News and Notes 4/4

News and Notes

From Fourth Grade

Conversion Quandary

In our continued explorations of measurement, this week the fourth grade mathematicians discovered the challenge that is converting.  As we began our study of measurement with the customary units of measure, we started our work with converting inches to feet, pounds to ounces, and cups to quarts.  With so many different conversions to remember, this week we worked to create our own conversion "cheat sheets" to help us with our conversion questions.  Although this is one of the more challenging and complicated mathematical adventures we've been on so far this year, it is also one that is easily applicable to our everyday lives.  The fourth graders did a great job practicing conversions with genuine data, like converting their height in inches to feet.  As we turn our attentions to the metric system next week, it will be fun to see how this system makes conversion much easier! 

Knowing a Character

Making inferences is our on-going reading comprehension strategy.  This week we combined our knowledge of text features of narratives with our skills as reading detectives.  We took the clues we had collected about characters and built inferences about these interesting personalities.  As good readers, we are learning how to get to know a character using the "making inferences" strategy to collect clues and build ideas that aren't directly stated in the text.  In this way we are able to "read between the lines" and form a better understanding of the text.  What fun we have had in getting to know the interesting characters in our books! 

Energy is Everywhere

The fourth grade scientists were busy at work this week discovering energy.  We started out the week by identifying the many different types of energy that exist.  From electricity to nuclear energy, the fourth graders followed along with a great read aloud entitled The Shocking Truth About Energy to get a basic introduction to the world of energy.  From here, we took an inventory of our everyday lives.  We identified the many different times that we use energy.  From the cereal that we eat in the morning to the computers we use at school to the heat that warms our homes, we discovered that energy is a big part of our lives.  In the coming weeks we will explore a few types of energy more in depth.  These scientists are ready to dig in and get their hands on this exciting energy exploration! 

Lasts

Unbelievably, we have officially entered the last quarter of fourth grade.  It is hard to imagine where the time has gone.  As we look forward to a spring quarter full of all kinds of lasts, we also have much to learn and discover.  In the coming weeks and months it will be essential for the fourth graders to continue to dig deeply into their learning and develop their work ethics.  We want to finish the year well and be prepared for the new adventures awaiting us in fifth grade.  If any families want to meet to discuss progress in fourth grade over the past three quarters, please feel free to let me know!