Happy Friday fourth grade families,
Vista del Sur Tigers Curriculum and Materials Pick-up in the Gym on 8/24, 8/25, and 8/26: The parent will be asked to park, walk up to the gym and visit their student’s grade level table for materials. *Masks will be REQUIRED. Only one parent is permitted.
A through D Monday, August 24th 8:00-10:00 A.M.
E through H Monday, August 24th 1:00-3:00 P.M.
I through L Tuesday, August 25th 8:00-10:00 A.M.
M through P Tuesday, August 25th 1:00-3:00 P.M.
Q through T Wednesday, August 26th 8:00-10:00 A.M.
U through Z Wednesday, August 26th 1:00-3:00 P.M.
Math: We completed Chapter 1 this week! Great job, 4th grade! After completing all lessons, we spent time reviewing the concepts we learned and took our Chapter 1 assessment on Friday. We will begin Chapter 5, adding and subtracting decimals, next week.
ELA: This week we continued reading our novel Night of the Spadefoot Toads. We spiraled back to previously taught concepts during our class discussions and interactive slides, including: comparing and contrasting two or more characters and settings, how setting influences characters, determining the meaning of challenging words within a text, and evaluating the meaning of figurative language & analyzing the author’s purpose for using it.
For writing, we focused on writing a narrative story. Using the author of our novel and my personal writing as a model, students learned how to establish a situation, develop a character, create a sequence of events, develop setting, and include dialogue in their stories. In order to make the assignment manageable, I chunked the assignment into 5 days, and guided students throughout the writing process. I was blown away by their creativity!
Science:
In science this week we finished up our chapter on the growth and development of animals. Students took the chapter assessment today. Grades will be updated on Monday and retakes and make ups are still to be determined. Next week, we will begin our new chapter in science about physical features of animals. The primary focus of this unit will be to classify animals.
Social Studies:
We delved into the agricultural practices of the Mayans this week. Students learned about the types of crops that sustained the Mayan population as well as how their location allowed them to interact and trade with other tribes nearby. We will continue investigating this ancient and fascinating civilization by investigating details about their religious practices.
NWEA: Testing begins on Monday. On these days of testing, please ensure that your child gets a good night’s sleep, eats a healthy breakfast, and joins Google Meet for testing on time. The Google Meet link will be in your student’s homeroom teacher’s Google Classroom. Please find a quiet space for your child to take the assessments. Some of the tests will require headphones. If you have a pair, please set them next to your child’s device during testing. It is important for children to complete the assessments without help from caregivers. While it may be tempting, please do not help them with their assessment. This is to measure where they are at so we can best support their learning in the future. Students will work through a self-paced nearpod for one of their subjects each day after testing. This means that students will not be having all three classes during our testing schedule.
We hope that you have a wonderful, restful weekend!
-The fourth grade team