Dear Families,

January, 2008

Language Arts
We are just completing our literature theme of “American Stories.” We read about John who finally fulfills his dream of traveling out west. He invents a very useful hat called the “Boss of the Plains.” We also read about Tanya who experiences her first family reunion. What’s next?! The students will have to read to find out but our theme will be fantasy! We need to get our imaginations ready. The reading skills continue to be at the forefront of our instruction. Predicting, making inferences and generalizations, and evaluating texts are the skills we are focusing on during this theme.
We are continuing to learn the art of expository and narrative writing. We are proud to have completed our major research projects on states. What great expository writing practice! We are also masters of technology with our awesome PowerPoint presentations.

Math
Our Multiplication Wall of Fame is filling with names of fourth graders who know their facts! If your child has not mastered his/her facts yet, keep up the practice every night. Congratulations to our current Wall of Fame members:
James, Roshini, Darren, RossAndre, Bryce, Jessie, Keshav, Akriti, Andy, and Diana.
We are currently working with fractions and have been separating wholes into equal parts. If you visit our classroom, you will see we all have made our own fraction strips to work with. We are also starting to learn about equivalent fractions. For example, using pictorial representations, we can prove that 3/4 is equivalent to 9/12. Later in the unit, we will be studying the magnitude of fractions and decimals.

Science
We are studying sound and light with Ms. Harty. This inquiry-based unit has us exploring how sounds are created and how light travels. We have experimented with many different tools (like pitch forks and musical instruments) to determine how the shape and size of objects can affect pitch. Mrs. Saraceno even showed us the inside of her piano. This unit will continue with a lot more discovery ahead!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Foley