508-699-1312 ext. 5107
[email protected]
Mrs. Nunez
This Friday, February 3rd, Term 2
Progress Reports will be sent home.
If you have any questions about the
comments on your child’s report,
please reach out to me or Mrs. Vine
via email or phone.
If you are not currently signed up to receive
this newsletter via email and would like to
opt in to our email blast group, please let
me know and I will add you! Also let me
know if you’d like to receive brief text
reminders via the Remind app.
Dates & Reminders:
MATH
It is hard to believe the end of
January is already upon us! 2017
has already been a very busy time
in both 4N and 4V, and overall,
students have done well refocusing
themselves after winter break.
In math, we are deep into our unit on multiplication. Upon
returning from holiday break, students completed our
mini-unit on number theory concepts such as prime and
composite numbers, and factors and multiples. In midJanuary, we began learning strategies for multiplying
larger numbers, moving quickly from decomposing large
arrays to the area model method of multiplication. I am so
impressed by how quickly students have latched onto this
method—they are already area model masters! Ask your
child to show you this method at home using 1-digit by 2-,
3, or 4- digit factors. At this rate, we will very quickly be
learning the partial products strategy of multiplication. Be
sure to keep practicing those basic facts!
SCIENCE
Important Info:
In science, students have become skilled at
identifying and building both series and parallel
circuits. They are currently working on a science
writing piece, in which they take on the role of an
electrical engineer who needs to write a business
letter to the CEO of their company, explaining how
to fix a problem with a string of lights. It has been
fun to witness students take on this challenge and
take it so seriously!
• Friday, Feb 3rd: Term 2 Progress
Reports go home
•Friday, Feb. 17th: Early Release
Day for students
•Monday, Feb. 20th – Friday, Feb.
24th: NO SCHOOL (February
Vacation)
© Jessica Ann Stanford 2016
S.S.
• Tuesday, Feb. 7th: Grades 3-5
Family Math Night at 6:30 pm
In Social Studies, students are studying the Southeast
region of the United States. Thus far, they have focused on
the major landforms and bodies of water, as well as the
climate and weather challenges of this region. The
students are currently writing a hurricane news report
based on three different research sources. Their final news
reports will have a technology twist (see more in the
Technology section on page 2). Students should continue
to practice the state locations and capital cities of this
region, as they will be assessed on the Southeast region
within the next two weeks.
508-699-1312 ext. 5107
[email protected]
Mrs. Nunez
• http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/ :
Looking for a way that students can
practice their states and capitals and
locations for each region? This site has
practice games for that…check it out when
studying for the Southeast!
Last Words…
• A very big THANK YOU is in order,
to any and all of you that donated
supplies for our Robots of the
Future STEM contest. My room was
literally overflowing with materials
for students to build with, and the
students were very grateful that
they had such a variety of items to
use. Thank you for helping to make
this project a success!
• Most importantly…GO PATS! ☺
© Jessica Ann Stanford 2016
TECHNOLOGY
• https://learnzillion.com/math : Curious
about some of the ‘new’ math strategies
your child is learning in school?
Learnzillion produces short videos to
introduce students to math concepts. You
do not need to sign up for an account—
simply search for the topic you are
interested in watching a video on. This is
also an excellent site for students who
would like to review previously learned
concepts.
HOMEWORK
• http://www.plainville.k12.ma.us/Page/87
7 : This is the direct link to my class
webpage, on which I update the homework
assignments and provide many other
favorite links.
STEM
Sites to Check Out:
Before the holiday break, we held our first grade level STEM
challenge. Working in mixed teams across homerooms, students
were challenged to build a table entirely out of newspapers and
masking tape, to hold as many hardcover dictionaries as
possible! It was exciting to see so many students across Grade 4
engaging in the Engineering Design Process via this challenge.
We also finalized our Robots of the Future designs when we
came back from the holiday break. Students built a model of a
robot designed to fix a particular problem, and wrote a short
piece explaining their design. Their designs were submitted to
the Scholastic contest. Who knows…one of our own student
engineers just might take home a prize!
To enhance our Social Studies hurricane news
broadcast writing assignment this year, Mrs. Vine and
I decided to explore using OfficeMix, an add-in for
Microsoft PowerPoint which allows for screen
recording. In addition to creating a brief PowerPoint
slideshow, students are experimenting with using
OfficeMix to record themselves reading their
hurricane news reports—as if they were a real
meteorologist! Students are currently finalizing these
reports, and we look forward to seeing all the finished
‘broadcasts’!
Nightly, students should be reading for at least 20 minutes and
completing any assigned ELA or writing practice homework.
For math, students typically have daily assignments that should
take no longer than 15-20 minutes. It is also important for students
to continue to practice their multiplication and division facts.
Students who would like additional math practice can always go
onto IXL or Prodigy Math. Your child should know their log-in
information (it is in the front cover of their agenda). An
enrichment/challenge bin has also been introduced to students in
math, with a variety of activities to stretch their mathematical
minds. Students can bring these home as additional challenge work
as well.
508-699-1312 ext. 5107
[email protected]
Mrs. Nunez
4N and 4V Photos
Check out our engineers hard at work (and having fun!) during our most recent STEM
challenge—to build the tallest tower of words inspired by a reading of the book Martin’s Big
Words, in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!
© Jessica Ann Stanford 2016
508-699-1312 ext. 5107
[email protected]
Mrs. Nunez
4N and 4V Photos
Check out our engineers hard at work (and having fun!) during our most recent STEM
challenge—to build the tallest tower of words inspired by a reading of the book Martin’s Big
Words, in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!
© Jessica Ann Stanford 2016