4th Grade

Jeffers’ Journal

Week of September 25^th– September 29th 

Welcome to the third issue of Jeffers’ Journal! I hope everyone had a wonderful second full week of school!  Are you ready to board the learning train? Please come to school each day with an open mind, positive “I can” attitude, a friendly smile, and eager to be a member of our team! 

Important Dates to Remember:

September 25^th: Mass with Father Pat at 9AM/Altar Server Training

September 27th: School Picture Day

October 2^nd: Mass with Father Pat at 9AM

October 6^th: First Friday Adoration

Here’s a breakdown of our learning:

1. Math: Its important children learn math facts for addition/subtraction and multiplication/division with the goal of automatic recall. For the upcoming week, we will continue exploring the relationships between places, write numbers in standard, expanded, and word form. Rounding and comparing whole numbers will also be explored.
2. English Language Arts:
   1. Grammar: Students will learn how to proofread their writing for subject-verb agreement, capital letters, and punctuation using the proofreading symbols. How can you find the simple predicate of a sentence? Is the simple predicate different from the simple subject? What is a compound sentence? When is a sentence considered to be a complex sentence?
   2. Vocabulary: Each week students have 12 new vocabulary words and complete different activities each day (sentence completion, synonym/antonym, matching, word meaning, and context clues).
   3. Reading: An important skill we will be practicing is reading articles or passages and answering comprehension questions.
   4. Morphology: Word structure and construction are the building blocks of learning how to spell words. It is also important to learn the different prefixes and suffixes that change the meaning of words. Students will be completing word ladders and other activities to help build their spelling skills.
3. Writing: “My aim is to put down on paper what I see and what I feel in the best and simplest way.”-Ernest Hemingway  Last week, we spent time learning about writing stamina. Writing stamina means being able to write for a long period of time without stopping.  We also discussed what to do when you feel “stuck” while you are writing. Students graphed the number of minutes they could write about a prompt each day.  This week our focus is how to write a paragraph with a topic sentence, details, and also concluding sentence.  We will use graphic organizers to help us organize our writing.  Both of these skills will be extremely helpful throughout the year and will help your child grow as a writer!
4. Tall Tale Activity: What is a tall tale? A tall tale is a story that is full of exaggerations and unbelievable details. This week we are going to read a Tall Tale about Paul Bunyan. Students are going to make a literature pocket full of resources about the tall tale.
5. Science: Our first unit of study is The Birth of Rocks. The pre unit activity is fossil finds. How do you think the fossils of prehistoric animals ended up underground? The focus question for the first lesson is:  Could a volcano pop up where you live?  Students will plot volcanoes on different maps of the world and see if they can figure out why they occur in certain places. Did you know that the place where most of the volcanoes occur is called the Ring of Fire? The second lesson will focus on the following question: Why do some volcanoes explode?
6. Religion: The theme of our first chapter is God’s Goodness. How come our achievements are only possible with the gifts that God has given us? How can we respect God’s creation? These are two questions we hope to answer this week as we explore the chapter. Students will complete the Chapter 1 Test on Thursday, September 28^th.  We will also learn about the Feast of the Archangels which is on September 29th.
7. Google Classroom: Students have joined my Google Classroom and will use it throughout the year to complete assignments and quizzes in English/Language Arts, Math, Religion, Science, and Social Studies. Please check with your son/daughter to show you what they have been doing.  If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to send me an email.
8. Third Mass of the School Year: On Monday, September 25^th we will be attending Mass with Father Pat at 8:55. All students need to be wearing their dress uniform. Everyone is invited to attend Mass.
9. Altar Serving Training: Following our school Mass, the students who returned a permission slip will stay with Father Pat and begin their Altar Server Training.