Ms. Flanagan's Blog

Despite the end of the school year quickly approaching, we are hard at work in 4th grade!

* In math we have moved into book B! We are currently working on decimals and we have studied the tenths place value. We will eventually learn about the hundredths as well.

* In writer’s workshop, the students have been working on writing their own informational books. They have “researched their brains” to find all they know about a topic. The students have been very motivated and excited about this activity. We should be finishing up our first book this week and starting another right away.

* In social studies, we are currently learning about the southeast region of the United States. The students have been expected to identify and be able to spell each state in the region. They will be receiving the study guide for the Midwest this week! Please help your child study and learn these states, as this is an assignment that should be done mostly at home.

Below is a link for a fun, online game and states and caps song!

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/web_games.htm

 

* We have also started our Illinois Project and hope to finish up next week. The students are researching various aspects of Illinois and are then creating an online “Museum Box” to display what they learned.

* In reading the students have been strategy streaming, using their knowledge of all their reading strategies to read a wide variety of texts. They have also been participating in literature circles in which they have been able to read fiction novels.

* Important dates *

Tuesday, May 14th, Elementary Orchestra Concert, OOJH, 7:00 pm

Wednesday, May 15th, Elementary Band Concert, OOJH, 7:00 pm

Thursday, May 23rd, 4th grade field trip to Museum of Science & Industry. Please bring a lunch that day.

*Our class is in need of four chaperones that day, please email me if interested mflanagan@skokie68.org Please know we do ask parents to take a group of about 4-5 students through the museum that day.

Monday, May 27th, NO SCHOOL, Memorial Day

Friday, May 31st, NO SCHOOL, Records Day

4th grade is in full swing after our Spring Break!

- In reading, we have started reviewing our connecting strategy, which is very closely linked to inferring. The students will have the opportunity to read a wide range of texts during shared reading to practice this. We will also be focusing on poetry in the next few months since April is poetry month! The students will learn about the different types of poetry and even write many of their own poems.

- We have been hard at work learning about fractions in math. We have been using the 3rd grade materials to get us up to speed for what we need to learn in 4th grade. The students have already learned how to simplify, compare and add and subtract fractions. As we move into the 4th grade material, we will learn about mixed numbers and improper fractions.

- In social studies we are beginning to learn about the regions of the United States. The first region we will cover is the Northeast. In addition to learning about what makes each region unique, we are aiming to have each student learn the states and capitals of each region. Expect your child to be doing a lot of studying and any help from parents at home will be extremely helpful!

* Important dates *

Tuesday, April 8th, NO SCHOOL, Election Day

Friday, April 12, Stenson Spring Music Concert Concert, 2:00 pm

Wednesday & Thursday, April 17 & 18, Stenson 4th & 5th grade Speed Stacking Tournament, 3:00

 

I hope you all enjoyed your break, we have jumped right back in to learning in 4th grade!

We took our reading MAPs test on Monday, and will take the math test on Thursday. The students did an amazing job already and I’m excited to see their progress in math as well!

In math we are working our way through Unit 4 which covers tables and graphs. We have already worked on reading tally charts, bar and picture graphs and are currently studying line graphs.

In Science we have been learning about our moon and its phases, the earth’s movements (rotate, revolve, orbit, day and night) and more about our seasons. Our goal is to understand how the universe is organized and what causes the seasons. We have enjoyed working through two “Science Courts” as well. Ask your child about their “verdict” in each case and the reason for the seasons!

In reading, the students have been hard at work figuring out the author’s purpose and making inferences with support from the text to prove it. We are beginning to work on our Extended Reader Responses. Our goal is to make sure we answer the prompt using words from the text and then explain it thoroughly using our own ideas. Many of the students will be able to incorporate quotes from the text to support their answer. Impressive!

Our writer’s workshop is moving along as well. Our current unit focuses on essays and the students recently selected their thesis. We will now move on to collecting “proof” for their reasoning and will eventually have a finished essay to “publish.”

Mrs. Layman will soon be teaching us about the Dewey Decimal System in library and we will choose four nonfiction books to read and discuss. Look for the parent note next week.

* Important dates *

Thursday, January 17th, 4th Grade Music Program, 7:30 pm

Monday, January 21st, NO SCHOOL, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Wednesday, January 23rd, Stenson Family Game Night, 6:30 – 8:00 pm

Tuesday, January 29th, Parent/Teacher Conferences, 5:30 – 8:30 pm

Thursday, January 31st, Parent/Teacher Conferences, 5:30 – 8:30 pm

 

The 4th grade team wanted to wish everyone a safe and enjoyable winter break. We hope you have lots of fun and family time!

The 4th graders received a winter break packet today that we hope they will work on over break. While it is not mandatory, there are many skills in there that we have worked long and hard on and we’d love for them to stay fresh over break.

Your encouragement to work on this would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance and Happy New Year!