Author: Melissa Morrier-Turk

Hello Parents!

These past two weeks have been crazy schedule wise!  Last week, there were so many teachers out sick that I was pulled to sub in 1^st and 6^th grade!  Mrs. Yee did an AMAZING job taking fully over my classroom! If you get a chance, please send her a little note of thanks for being awesome😊  She only has a couple weeks left with us as well before she graduates with her Masters in Education! Woohoo! This week is super short as well with Thursday being an extra training day for teachers in preparation for if the school needs to close for health concerns.  Currently, there are no plans for that, but always good to be prepared!  Friday we have no school as well for another teacher Inservice day.  Have an amazing long weekend! I pray the weather is nice and sunny!

Curriculum:

Math- Mrs. Yee has done an excellent job moving the students through division.  As we move towards wrapping up the unit, I would suggest you do a quick check on division with your students at home.  Xtramath.com is an excellent resource for quick fact recall.  For step by step long division, try https://www.funbrain.com/games/math-mountain. Medium and Hard levels are still 1 digit x 3 or 4 digit long division, so the students should be able to do these levels.  SECRET EXTRA CREDIT: Sit with your kiddo and make up some long division problems with them.  Do 10 or more and have them bring them in on Monday for extra credit! They can do 1 digit by 4 digit, but feel free to do 1 digit by any large number! Need a refresher?  Here is a video of how to do long division https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjO7YaSXg54.  SECRET SECRET EXTRA EXTRA CREDIT: Have your student create their own video teaching someone how to do long division.  Make it your own! Super duper awesome ones might even be shown to next year’s 4^th graders when they get to division!

Reading- Students just wrapped up a mini unit on Inventions!  They presented their inventions to the class today.  I was so impressed with what they came up with, I think these kids could change the world!

History-  Oregon Trail, here we come! As we wrap up our chapter on pioneers, students will be taking their new knowledge and going on a mental trip along the Oregon Trail.  Next week, students will learn about what the main drive behind the journey was and what they needed to pack to survive.  This is one of my favorite units to teach, and tends to be a student favorite as well!

Science- We have started our unit on Waves!  We learned that waves can travel through mediums such as air, water, and even through solids.  We will be looking at water waves next week.

Religion- We are currently 12 days into Lent.  Students made journals to track their progress with their Lenten Promise which they visit daily.  They respond to questions and reflect upon their Lenten journey.

Upcoming

-No School Thursday 3/12, or Friday 3/13

-Current Event Due Wednesday 3/11- if you email it to me, send me a separate email to verify I received it! Copy and pasting into the email works too.  Sometimes sending directly from the website is not accepted by our firewall here.

-Book in a Box is due at the end of the month.  Directions went home on the backside of the reading log.

-Keep an eye on your homework calendar!  Jump Frog Division and Share the Treasure Mathletic games are due TONIGHT.  All students know how to log onto Mathletics, and do at school on a weekly basis.  These games should only take maybe 15 minutes to complete.

-Report cards come home end of next week!

Request!

-If you find yourself at the grocery store stocking up on TP, Hand Sanitizer, and Bananas (why Seattle?), please snag me a pack of baby wipes!  We use them constantly in the classroom (epidemic or not!) and I am dangerously low on supplies.  I buy them with my own money as the school does not supply them for us, but would love the help!

Mrs. Christina Cortez

Fourth Grade Teacher

This week in 4A was filled with unit wrap ups!

Curriculum:

Science– We have officially finished our bodies and senses unit!  We spent this week learning about hearing and our brains.  For hearing, we created playdough models of the outer/middle/inner ear and watched a clip of a show on Netflix called Storybots to assist in our knowledge of what each portion of the ear does and how sound travels though each.  If you ever need an educational show to show your kids, Storybots is a favorite of mine!  It looks a little bit little-kiddy, but my husband and I enjoy watching it with our kids too (and sing the songs randomly).  We had a blast learning about our brains! Yesterday, we learned about the different lobes and cortex, and what each portion is in control of.  We played Simon Says with our lobes and cortex to learn the locations as well.  Today, we heard stories about how each portion of the brain affects us and why each portion is important to have.  Ask your students about a guy named Phineas Gage, and see if they can tell you about why his frontal lobe damage (caused by a railroad accident) effected his personality and behavior.  They will be coming home wearing awesome brain hats that we created today! I have attached a full class picture, enjoy!

Math- Mrs. Yee has been doing an amazing job with the students, walking them through division.  There is a practice test coming home today, please go over it this weekend.  I have attached this practice test as well.  Directions for a poster went home on the 5^th, these are due next Wednesday (the 12^th).  If you have any questions, please email Mrs. Yee at ayee@stmarym.org.

Reading- The students ROCKED their Boy in the Girl’s Bathroom trailers this week!  In case you missed it, students have spent the last 2 weeks working on their final assessment for the novel study Boy in the Girl’s Bathroom by Louis Sachar.  This week, we put on 3 different performances.  The first was for our friends in 4B on Wednesday during Buddy time.  They helped us work out the final kinks we may have still had, made sure we were loud enough, and helped us with final touches on our blocking (movement of props on the stage).  Thursday, Mr. Ramseyer came in and watched us.  He was so impressed, he thinks we should perform for the whole school at an assembly!  If that happens, I will let you know! Finally, today we performed for Mrs. Cortez and for our final grade.  I can tell you, that was the EASIEST thing I have graded all year, everyone did such a phenomenal job!!

Religion– We continued our talks and studies about the Holy Spirit.  We also have begun a new addition to curriculum called Sacred Stories.  Students are asked to think of how something they did that day either brought them consolation- brought them closer to God and brought joy to their lives, or brought them desolation- pulled them further away from God, and did not spark joy in their lives.

History– Students worked to learn about Lewis and Clark in preparation for our unit on the Oregon Trail.  We learned about Sacagawea and her interpretation skills to help keep these explorers alive on their journey to the Northwest.

Writing–  As students worked on their Boy in the Girl’s Bathroom trailers, we looked at our Wonders curriculum and did a week long unit on Natural Disasters.  Though this unit, students focused on comparing and contrasting information.  They were also asked to use their computer time to pick a natural disaster and do a little research on them.  Some students finished their pre planning research page in class, however most were asked to bring them home and finish their research there.  On Monday, students will be using this information to write a newspaper article.  Over the weekend, please help students finish this page.  They have had 2 computer class periods to work at school, so they should be close to finishing.

Upcoming/ reminders:

• A homework calendar went home with your student last week.  It lists out the big important assignments that are going to be due over the month.  I have included some online platforms as well, such as Mathletics and Raz Kids.  Each student has learned how to log on, and has logged onto their account at school.  Please go over the calendar with your student for upcoming events.   The first Mathletics assignment is due by Monday night!! Your students know how to log on, as they have done it many, many times this school year.  Please check with them that they have completed this assessment!!
• The BACK of this homework calendar is the February Reading Log.  Please remember to do this every night for at least 20 minutes.
• Stapled to the homework calendar is the directions for the science unit project.  This is a totally 100% at home project.  Since students will have over 2 weeks to complete it, it is expected to be their BEST work.  It is worth a significant amount towards their grade, so they need to put a lot of effort into it.  These projects are due Thursday, February 20^th.
• Spelling Bee students will have their final spelling bee on February 13^th after school.  Please pick up your student at the lower parking lot at 3:45.  If your child is not picked up by 4:00, they will be sent to extension.  We have one more practice quiz this Thursday.  Thank you for helping your student participate in this competition!  If you have any questions, please forward them to Mrs. A MAkashio@stmarym.org
• IMPORTANT AND SECRET: On Thursday, February 13^th, we will be having our Valentine’s Day Party.  Students are able to bring in treats and valentines to pass out (not a secret).  Parents, I would LOVE it if you would be willing to come in either on the AFTERNOON (2:45-3:15ish) of Wednesday, Feb 12^th OR in the MORNING (7:30- 8:00ish) of February 13^th to show your love for your kiddo and decorate their desk!  That way, when they come in on Feb 13^th, they will be blown away with their desk specially decorated by you for them!  If you need help coordinating, or would need me to decorate for you, I can do that too! Just let me know 😊  Again, this would be a SURPRISE for your student!!

Mrs. Christina Cortez

Fourth Grade Teacher

Exciting Full Week!

We had a wonderful and full week this week! Students were up and moving with lots of hands on activities and the beginnings of projects. In History, we have been learning about Washington State Symbols. They should all know the state bird (American Goldfinch), fish (Steelhead Trout), tree (Western Hemlock), dance (Square Dance), flower (Coast Rhododendron), Fruit (apple), Insect (Green Darner Dragonfly), and nickname (The Evergreen State).  I will give “secret” extra credit to those who read this and quiz their kid at home on those facts! Just sign a piece of paper saying you quizzed your student and bring it in and they will get 5 points extra credit on Monday!

We have been studying the elements that make up fairy tales in Language Arts.  We studied some traditional fairy tales and their “fractured” counterparts.  These are modern twists to the stories, where maybe the wolf really wasn’t the bag guy in the Three Little Pigs, or Jack didn’t steal the golden eggs from the Giant in Jack and the Beanstalk, but helped him instead. We have started our first class novel study of Tuck Everlasting as well to keep with this theme.  The kids even began writing their own Fractured Fairytales!

In Math, we have been looking at place value.  The students built structures out of place value manipulatives as a math challenge! They then had to figure out how many units were used to build their tower.

THANK YOU!

Thank you Mrs. Gaffney for coming in and teaching our first art lesson of the year!

Also, thank you all who attended Curriculum Night on Wednesday! You rock!

REMINDER TO STUDENTS:

The Math place value page that went home Thursday is due Monday.

Keep the blue sheet for Spelling Tic Tac Toe in your binders! This sheet can be used week after week.

It is CRAZY SOCK DAY on Monday!  Excellent work with the Fun Run Fundraiser!

REMINDER TO PARENTS:

Please help reminde your student to complete spelling Tic Tac Toes by Friday.  They only have to do 3 activities and only need to use their highlighted 10 words.

If you come across unscented baby wipes on your grocery store trips, I would love some for the classroom!  I am good with cheap generic store brand! Thank you Thank you!!