Week of 12/11

This Week in Fourth Grade...

Math: We have been working hard and practicing our mental math strategies for multiplying by 1 digit numbers. This week we will continue to practice and review the strategies of breaking apart, compensation, and rounding to estimate. Our Topic 5 test will be this Thursday, 12/14. 

Religion: Our Advent celebrations continue! This week we will have a special focus on Mary, and looking at her role in our lives as we continue to wait and pray this Advent season. On Tuesday we celebrate the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and we will ask for Mary's intercession in our lives! We are so blessed to celebrate the true reason for the season in our classroom! 

Reading and Language Arts: We are moving into Unit 3 this week in our Wonders Reading Program! Our essential question this week in reading is: How can we make new friends feel welcome? We will be reading fantasy genre stories this week to explore our question. We will also focus on the author's point of view while reading. 

In Writer's Workshop we are continuing the brainstorming and prewriting stages of our opinion pieces! Students will narrow down their ideas, and choose a topic this week!

Science: Our Waves Unit test will be on Tuesday, 12/12. Students were sent home with their study guides last week. The test will be on the topics of light and sound, force and motion, and magnets. 

Social Studies: We will be summarizing our explorations of the Southwest Region this week! Students will be working in their booklets and taking those booklets home at the end of the week. On the horizon... our Southwest Test will be next week on Wednesday 12/20 ( we don't want to forget all our information over break! ) 

Announcements:

• If you have not done so already, please be sure to return field trip permission slips by 12/20. Our trip to the Baltimore Aquarium will be the week we return from break on 1/6!
• Grandparents Day is THIS Monday! Grandparents/ Special friends are welcomed to SAS tomorrow morning for breakfast and a sneak peak at our Christmas program! Breakfast begins at 8:15 AM, and the program should run to about 9:30 AM.
• On the horizon... Our last day before break, Thursday 12/21, fourth grade will be having a Polar Express Day! Students will be allowed to wear their pajamas and bring in their favorite cozy slippers or socks. We will celebrate Christmas together with Polar Express themed activities and then watch the movie with some hot cocoa in hand! Our annual Jingle Ball dash will also be this day, so students should still come to school with appropriate running/walking shoes, and then they can change into slippers afterwards. A reminder note will be coming home as we get closer to our special day! It is going to be a fun day! 

Have a Blessed Week! :)

Mrs. Drury