Library days: Monday & Thursday   Red Class PE & Library days: Tuesday & Friday

 

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.

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. Please contact the office if you would like to attend the next training.