Charlemagne 4th Grade

 

 

Our lavender French homework this week is about adding vocabulary for prepositions. Here is a copy of the homework in case it’s needed:  les prépositions nov Vocab

Here I am, saying, spelling and translating each word:

Here are the words spoken, then with space left to write the word for the Thursday night home quiz:

We continue with leveled reading groups twice a week. Charlotte, our intern, is  reading individually with students who need a little extra support four days a week. We continue our cursive writing instruction, and have nearly completed lowercase letters. We  . We learned how to conjugate verbs venir and tenir. We will not conjugate a verb this week. French verbs are on vacation for a 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. 

Students have finished writing the “J’observe…” ‘Le chien aux yeux exorbités.’ So, we will move on to our new photo. It is called, “Une tornade de poissons.” That means a tornado of fish. Students always like looking at this photo, and we’ll work a little bit on some imagery as well.

We continue the “Moi!” project, and four students have completed the project! We’ll spend a little more time this week trying to get these finished up. If you are in the building, they are displayed in the 4/5 stairwell & will still be up during Parent/Teacher conferences.

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

Les sciences

This past week, we learned about the different components of soil:  humus (l’humus), pebbles (les cailloux), gravel (le gravier), silt (le limon) and clay (l’argile). Using rulers, we measured and drew the different sizes of components in centimeters and millimeters. We also demonstrated physical weathering (l’usure physique) by using a couple of different kinds of stones, conglomerate (le conglomérat) and quartz (le quartz). The kid groups agitated their stone inside a plastic jar with a lid, each student shaking for 30 seconds each. We noticed that the stones did not decompose in the same way, so all rocks do not weather equally. It was very loud and undoubtedly delightful for our neighbors. This week, we will demonstrate chemical weathering (l’usure chimique) on four different kinds of stones, using vinegar to model the effects. It will be a bit stinky in our room for a couple of weeks.

Student goal:  I am learning what soil is made of and about physical and chemical weathering.

We have started reading the 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 just tries and that talking about his dog is a great way to overcome some sadness in his life.

 

So far, students have analyzed the poems,  William Blake, Robert Frost and William Carlos Williams. They are learning to describe the structure, rhyme scheme, imagery and rhythm in poetry. This week, as the main character reads poetry in his school, students will continue to analyze poetry and the themes in 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.

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.