HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!!

HAVE A FABULOUS, FUN, RELAXING, AND TERRIFIC WEEKENDJ

MILESTONE 3

is due December 8th.  This 3rd milestone requires all visual aids to be turned in.  Pieces of paper are not  acceptable. Please review the requirements below.

State Milestone 3-Reminder

AS ALWAYS A HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL FAMILIES WHO HAVE BEEN SO GENEROUS WITH SNACKS!  WE HAVE RUN OUT – AGAIN!  WE ARE DIVIDING THE SNACKS INTO STUDENTS’ OWN BAGGIE AND THAT WAY THEY ARE SHARING, AND ABLE TO GO RIGHT TO READING GROUPS WITH A SNACK.

ANIMAL CRACKERS, PRETZELS, GRAHAM CRACKERS, CHEESE CRACKERS, ALL WORK GREAT & ARE APPRECIATED!

WHAT WE LEARNED THIS WEEK:

WRITING: We have been learning about adventure stories this week.  All four 4^th grade classes are working in the village, collaborating in groups of 4 on the features of adventure stories.  We learned how the main character (hero/heroine) has certain qualities, such as bravery, being courageous, intelligent, able to solve a problem, and are risk takers.   Sometimes they may have a flaw, but they always go on some type of journey.  Adventure stories are realistic, which means that the setting and the action need to be something that can really happen.  Ask your student about what their character looks like, what they like, what traits they have, and other features of their story.

MATH:  We formed math groups this week and the students went to other 4^th grade teachers.  We are working on building concepts that were on the first interim math assessments the students took.  Each teacher took a specific concept and taught that to 3 different groups this week.  For example, groups that came to my class worked on how to figure out missing numbers in particular patterns (15, 429, 13, 429,

11, 429, what are the next 3 numbers?).

READING: Benchmark reading tests are finally complete.  We started back in our wonderful guided reading groups.  Ask your student about the book they are reading.  We all talked about how the author describes the main characters in their story, and how characters change throughout the story. Some students did some research on ancient Egypt for the book they are reading, while others are talking about Times Square and the cricket that travels there.

SOCIAL STUDIES: We finished our unit on Early Michigan history.  The students participated in a simulated assembly line, “building” Model A Cars in Henry Ford’s original factory.  They learned how hard the work was, how the workers (mostly immigrants) made only $5 a day, and how there many other workers ready to take their place if they made errors.  Ask them about Henry Ford and “his” tough rules!

SCIENCE: We began our next science unit, which is learning how energy transfers from one source to another.  This is one of my favorite and most fun units!