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November 5st, 2012

News from the grade 4 team

Grade 4 News
M m e O C o n n o r

N OV E MB E R NE W S I S H E R E . . .
HOT TOPICS
November News is here Homework Reminders 1 1

Contact with the teacher 1 Whats going on in gr.4 Helpful Resources Progress Report/Three way conferencing Important Dates 2 3 3 4

This month, as you will come to notice, is a busy time for everyone at school. The students have been working very hard and now we are already two months into the school year. There have been a lot of things happening in the classroom. Rules and routines are well in place and students responsibilities in the classroom have been made aware of and put in place. Students share

a role in maintaining a clean classroom environment . Academically, students are working very hard to achieve their goals. We have finished a paragraph writing unit, learning the format of a paragraph using our hamburger model. Our science unit is now over and we are now starting our social studies unit on Canada. We are being introduced to numerous reading strate-

gies and techniques to further improve our reading skills and using our French/English dictionaries to improve our vocabulary skills.

Great work by everyone! The grade 4 team

Contact with the teacher


If at any time throughout the year you need to speak with me or would like to book a teacher/ parent conference regarding a concern or a question, I encourage parents/guardians to let me know ahead of time in order to get your childs file ready. We can schedule conferences before or right after school. You can use your childs agenda for communication purposes as I will be signing them daily. You can also call at convenient hours such as before or after school (905) 668-2225 or e-mail: oconnor_helene@durham.edu.on.ca.

H O M E WO R K R E M IN D E R S !
Just a reminder! Homework is often work that has not been completed in class. Other times it will be a project or a research component to preprare. Please continue to sign your childs agenda on a daily basis so that they can tell you what is happening in the classroom. For our agenda, I ask that they write in everything that is not completed and this will allow you to see how your child is doing with regards to class work. Thank you for your support, Mme. OConnor .

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Grade 4 News

WHAT S
Math: We are now well into our unit on Place value. Students have been learning many different ways of representing numbers: written in words, digits, expanded form with words and expended form with numbers. They will soon begin comparing and putting numbers in order and using greater than and less than symbols to create a correct statement. Students have learned a few games throughout this unit and will continue to play a few more as the unit continues. I encourage you and your child to work together to create picture representations of numbers, drawing cubes for thousands, larger squares for hundreds, long rectangles for tens and small blocks for ones. Students have been learning how to regroup and represent 1 number several different ways. At the end of this unit, we will then be looking at patterning. Language: Students spent a great deal of time in October learning the proper format of a paragraph. We have created a class paragraph about Julie Payette being a hero as an example and have worked with other similar paragraphs about other people. Students have created a paragraph about their own hero. Students will be guided and will also get a conference if needed to make sure they are on the right track.

GOING ON THIS

MONTH

IN GRADE

Reading: Students will be learning to find important information throughout a text and how to jot notes. Science: Our habitat unit is now finished. The next unit will be Pulleys and Gears once our Canada unit comes to an end.

great deal of time and effort were put forth by everyone. We will continue to look at colour and move into lines. Students will learn how to draw and use different lines to create art.

Dance: Students have created their own sequences using dance Social Studies: We have begun elements. We will now look at dances from around the world to our unit on Canada. This month get an understanding of what peostudents will be learning about ple dance about and why. Stuthe provinces, territories and capdents will be asked to describe itals and where they are located, what they see and hear. the 5 great lakes, the 7 regions in Canada as well as symbols and legends. Physicl Education: This month, students have done very well at being prepared for gym by wearing the appropriate clothing as well as footwear. Thank you for your support in this matter. We are beginning to focus on volleyball. Later this month we will be doing a unit on dodgeball. Health: This month we will continue to look at safety and rules in the classroom, the community and home. We will also be looking into bullying, both verbal and physical but also cyber-bullying and ways to prevent this type of bullying from happening. Art: Our art portfolios are almost finished and look awesome. Students will have the opportunity to show you their hard work at this months parent-studentteacher conferences. They should be very proud of their work as a

News from the grade 4 team

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S O ME H E L P FU L R E S O U RC ES
When studying/learning new words: When learning new words or reviewing words that students already know, here are some key points or useful tools that will help students to learn the words rather then memorize them. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Say the word Stretch the word work through its syllables Split up the word Look at the word Pronounce the word out loud Write the word Use the word in a sentence Correct the word

How to ask questions Students will soon be learning how to ask questions that are relevant to information they are reading. We will be using non- fictional informational texts as our focus, but we will also be looking at fictional texts and how questions arise as we read. When reading fictional texts, we will be looking at asking rich questions before, during and after a reading. Students are encouraged to discuss their questions with you after, before or while they are reading home.
How to keep math ideas fresh The Nelson Math website link for our unit on Number Sense, try it out. There are questions, activities as well as other links to help reinforce the concepts learned in class.

in all of our math units. http://cemc2.math.uwaterloo.ca/ mathfrog/english/kidz/index.shtml This month focus on the following games: Choose Grade 4 Bugs in the system Cash Out Data Picking - Level 1&2 Place Value Powerama 4 Have Fun!

It is also encouraged that students regularly practice their basic computing skills of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

How to find errors in your writing: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Did I forget any letters? Did I add any letters? Did I write two letters instead of just one? Did I put a letter in the place of another? Did I pronounce the word wrong? Did I write a word that has the same pronunciation as my word?

http://www.nelson.com/nelson/ school/elementary/mathK8/math4/ studentcentre/studsurf.html#ch2

This link provides you with the topics we will be covering throughout our unit on Number Sense. The MathFROG website is another great site that allows students to play games based on the concepts learned

KE EP I N M I N D
Many students bring water bottles to school , which is great. Bottles do tend to fall on the ground so please keep this in mind when you send a bottle to school. Plastic bottles do break ! Unbreakable bottles are highly recommended for everyone : ) Thank you greatly! The grade 4 team If your child will be absent for an extended period of time due to a planned absence, please be aware that any concepts that they have missed will need to be reviewed at home. The grade 4 team prepares sheets and lessons based on how quickly the students are grasping new concept, therefore giving a few days or a weeks worth of work is very challenging to do. If sheets are available, you will get them, otherwise they will be given upon your return. Thank you for your cooperation,

O THER

IN F O RM AT I O N

KEY DATES TO REMEMBER: Picture retakes November 7th Remembrance Day November 11th Progress Reports Go homeNovember 14th Parent InterviewsNovember 15th (pm) & November 16th (am) P.A. DayNovember 16th (p.m) Pizza dayNovember 19th Be sure to take a look at the school website calendar for other relevant information and important dates.

P RO G R ES S R EP O RT S
Progress reports will be going home November 14th. These reports are intended to show parents the progress that their child has made thus far in the school year. This report will have check marks (no marks) for each of your childs subject areas. There are three areas of focus: progressing very well, progressing well or progressing with difficulty. Please note that students who are progressing very well or progressing well may not see a great deal of written information on this report. We can discuss any questions or concerns you may have at interviews. We are also assessing your childs learning skills and in this section you will be informed how your child is performing in 6 major areas: Collaboration, Initiative, Organization, Self-Regulation, Independent Work and Responsibility. I look forward to meeting with you and your child. Three Way conferences This year we will doing a three-way conference during interview time. This allows students to take the lead as they provide the teacher and their parents with examples of their academic progress. The students will be preparing pieces of work to show you and discuss what they are proud of and what they need to work on. They will also highlight their goals for Term 1. This kind of conference allows everyone to have a voice in the student's learning at home and at school. Please note that there is only one interview per child. Interviews are 10 minutes in length. In order to ensure that everyone receives equal time, it is imperative to stay on schedule. Please be prompt.

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