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Mixtures & Solutions Home Learning Activity

Check out the link below for the Science home learning this week:

Separating the Mixtures

Curriculum Updates November 16-24

Compose Yourself - Congratulations to the 4th graders on an awesome musical performance!  You were very entertaining to watch!

Reading - Students worked hard this week to compare and contrast two different nonfiction texts on a similar subject.  We not only compared information, but also thought about the lesson that we can learn from texts and compared that as well.  Next week, students will be working on the ELA Acuity.

Writing - We are wrapping up their opinion writing this week and next.  Fourth graders have worked hard to provide persuading evidence for their topic.  We'll work on revising and editing and will have a final copy finished soon!

Science - Fourth graders learned how to measure force with a spring scale this week by conducting an experiment.  After choosing 3 items of various weights, students pulled the objects on either the carpet or the smooth desktop to figure out which took more force.  Students also took their force and motion test this week.  Our next unit will be on mixtures and solutions.

Math - Your child has now learned 3 different ways to solve a 2 or 3 digit number multiplied by a 1 digit number.  Ask them to show you how to break the numbers apart, solve the expanded algorithm, and the standard algorithm (the one you learned in school!)  By teaching kids 3 strategies we're hoping that the students choose one that works best for them and that it helps them find accurate answers.  Please practice multiplication facts!  The faster kids are at their facts, the easier it is to learn to solve larger multiplication problems.

Curriculum Updates Nov 2-13

Reading- We have continued our study of non-fiction the last 2 weeks.  Students have practiced finding the main idea and details several times.  We also studied the text structures authors use to help readers better understand the information.  For instance, sometimes authors use a problem solution structure to their writing, but other times the information might be in a sequence.  Finally, we have begun to compare and contrast 2 texts on the same subject.

Writing - Students opinion essays are starting to really take off!  We have used an outline to help keep their paragraphs organized.  They have worked on their introduction and their reason paragraphs.  Students are including both their personal experiences as well as an interview in each paragraph.

Math - Fourth graders are finishing up Topic 5;  Number Sense:  Multiplying by 1-Digit Numbers this week by taking their test.  Results will come home next week.  We reviewed breaking apart numbers to make them easier to add as well as rounding numbers to estimate.  Finally, students worked on explaining whether an answer is reasonable or not by using estimation.  Next week we'll begin Topic 6:  Developing Fluency:  Multiplying by 1-Digit Numbers.  We'll teach the standard algorithm (like you probably learned in school) as well as another method.

Science - We are immersed in force and motion in fourth grade.  Students have learned about Newton's 3 Laws of Motion, velocity, speed, three types of motion (straight, curved, & vibrations), as well as how gravity affects objects.  To end our unit, students are participating in experiments to help them understand the concepts.  Ask your child about the experiments.  We'll wrap up our unit next week, review, and take our test.  Our next unit will be Mixtures and Solutions.

MakerSpace Materials Needed

Force and Motion

Check out the following website for ideas to learn more about the concepts in our force and motion unit.  

19 Fun Ideas & Resources for Force and Motion

Curriculum Updates Oct. 19-28

Fall Festival -Thank you so much to all the parents who helped plan, organize, and run our 4th grade Fall Festival parties.  The kids had lots of fun eating caramel dipped apples with pretzels, making pet rocks and their homes, dancing, and playing a word-making game.

Reading - We began Unit 3; High Interest Informational Text Sets this week.  The main focus of this unit is to be able to understand the underlying structures of texts to help them understand the overall text structures of non-fiction.  This unit will address students' abilities to determine the main idea of a text and summarize the text, including how key details support the main idea.  In addition to work on determining main idea, this unit places a strong emphasis on supporting students' abilities to make inferences and grow ideas, always grounding their ideas in text evidence.  The unit will also work to support students in describing text structures of texts or parts of texts.

Priority Standards for unit:
● RI4.1 Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says
explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
● RI4.2 Determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is supported by key details;
summarize the text.
● RI4.3 Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or
technical text, including what happened and why, based on specific text information.
● RI4.5 Describe the overall structure (e.g. chronology, comparison, cause/effect,
problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in a text or part of a text.
● RI4.6 Compare and contrast a firsthand and secondhand account of the same event or
topic; describe the differences in focus and the information provided.
● RI4.8 Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a
text.
● SL.4.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups,
and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 4 topics and tests, building on others’
ideas and expressing their own clearly.

Writing - Students are putting the finishing touches on their realistic fiction stories.  We can't wait to share their hard work with you at Parent Teacher Conferences!

We'll begin Unit 3; Boxes and Bullets this week.  This unit begins with a quick intense immersion into the whole process of writing this new kind of text. This unit meets the needs of 4th grade opinion writing. In this unit, students will learn a variety of more sophisticated strategies for introducing their topics, and students will learn to provide reasons to support their opinions, as well as facts and details to elaborate on these reasons.

Priority Standards for unit:
● W.4.1: Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons
and information.
a. Introduce a topic or text clearly, state an opinion, and create an organizational
structure in which related ideas are grouped to support the writer’s purpose.
b. Provide reasons that are supported by facts and details.
c. Link opinion and reasons using words and phrases (e.g. for instance, in order
to, in addition.)
d. Provide a concluding statement or section related to the opinion presented.
● W.4.4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are
appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
● W.4.5: With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing
as needed by planning, revising, and editing.
● W.4.7: Conduct short research projects that build knowledge through investigation of
different aspects of a topic.

Social Studies:  Students are finishing up their economic business plans this week.  We're creating study cards and will take our final economics test this week.  We'll switch to science and start our Force and Motion unit which is always lots of fun because there are several experiments.

Math:  We'll finish up Topic 4 on addition, subtraction, and estimating this week by reviewing and taking our test.  We'll share results with you soon.  We'll begin Topic 5; Multiplying by 1-digit numbers after conferences.