Grade 4 Newsletter
March 23, 2017
A great productive week in 4th grade! I want you to know that my heart was full this week. I watched
the class plan during snack and come together during indoor recess to role play. What I took away from
it is that everyone was included. It started as a joke when a student’s I-Pod died at home. Not a
traumatic loss but she was telling the others. They then started planning a service to say goodbye.
Every child who wanted to, wrote poems. They arranged the chairs like a service and those who wanted
spoke. The best line was, “I didn’t know Linka (The I-Pod), but I know you and you’re nice”. The passing
around of Kleenex was a nice touch. Sure, it’s grave humor. I had to use the pun. It showed me how
accepting and collaborative this class truly is. I feel blessed to have each of them.
Besides role play, the children were very busy St. Ambrose Bees. Next week, the NYS testing for ELA will
be taking place. On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings, I will be with 5th grade proctoring
their test. Mrs. Spera will be taking over for me in the mornings on those days. I’ve planned theme days
for them. On Tuesday, I’m calling it “Hurricane Tuesday”. They will be watching my favorite Nova
episode on Mega Storm Sandy and I have a hurricane hunter video where the scientists are researching
how to stop a hurricane. I miss teaching Science. Wednesday, the children have 2 specials in a row in
the morning so they will do ELA activities when they return. Finally, Thursday is “Volcano Day” where
they watch volcanoes. Mr. Barkamian will be in and out as well, so I wouldn’t be surprised if a fun
activity comes from this. The students are being so wonderfully flexible. This week, we did a lot of ELA
so that no time would be lost.
More reminders…. Please decide what you want to do with your child’s Lifetouch pictures. Please either
send the money in or you can return the package. Also, if you haven’t, please re-enroll your child if you
plan on sending them next year. I always joke that the school needs to know so I know what I’m
teaching. Really it is so important, and I would love them all to come back. They truly brighten my day.
Here is a glimpse of the subjects:
ELA: We are reading the Willoughby’s novel and the children are enjoying it. This week we spent the
four days tediously learning about adverbs. The will be expected to underline the verb and circle the
adverb. They have 2 questions to ask themselves when figuring this out and I’m watching them do it.
“What did he/she do?” for the verb and “how, when, or where” for the adverb. Sometimes we spot a
word that ends with “ly” and that makes life so much easier. Their test is tomorrow. Groups 1 and 2
with me will also have their comprehension test on Winn-Dixie or Tuck Everlasting. They are prepared.
Religion: We finished the Holy Spirit chapter and I will be sending home a take home open book test on
Monday. This will be due on Wednesday. They know where most of the information will be found and
should be able to take it without any issues.
Social Studies: We are studying the Industrial Revolution in NY. We are studying manufacturing and
factories. We covered the Troy “Collar City” and Burden Ironworks. We also studied many inventions
based from NYS. Next week, we will look at Women’s rights and the Abolitionist movement.
Math and Science: See Mrs. Spera’s and Mr. Barkamian’s websites.
Events:
3/29 Reconciliation
3/31 Box Top Dress Down Day
4/13-4/21 Spring Break
Thank you for your ongoing support. Any questions, let me know.
Mrs. G.