Welcome Parents and Scholars!

Please help us build our classroom library by donating great books that might be collecting dust on your shelves at home! We would especially like well-read favorites that you would recommend to a friend!

According to the 2005 National Assessment of Education Progress Report (Kelley & Clausen-Grace, 2010), students in classrooms with well-designed classroom libraries interact more with books, spend more time reading, demonstrate more positive attitudes toward reading, and exhibit higher levels of reading achievement.

Homework

Click here for nightly homework.

30 minutes of reading *Remember to record your reading in your planner!

Math: Monday 2-1 page 29

Math: Tuesday 2-1 page 30

Math: Wednesday 2-3 page 34 #1-7

Math: Thursday 2-4 page 35 #1-4

Reading

We will be using many different texts this year to focus on these element skills:

Key Ideas and Details:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.1
Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.1
Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.2
Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.2
Determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is supported by key details; summarize the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.3
Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character’s thoughts, words, or actions).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.3
Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text, including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text.

Craft and Structure:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including those that allude to significant characters found in mythology (e.g., Herculean).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.4
Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words or phrases in a text relevant to a grade 4 topic or subject area.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.5
Explain major differences between poems, drama, and prose, and refer to the structural elements of poems (e.g., verse, rhythm, meter) and drama (e.g., casts of characters, settings, descriptions, dialogue, stage directions) when writing or speaking about a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.5
Describe the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in a text or part of a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.6
Compare and contrast the point of view from which different stories are narrated, including the difference between first- and third-person narrations.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.6
Compare and contrast a firsthand and secondhand account of the same event or topic; describe the differences in focus and the information provided.

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.7
Make connections between the text of a story or drama and a visual or oral presentation of the text, identifying where each version reflects specific descriptions and directions in the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.7
Interpret information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively (e.g., in charts, graphs, diagrams, time lines, animations, or interactive elements on Web pages) and explain how the information contributes to an understanding of the text in which it appears.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.8
Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.9
Compare and contrast the treatment of similar themes and topics (e.g., opposition of good and evil) and patterns of events (e.g., the quest) in stories, myths, and traditional literature from different cultures.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.9
Integrate information from two texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.10
By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poetry, in the grades 4-5 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.10
By the end of year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, in the grades 4-5 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

Math Resources for Students

Math makes sense! I believe that kids CAN figure out most things for themselves.

Flexible Math Groups

Thank you for supporting our efforts to meet the needs of all of our students in fourth grade. Our fourth-grade team has worked together to place students into three flexible math groups that will be changing throughout the year as the students’ needs change. This allows us to maximize our resources, challenge students, and provide the best support possible.

Why waste time with Common Core?

Watch a quick video with an awesome explanation of why math is so different now.

Curriculum

The website for this curriculum is Thinkcentral. You can log in and see the activity book we are using in class, parent tips in the Family Letters, and a copy of the Homework and Remembering pages in case your child comes home without their workbook. To log in, please use your child’s lunch number with the password of math123.

Our pacing goal for the year:

Trimester 1:

Unit 1 Place Value and Multi-digit Addition and Subtraction

Unit 2 Multiplication with Whole Numbers

Unit 3 Division with Whole Numbers

Trimester 2:

Unit 4 Equations and Word Problems

Unit 5 Measurement

Unit 6 Fraction Concepts and Operations

Trimester 3:

Unit 7 Fractions and Decimals

Unit 8 Geometry

Social Studies

One of my favorite things about the fourth grade is teaching the history of California!

Pacing

First Trimester:
Geography
Native Americans

Second Trimester:
Early Explorers
Spain
Mexico

Third Trimester:
Gold Rush
Statehood

Field Trips

We have quite a few field trips in the works this year. We have submitted requests for many of them and are still waiting for bussing approvals. After we receive the approvals we will be able to provide more details as to the dates and costs of the field trips. 

All parent volunteers must have a Category 2 clearance in order to chaperone field trips. If you have already done this with our district, you should be all set. If you haven’t and think you might be interested in joining us on a field trip now, please start the process as soon as possible. Our school secretaries are happy to help you through the process. You can also find more information here. 

Potential 4th Grade Field Trips:

Theater production (supports our study of writing)

Coloma (supports our study of the Gold Rush)

Sutter’s Fort (supports our study of Western settlement)

PTC Fall Fundraiser

Fall Fundraiser will kick off Wednesday, August 21st.

Fourth-Grade Fundraisers

We will be selling Big Spoon yogurt after school on Thursdays this Fall. Thursday, August 22nd, will be our first day. Proceeds from the sales will go towards our fourth-grade field trips. 

Please check your calendars and sign up HERE to help!

Sutter’s Fort

If you weren’t able to attend our informational parent meeting, you can view the slideshow at the link to the right.

Please sign up HERE to support this amazing event.

In order to volunteer on our field trips this year, you must be cleared as a Level 2 Volunteer. If you’ve done this in years past, you’re good to go! Please click the “Volunteer Forms” link on the right for more information.

The training workshop for our parent volunteers will be Saturday, November 3rd or Saturday, January 5th. 

The Workshop

The workshop will begin with a brief welcome to everyone at 8:40 am and training will begin by 9:00. Over the next few hours, your parent volunteers will train with Fort docents at their assigned stations and teachers/coordinators will be given a presentation by the ELP/ESP Coordinator. Most parent volunteers will be finished with training by 12:00 pm. Parents training at spinning and weaving or bakery will finish later; spinning and weaving will go until about 1:00 and bakery until about 3:00. Teachers/coordinators are usually done by 1:30. Those whose trainings go through lunch will be given a lunch break, although the time for lunch can vary. For these parents it is best to eat in or nearby the fort. In the past, Blimpie’s sandwich shop has taken lunch orders in the Fort from 8:00 to 8:30. It is about $6 for a sandwich with chips and drink. They have had lunches delivered to the Fort around 11:30 or noon. You can certainly bring lunch or snacks to the Fort. There will be will have coffee and hot water for tea.

Fire Starters
A parent assigned as a fire starter can attend the workshop to learn how to start your fires the morning of your ESP, but it is optional for them to attend as long as they know how to properly start a fire. Only one parent is necessary for fire starting and can learn the bakery or kitchen stations after their training is over. Training for fire starters takes roughly half an hour.

Back to School Night

Please click here to access my presentation from Back to School Night. It contains all of the information I covered tonight and contains many links I referred to.