Week 33

Weekly Greetings,

I want to start by thanking everyone that contributed and helped at the bake sale fundraiser on Saturday. We made exactly $500! That is twice the amount I thought we would make, and it is just enough to do the day trip to Fort Greely for swimming on May 10. Many people just gave us donations while we were selling goodies, and I am so thankful to live in such a generous community.

There are two important things I need to cover before recapping some activities from last week. First, the fourth grade will be doing PEAKS testing for Science this Tuesday starting at 9:00am. Please  have your child at school on time and well rested. The following week they will have Language and Math on Tuesday and Wednesday starting at the same time each day. Also next Monday, May 9, there will not be any school, as we will be having Parent/Teacher Conferences. Please find the attached note with your assigned time that will be with your child's homework this Monday. Let me know if you need a different time slot, and I will try to make it work.

Now for some highlights from last week. In math we did mostly hands-on activities focusing on fractions. The class worked with the first grade to make fraction strips, and on the second and third day the class worked on comparing and adding fractions using the strips. We will continue on Monday and use the strips to subtract fractions.
 
On Thursday during our math period, the class was introduced to all the different activities and uses of the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) room. Then the class worked with partners to make a little robot with the top of a toothbrush.
In Science, we began a new unit on the Rocks and Minerals, and looked at the rock cycle. For fun on Friday, (and because it was the Easter season) we sorted Jelly Belly beans to make observations using a chart to decide what flavor they were. The students got to sample the Jelly Belly beans to see if they correctly identified the flavor when done. This will help the students look closely for characteristics of rocks when given a variety to sort.
We started a new unit in reading, and also got back into different reading options as student complete assignments. There are choices of additional reading programs, vocabulary, phonics, and reading comprehension games. The students choose to do something independently, or in small groups. During the week, they must do five options listed for the week.
Enjoy your week and kind regards, 

Julie Brown

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