A4 Updates: April Update - Good bye Winter!

Hoping you all had refreshing, rejuvenating and joyous spring breaks & wishing you all Happy Passover and Happy Easters!

With 4 PARCC tests last week and one more this week, we definitely jumped back in with both feet. Spring always promises to be a busy time of year. I hope my recent emails have helped to keep you all updated.

As a result of PARCC testing, as well as Expert Report Boards being worked on at home, I have been incorporating Spelling and TFK homework into the school day, to offer a bit of a break.

Speaking of Expert Report - the date of our Expert Fair is fast approaching! As you and your child work on the Board, please refer to page 28 for expectations. In the FINAL push for finishing our digital books in Book Creator - I will have "Early Birds" every day (except Wednesday) from now until the 26th. I do NOT need an email prior to their coming for this. Kids can arrive as early as 8:00, but if they are later than 8:15, it may not be worth the time.

Next week, the Bibliography will become part of homework. This is very easy to do. I'll be sending home directions for an online tool called "Noodletools". Students will need to type in the information from their red booklet into this website, it will generate the information and create the bibliography in proper formatting. Once this is done, your child can save it directly to his/her Google Drive. It is very user friendly!

We have been very busy in Math. Most of March and April have been the study of Geometry. We have learned about polygons, angles and area. Now we are gearing up for measurement and more multiplication & division.

We are ready to jump back into Book Clubs (groups) in Reading! Next week we will be moving into a Historical Fiction unit that connects to our study of Immigration (turn of the century timing). This is a very exciting time of year and study for us.

In the world of Writing, we are transitioning out Expert Report Essays into Book Creator. Putting our long hard work into publishing takes us into an entirely different phase of the writing cycle like we have never experienced before. Also, we will be finishing up our unit of opinion essay soon.

Coming up next is the study of the Nifty 50 United States! Next week I will roll out the study packet for kids to study location, postal abbreviation, capitals & spelling of all 50 states. The study will be launched with a location quiz. 80% or better (40/50) is passing. Kids can take & retake as many times as they need and can also work to better their score. Everyone will progress in their own time.

Now it's a race to the finish line! So many special and fun 4th grade happenings just around the corner!

Up next:
EXPERT REPORT FAIR - Wednesday April 26th 9:00 - 11:00 AM (All Family members welcome!)

See below for lots of pictures to catch up on:

Polygon Games