No School Friday:
Friday is a teacher in-service day, so there is no school for students this day.
Singapore Videos:
The faculty at Archway Glendale has produced some helpful math videos that you may find helpful. They don't have many available for fourth grade, but I want to share them with you. You can find them here.
Homework Survey:
Thank you to those of you who took the time to fill this out. The fourth grade team takes time to review your thoughtful answers and take them into account when planning.
Upon reviewing the fourth-grade homework survey data, the majority of families are finding that homework is being completed within the suggested time (61%). About twenty percent of families are taking up to 90 minutes, and about another twenty percent are taking over an hour and a half. When all of the data is averaged, it looks like the average child is spending around 75 minutes a night on homework.
One common comment was that the homework load isn't too much, except when there are tests and quizzes to prepare for. There are three accommodations we are proposing to help resolve this concern.
The first is a student and parent accommodation. In the history and science notebooks, at the end of each unit or section, is the study guide for the next test. We recommend that students begin filling in this study guide as they learn new information. As they learn this information, their focus should be on solidifying their new knowledge. We also recommend that they make note cards with this information for a more effective study time. This way, they are working toward memorizing what is most important during the whole unit or section and not just in the last few nights before the test.
The second and third accommodation are teacher accommodations. First, instead of having the history and science study guides due the day before the test, they will be due at least two days before the test. This will provide students with more time to study the finished and corrected study guides. We will also be assigning parts of the study guide throughout the unit or section. Second, the two nights before any history or science test, students may use the 25 minutes of nightly reading time to study for the upcoming test.
For some families, these accommodations will not be sufficient to relive the amount of time being spent on homework. If you are finding that your child is still spending more than 70-90 minutes every night on homework, please reach out to your classroom teacher.
Best,
The Fourth Grade Team
Sunday, September 23, 2018
Monday, September 17, 2018
Week 7 News
Nightly Science Homework:
Throughout the past week, you may have noticed that your child has started bringing home small science notebook assignments. They will have four nights worth of homework to read on most weeks. These assignments are assigned for a few reasons. First, they are useful in helping students prepare for the state science test that will be taken in April. Lastly, they help students develop the skill of reading and comprehending informational texts.
These nightly readings, can be counted toward your child's 25 minutes of nightly reading. They should not read these for science and be expected to read for another 25 minutes (unless you want them to).
Chivalry Week:
Fourth grade has participated in chivalry week since Arete first opened. The main thing we want fourth grade students to learn is that during the Middle Ages honor and manners were woven together in society. Knights were an esteemed segment of the Middle Age society. They were honored for their great bravery on the battlefield and legends surround their heroism. Knights also held to a strict code of chivalry, which was not limited to, but dealt with relationships with their maidens. Knights would often swear their loyalty to their maidens.
The goal of this activity is NOT to create roles for boys and girls to follow. Our goal is to develop a deeper understanding of the feudal society in the Middle Ages. This society was built on loyalty among knights, vassals, lords, and maidens. During this time, everyone had to cooperate with one another for the greater good of their community. Lords took care of their serfs and residents came together to celebrate holidays. Our goal is NOT to persuade our students to think that we should follow feudalism today. Our goal is to show that the structure of society has changed since the Middle Ages, yet the virtues of honor and friendship still remain to be beneficial to all people today.
This week, ladies will be assigned a knight. There will be no aspect of romanticism involved. Instead, each person will serve the other through acts of kindness.
Here are some examples of how boys and girls have showed acts of chivalry/kindness to their classmates in years' past. It is very neat to see how creative they are when deliberately showing kindness to one another.
- Boys can carry girls' backpacks.
- Girls can throw away the boys' trash at lunch.
- Boys can seat girls when they enter the class.
- Girls can sharpen the boys' pencils.
If you have any questions about this activity, or simply don't want your child to participate. Please reach out to me. There has been great success with this exercise in previous years.
Throughout the past week, you may have noticed that your child has started bringing home small science notebook assignments. They will have four nights worth of homework to read on most weeks. These assignments are assigned for a few reasons. First, they are useful in helping students prepare for the state science test that will be taken in April. Lastly, they help students develop the skill of reading and comprehending informational texts.
These nightly readings, can be counted toward your child's 25 minutes of nightly reading. They should not read these for science and be expected to read for another 25 minutes (unless you want them to).
Chivalry Week:
Fourth grade has participated in chivalry week since Arete first opened. The main thing we want fourth grade students to learn is that during the Middle Ages honor and manners were woven together in society. Knights were an esteemed segment of the Middle Age society. They were honored for their great bravery on the battlefield and legends surround their heroism. Knights also held to a strict code of chivalry, which was not limited to, but dealt with relationships with their maidens. Knights would often swear their loyalty to their maidens.
The goal of this activity is NOT to create roles for boys and girls to follow. Our goal is to develop a deeper understanding of the feudal society in the Middle Ages. This society was built on loyalty among knights, vassals, lords, and maidens. During this time, everyone had to cooperate with one another for the greater good of their community. Lords took care of their serfs and residents came together to celebrate holidays. Our goal is NOT to persuade our students to think that we should follow feudalism today. Our goal is to show that the structure of society has changed since the Middle Ages, yet the virtues of honor and friendship still remain to be beneficial to all people today.
This week, ladies will be assigned a knight. There will be no aspect of romanticism involved. Instead, each person will serve the other through acts of kindness.
Here are some examples of how boys and girls have showed acts of chivalry/kindness to their classmates in years' past. It is very neat to see how creative they are when deliberately showing kindness to one another.
- Boys can carry girls' backpacks.
- Girls can throw away the boys' trash at lunch.
- Boys can seat girls when they enter the class.
- Girls can sharpen the boys' pencils.
If you have any questions about this activity, or simply don't want your child to participate. Please reach out to me. There has been great success with this exercise in previous years.
Sunday, September 9, 2018
Week 6 News
Class Parents:
Our class parents this year are Jennie Reynolds and Darla Driggs! We are so thankful to have them involved in our 4th grade class. They will be in charge of developing classroom events and celebrations, along with communicating to our parents regarding classroom needs.
Their contact information is as follows:
(we will share their phone numbers in an email, to maintain their privacy).
Darla Driggs: darladriggs@sbcglobal.net
Jennie Reynolds: jenniereynolds@me.com
New Folders:
Our scholars will get a new folder this week. The green/black folder will hold all of their pamphlets, leaflets, nightly reviews, and poetry. Our goal is for the yellow folder to only contain what must be handed in in the morning. This is in hopes that our scholars will be better with turning in their work in the morning.
Red: Corrected Paper (Goes Home Every Night, Comes Back to School Every Day)
Yellow: Loose Homework To Be Turned In (Loose Math Worksheets, Grammar Proofreading, Reading Comprehension Sheets, Spalding Homework, Grammar Worksheets, etc.)
Blue: Music Folder (Stays at School)
Green/Black: Monthly Reading Log, Poetry Pamphlet, History Leaflet, Math Nightly Review, Copied Grammar Notes.
If your child is regularly forgetting their homework at home or turning in work late. Remind them of this procedure at home.
Homework:
Remember to check out the homework tab for this week's upcoming homework, quizzes, and tests. If there is any discrepancy, check you child's planner for the most accurate information.
Math Coaching:
This SignUpGenius is for fingerprinted volunteers who are interested in supporting students during our Wednesday morning (7:55-8:35) Khan Academy sessions. We are looking for up to 6 volunteers each week. Please sign up for the days you are available. Include your child's name when you sign up. Our first Wednesday for volunteering will be September 19th.
This SignUpGenius is for every Wednesday until Christmas vacation. There will be Wednesdays that do not have Khan Academy sessions: no school days, school and state testing days. We will do our best to remove all of these types of slots beforehand. If you sign up on a day when there is no Khan Academy session, we will do our best to email you to let you know.
Please feel free to come to the classroom when you drop off your child the morning that you are volunteering. You do not need to drop your child off, leave, and come back. We scheduled this on Wednesdays for this purpose.
Greek and Latin Roots:
Our students have completed 16 greek and latin roots flashcards. If you find that they are already missing some, or you can't read them very well. Follow the link below to see what they should look like. Greek and Latin Roots
Science and History Study Reminder:
Our scholars should be bringing home their gold history workbooks on Tuesdays and Thursdays to study the most recent notes for about 5-10 minutes.
Our scholars should be bringing home their green science workbooks on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays to study the most recent notes for about 5-10 minutes.
If you are not seeing these workbooks coming home regularly. Please add this to your homework routine. Our goal isn't for our scholars to cram the night before a unit test for history or science. They should be reviewing regularly, preparing them for quizzes and tests.
Our class parents this year are Jennie Reynolds and Darla Driggs! We are so thankful to have them involved in our 4th grade class. They will be in charge of developing classroom events and celebrations, along with communicating to our parents regarding classroom needs.
Their contact information is as follows:
(we will share their phone numbers in an email, to maintain their privacy).
Darla Driggs: darladriggs@sbcglobal.net
Jennie Reynolds: jenniereynolds@me.com
New Folders:
Our scholars will get a new folder this week. The green/black folder will hold all of their pamphlets, leaflets, nightly reviews, and poetry. Our goal is for the yellow folder to only contain what must be handed in in the morning. This is in hopes that our scholars will be better with turning in their work in the morning.
Red: Corrected Paper (Goes Home Every Night, Comes Back to School Every Day)
Yellow: Loose Homework To Be Turned In (Loose Math Worksheets, Grammar Proofreading, Reading Comprehension Sheets, Spalding Homework, Grammar Worksheets, etc.)
Blue: Music Folder (Stays at School)
Green/Black: Monthly Reading Log, Poetry Pamphlet, History Leaflet, Math Nightly Review, Copied Grammar Notes.
If your child is regularly forgetting their homework at home or turning in work late. Remind them of this procedure at home.
Homework:
Remember to check out the homework tab for this week's upcoming homework, quizzes, and tests. If there is any discrepancy, check you child's planner for the most accurate information.
Math Coaching:
This SignUpGenius is for fingerprinted volunteers who are interested in supporting students during our Wednesday morning (7:55-8:35) Khan Academy sessions. We are looking for up to 6 volunteers each week. Please sign up for the days you are available. Include your child's name when you sign up. Our first Wednesday for volunteering will be September 19th.
This SignUpGenius is for every Wednesday until Christmas vacation. There will be Wednesdays that do not have Khan Academy sessions: no school days, school and state testing days. We will do our best to remove all of these types of slots beforehand. If you sign up on a day when there is no Khan Academy session, we will do our best to email you to let you know.
Please feel free to come to the classroom when you drop off your child the morning that you are volunteering. You do not need to drop your child off, leave, and come back. We scheduled this on Wednesdays for this purpose.
Greek and Latin Roots:
Our students have completed 16 greek and latin roots flashcards. If you find that they are already missing some, or you can't read them very well. Follow the link below to see what they should look like. Greek and Latin Roots
Science and History Study Reminder:
Our scholars should be bringing home their gold history workbooks on Tuesdays and Thursdays to study the most recent notes for about 5-10 minutes.
Our scholars should be bringing home their green science workbooks on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays to study the most recent notes for about 5-10 minutes.
If you are not seeing these workbooks coming home regularly. Please add this to your homework routine. Our goal isn't for our scholars to cram the night before a unit test for history or science. They should be reviewing regularly, preparing them for quizzes and tests.
Wednesday, September 5, 2018
Clubs, It Isn't Too Late!
Clubs with Spots Available
Monday:
1-5 Math Club
2-5 Sports Club
2-5 Band
K-1 Art Club
Tuesday:
2-3 Art Club
3-5 Dance Fitness Club
4-5 Choir
Thursday:
3-5 Science Club
To register, click here.
Homework Survey
In an effort to provide a fruitful homework experience for our scholars, we rely on the feedback of our families. Parents, please share your feedback by completing this homework survey at your earliest convenience.
Monday, September 3, 2018
Check the Homework Tab!
For information regarding this week's homework. Check out the homework tab, above.
Monday, August 27, 2018
Quarter One Week Four
Hello Fourth Grade Families,
This will be the last week that homework is displayed on the home page of our blog. Week five and beyond will be located under the homework tab. Please make sure to continue to check the home page of our blog for news and other updates.
MAP Testing:
On Thursday, your child will take the MAP test (Measures of Academic Performance). This test is simply a diagnostic assessment to help evaluate your child's current academic performance to best support their academic development. The test will give your child an overall performance grade in reading and math, along with provide us detailed information about where your child is in his or her math and reading development. It often indicates learning gaps that the child may have from previous years, which need to be supplemented and corrected before more advanced learning can happen.
This test does not impact your child's grade on their report card. However, this information will be used to inform us if your child needs to attend math tutoring or other interventions: BURST (a reading intervention) or Dreambox (a math intervention). We do not make the testing information public to parents except upon request. We are happy to meet with anyone who has any questions.
Lessons:
Grammar/Writing:
Our scholars will be introduced to personal pronouns and prepositional phrases. We will begin each lesson reviewing previous knowledge. At the end of this week, our scholars will have a cumulative test on what they have learned up to this point.
Here are some review pointers:
- Review the definition of a sentence. A sentence is a group of words that make a statement, ask a question, express a command, or an emotion.
- Review the five parts of a complete sentence: capital letter, subject, verb, end mark, complete sense.
- Review the four types of sentences: declarative, exclamatory, imperative, interrogative.
- Review the parts of speech:
- A noun names a person, place, thing, or idea.
- A verb is a word that does an action, shows a state of being, links two words together, or helps another verb.
- An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb.
- An adjective is a word that modifies a noun or a pronoun.
- An article adjective is a special adjective: a, an, and the.
- A pronoun is a special word that can take the place of a noun in a sentence.
- A preposition is a word that connects two other words in a sentence in a special way.
History:
Our scholars have completed their first four sections of the Middle Ages unit and will be tested on Wednesday. Students will be assigned the study guide on Monday night and it will be due on Tuesday. On Tuesday night, students may use their 25 minutes of reading time to review for the history test. We will spend some time reviewing on Tuesday to ensure that students have the correct answers on their study guides. It is important for our scholars to study at home to prepare themselves. Our next section will turn to the Eastern Roman Empire, which became known as the Byzantine Empire and lasted much longer than the Western Roman Empire.
Literature:
This week, students will read chapters 10 - 14 of The Princess and the Goblin. On Friday, we will begin our next seminar from The Book of Virtues. The topic of discussion will be about the virtue of friendship in Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan's relationship.
Math:
Our scholars worked on developing a deeper sense of numbers, while working through factors. This week, we will begin our next chapter on multiples. Our next test will be on Friday.
Poetry:
Almost all students have successfully recited their first poem of fourth grade. We are so impressed with their courage, as some of them get up in front of the class to recite it. We look forward to coaching them on their delivery, in the coming weeks. The next poem for memorization is "Afternoon on a Hill," by Edna St. Vincent Millay.
Greek and Latin Roots:
Our scholars now have the first nine greek roots. This week will be adding roots 10-13. On Wednesday, our scholars will take a review check over the first ten. If your child is missing any of the roots cards, you can find a PowerPoint with them, here.
Science:
During science this week, our scholars will experience two labs in which they determine which kinds of materials are insulators and conductors. Students will learn about Benjamin Franklin's experiment, that electricity is the flow of electrons, and the role of insulators in making electricity safe.
Spalding:
After spending the first few weeks completing our rule pages, our scholars will start learning how to spell words. We likely won't put any notes in our blogs about Spalding unless there is something noteworthy. If you've forgotten what a typical Spalding week looks like, scroll down to last week's post. Monday through Wednesday involve learning new words. Thursday, students will review all the week's words and write them for homework. Spalding tests will be on Fridays.
We are thoroughly looking forward to seeing you at Curriculum Night on Wednesday. Remember to email me any questions you may have, that you would love answers to.
Miss Kogler
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