December 6, 2019

Date: December 6, 2019

A Look Ahead: We are continuing our work on multiplication. In Science we continue to discover new simple machines as we work through this unit. We are getting ready for the holidays by doing a variety of winter-inspired art.  Upcoming dates and due dates: Skiing and Snowboarding begins December 16-19. Parent volunteers meeting us at the school, please arrive at 8:50 to help with loading the buses and review volunteer expectations found on the SignUp Genius page.

In Science, we are working on simple machines, which includes wheels and axles, pulleys, levers. We watched a video that taught us about pulleys. We have been learning about how we can use pulleys in different situations, for example, if you have to lift a lot of weight (or a load). We make pulleys by putting the string around a wheel, and we pull the other end to carry the load. We are working in different stations. In the stations, in each group there is an activity that helps us learn more about simple machines. In the wheels and axles building we are using legos to build a simple machine with wheels and axles. We have to also follow the instructions to build the simple machine. There are “flip books” we are making and they tell you examples of the simple machine and it also gives you definitions.

In Social Studies, we just finished our assembly that we had been working on for the past month. Instead of learning about Alberta, we were learning about Puerto Rico.

In English Language Arts, we are continuing in our Literature Circles. Most of us are starting to finish our books. We have been making connections while reading. For work on words, we sometimes do Boggle to help us with our spelling and focus on certain vowel combinations and blends (for example: -ight, bl-, fl-). One class has started writing about getting stuck in a snowglobe. We have been practicing using “juicy words” and connecting words. We are trying to be creative in our writing!

In Spanish Language Arts, we just did our assembly about Puerto Rico. We have been working very hard on it for the last month. We also just finished our “Mi Pasatiempo” presentations where we wrote about our hobbies that we do in our free time, and then we presented this information to our class. We also started talking about “En el invierno” (in the winter) - looking at different topics such as “la ropa” (clothing) y “la comida” (food).

In Math, we have made flashcards to practice our 6 times tables this week. We will continue practicing with the 7 and 8 times tables. On the back of the cards, we have multiple strategies that help us to understand what the answer is. We had a math quiz on multiplication today (Friday). We have also been practicing multiplication of two-digits by one-digit and three-digits by one-digit. We have been practicing multiplication with using different factors to find the product. We have been having number talks to talk about the different strategies we are using. We will be continuing to practice multiplication (and eventually division) with different math games and activities.

In Music we… Music in Grade 4 Srta. Primak helped us to prepare a beautiful song during the Puerto Rico assembly about the coquí.

Please Celebrate  Your child’s contributions to the Puerto Rico assembly - well done Grade 4s!

You Can Help Your Child By: - Reading every day in English and in Spanish - Practicing our 0-10 times tables

Overheard in grade 4: “I really enjoyed being a part of the Puerto Rico assembly.” -R “I was nervous about the Math quiz.” -E “I liked the way the teachers have taught us how to do multiplication for the Math quiz.” -A “I think in Science what we are doing is really interesting.” -A “I really enjoyed the new way that we have been doing multiplication.” -B “I loved doing the art of the moon, it was really fun and got really messy sometimes!” -K “I think in Science wheels and axles is a fun activity.” -J “It was really fun working on the assembly.” -K