Week of Oct. 2-6, 2017

Our first month is under our belt and we really feel like grade 4's now!  A lot of hard work has been done and many routines established.  What a group of troopers!

Notes:

• Thank you to all who contributed treats for our "Unbirthday" party.  We had a great time!
• Thanks to all who donated "Toonies for Terry!"
• We are starting the annual "Feed the Bug" campaign.  We will have a box in our room if you would like to donate a non-perishable food item.
• If your child would like to participate in the FREE hot lunch, please fill out the little orange

Curriculum:

• Math: The unit test for graphing will take place on Tuesday.  You can help at home by going over the study guide with your child (if you need a copy, see the "Math Review" tab).  On Thursday, we will begin our first patterns unit.
• https://www.mathsisfun.com/data/bar-graphs.html
• http://www.softschools.com/math/data_analysis/pictograph/
• L.A.
• Spelling: Lesson 2 continues and our dictation assessment is on Thursday.  You can help at home by asking your child to sort their words and practice them.  If you would like to give a practice test, make up some sentences that include the list words and have your child write down the whole sentence.  How did they do?  Did they get all the words in the sentence right?  Did they start each sentence with a capital?  Did they end each sentence with the correct punctuation? 
• Writing: Our Small Moments stories have been published and we have a good idea now of where our students are at with their writing.  This is a good skill and you can help at home by having your child tell you a story about one moment.  Did they stay on topic?  Did they include interesting details?  Did they vary their sentences?  Did they have a clear beginning, middle and end?
• Science: This week we will look a little bit more at the subject of the reflection of light and then how we can bend or refract light.  You can explore these concepts at home by looking at objects in water and finding things that reflect light.
• Social: Our journey through the Rockies is underway.  We will explore how the mountains were formed, what it's like on a glacier, and how the Rockies are responsible for many of Alberta's rivers.

This Week's Schedule:
Monday:

• Rahim and Samayoa library books due
• Friday Letters due (Thanks to parents for writing back to their kids!  This is great modeling!)

Tuesday:

• Nelson library books due
• Tone It Up Tuesday - our first Indy 500!
• Math test (graphing)

Friday:

• Enrichment begins (this week, not last week!)
• Frolicking Friday

Week of Sept. 25-29, 2017

Curriculum:

• Math: This week we will continue to look at pictographs and bar graphs.  Students need to be able to create, interpret and compare each of these graphs.
• LA
• Spelling: New sorts, Lesson 2, will come home today.
• Writing: This week we will draft, edit and publish a small moments story.
• Science: We are looking at how light travels, and what the words transparent, translucent and opaque mean.
• Social: We get to board a train and begin our imaginary journey through this great province of ours.  First stop: the Rocky Mountain Region!

This Week's Schedule:
Monday:

• Rahim and Samayoa library books due
• Friday Letters due

Tuesday:

• Nelson library books due
• Bus evacuation practice
• Tone It Up Tuesday
• Hot lunch
• Energy Day assembly 12:45
• Family Fun Night 6:00-7:15 p.m. in the gym - students must be accompanied by an adult

Thursday:

• Terry Fox run
• Whole class birthday party

Friday:

• Orange Shirt Day
• Enrichment begins
• Frolicking Friday

Week of Sept. 18-22, 2017

The weather has certainly cooled off from a couple of weeks ago, so please make sure kids are dressed for the weather.  Layers are a great way to dress in this fall season.  It's still important to bring a water bottle to class to stay hydrated and help our brains learn.

Notes:

• We are collecting Toonies for Terry for our Terry Fox run

Curriculum:

• Math: We will finish working with whole numbers on Monday and have a quiz on Tuesday.  Students need to be able to read, write and represent 4- and 5- digit numbers in word form, expanded form, base 10 blocks and standard form.  On Wednesday we will begin our graphing unit.
• L.A.
• Writing: Our small moments unit is underway.  We will continue working on our stories this week using descriptive writing.
• Spelling: Week 1 will continue this week and will end with a dictation assessment on Thursday.
• Science: We will learn about reflectors and sources of light.  You can help at home by discussing items in your home and classifying them as sources or reflectors.  We will also look at good and poor reflectors and the angle at which light is reflected off of a mirror.
• Social: We will take a virtual trip to the Royal Tyrell Museum, put on our paleontologist hats and finish up with Alberta's beginnings by the end of the week.

This Week's Schedule:
Monday:

• Samayoa library books due
• Rahim library books due
• Friday Letters due

Tuesday:

• Tone It Up Tuesday - be sure to have a water bottle and dress to get sweaty!
• Nelson library books due
• Math Whole Numbers quiz

Friday:

• Frolicking Friday - dress to walk/run outside

Week of Sept. 4-8, 2017

What a great start to grade 4!  It's going to be an amazing year!  If you're reading this it's probably because your child showed you their agenda - well done! 

Notes:

• Your child went home with two letters today: one about how to communicate with us and one about our Classroom Economy.  Please read carefully and let your child's teacher know if you have any questions.

Curriculum:

• We will be jumping right into curriculum this week - no time to waste!
• Math: We will first explore whole numbers and numbers that are important to your child.  You can help at home by making sure your child knows important numbers like their phone number, address and postal code.
• Language Arts: Each class has started a read-aloud novel.  Ask your child what his/her class is reading.  We will begin with some initial testing this week as well.
• Science: Our first unit will be the scientific method and learning how to be good scientists.
• Social: We will first start by exploring our textbook and learning some important terms.

This Week's Schedule:
Monday:

• Labour Day

Tuesday:

• First day of school!

Friday:

• Welcome Back Assembly 9:00 a.m. - parents welcome
• First Frolicking Friday - dress to walk/run outside