| Upcoming Events for 4th Grade | | March 28 Classes resume
April 11 ERB Week with a breakfast treat each day
18 Seneca Schoolhouse Trip 22 Good Friday no school 29 1/2 day Parent conferences May
6 May Day Celebration 13 State Fair for Parents and students 20 Fort Frederick Field Trip 23 C & O Canal Field Trip 26 Arts & Academic 27 1/2 day Faculty In Service
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| Spanish | | On addition to our unit on the calendar students will be learning some additional expressions such as telling the month of their birthday, ask what day is it, or learn simple weather words related to the months of the year.
Students will also be learning the four seasons of the year.
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| Physical Education | | Fourth grade is staying fit! They have been improving their fitness scores for the Presidential Challenge. They are also working on their teamwork skills by playing handball. They will be hitting the mats this month, working on different gymnastic movements. We will be using the balance beam, vault, and floor mats to work on a variety of skills. | |
| Art | | In conjunction with their study of the United States, the fourth graders will learn about clay slab tile techniques and create a clay 'relief' tile of their state bird. They will also make a large colored map of their state and paint a landscape picture indicative of their state's terrain. | |
| March Highlights | | 1:30 Dismissal
| Mar. 3 | Family Fun Night 6:30
| 4 | Book Report Due
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| | End of the 2nd trimester |
9 | Freedom Train Play Towson
| 10 | Faculty In service at noon
| 11 | | Spring Break starts at noon | 18 |
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| Technology | | First In Math-continue working on the web for familiarity in math facts and critical thinking. ERB’s are next month. Google Doc. - please try and have your student use this sight now for homework involving word processing and publisher documents. They can print at home or at school, but at least have the document in a safe place.
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| Valentine’s Day Thanks! | | Thanks to Mrs. Jensen for organizing our class parties and to Mrs. Butz, Mrs. Kaminski, Mrs. Haas, and all her other volunteer parents who helped with the Valentine's party. The class had a wonderful time, and they were treated to great games and art projects. Thank you all for your generosity of time and food .
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| Music | | The students in Grade 4 are working on recorder playing techniques, especially the use of breath control to produce a pleasing sound on this basic, ancient, venerable, and pure, clear-sounding musical instrument. They are also learning how to clean and take care of their recorders. They have been listening to string quartets--#1 by Charles Ives, and Opus 59 #2 by Ludwig van Beethoven. They also continue to work on singing skills and repertoire. In honor of St. Patrick's Day, we will be enjoying participating in Ireland's delightful, sometimes whimsical, musical legacy to the world--songs, poetry, and children's "street chants".
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| | 4th Grade Welcomes Spring  | | The classes are ready for spring to come so they can get out and have fun. Before we can sit and pat ourselves on the backs for a job well done in fourth grade, there are still more important areas to be covered in the curriculum. We know once the weather gets really warm, the children will lose that momentum and want to be outside, as much as we adults will want to start gardening and mowing lawns and seeing our neighbors again. When report cards are given out this month, we will be asking the students to clean out their red binders again with regard to Math, Spelling, Wordly Wise, Regions and any other old papers. This also is a good time for all students to clean out their schoolbags. There seem to be things at the bottom of the bags that really need to be discarded. (Maybe even food?) In the beginning of March we will move into our next region and begin learning about the Southwest U.S. We will also do some independent reading on the state of Maryland from our other MD textbook.
With the school time lost with holidays, March will be a very busy and short month to accomplish our curriculum goals. However, we are getting closer to completing some of our state fair projects. We are now actively working on our Power Points and other items needed for that big day in May.
A compliment is verbal sunshine.
-Robert Orben |
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| Class Project Update | | The deadline for the final draft for the Craftsman Project is March 17. For some students, who needed more time to revamp their rough draft, the deadline will be extended. Those students will have spoken with their teacher. This Craftsman Project is a big learning step for fourth graders, but also an important one for their future. Parents with older children have praised our 4th grade endeavors, because they see how their student is being prepared for research papers in Middle School. We want to thank all our parents who have patiently guided their student through this process. We know that parts of the project reflect parent leadership for some students. Other students were able to tackle the project with less input from an adult. Our goal for each student was to learn the step-by-step process they will need to follow for their next important written project in 5th grade. We will be saving the craftsman papers to be put on display for the upcoming 4th graders visiting our classroom on Arts and Academic Night in May. She takes my hand and leads me along paths I would not have dared explored alone. -Maya V. Patel |
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| Book Report for March | | In order to concentrate on State Research and Power Point projects, along with finishing the craftsman, we will not have a formal book report this month of March. However to keep encouraging independent reading we are calling March “Free Reading Month.” We will encourage each student to choose a book of his/her choice to read for fun or information and fill out a form to summarize their book. Reading more books of historical nature is our wish. So you should see your student reading at home even though there is no project associated with the book. In April, we will have a book report on the Southwest and West regions of the U.S. This is a time to read about pioneers, cowboys, Native Americans and recordings of historical events. To be surprised, to wonder, is to begin to understand.
-Jose Ortega y Gaset |
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| New Skills Ahead for 4th Graders | | Spelling will continue to follow the planned units in the text book. Any additional assignments associated with that lesson such as creative writing should be completed on binder paper or typing paper if using the computer. All work should be neat, labeled with name, date and subject and should not contain any spelling errors. This month we will concentrate more on free writing in our journals. Students are given a topic to expound on within a set time as soon as they come into class. Work not completed will be expected to be done before lunch. Both LA classes are also working on grammar with our Grammar books introducing new ways to write more complex sentences. Some rough drafts are taken to the computer lab, to be retyped adding more descriptive adjectives, adverbs, and prepositional phrases. At this time of year, students should be including these elements of English in all their writing. Students in reading level 1 are reading Out of the Dust. It has taken us longer to complete The Hollow Tree with the different interruptions with snow days and breaks in the school day. After Out of the Dust we move into the novel The Legend of Jimmy Spoon which centers around a young boy’s adventures living with the Native Americans in the West.. Reading comprehension exercises will be an additional focus for both groups using Storyworks magazine in order to prepare for ERB’s in April . and move into the novel, Also, Mrs. Pause’s group complete reading Sarah Plain and Tall and continuing reading in the monthly Storyworks magazine.
When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive- to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.
-Marcus Aurelius |
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