October 7-11

This week the fourth grade: 

• Began our unit about the Southeast
• We have already posted a date below for the Southeast test at the end of the unit.  Please encourage your child to begin studying the states and capitals in advance!  They will receive additional information about the region in class.
• Learned rules for using commas in sentences
• Continued reading book club assignments
• Reviewed and took a test over Topic 3 in Math
• Learned mental math strategies for addition and subtraction
• Took a quiz over ecosystems, food chains, and animal adaptations
• Learned about Earth's water supply and the importance of conserving water
• Practiced creative journal writing 

Next week we will:

• Examine the water cycle and learn how water is recycled in the atmosphere
• Learn how estimation can help solve addition and subtraction problems
• Review adding and subtracting whole numbers, including subtracting across zeros
• Wrap up our punctuation unit ending with commas and quotations
• Continue with our unit on the Southeast Region
• Continue and finish our book club books and journals
• Practice creative journal writing

Upcoming dates:

• Monday 10/14:  NO SCHOOL, Professional Development
• Thursday 10/17:  First Math Club Meeting, 7:20 am in Mrs. Van Maren's classroom
• This first meeting is hosted by Mrs. Van Maren since Mrs. Cowan has not yet returned from her maternity leave.
• Friday 10/18:  End of Quarter 1, Spirit Day, Final Book Club meeting
• Tuesday 10/22:  Water Cycle Quiz in Science (students will be given materials for review)
• Wednesday 10/23:  Topic 4 Test, Math, Southeast Test
• Thursday 10/24:  Conferences, 12:00 pm-8:00 pm
• Friday 10/25:  Conferences, 8:00 am-12:00 pm
• Monday 10/28:  Lower School Pumpkin Parade!
•  Students can bring decorated (uncarved) pumpkins  Monday-Wednesday.  They may bring carved pumpkins on Wednesday, October 30 only.  All pumpkins should go home with kids Thursday so they can set them out for Halloween evening and so our commons smell nice and fresh on Friday.

Other important information:

You can order books for your child through Scholastic Book Clubs!   

Shop Online: scholastic.com/readingclub
One-Time Class Activation Code: HFWTD 

Every online order earns three free books for our classrooms!  We use these free books for classroom libraries and as a punch card reward.

Here's to a great week in the fourth grade!

Mrs. Van Maren and Mrs. Field