4th Grade News
April 6, 2017
It has been a productive week here in 4th grade. I’m blessed with the class I have every day and I told
them so today. They make me want to come in and inspire them every morning. The other day, we
were talking about Civil War woman spies, and I asked them if they remembered any of the strong
women we learned about in the Revolutionary War. My goodness, I opened the flood gates. They
remembered every single one. We are talking material we learned months ago and some I didn’t even
test them on. Their eagerness to learn and their respect for me makes me feel blessed. Sure, we all
have bad days, but this group is such a compassionate and caring bunch towards each other. I will end
you with this…. I was feeling overloaded and just worn down. I arrive home and see my goofy 4th
graders on FB in Mrs. Spera’s class. That was the edited version. I do now have in my possession the
unedited one which was even funnier. Their personalities just shine. I laughed so hard I cried. I will
sure miss them in June.
Now on to business. Race to Education…. yes, it’s back. Hopefully you received my email. Please have
your address labels in by April 12th. I also sent home some Scholastic Book order sheets I get, don’t feel
obligated. If you see something you like, you can order online or send it in to me. I was torn sending
them with the book fair just a few weeks ago, but figured I’d send it. Also, remember to re-enroll for
next year. It is so important that you do so. Finally, I will be scoring the lovely NYS 5th Grade ELA tests
next Wednesday and will be out of the building.
Now on to the glimpse of our subjects. I will not do a newsletter next week due to the short week.
ELA: We are still working on our guided reading. We started grammar warm ups every morning where
the children copy my horribly written sentence and make it grammatically correct. This week we also
have vocabulary as well. Next week, we will do our guided reading, an Easter craft, and our centers.
After Spring Break, we will have vocabulary and the dreaded “Their, there, and they’re”. To make the
pot even sweeter, I’m throwing in “Its vs it’s”. It’s my fun. They will be pros after the practice I give
them. Our Willoughby novel is becoming a fast favorite and that will continue as well.
SS: Our guest speaker Mr. Ragosta is coming tomorrow to give a presentation on the Erie Canal. It’s
very exciting. Looking at my plans, timing was horrible with 4th and with 5th. We are just going to be
wrapping up Chapter 6 before vacation. However, I need more time to review because they are
covering the Erie Canal, Railroads, inventions, Industrial Revolution, Abolition, Women’s Rights, and The
Civil War all in one chapter. That is a huge span of material. When we come back from break, I will
review every day. Their assessment won’t be until the 2nd week back.
Religion: We are studying Lent and Easter this and next week. I will bring them to the Stations of the
Cross tomorrow. We have been talking about sacrifices and problems (crosses) we bear. We will start
the Sacrament of Confirmation when we return from break. That usually follows the Holy Spirit chapter.
Math and Science: See Mrs. Spera’s and Mr. Barkamian’s website.
Tests
4/7 Vocab Test
4/28 Vocab and Grammar test
Events:
4/13-4/21- Easter and Spring Break.
I would like to take this time and wish you all a very Happy and Blessed Easter! Thank you for all your
support at home.
Mrs. G.