What's New in Fourth Grade!

Curriculum Corner

Take a look at what's happening in Fourth Grade! Students are making their thinking visible in different subject areas! Parents, please take the time to ask your child what learning has taken place in their different classes.

Use the following tips to help guide your discussions with your child (taken from Making Thinking Visible: 10 Apps for Parents - Ron Ritchhart, 2012):

• Focus on the learning over the work... Take a moment to ask your child what the purpose of each task was or what does he/she think their teacher wants them to learn

• Encourage connections... Your child encounters new information constantly - to make sense of this information he/she must connect it to previous knowledge; ask questions of connection and encourage comparisons and contrasts when talking about topics your child is exploring

Literacy 
Students continue to analyze Patricia Polacco’s stories for good writing traits - http://www.patriciapolacco.com/. Students will be developing their narratives by elaborating on a character’s wants and struggles.  Students use a story arc to plan their narratives.

Math
We are beginning Unit 2 on using numbers and organizing data, in Math this week. Students will learn to interpret and organize a collection of numbers into tables and graphs. 

Units of Study
We have started our exciting “Unique Brazil” Social Studies unit, in which students are learning about the natural resources, geography, culture, economy, government, and transportation of Brazil. This week, we are exploring the artifact boxes and beginning discussions on landforms and reading physical maps. 

Português
Nesta semana, daremos continuidade ao estudo das palavras variáveis e invariáveis. Refletiremos como as palavras podem variar em gênero (masculino/feminino), número (singular/plural) e tempo (presente/passado e futuro). Em nossa oficina de escrita, vamos continuar o estudo das características do relato pessoal.

PAL
Students in Dona Dani's class will  start a review on basic vocabulary and different ways of greeting and introducing each other through activities, songs and games. Students in Dona Nati’s class will continue to study and practice informational texts. In Language Studies, students will continue to look at how nouns vary according to gender and number.

Special Events and Dates

Please join us at our Lower School Open House this Thursday, August 27th, from 7:00pm-8:00pm. We will begin in the auditorium at 7:00pm, then move to room E12 for our Fourth Grade presentation. You will also have the chance to visit your child’s individual classroom! We look forward  to seeing you there!

Also, please remind your child to wear white to school on Friday for our whole school Graded photo!