Happy Friday fourth grade families!
Math: This week we began working on understanding decimal place value and writing decimals through thousandths in standard form and word form. Next week we will continue with comparing and ordering decimals. We will also be finishing Chapter 1 next week and will be taking our Chapter 1 test on Friday, August 27th.
ELA: This week we continued reading Night of the Spadefoot Toads and focused on comparing and contrasting characters, settings, and events within the text. While comparing and contrasting, students worked towards making complex inferences and supporting these inferences with quoted text evidence. We also analyzed the author’s craft by focusing on sensory details. Next we will continue reading with an emphasis on point of view.
Social Studies: In Social Studies students determined if the United States is considered a civilization based on the characteristics that are present in all civilizations. Students read four sources and analyzed the text to find what characteristics of civilizations were described in the source. Students then identified two examples of how the United States demonstrates the characteristics of a civilization.Next week, we will begin learning about the Aztec Empire.
Science: This week we discussed the importance of safety in the science classroom as well as the steps in the scientific method. We then practiced working through the scientific method by asking the question: “Do skittles dissolve faster in warm water or cold water?”. Students made a hypothesis and collected data during an experiment. We then analyzed the data and drew conclusions based on the results. Finally, students were introduced to the concept that we will be studying over the next week, “What is Energy?”. Students went on a scavenger hunt looking for different forms and sources of energy around the classroom.
ParentVUE: Friendly reminder to check ParentVUE regularly for updates on students’ academic progress. Please check assignment descriptions and individual assignment comments for feedback as well.
Face Coverings at School: The Arizona legislature recently passed a law that prohibits schools from requiring students and staff from wearing face-coverings. However, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Arizona Department of Health Services, Maricopa County Department of Public Health, and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend all individuals, regardless of vaccination status, wear face-coverings while indoors at school during times of substantial or high transmission.
With the number of positive cases increasing at schools in our district, the district is encouraging the use of masks inside. We cannot mandate students wear masks, but if it is important to you that your child wears a mask, please let us know so we can remind them to wear it throughout the day.
Virtual Book Fair:The Scholastic book fair begins next week on Monday and runs through September 5th. It is virtual only. The Vista Book Fair website is here. Books can be purchased online and then shipped directly to the student’s home. There is free shipping with $25 in book purchases, but other items are shipped separately and don’t count toward the shipping minimum. eWallet money that is unused at the end of the fair will stay in their Scholastic account and can still be used to purchase items, though the school will receive fewer or none of the proceeds after September 5th.
DOJO: Thank you for connecting with your student’s account on Class Dojo! We will be using this to communicate student behaviors throughout each day by giving students positives, warnings, and infractions based on their behavior. Please check this often so
If you have not yet had an opportunity to connect, please do so here: https://www.classdojo.com/invite/?c=CZSB3K6
Looking Ahead:
August 30 – September 5 virtual Scholastic Book Fair
August 31: optional Scholastic book orders due (Class Code: Q98FV)
September 8– Progress Reports
Have a great weekend!