A Busy Time of Year!

It is that time of year again!  Report cards will be coming home on Tuesday, April 1st.  Conferences will be on Weds. April 2nd and Weds. April 16th.  I have included a link to VolunteerSpot on Monday's homework (on our class website) as well as here. Conference Link to VolunteerSpot   I look forward to seeing everyone again to discuss how the year has been going and my plans for your child for the remainder of the year.  

4B has been so busy since we returned from our Feb. vacation.  We continue to work on essay writing, reading closely, and our science unit on rocks and minerals.  We were involved in our first 4th grade Innovation Day as well as our first Pi Day Celebration.  FRACTIONS have been the focus of the past month of math.  It is a difficult unit with so many new concepts and multi-stepped problem solving.  We are wrapping up this week as we finish with decimals and move on to measurement.

Our next social studies unit is a big one; US Regions/States and Capitals.  We will begin by focusing on each region: the states that are included, land features, imports and exports, famous locals, etc.  In addition, students will practice the states/capitals for that region.  Before moving on, we will take a map test for each region.  This continues for the entire country and we finish up with a US map test with states and capitals included.  I always suggest that students start working with the map early and practice a little each night.  The culmination of this unit will find students selecting a specific state to research.  We share our research and some tasty "eats" on Tacky Tourist Day later in April.  More to come on this.

We are beginning our focus on mysteries in reading.  Students will be selecting a mystery reading challenge to complete during this time.  They will also try their hand at writing a mystery.  When visiting the library, you may wish to suggest a good mystery for them to read.

Finally, we are going to be taking part in the Smarter Balanced pilot testing in April.  This is a great opportunity for our students to get to work with the new testing system as it is very different than NECAP and is taken completely on computers.  Our science NECAP testing will take place in May.  I will let you know of those dates as we get closer.

Cross your fingers that springtime weather finally comes to NH.  I can't take much more of this cold!

~Lisa