Grade 4 (Mrs. Wall)

 

lwall@materdolorosaschool.org

 

September 23, 2023

4th graders and families,

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend so far.

This week in 4th grade, we will be working on the following:

Religion: We will continue discussing the Theological Virtue of Faith.  We have been learning about Saint Jerome and how he demonstrated this virtue. We also will continue to learn about Creation.

ELA: Our Spelling words this week will have the Long E sound to them. We will be finishing up our Vocabulary Unit 2 and taking our test on Tuesday.

In Grammar, we are learning about subjects and predicates. In our My View books, we will be reading a Biography called, Rare Treasures: Mary Anning and Her Remarkable Discoveries. We will focus on the Main Idea and Supporting details throughout our reading.  We will also continue our Novel Study on Wonder by R.J. Palacio.

Math: Our math fact that we will focus on this week is the 4's.  Please practice daily and remember, Friday's Mad Minute test counts as a grade!! We will also be finishing up Topic 2 in our Math books.  This topic is primarily all basic adding and subtracting.

Science: We are beginning Unit 1 on What Scientists Do.  There are short quizzes after every lesson.

I am sending home on Monday a notice about our Circle of Grace program.  I plan on beginning the lessons on Wednesday this week.  4th grade learns all about Internet Safety and being safe while on the internet.The form only needs returning if you DO NOT want your child to participate in the lessons.  If returning, please send in by Tuesday.  Thank you.

Also, your child/children should be bringing home their agendas daily along with their homework folders.  These should always come back and forth daily.  The children write their homework assignments and any important notices in the agendas.

I also sent home Scholastic Book Club forms. Ordering is a bit different this year.  There are no more paper forms or checks to return to the teacher.  There is a QR code on the back of the form that can be scanned to order your books.  Orders are due by October 11th. 

There will be a paper going home shortly about Monthly Book Reports that begin in November.  There is a different Genre every month.  November's Report will be a fiction book (No Graphic Novels!) The Scholastic Book Clubs would be a great resource to get the books your child would like to read for these reports.

 

Parents/Families please note:

Thursday, September 28 is a half day of school.  Dismissal is promptly at 11:30. There is NO AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM.  Lunch will NOT be served. Busses will run.

Thursday night will also be our Open House.  I hope to see everyone there.

Have a great week!!

Mrs. Wall

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

September 17, 2023

4th grade students and families,

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!

In 4th grade this week, we will be working on the following:

Religion: We are currently working on Unit One in our books which is all about Creation.  We are also focusing on our virtue of the month which is Faith.

ELA: Spelling will focus on words with the long E and long O sounds.  In addition to the worksheet given as homework daily, please study your words!

We will work on Unit 2 in our Vocabulary Workshop books, and continue lessons on grammar in Unit 1 of our Grammar Workshop books.  In addition, I have introduced Word Ladders.  These worksheets are designed to expand vocabulary. 

We also practice our cursive writing daily.  This is a report card grade, the students should be trying their best.  I can tell they are, as I am already seeing a lot of improvement!

In our My View books, we are reading an Autobiography about Buzz Aldrin, a former astronaut.  We are also currently working on our first novel study of Wonder by R.J. Palacio.

 

Math: This week's focus is on times tables 2's and 3's.  The mad minutes (2min right now) will have a mixture of the 2's facts and 3's facts.  This also means that the times table homework is double sided.  The 2's should be written 3 times each on one side, the 3's three times each on the other.  We will also be starting our topic on adding and subtracting.  This topic is about 2 weeks long and is our last review topic of the year.  This means that after Topic 2, we will begin learning more 4th grade level material with multiplication and division.   AGAIN-It's EXTREMELY IMPORTANT to know your math facts!! Practice Daily!!!

 

Social Studies: We will be finishing up Chapter 1 in our Regions books.  This Chapter is all about the land forms, climate, and natural resources of the United States.

Science: We will begin Unit 1 on what Scientists are and what exactly they do.

I hope everyone has an enjoyable rest of their weekend,

Mrs. Wall

 

 

 

 

September 2, 2023

 

4th grade families and students,

I hope everyone is enjoying their long weekend.  We had a wonderful first few days of school.  I want to thank all of you that brought in supplies to share with our classroom.  It is much appreciated!

Next week, we will begin homework.  Homework is assigned daily Monday-Thursday and consists of a math worksheet that is double sided (This sheet goes over what was learned in class that day), a times table 3 times each sheet (depending on the weekly fact we are working on), and a spelling page.  These are to go back in their yellow homework folders and brought back the next day.  If your child doesn't hand in their homework, I will send home a missing homework note for you to sign and return. Please know, that I do not assign homework as busy work.  The homework I assign reenforces what was learned that day in school.  The students write in their agendas daily what their homework assignments are and any important notices.  These along with their yellow folders, should be going home daily and coming back the next day. 

Beginning in November, the students will also be assigned a monthly book report project.  I give the detailed instructions for each report at the end of the month before it is due.  I will send the November book report instructions home at the end of October. 

Every Friday we take our spelling test.  We have 20 words this year and 5-6 challenge words.  We have already taken our pretest for the first test which will be on Friday, September 8th. We will also have our mad minute test for a grade on Friday. 

Please remember, we return to school on Tuesday and that is our Gym day.  Please wear your gym uniforms!!

I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their Labor Day weekend and I look forward to seeing everyone on Tuesday!

Mrs. Wall

***Try to dress cool (no sweatshirts) next week. Bring those water bottles also! The weather looks to be hot and humid all week!

 

 

 

August 26, 2023

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend so far and it was nice seeing many of you on Wednesday at our Meet and Greet.  This year, our Specials are as follows:

Mondays: Liturgical Music

Tuesdays: Gym (wear your gym uniforms)

*this is also our first day of school.  You will have gym class in the afternoon.  Wear those uniforms please!

Wednesdays: Spanish

Thursdays: Math Enrichment

Fridays: Technology/Computer class

I look forward to seeing you all on Tuesday!

Mrs.  Wall

 

 

 

 

 

Greetings Incoming 4th graders and families!

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer break.  Its hard to believe that in a few short weeks we will be back to school! During these last few weeks of summer, I'd really like for you to practice your multiplication facts-we will have a mad minute test the first day!! It is very important to know those math facts this year especially when we get to division and beyond, so please PRACTICE YOUR FACTS!!

Below is a list of supplies needed for 4th grade this year.  I did have Ms. Pula send home a copy of the list in the final report cards in June and there are a few copies in the school office in my mailbox.  I am compiling the list below from memory so it may not be the same as what is in the office.  I'll amend as necessary once I see the official list.

4th grade supply list

• tissues-4 cube boxes to start (may need replenishing throughout year)

 your child will keep a box in their own bin at their desk.

• Paper Towels-3 Rolls
• Clorox/Lysol wipes for our daily desk cleanings-3 containers to start (may need replenishing throughout the year)
• Hand Sanitizer (small bottles) 2 needed
• Sponges for the nurse
• 2 Containers of WET ONES hand wipes
• 2-3 packages of TICONDEROGA brand pencils (pre sharpened preferred) These are shared as a class
• 1 package of blue or black ink ERASEABLE pens
• 1 package of red pens for correcting
• 2 packages of EXPO SKINNY black dry erase markers for our dry erase boards
• 1 package (8-12 pk) Skinny magic markers
• 1 package (8-12pk) broad tip magic markers
• 24 pack of crayons
• 1 package of 12 colored pencils
• 1 package of highlighters
• A bottle of white school glue
• A package of glue sticks
• 3 pocket folders: 1 for Math, 1 for Computers, 1 for Spanish
• 1-2 packages of WIDE RULED filler paper (NO NOTEBOOKS!!!-I will send them home)
• Headphones for computers

• 1-2 Soft pencil cases for crayons, colored pencils and markers. (We share all other supplies)
• 2 packages of multiplication flash cards (1 for HOME practice and 1 for school practice)

 

*PLEASE DO NOT send in scissors, manual pencil sharpeners, mechanical pencils, sharpies, little erasers, rulers, or "extra little doo-dads"

**I have provided your student with a yellow homework folder, a white Religion folder, and a blue fix and finish folder. 

I am looking forward to seeing all of you on August 29th!

Mrs. Wall

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at lwall@materdolorosaschool.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

September 11, 2022

 

4th grade families,

I began assigning homework last week.  Homework will always be assigned nightly Monday-Thursday and will consist of the times tables 3 times each, the 2-sided math sheet (this goes over what was learned in class that day), and a spelling page.  Some of the children seemed shocked when I assigned the homework however, 4th grade is a big jump from 3rd  grade and my homework assignments are to reenforce what was learned that day and not given as just busy work.  Please make sure your child does their homework nightly and returns it in their homework folders the next day.  Also, the children should be taking their agendas home daily as well.  I have them write important notices in the agendas for you to look at.

Math fact for the week are the 3's.  Please have your child practice daily as the mad minute at the end of the week is graded.  We will also be finishing up Topic 1 in Math class this week and there will be a test on the content.

New Spelling Words are introduced weekly on Mondays.  Have your child study nightly along with their homework.  Tests are on Fridays.

We are currently doing a novel study on the book, "Wonder" by R.J. Palacio.  We try to read a chunk of chapters daily and then I assign a quiz that we partially do together.  The book is largely about choosing kindness and being kind to others even if they happen to be different from you.  The kids always enjoy the book and we do culminate with the movie after our novel study is complete. 

In Social Studies this week, we will be finishing our first chapter in our Regions books.  There will be a vocabulary and Chapter test this week.  My Social Studies tests are always open book tests.

I will be leaving my previous week's message up below this one since I have the specials listed as well. Just a reminder, GYM is on TUESDAYS.  Please make sure your child wears their gym uniform to school.

Any questions, feel free to email me at the email address above.

I hope everyone has a great week,

Mrs. Wall

 

 

 

 

 

4th grade students and families,

We had a wonderful first few days of school.  The children have settled into the routines nicely and have been to many of their specials already.  This upcoming week, I will begin assigning homework.  Homework in 4th grade consists of a double sided math worksheet (this will review what is learned in class that day), a times table 3 times each paper, and a spelling page.  Beginning in November, the students will also be assigned a monthly book report project.  More details to follow at a later date. 

Spelling Tests are on Fridays.  The students have already begun taking their mad minutes tests daily.  We work on a multiplication fact weekly and take a mad minute test daily.  Friday's test is taken for a grade.  It is very important to know your facts by heart this year, as the math gets more difficult with long division and fractions.  Please practice those facts!!

Our Specials this year are as follows:

Mondays: Liturgical Music

Tuesdays: Gym (Wear your Gym uniforms to school)

Wednesdays: Spanish

Thursdays: Math Enrichment and Art

Fridays: Computers/Technology

As always if you have any questions, feel free to email me at lwall@materdolorosaschool.org

Enjoy your long Labor Day weekend,

Mrs. Wall

 

 

 

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