Weekly Newsletter

We will be celebrating Valentine’s Day next Thursday! Students are welcome to bring Valentines for their classmates. If your child chooses to bring Valentines, they must bring one for each student in our class. We have a total of 15 students. Names were sent in an email earlier this week. Please click on this link to sign up to donate items needed for our celebration!

Religion: Chapter 18 The Seventh Commandment

In Chapter 17, the students learned that the Sixth Commandment teaches us to show and share love with others. In this chapter, the students will learn that the Seventh Commandment calls us to live out the peace and justice of Jesus Christ. They will also discover that God wants us to respect the property and dignity of all people.

Language Arts: Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell Novel Study

Students will:

• Respond to the literature in written format
• Review novel
• Create a story pyramid

Review Vocabulary Words: harbor, sparingly, carcass, perish, forlorn, rites, forbade, omen, brackish, quarreled, waddling, matted, shaft, flank, plentiful, jagged, barbed, deserted, teeter, vanquish

Review of all Spelling Words from Weeks 1-4:

Spelling Week 1 Words and Activity

Spelling Week 2 Words and Activity

Spelling Week 3 Words and Activity 

Spelling Week 4 Words and Activity

Math Groups A and B: Module 5 Fraction Equivalence, Ordering, and Operations

Topic A: Decomposition and Fraction Equivalence

Students will:

• Decompose fractions as a sum of unit fractions using tape diagrams.
• Decompose non-unit fractions and represent them as a whole number times a unit fraction using tape diagrams.
•  Decompose fractions into sums of smaller unit fractions using tape diagrams.

Math Group C:  Module 5 Fraction Equivalence, Ordering, and Operations

Topic B: Fraction Equivalence Using Multiplication and Division

Students will:

• Use the area model and multiplication to show the equivalence of two fractions.
• Use the area model and multiplication to show the equivalence of two fractions.
• Use the area model and division to show the equivalence of two fractions.

We will continue with multiplication timed tests. Please practice your math facts at home every night. Click here for a great practice sheet! To see the testing order, please refer to the recording chart in your child’s planner.

Social Studies:

The 4th Grade Mission Project has three parts:

1. Research paper (completed in class)
   • Research notes (see recommended websites), due 2/15
   • Rough draft, due 3/1
   • Final typed report, due 3/8
2. Project (completed at home)
   • Approval form signed by parent, due 2/15
   • Project, due 3/15
3. Presentation (practiced at home, presented in class)
   • Week of 3/18

Please review the packet with your child and let me know if you have any questions. All due dates are included in the packet.

Pilot Module 2 Saint Junípero Serra and the Mission Era

Junipero Serra and the Mission Era: Victories and Struggles at the Missions

Students will:

• • Describe life in the Missions
  • Explain how church was part of daily life in a mission
  • Explain how Native Indians helped to build the mission churches and incorporated native designs in their artwork
  • Explain how the Spanish expansion of farming crops and livestock destroyed tribal lands and valuable natural resources, and as a result, many Native Peoples living in and around the missions eventually became dependent on the missions for their food

Science: Renewable and Nonrenewable Resources

Students will:

• Obtain and combine information to describe that energy and fuels are derived from natural resources and their uses affect the environment.

We are participating in the City of Escondido’s 27th Annual Earth Day Poster Contest. Posters are due on March 1st. Please click here for more details.

Upcoming Important Dates:

2/12 Tuesday: P.E.

2/13 Wednesday: 8am Mass (formal uniform required), 12noon Dismissal

2/15 Friday: Mission Project Research due, Mission Project Approval Form due, Religion Chapter 18 Test, Spelling Review Test, Island of the Blue Dolphins Final Assessment, P.E.

2/18 Monday: No School

Save the Date: Saturday, February 23rd, 5:30pm School Mass led by 4th Grade (attendance mandatory for all 4th graders)

If you would like to donate to our classroom, please visit our 4th Grade Wish List.

Thank you!