Wednesday, April 13, 2022

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

Tuesday, February 1, 2022

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.