Week of April 26

            

NWEA and M-STEP Testing:

As you know from Mrs. Bawks' recent blog, we will begin our end of the year testing in the next few weeks. 4th graders will begin by taking the math and reading NWEA assessments (this is the assessment that students are given in the fall, winter and spring). We will take one assessment the first week of May and the second assessment during the second week of May.

Please stay tuned for more information regarding M-STEP testing; 4th graders will begin M-STEP testing the last 2 weeks of May.

Daily Student Health Screener:

Click here for a checklist of symptoms and situations to keep a focused eye on this year. The teachers are logging daily health checks, as well. We are doubling down on health and wellness in efforts to protect our ability to meet for in-person learning. Thank you for your cooperation on this.

Mrs. Bawks' Brown School Family Blog:

Please don't forget to take a peek at Mrs. Bawks' Brown School Family Blog each week. CLICK HERE to read it.

Important Upcoming Dates:

Mon. 4/26 - 4th Grade M-STEP testing begins and NWEA testing begins

Wed. 4/28 - Late Start - school begins at 9:45am

Mon. 5/3 - No School for elementary students

Wed. 5/5 - Late Start - school begins at 9:45am

Fri. 5/7 - Popcorn Friday!

Wed. 5/12 - Late Start - school begins at 9:45am

Wed. 5/26 - Late Start - school begins at 9:45am

Mon. 5/31 - NO SCHOOL (Memorial Day)

This week's learning:

Positivity Project (P2): This coming week we will be focusing on the character strength of Purpose: "You have beliefs about the meaning of life and your life's purpose. You seek to be part of something greater than yourself."

ELA & Writing: Our next unit in ELA will focus on the comprehension strategy of making judgements and asking questions. Students will identify the judgment an author makes in a passage and identify evidence that supports the judgment. Below you will find a document to use at home to connect to what we are learning at school (click to view a larger image):

This week we begin our last writing unit; this unit will focus on writing an informational/expository piece of writing. During our lessons this week, we will discuss what informational writing is and look at a variety of different types of informational writing.

Math:  We will begin our next unit on multiplying fractions and mixed numbers by a whole number; we will also circle back around to multiplication and division number stories. Our lessons for the week are:

Monday: I can represent fractions as multiples of a unit fraction.

Tuesday: I can multiply unit and non-unit fractions by whole numbers.

Wednesday: I can multiply fractions by whole numbers.

Thursday: I can multiply mixed numbers by whole numbers.

Friday: I can use fraction tools to solve word problems.

Looking to extend your child's learning in math at home?

I highly recommend having them work on Khan Academy (we use this in class)! Students have access to the assignments that I've put onto Khan Academy for them (they use these during our math workshop time) and they can also work on their "course mastery." Khan Academy will continue to work them through 4th grade concepts and beyond (for those students who are ready to begin learning skills beyond the elementary level) and provides video explanations to help them work through the content. They also have courses to practice reading and language arts, computer programing (Pixar in a Box has historically been very popular with students in my classroom!), growth mindset, careers and much more!

Science: This week we will continue creating our own "chain reaction machines" (also known as Rube Goldberg devices), adding additional steps to the ramps we designed last week. We are honing our problem-solving and engineering skills along the way!

Here’s something you can do at home to support your child's curiosity! Check out this video by a popular band called OK Go. They are famous for their use of Rube Goldberg machines in their music videos:

https://safeshare.tv/x/ss5927398d4bc58

You might even want to watch the video multiple times, because there is so much going on! Pause at different steps of the chain reaction to ask: Where was the energy stored? Where did it go? (There are so many wonderful examples of energy transfer!)

Social Studies: We will continue working on our unit learning about our federal government this week. This week we will focus on learning about the powers that our government has. Big ideas from these lessons are:

• In the United States, the government is based on the idea of popular sovereignty which means that the ultimate power belongs to the people in our government. 
• The people agreed to delegate some of their power to the federal government and expressed this in the Constitution.
• All other powers not given to the federal government in the Constitution are reserved to the states or the people. 
• In a few cases, certain powers like making laws and collecting taxes are shared by both federal and state governments.
• The system of delegating, reserving, and sharing of power explained in the Constitution serves to limit the power of government.

Homework:  Homework each week consists of reading 20+ minutes at home (this can be a library book, magazine, newspaper, online book, etc) and practicing multiplication and division facts 1 through 12. Mastering multiplication and division facts is vital to our learning this year.

Thank You,

Mrs. Hassenger