What an amazing class we have and what an amazing week we just finished in 4th grade! For most 4th graders, turning 10 is a big thing in 4th grade. While we always take time to celebrate each other's special day, last week we got to help create a surprise for one student in our class. I don't know if your child shared the story with you, but one of our classmates has a brother who is in the Navy. The number one request for her birthday was to have her brother come home. However, he had told her he couldn't get leave. Secretly a plan went into place to get him here. On Thursday, after a short stop at home to change into his uniform, he stopped by our class to surprise his younger sister. It was an amazing moment to share as a class and the students really enjoyed getting to ask him questions about his role in the Navy. It is such a wonderful reminder that we need to treasure all of our veterans and active military personnel, especially on the day before Patriot Day. My husband served in the Air Force, my dad worked with the Navy Seals as a diver during the Vietnam war, and my grandfather was a pilot stationed at Pearl Harbor.
I am excited to report that Edmodo is up and running. Parents....please create your accounts. You will need the parent code which can be found on the home page when your child logs into his or her account. If you already have an Edmodo account, you can just add the code to your account. If not, you can register and create a new one. This is the best way for you to keep informed about learning happening both inside and outside the classroom. I was so impressed with the number of kids who were logging on this weekend to share what we are doing with their families. Keep up the great work!
This week we will be continuing to grow as Scientist and Engineers as we begin working with concepts in the water cycle. Over the next several weeks, students will conduct hands on investigation and use inquiry strategies to explore each step in the cycle. I will post information on Edmodo, but kids will also be using their journals in class to keep track of terms and important concepts.
In Math, we are exploring factors, prime, and composite numbers. We learned how to represent numbers visually last week, but this week we will practice using divisibility rules to determine if larger numbers are prime or composite. All of this will help us to explore properties of algebra and order of operations.
This is also a very special week for Pirates!!!! On Friday, we will celebrate International Talk Like a Pirate Day. We will share our pirate stories we have been working on in class. We will complete a special pirate STEM challenge on Thursday and we will even test out some pirate language during the process. In math, we will work with coordinate grids on Friday to simulate a pirate battle. In honor of our special day, students will be permitted to dress up like pirates. The costumes created should be school appropriate. Students may not wear makeup or bring weapons to school. If you don't have a costume or something appropriate to wear, you can still support our class by wearing combinations of red, white, and black.
We arrrgghhh going to have a great week! Please make sure to ask your child about their day.
