September/October Newsletter

Fourth Grade September and October Newsletter Mrs. Hladky, Ms. Jung, Mrs.Leuschner, Mrs. Lucas, and Ms. Westra Math Workshop We are currently studying topic 2 in Math entitled “Fluently Add and Subtract Multi-Digit Whole Numbers.” This topic addresses finding sums and differences, estimating sums and differences, adding whole numbers, adding greater numbers, subtracting whole numbers, subtracting greater numbers, subtracting across zeros and reasoning. Toward the end of September, we will begin unit 3, “Use Strategies and Properties to Multiply by 1-Digit Numbers.” In this unit the kids will learn a variety of strategies to multiply two, three, and four digit numbers by one digit numbers. We will be learning how to apply strategies that include partial products and area models. As a reminder, your child will have homework two to three nights a week. Reading Workshop During Reading Workshop in the month of August, the kids began to learn and practice how to think deeply about their reading, determine if they are truly reading “just right books” at their level that will help them grow as readers, and analyze character traits while providing evidence from the text. I was and will continue conferring independently with readers as well as working with kiddos in a small group format as I focus on the aforementioned and upcoming skills. Our reading focus in September will be on how to read nonfiction effectively. The kids will learn how to find and use key details in the text to determine the central (main idea) of the text as well as the author’s purpose in writing the text. We will study the various text features that go along with nonfiction text; headings, subheadings, captions, graphs, pictures, etc. The kids will use these features to gain more information about the topics they are reading. Lastly, the kids will be writing about their reading as they write short constructed responses detailing the main idea of the text read as well as supporting the main idea with the key details they found. I could really use your support at home….please encourage your child to read. Volume matters!! Please support your child as they log their reading on their weekly reading logs. Science We have begun our first unit and our focus is on Life Science. By the end of this unit the kids will be able to construct an argument detailing how plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction. This unit is very hands-on and involves many engaging partner and group experiments. Thank you for sending in the supplies to make our first investigation successful. The kids made wonderful observations and came to thoughtful conclusions as they studied the inside of fruits and observed the structures of the celery and flowers change as they absorbed the water dyed with food coloring. Writing Workshop We have started our year as informational writers. The students spent the first week of the unit generating and developing ideas for their informational piece; they thought about and shared their interests and selected their topic. Once they selected their topic they used non fiction texts to learn more about their topic, decide which topics they will teach about, and develop their subtopics. The kids will spend the beginning of September taking notes on their topic while at the same time ensuring that they include important facts, detailed and clear examples, and comparisons to other animals. The next step in the writing process will begin just before the start of October. This will be the drafting of the informational book. Drafting will require the students to synthesize their notes and use a clear teaching tone as they write. They will incorporate transition words and phrases in their piece as they elaborate on their thinking. The final product will be an informational book that the kids will be sharing with their classmates. It will include their writing as well as text features such as pictures, captions, maps, tables, and charts. I will do a great deal of modeling with a class topic in order to support the kids as they engage in this writing process. Important Dates Digger Dash: Friday, September 15th No School due to Teacher Professional Development Day: Friday, September 22nd Fall Break: October 16th - 20th

Welcome to the Fourth Grade School Year of 2023-2024!

Dear Families, Welcome to fourth grade at Gold Rush Elementary. My name is Jennifer Poli, and I will be your child’s teacher. I am excited for the journey of a new year to begin and to experience it with all of the children and you! I look forward to getting to know you and your child as we embark on this journey together. I truly look at my role as your child’s teacher not only as an educator with regard to the fourth grade curriculum, but as someone who will be a part of his/her growth as an individual (academically, socially, emotionally). I teach with both my “educator hat” and my “mom hat” at all times, and I will do all I can to challenge and support your child as we grow together throughout the year. Allow me to tell you a little about myself as I will be spending a great deal of time with your child. I earned my undergraduate degree in psychology from William Paterson University in northern New Jersey. My teaching degree is from Rutgers University, and I earned my Master’s Degree in Educational Administration from Temple University in Pennsylvania. I have been teaching for nineteen years, and I have had the privilege of teaching here at Gold Rush for the past ten years. Outside of school I enjoy spending time with my family. I have two children; my son is fourteen and will be entering ninth grade this year at Legend. My daughter is twelve and will be in the seventh grade at Cimarron. My fiance and I are getting married this October so I will be going from Ms. Poli to Mrs. Lucas. I thought it would be best to begin the year this way so it’s easier for the kiddos. I will be going by Mrs. Lucas from the start. My email account with the district is still Poli. Hopefully I am allowed to change it soon so it’s not so confusing. For now, you can always reach me at this address. I’ll let you know when they are able to update it. In my spare time I enjoy cooking/baking, reading, hiking, physical fitness, and cheering on my children at their many sporting events. You can often find me on the volleyball or basketball court when I am not in the classroom. Kids sure do keep you busy, but I wouldn’t have it any other way! I look forward to working with you and your child in the upcoming school year! If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at jennifer.poli@dcsdk12.org. I have an open door policy, and I feel that communication is an essential part of a successful school year so please don’t ever hesitate to reach out to me with regard to anything you or your kiddo needs. I hope you enjoy every last moment with your child before the school year starts. Here are a few important reminders for the start of the upcoming school year. Please send your child to school with a water bottle and several healthy, non sugary snacks for snack time starting on the very first day. Lastly, it would be wonderful if your child could come to school with at least 4-8 books of his/her choice. The books can be fiction chapter books or nonfiction (a mix of both is great too). We do have a classroom library the kids can borrow from, and we will be going to the school library in the upcoming weeks. Having a few books from home at the start of the year helps us build the foundations for reading workshop before we have a chance to get into book borrowing. The books can be from your home or from the Parker library. If this is not possible, please know that I will give your child time to select books from the classroom library. Feel free to bring the books on Meet the Teacher Day or the first day of school. Please refer to the Welcome Back to School email from GRE. The email has information about express check-in, signing up for Meet the Teacher Day, and lots of other valuable information. It was emailed on July 20th. Please let me know if you have any questions, and I look forward to seeing you soon! Sincerely, Jennifer Poli (soon to be Lucas - yes, this will be a bit confusing for us all…me included. We’ll get there!)

Fourth Grade Spring Newsletter

Fourth Grade Spring Newsletter 

 Reading Workshop

 In reading, we are starting some exciting historical fiction book clubs. Students will be reading novels related to one of the following topics: The American Revolution, The Great Depression, Prairie Life, and Civil Rights. This reading work will go hand-in-hand with our writing work as well. In this unit, students will focus on many of the skills from earlier in the year, such as: paying close attention to story elements, building vocabulary, determining themes and comparing and contrasting story elements and themes. The depth of this work will progress from our earlier units. They will pay close attention to the clues the author gives that “trouble is brewing”. They will also focus on building their interpretations in the company of others through the structure of well-organized clubs who make agreements to experience and learn from these rich texts together. Students will realize the importance of paying attention to the timeline of the character but also the timeline of history that shapes these characters. Listening to the perspectives and noticings of others is crucial in building truly analytical and life-long readers. 

Writing Workshop 

 We have begun our final writing unit of the year, and the genre is informational writing. In this unit the students will learn how to craft an informational piece. The reading comprehension strategies of inferring and determining importance will be applied as the students research their topic and read carefully to determine which information is most essential. During the mini lesson portion of the writing workshop teachers will model the note taking process using our own topic and text. Mini lessons will focus on note taking (paragraphing and quoting information), citing research, and using text features to elevate the complexity of writing. The students will become experts on their topic as they research and write their book. 

 Social Studies Financial Literacy - Young Ameritowne Unit 

 We are about to begin an exciting new unit on financial literacy. Over the next few weeks, students will learn about supply and demand, banking, advertising, careers, business, and philanthropy in school. Their studies will culminate with a field trip to Young Ameritowne where students will apply concepts they’ve learned as they function as citizens of town. After visiting town, the students will evaluate the success of their day. Each business group receives a bank balance statement indicating whether the shop ended with a profit. Students will evaluate whether their business was profitable as well as evaluate their personal spending habits and choices made in Young Ameritowne. This is an exciting unit with a very memorable field trip!

 Math Workshop 

 We will be focusing on the beginning stages of algebra by introducing students to the analysis of patterns. We will also be continuing to work on Geometry and Measurement, including understanding concepts of angles and angle measurement. Lastly, we will be representing and interpreting data on line plots. We hope to end the year with a unit called "Step up to 5th grade" . This unit is a brief overview of what the students will do next year. 

 Science 

 During March, fourth grade worked on a Physical Science unit entitled "Transfer of Energy in Collision" where we were investigating the question, "How is energy transferred when objects collide?" Most notably, we planned and carried out fair tests in which variables were controlled and failure points were considered in order to identify aspects of a model or prototype that could be improved. We continually revisited the "Engineering Design Process" in order to plan, build, test, and redesign. We did this through car collision experiments and by designing Rube Goldberg collision machines. 

 As always, thank you for supporting your child at home. 

 The Fourth Grade Team 

 Mrs. Barta and Mrs. Harrison

 Mrs. Durr 

 Ms. Poli 

 Ms. Russell 

 Ms. Westra

Reading Workshop Over the next few weeks in reading workshop, we will be finishing up our non-fiction unit. Students are currently working on applying the many non-fiction reading strategies they’ve learned as they read about extreme weather (blizzards, hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, etc.) and create a flip book teaching others about their topic. Some of the non-fiction strategies taught include; determining the main idea, selecting text evidence which links to the main idea, explaining how one part is important to the whole, analyzing the author’s craft, and synthesizing across-texts. Application of these strategies helps students gain a deeper understanding of how to synthesize a variety of texts and be able to read non-fiction text through a different lens. The students will use what they know about finding the main idea and supporting details as they synthesize the information within and across multiple texts. They will then share their research and flipbooks with their classmates.

Writing Workshop This month in writing workshop the students will conclude their realistic fiction piece. In this unit they have learned how to plan a realistic piece (a narrative) using a story arc to ensure inclusion of all the components of a fictional story and to organize their thinking. Their narrative includes an interesting beginning, scenes leading up to the climax of the story, and a reflective ending. Their main character must deal with a problem throughout the story that is shown throughout the scenes and reflected upon in the ending. Their character may have solved the problem by the end of the piece, or perhaps he or she has learned how to live with the problem. Lastly, their character learns a lesson throughout the story, and that is highlighted in the reflective ending. Crafting techniques taught and applied during this unit include various forms of figurative language such as simile, metaphor, hyperbole, and alliteration, to name a few. Additionally, the students used dialogue, vivid verbs, and sensory imagery to bring their story to life and show what’s happening vs tell. Thus far, their narratives are creative and express their personality!

Math Workshop In February, we will complete our study of factors, factor pairs, and multiples. The kids will create a factor pair project using the strategies they learnbed for finding all the factor pairs of a number. Our next focus for math will be on several topics. Topic 8: Extend Understanding of Fraction Equivalence and Ordering students will find equivalent fractions using area models, number lines, using multiplication and division. Students will then compare fractions using benchmarks. Topic 9: Understand Addition and Subtraction of Fractions Students will use models, decomposing fractions, and finding denominators to add and subtract fractions and mixed numbers.

Science The end of January will conclude our work in Earth Science where we covered topics relating to earth’s changing surface over time (plate tectonics, weathering, and erosion). As we move into the month of February we will transition into our Physical Science unit. Here, we will provide ample learning opportunities to study the transfer of energy in collision. In this unit students will ask questions that can be investigated and predict reasonable outcomes based upon patterns. Through experimentation, students will build their understanding of the flow, cycle, and conservation of energy. In addition, students will participate in collaborative work and conversations regarding forceful impacts where energy is transferred from one object to another.

November News 21-22

 November News

 

Reading Workshop

As we begin the month of November, so too will we embark on a new unit in Reading.  This is a non-fiction unit in which the kids will learn how to effectively read non-fiction.  The reading content will center around extreme weather such as hurricanes, droughts, tornadoes, to name just a few.  However, we are not explicitly teaching about extreme weather.  We are teaching the kids how to become strong non-fiction readers by previewing a text before reading it, using text features to enhance their understanding of the text, using context clues to help with tricky words related to the content, how to read hybrid texts (texts that blend fiction and non-fiction), and how to summarize and synthesize the non-fiction information they are reading.  These are only a few of the techniques the kids will learn as we embark on this journey into the world of non-fiction.  This unit will be our focus for the next couple of months.  

You can support your child at home by continuing to encourage and support reading as much as possible and by providing your child with rich text in both the fiction and non-fiction genre. 

 

Writing Workshop

During Writing Workshop in September, the kids will mine through the seed stories they have written in their Writer's Notebook as they select a story idea for their first realistic fiction piece. I will model how to take a story idea for realistic fiction and create a main character who has fully developed internal and external characteristics and one or more conflicts to solve. By doing this, they will see how we use techniques such as figurative language, dialogue, apt word choice, details and description, and paragraphing to create a detailed realistic fiction piece that shows vs tells about the character, his or her struggles and how he/she works to solve those problems. Once the kids have selected their own story idea, they will learn how to create a story arc to develop the plot of the story. They will create scenes for the story arc (all modeled by me first) and then ultimately begin their rough draft using their story arc and planned scenes as a guide. 

Math Workshop

After building a strong conceptual and practical base in multiplication strategies, we are ready to divide one-digit numbers in Math Workshop (Topic 5). We'll focus on how multiplication and division function as inverse operations, and we'll review fact-families. From there, we’ll study remainders and the strategy of using partial quotients to solve division problems.

Science

As we shift into Science, we will begin with a focus on Life Science.  By the end of this unit the kids will be able to construct an argument detailing how plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.  This Science unit will be very hands on and involve many engaging partners and group experiments.  

Important Dates

November 1: No School (Teacher Professional Development Day)

November 22-26: Fall Break 2 (Thanksgiving Break)

October 2021 Happenings

 October Newsletter

Reading Workshop

This month in Reading Workshop we will continue to think deeply about our reading, determine if we are truly reading “just right books” at our level that will help us grow as readers, and we will analyze our characters’ traits while providing evidence from the text as support. These are reading strategies we began to cover in September, and we will continue to deepen our use of these strategies throughout October. Students record all of their thinking while they read on post-it notes or directly in their reading response notebooks. This encourages them to hold onto their ideas, look for patterns of behavior, and grow ideas by gathering evidence from the text. 

We will soon move into studying the theme of our class read aloud and independent books. Additionally, we will study how our characters change throughout the story, as well as provide specific evidence from the text that explains the reasons behind this change. Furthermore, the kids are working hard on writing reading responses that provide a detailed description of their character (traits, behaviors, motivations, obstacles). 

Writing About Reading in Reading Workshop 

     

Being able to write about what you read helps to solidify your own understanding of the text. Additionally, students need to be able to respond to specific questions, cite examples from the text to support their ideas, and explain why their evidence supports their theory. Your child will use a student rubric to self-assess, get feedback on their work, and set meaningful goals in order to continue to deepen their own thinking.  

As always, I could really use your support at home. Please encourage your child to read. Volume matters!! As you discuss your child’s book with him or her, ask what kind of person the main character is and how he/she can prove that. This will support what we are doing in class and give your kiddo a chance to show off his/her skills!

Math Workshop

We are currently studying Topic 3, multiplication of whole numbers. In this unit we will multiply multiples of 10, 100, and 1,000 using mental math and place-value strategies. In addition, we will once again use rounding, but this time to estimate products to check if answers are reasonable. We will use arrays and partial products to multiply 2 and 3-digit numbers by 1-digit numbers. We will later transition into 3- and 4-digit numbers multiplied by 1-digit numbers. Throughout this topic, we will circle back to our understanding of place value in order to develop efficient and precise multiplication strategies. 

Here is a look at the partial product strategy we are using to multiply.  The kids are learning a variety of strategies, and they may choose to use the strategy that is the most efficient for them.               

As a reminder, your child will have weekly homework. This will be given on Monday and is due back Friday.              

                    

Writing Workshop   

As October continues, we will conclude our persuasive essay writing unit and shift gears into a new unit shortly after Fall Break.  The kids have grown a tremendous amount as writers of persuasive essays. They began their study of this genre writing personal opinion essays and concluded by writing persuasive pieces that focused on an issue that impacts kids their age or society as a whole.  Their task was to convince others why this is an important issue that we must address.  Their essays have grown with regard to detail, complexity, persuasiveness, and sophistication.  I am so very impressed!

                                                             

Our next unit will focus on the genre of narrative writing.  In this unit, the students will learn how to craft a descriptive narrative with a believable character.  We will begin by drafting seed stories based on our own lives.  This will help inspire the kids with ideas for future narratives modeled off of themselves.  Ultimately, the kids will mine through the seed stories they have written in their Writer's Notebook as they select a story idea for their first realistic fiction piece. I will model how to take a story idea for realistic fiction and create a main character who has fully developed internal and external characteristics and one or more conflicts to solve.  We will begin  workshop each day by working on a class story that I will model and the kids and I will craft together.  By doing this, they will see how we use techniques such as figurative language, dialogue, apt word choice, details and description, and paragraphing to create a detailed realistic fiction piece that shows vs tells about the character, his or her struggles and how he/she works to solve those problems. Once the kids have selected their own story idea, they will learn how to create a story arc to develop the plot of the story. They will create scenes for the story arc (all modeled by me first) and then ultimately begin their rough draft using their story arc and planned scenes as a guide. 

 

Social Studies/Science

 

Shortly after Fall Break we will shift gears from Social Studies and begin our first Science unit.  Our Social Studies unit has focused on Colorado History, and we have studied the many groups who shaped Colorado as well as how people impact the land and how the land impacts the people.  After learning about many different groups who helped shape Colorado, the kids had the opportunity to persuade others which group they feel had the greatest impact.  This gave us the opportunity to apply our persuasive writing skills to our study of history.  

 

As we shift into Science, we will begin with a focus on Life Science.  By the end of this unit the kids will be able to construct an argument detailing how plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.  This Science unit will be very hands on and involve many engaging partners and group experiments.  

 

Upcoming Dates

October 18-22: Fall Break

October 29: Halloween Parade

November 1: No School, Teacher PD Day

September Happenings

 September Newsletter

Math

We are currently studying Topic 2 in Math entitled “Fluently Add and Subtract Multi-Digit Whole Numbers”.  This topic addresses finding sums and differences, estimating sums and differences, adding whole numbers, adding greater numbers, subtracting whole numbers, subtracting greater numbers, subtracting across zeros and reasoning.  As a reminder, your child will have weekly homework.  This will be given on Monday and is due the following Monday.

Reading

During Reading Workshop in the month of August, students began to learn and practice how to think deeply about their reading, determine if they are truly reading “just right books” at their level that will help them grow as readers, and analyze characters’ traits while providing evidence from the text as support.  This month during reading workshop, the students were reading books at their independent level.  I was and will continue conferring independently with readers as well as working with kiddos in a small group format as I focus on the aforementioned skills. They will use sticky notes, graphic organizers, and record their thinking in their Reader's Journal as they annotate their text. 

Our reading focus in September will be on interpreting characters.  Students will focus on several strategies including finding a book they want to read, reading as if they are in the book, figuring out confusing parts, noting important things to talk about, doing the work the book is requesting, finding the flow of the book, and making movies in their mind.  All of these are strategies used to read intensely.  Throughout this unit the kids will learn how to make inferences about character traits, how to discuss the importance of story elements, evaluate characters’ responses and change, analyze parts of a story in relation to the whole story, and determining themes and cohesion.  I could really use your support at home….please encourage your child to read.  Volume matters!!

Social Studies

We are currently studying Colorado History.  We began this unit by studying the geography of Colorado and how the geography of the land impacts the people/how people impact the land.  As we continue, we will study the early Native American tribes that occupied our state as well as the Europeans who later settled here and positively/negatively impacted the Native Americans.  Our study of Colorado truly focuses on how people impact the land and how the land impacts the people.  

 

 

Writing

We are learning about the genre of opinion writing. Students are learning how to create a strong thesis statement (claim), support that statement with powerful reasons and a multitude of examples, and provide a strong concluding paragraph. So far, we are practicing our skills by writing opinion essays about important topics relating to us (for example, favorite type of ice cream, favorite genres of music, favorite restaurants, favorite type of animal, etc.). Students will be learning to be persuasive in their writing and convince others to believe in their thesis statement. As we further develop our skills in opinion writing, we will broaden our topics and begin to craft thesis statements based on bigger ideas that impact larger groups such as our community, country, our world. 

Important Dates

No School Friday, September 24th

Digger Dash Friday, October 1st from 10:15-10:45 (fourth grade only)