October 27-31

Are you interested in going to Earthworks with us?  The fourth grade will be going on this all day field trip on Tuesday, Nov. 18th.  We leave at 9:00 and return around 3:00.  We are welcoming any parents that are interested in helping us on this field trip.  As a volunteer, you will work in a small group setting with students to perform experiments relating to different habitats.   Please contact us if you'd like to go along with us!

This week the fourth grade: 

• Continued reading The War with Grandpa while practicing reading strategies with post-its
• Took a quiz over Lessons 1-5 in Math
• Created fact families with multiplication and division facts to understand how they are inverse operations
• Students should be practicing their multiplication facts at home on a daily basis!
• Analyzed the decision making skills of Livingston and Monroe as we learned about the Louisiana Purchase
• Began our Midwest unit of study by labeling the states, capitals, and postal abbreviations
• Described how the geography of the Midwest was formed, the importance of the many lakes and rivers of the Midwest, and the climate of this region
• Wrote with strong idea development as we continue our "Duck on a Bike" writing projects
• Began learning about correct uses for commas in sentences, such as in a series, for consecutive adjectives, with conjunctions, and dates or places
• Learned about parts of the water cycle and discussed how water is constantly recycled in our atmosphere
• Identified different types of clouds
• Read about air masses, cold and warm fronts and different types of weather

Next week we will:

• Finish reading The War with Grandpa 
• Continue learning about correct uses for commas in sentences such as introductory phrases, in friendly letters, and punctuating dialogue
• Create a cube that illustrates parts of the water cycle while incorporating information about weather and air masses
• Finish up Topic 1 in Math 
• Publish our "Duck on a Bike" writing projects
• Identify natural resources found in the Midwest and the importance of Midwestern farm products
• Discuss the journeys of Lewis and Clark and their impact on Missouri

Upcoming dates:

• October 30th - November 4th: Read-A-Thon!
• Complete the boxes on Book Fair handout with number of pages read each night and return to school each day. The class with the most pages read earns a pizza party!
• Wednesday, 11/5-Friday 11/7:  Book Fair!
• Wednesday 11/5 is open for families to shop together beginning at 3:00
• Mrs. Van Maren's class will go Thursday 11/6 from 10:15-11:05
• Mrs. Stephenson's class will go Friday 11/7 from 1:20-2:00

• Thursday, 11/13:  Science Club, 7:30 am in Mrs. Van Maren's classroom
• Tuesday, 11/18:  Earthworks field trip, 9:00-2:30.  More information to follow later
• Wednesday, 11/19:  Math Club, 7:30 am in Mrs. Stephenson's classroom
• Wednesday, 11/26-Friday 11/28:  Thanksgiving Break
• Thursday, 12/4:  Christmas Program, 7:00 pm
• Friday, 12/5:  Book Clubs, 12:30-1:00
• Thursday, 12/11:  Science Club, 7:30 am in Mrs. Van Maren's classroom
• Friday, 12/12:  Book Clubs, 12:30-1:00
• Wednesday, 12/17:  Math Club, 7:30 am in Mrs. Stephenson's classroom
• Friday, 12/19:  Book Clubs, 12:30-1:00

 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. Stephenson and Mrs. Van Maren