4AW Weekly Newsletter March 4-8

Grade 4

Weekly Newsletter

March 4 - March 8, 2019

Student Led Conferences are this week. Thanks to you all for working with our new system and signing up through powerschool.  During the conference your chid will be teaching you some of the strategies or games in the different content areas such as Math, Writing and Science/Reading. Your child will also have a time at a station where they can share with you their reflections- honestly- on Semester 1 goals and set new goals. 

Your child will do most of the talking. This is not a time for 1:1 parent teacher conferences as many of you will be in the classroom with 3 other families. I will be in the classroom and will join in some sharing. I would like to request that mobile phones are turned off- so that your full attention can be given to your child. I look forward to seeing you all soon.

Language Arts
In Language Arts this week, students are continuing to gather different types of visual material, such as diagrams, data and charts to add to their collection of information on their non fiction research topic. Students are continuing to synthesize, - using the notes from different sources that students have collected to begin drafting our non fiction texts, ensuring that information is grouped into sections and paragraphs. This week we will be focusing on conclusions.

Math
This week the students will continue with working on decomposing fractions using a number line and the area model. They will then be adding and subtracting fractions with common denominators. The students will continue to use drawings to help make deeper connections while adding and subtracting fractions.

Science
Due to our preparations for our Student-led Conferences this week we have limited science lesson times. However, we will be learning about different rock layers. We will also be using our inference skills about fossils in preparation for writing a scientific argument. The argument will be based on a claim about what past environments used to be like, using evidence from rocks and fossils.

Announcements
March 7th & March 8th - Student Led Conferences (SLC): Thank you for signing up for a time slot on POWERSCHOOL. If you are unable to attend, please contact your child’s teacher so that an alternative date can be set up.

Resources
To further support our exploration of non-fiction text log on to Newsela, which is an online news website that has the capability of breaking down the text into different reading levels that all readers can access.  https://newsela.com/text-sets/#/science (focus on Science)