Lynn Leighton's Newsletter 2.10.12
- Details
- Category: Fourth
- Published on Friday, 10 February 2012 15:01
- Written by Lynn_Leighton
- Hits: 133
4th Grade News
Lynn Leighton’s Class
February 10th, 2012
We will be celebrating Valentines Day on Tuesday, February 14th. Attached is a class list if your child is interested in exchanging Valentines. If they want to participate in the exchanging of cards, I expect them to include all classmates!
Please let me know on the Parent Communication Sheet if you can help with refreshments and haven’t told me yet.
This week we continued enjoying the sharing students did of their Independent Projects. During Personal Reading time many students have chosen a topic of interest, read about it, and put together a classroom presentation where they share their expertise. This week we have enjoyed presentations on Bobcats by Nathaniel, Roald Dahl by Sarah G, and Justin Beiber by Ashley and Courtney.
Again everyone really enjoyed their Winter Sports activities and returned back to school bubbling with excitement. I want to thank all the parents who helped make this year’s Winter Sports Program a success!
Upcoming events:
No School: February 20 -24th Winter Break
Social Curriculum:
Green Street School is placing a school- wide focus on the concept: RESPECT. The staff is looking for examples of respect as well as safe and responsible behaviors to award with Bug-gets. Come see Green Street School’s full gumball machines where students have been receiving sticker for their respectful behavior in the main lobby!
This week we continued working on “BILL #3, which states:
We will have a QUIET Classroom. We will especially work on having a QUIET classroom environment during:
- Morning Work Time
- Snack
- Lunch
We have already earned 50 points towards passing this “BILL”!
This week Melissa Johnson and Tamara Evanson, school counselors, visited our classroom and worked with us in the area of social skills. We worked on an activity where children practiced using “I” statements to communicate their thoughts, feelings, and needs to others.
Literacy:
During Shared Literacy time I continue using the Good Habits Great Readers curriculum to teach your child reading & comprehension strategies. This week the children continued learning to understand how stories work. Using our read aloud story, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe children worked on identifying the setting and exploring the relationships between setting and characters. Students also worked on identifying the sequence of events in the plot and the impact these events have on the characters. Everyone enjoyed making a story map looking at the plot’s exposition (the background information given), the rising action (when the conflict/problem arises), and the climax (when the action reaches a turning point).
We are all looking forward to hearing to the end of this story and watching the BBC movie version of The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.
This week we continued both Word Study Lessons & Guided Reading Groups! During our Word Study Lessons and Guided Reading Groups your child is working in a small group with one of the 4th Grade teachers. Teachers include: Lynn Leighton, Ms. Shifflette, Ms. Superchi, and Ms. Fremeth/Ms. Broom/Raquel Moreno. Ask your child who they are working with and what they are learning and reading.
In Writers Workshop we continued working in our writing unit: Writing a Procedure. This week children worked on putting together all the parts of a Procedure; opening, materials list, steps, closing and worked on creating a final copy of the procedure they wrote about. We are now working on a second Procedure piece where each child is working in an independent manner.
Math:
This week we continued to work in our Math unit called Size, Shape, and Symmetry. During this geometry unit your child has been learning about polygons, measuring angles, and finding area. This week students continued working on finding area. Students began the week measuring area with non-square units of measure (triangles and trapezoids) and discussed how different units of measure yielded different results. Student also worked on dividing non-rectangular polygons in half in an investigation called “Crazy Cakes”. Later in the week students did a great job finding the area of non-rectangular polygons measuring them in square units by decomposing the shapes. They especially were challenged by finding the area of the triangles within the shape.
Please continue helping your child learn the basic multiplication facts 1 – 12.
French:
Children have reviewed parts of the body and actions along with a new song "Attention, on commence!". They have drawn and narrated some oddly-shaped monsters to each other. They have also learned to talk about their hair and eye color. They are working on self-portraits to be hung in the 4th grade hallway which will have both physical characteristics (hair and eye color, height), skills (musical instruments), and good Gecko traits (safe, respectful, and responsible behaviors). They have also learned to sing the French alphabet song and dance Le Hokey-Pokey.
Abenaki Studies:
This week we continued a Social Studies/History unit on Abenaki Indaians. During this unit of study your child will be learning about the pre-history of Vermont, the Abenaki culture during contact, and present day Abenaki life. This week we continued our studies with a classroom simulation where the children entered our imaginary classroom wigwam. In the wigwam they participated in a variety of Native American chants, songs, games, poetry, and legends. We read part I of Finding Ones Way, which is a story about an Abenaki boy named Louis who is teased by his classmates for not looking or acting the way they expect an Indian to be. Louis is hurt and confused by their comments and turns to his family to learn about his culture. Today we will be drawing “Name Shields” for our chosen Native American names.
Health Unit: Immune System:
This week in Health we watched a video about how the immune defends our body from germs. In this cartoon animated video we learned about “the secret doctor” or our amazing immune system. The movie looked at our white blood cells and explained the jobs of the macrophages, helper T cells, killer T cells, suppressor T cells, memory T cells, and B cells and how they help keep us healthy.
Next week we will be learning about AIDS and how it is a disease that attacks the body’s immune system. We will be watching a video titled, I Have AIDS: A Teenager’s Story. In this educational video children will be introduced to Ryan White a young hemophiliac who was infected with the AIDS virus during a blood transfusion. The goal of this video is to allay children’s fears about AIDS by giving them a basic understanding of how the virus is transmitted.
Woods Time:
Just a reminder that we will be continuing going to the woods each Friday for a special recess where children have the opportunity to play creatively in a natural setting. It is important that your child comes prepared to school on Fridays to hike and play in the woods. Once there is snow, each child must bring a warm coat, snow pants, boots, hats & gloves in order to participate.
* Next week during Woods Time we are planning to walk up to the Harris Hill Ski Jump area and see everyone preparing for the annual ski jump events.
Homework Schedule:
Monday Night- Literacy
Tuesday Night- Math
Wednesday Night - Math
Thursday Night - Writing
Friday Night- Newsletter & Parent Communication Page
* Each Night: 15 Minutes Personal Reading
5-10 Minutes Practicing Multiplication Facts
Special’s Schedule:
Monday- Art, Library (return books), & Band (instruments needed)
Tuesday- PE (sneakers needed)
Wednesday- Music
Thursday- Sing
Instrument Lessons (instruments needed)
Friday- Woods Time (dress for hiking & being in the woods)
Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns. I can be reached at Green Street School: 254- 3737 ext. 120.