November News

Please check out your child's Science and Literacy pages on their eportfolios. We recently posted their Animal Reports and Bee Bots videos. I'm super proud of the kids' hard work on these projects and how they were able to show some of what they learned in October. 

Homework for November 2-6

• Spelling -logy. These are HARD words this week. It would be helpful to work with your child to break them into syllables or chunks in the word to help them remember. 
• Math Worksheets- Have your child do several problems each night. Please check your child's work each night so that they aren't practicing incorrectly. (Due Friday, November 6th)
• Reading- Read nightly. Your child should finish two books this month. 

What are we learning in November?

WCOs: Analyze how perspective is a catalyst for change and how multiple relationships cause change. As we learn about economics and work in literacy, we'll focus on how perspective and relationships can cause change.

• Literacy
• We will be reading The Lemonade War focusing on: figurative language, using the text to support our thinking, writing in response to what we've read, and evaluating how the author strategically created meaning. 
• Students will be writing stories. Each day's lesson will guide the students in ways to create meaning strategically to improve their writing. 
• We will continue to write paragraphs in writing groups. We'll work on word choice, conventions, organization, and elaboration to create meaning strategically.
• In reading groups, we will do close reads to focus on vocabulary, determining the main idea, finding proof in the text, and synthesize our reading to create meaning strategically. 
• Social Studies- Economics
• Students will learn a lot of new vocabulary and apply it to economics. Concepts include: incentives, resources, opportunity cost, goods and services, inflation, choices, comparing prices, credit cards, budgets, and debt. This is a great time to share your financial decision making with your child. 
• We will have a local entrepreneur visit the fourth grade, and students will be able to apply all that they've learned in the real-world through her visit.

WCO: Create a process to solve a problem. 

• We will test on chapter three (multi-digit multiplication and long division) on Monday, November 9th. Then we will move onto data as students learn about tables and line graphs.
• Students will work in collaborative groups to solve inquiry based problems as they evaluate plans for a birthday party. 

Important Dates

• Tuesday, November 3: No School
• Friday, November 6: Book Orders Due
• Friday, November 13: Doughnuts for Dads (See PCE email for details)
• Monday, November 23- Friday, November 27: No School, Thanksgiving Break

October 18

Homework

Spelling: pro

Math: normal work but practicing multi-digit multiplication is highly suggested

Reading: nightly reading, Bunnicula done and document submitted by October 30

Week at a Glance

WCO: Analyze the interaction within and between two systems & Classify patterns using models

- Classification of animals

- Using Bee Bots to explain classification of an animal (look for a video of your child's work at the end of the week)

WCO: Create meaning strategically in reading, writing, speaking, and listening & Evaluate how authors create meaning strategically

- Finishing body paragraphs of animal reports, adaptations paragraph

- Paragraph about Fall Break

- Personification

- Plot Structures

- Using evidence from the text to support our analysis

WCO: Attend to precision

- Inquiry unit on multiplicative comparisons

- Spiral review of previously taught concepts not yet mastered

Specials: PE

Quick Info

- Please see previous week's blog for info about the Halloween party. We still need some teeth and Skittles :) 

- I will be out Tuesday for a Gifted and Talented conference in Loveland as part of my role as the co-GT coordinator for PCE. I'll also be out Thursday afternoon to get my daughter's braces put on; boy do I feel your pain as parents with the time and money this involves! My lesson plans have not changed with these absences, so learning will go on as if I were here.  

- Article from our School Psychologist

October 2

Bunnicula
Our next required home reading book is Bunnicula. I passed the books out on Wednesday and explained the assignment to the class. We've been working a lot on using evidence from the text to support our thinking and crafting good responses to questions. The home reading log (which is posted in Google Classroom) requires students to answer one comprehension question per chapter with a Great Short Answer. Great Short Answers require students to respond in complete sentences with the question in the answer and use evidence from the text signaled by Evidence Based Terms ("because", "for instance", "for example", "the author stated", "according to the text"). We've worked on this in class, so now I'm asking the kids to be able to do this on their own to prove they can do it independently. Bunnicula is a short read at only 98 pages and needs to be completed by October 30th.

Conferences
I look forward to seeing you this week. If you've forgotten your date/time, here's the link to the sign-up sheet. Help keep me on time by entering the room at your scheduled conference time. Thank you!

Week at a Glance
WCO: Create Meaning Strategically & Evaluate How Authors Create Meaning

• Planning and Drafting Life Cycle Paragraph in Animal Report
• Figurative Language: Metaphors, Idioms, Onomatopoeia
• Evaluating the Theme of Short Stories

WCO: Attend to Precision

• Multiplying Multi-Digit Numbers by 1 and 2 digits

WCO: Analyze the Interaction Within and Between Two Systems & Classify Patterns Using a Model

• Build Your Wild Self assignment to evaluate how an animal's adaptations help it to survive in its ecosystem
• Interim assessment to analyze how an animal outside of its natural ecosystem may be in danger and propose a solution to the problem

WCO: Appraise the Interaction Between Individual and Societal Activities

• Students will pay their first payroll taxes, pay rent, and participate in their first auction

Specials: Music

No Spelling this week 

Halloween Party
On Friday, October 30th, we will have our morning Halloween party. The kids may come to school in their school appropriate costumes but will need to bring a change of clothes. The party will be the first hour of the day, the kids will change out of their costumes at recess, and then we'll have Junior Achievement. Here are our party needs.