First Three Weeks

We are having a successful and productive beginning of fourth grade.   The students are working together to develop a kind and respectful learning community, and I am proud of their efforts these first weeks of school.

I realize that the first few weeks of school can be overwhelming for students, parents, and teachers.  Remember… to take a day at a time.  I am here to help and will see to it that your child gets the year off to a great start!  So, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. I am most easily reached by email: cmanning@shrewsbury.k12.ma.us.

We continue getting to know each other and develop our routines.  We have been working together to build our class expectations and the students have come up with a clear idea of how to be a good classmate.  Look for that poster during curriculum night.

Last week, students also developed a specific individual goal for fourth grade, and we worked together to build our class rules.

Snack

I encourage you to send in a healthy snack for your child to eat during the morning or afternoon. Students may eat their snack whenever they are hungry and we will have “working snack.”  Most students are choosing to eat their snacks in the morning. Remember, we are an allergy aware classroom/school. I also encourage you to send your child in with a water bottle with a secure top.  A water bottle is essential for hydration during these last days of summer as well as throughout the year.

Homework

In the fourth grade we focus on developing organizational skills, which they will use throughout their educational career and life.  Learning organizational skills plays an important role in a student’s success.  Our first organizational unit revolves around using the Plan book, binder and the homework process.

We will spend a great deal of time early in the school year learning the homework process.  The homework assignments will be listed every night in the Student Plan book, and the necessary papers will be placed in the To Do section of their homework folder.  I will initial the plan page before your student leaves.  Please be certain to review the completed assignments and initial the plan page nightly.

Shrewsbury has established a homework policy, which you will find in the student handbook.  At the fourth grade, homework is assigned Monday through Thursday. Homework will consist of daily, and eventually, long-term assignments that reflect the current topics of study.  The average time for completing homework assignments for the fourth grade should be 40 minutes. Please notify me if your child is struggling with the homework and/or if homework is taking longer than 40 minutes, and we will discuss it further.

Language Arts

The students are learning the processes for reading and writing workshops, and are establishing guidelines for working together.  We have explored the different types of fiction and nonfiction books, as we examined the books in our classroom library.  We have determined how to choose a “good fit” book and the students are working toward choosing “good fit” books for independent reading.  When choosing a book the students ask themselves a series of questions to help them determine their purpose for reading, their interest in the topic, their ability to understand the book and their ability to read the words.  We call these questions “I Pick” which stands for:

I choose a book

Purpose-why do I want to read it?

Interest-does it interest me”

Comprehend-do I understand what I read?

Know-do I know most of the words? 

When your child is choosing a book at home, ask them to explain how the use the “I Pick” process and how they know it is a “good fit’” book.

We are reviewing and practicing the Fourth Grade Writing Expectations.  These are the expectations for all written work.  Students have copies of this and their Fourth Grade Personal Word Wall in their homework binder, writing binder and their desk.  The students will continue to have opportunities to practice working toward meeting these expectations on a daily basis.  For homework this week, the students will be writing sentences using their Fourth Grade Personal Word Wall.

4th Grade Expectations for All Written Work Spelling: ·      Personal Word Wall ·      Available text ·      Dictionary when revising Complete Sentences: ·      Write using complete thoughts Mechanics: ·      Capitals at beginning of sentences and proper nouns ·      Punctuation-every sentence needs to end with punctuation ·      Correct Grammar (past/present tense) Organization: ·      Write in paragraphs ·      Spacing ·      Use the whole line ·      Indent paragraphs Puts forth Best Effort: ·      Neat ·      Legible ·      Appropriate letter size

This is how the writing expectations are translated to report card grades.

Report Card Descriptors: Þ  Demonstrates organizational skills Þ  Puts forth best effort Þ  Uses standard English conventions

Math

We kicked off our math program “Math in Focus” with Unit One: Working with Whole Numbers. This unit focuses on placed-value concepts through the ten thousands place and addition and subtraction algorithms.  This week, the students will practice addition and subtraction using a chip-trading model, which is new to them this year.  In this model, each color chip represents a specific power of ten. Students will be using these chips throughout the year.

Supply Wish List

Thank you for your donations!  We will continue to need tissues, wipes, and hand sanitizer throughout the year, so occasionally keep us in mind.

Curriculum Night

Fourth grade curriculum night is Thursday, September 12  at 6:30 in Room 303, then 7:15 for the principals’ presentation in the cafeteria

I look forward to seeing you there!