Friday, November 15, 2013

Newsletter for 11-15-13

      
Third and Fourth Grade News
November 15, 2013

Hello!  It has been a terrific week in our classroom!  Below I have highlighted the events in our classroom:

We traveled to Earthworks this week!  We had a great time, and it was neat to the culmination of all of our efforts here at school.  The children divided up into three habitats: the pond, forest, and the cave.  They studied animals and plants native to that habitat and then traveled around as scientists to explore and experiment in other habitats too.  What a neat day!  We will finish up this unit next week with the building of simulated habitats, studying the vocabulary that we have learned, and with writing about what we have learned too.  Thank you to all the parents who helped!  You are a treasure… J 

Religion- This week, we talked about Moses, as he received the 10 commandments, an how the people stopped trusting in God.  We tested over the 10 commandments today.  We also led Chapel this week, explaining the 8th commandment: You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor, with skits.  They did a great job, and I do believe we have several budding actors in here!  J   

National Collection Week for Operation Christmas Child is November 18-25!  As a school, we have stopped collecting, and have put together exactly 100 boxes!  Woohoo!  We met our goal and did awesome!!!!  God is GOOD!  A special Thank you  to Aimee Hirsch & Kay Williams, as they counted these, and packed, and tagged them.  You can continue to bring in materials and/or boxes, though! 

Language Arts-This week, both classes read biographies.  3rd graders read about young Thomas Edison, and 4th graders read about the dancer Jose Limon.  Both were so influential in the their time with different strengths.  We had some great conversations about reaching for your dreams, knowing your limitations, and setting your goals so you can work  hard.  Both had sets of parents that believed in them and pushed them to great odds, and to think outside of the box.  We learned a lot this week!

Next week, we will all have the same spelling words and stories.  We will be focusing on the first Thanksgiving and our spelling words will be vocabulary words from this unit. 

This week, we also focused on adjectives, and finding them in sentences, as well as using them in written work.  After Thanksgiving, we will learn cursive letters! 

Math- third graders began learning money concepts this week.  We will begin reviewing the counting of coins, and then will find change, and learning how to count change back.  Fourth graders are working with forming tables, and finding mean, median, and mode. 

Social Studies- Next week, we will be learning all about the first Thanksgiving with a special units about the Native Americans and Pilgrims.  We will have a feast on Monday, November 25th here at school.  Please look a Sign-Up Genius coming home soon to sign up to send a dish with your child.  Thank you!
P.E. - This week, we continued our basketball skills, combining the passing with the dribbling.  Next week—shooting! 

Music- This week, we continued learning the songs for the Christmas Pageant on December 15th..  Some students asked for solos and group sings, so those came home this week to be practiced. 

Art- We finished up our warm and cool 3D hand line drawings. 


Have an awesome weekend! 
Blessings,
Kim



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