Check in for January 12-16

Happy New Year everyone!

I wanted to write to keep you abreast about what's going on in the fabulous fourth graders' classroom.

We've been focusing on double digit multiplication recently in Math. I'm noticing that several of the students really struggle with mastering basic facts. Could you be sure to practice 10 minutes a night with them? In addition to reading for 20 minutes, I think daily fact practice would really be of benefit. Students received an article today entitled, "Math Tricks to Learn the Facts." Check it out.

In Literacy Workshop we've worked hard (some would say, "tediously") with our writing. Creating "juicy" ways to describe things as well as being alert to imagery has been of importance. We finished up our Holiday Personal Narratives and will be creating another piece entitled, "The Person I'd Like You to Meet." As part of the learning experience they'll be analyzing my 4th grade essay introducing my foster father. I look forward to it.

Expedition has been pretty fast paced as of late. We're soon to reach the Westward Expansion for all you Lewis and Clark lovers. At this point we're delving into Colonial American life and the American Revolution. I'll be sending home January's home project by the end of the week. Be on the lookout for that. Hopefully you've enjoyed the pottery and cornbread that we made as a class. i'm greatly anticipating our fieldwork outside of City View and will share more details on that soon as well.

A few reminders for our class are as follows: Lumberjax game forms are due no later than THIS FRIDAY! Spelling #15 homework and test are also scheduled for Friday.

Thanks for your patience and support.

Warmly,
Renee