This Week in Grade 4 at Discovery

Hello everyone!  We hope you had a happy and restful long weekend.  Thanks to all the parents who joined us for our measurement lesson and pancake breakfast last friday.  It was a lot of fun!  Here are the pictures to prove it.

IMPORTANT REMINDERS:

DISCOVERY ZONE SUMMER CAMP: If you're looking for something fun to do this summer, Discovery School’s Summer Camp this year will run from June 9 to June 29.  Ask a teacher or at the office for more details. 

FROM THE CAFETERIA – ELEMENTARY PARENT LUNCHEON - Take Your Parents to Lunch Day Friday May 11^th. Our school cafeteria will be hosting the second student and parent luncheon soon. Flyers with menus will be going home with your children this week.  Come and enjoy lunch with your child next week for a fun afternoon.

THIS WEEK'S CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES:

Math:  We will be completing our mini-unit on adding/subtracting fractions and unit of measurement this week.  There will be a quiz to follow early next week.

Reading:  We will begin our final class novel of the year, 'Because of Winn-Dixie'.  We will be making a character sketch of our new protagonist, India Opal.  We will also be finding out the winners to our, 'Million Dollar Contest', and replicating the Million Dollar Shot from our previous story.

Writing:  We will be editing our collection of rhyming and free-verse poetry into a class poetry book this week.  We will also reflect on the introduction to our new class novel.

Social Studies:  We will be reading and discussing the story 'Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt'.  Our students will learn what it was like to be a child in the time of slavery in America, and how important it 'The Underground Railroad' was to people back then.  We will also be practicing our reader's theatre play.  

Here's to a short but fun-filled week at Discovery!  Thanks for reading!

This Week in Grade 4 at Discovery

Hello everyone!  I hope everyone who attended had a great time at Family Night this past Friday.  By all accounts it was a fun night.

IMPORTANT REMINDERS:

This Wednesday will be an early release day for students as the Discovery School teachers have an afternoon of professional development.  

This Friday we will be having a pancake breakfast.  Students will practice their measurement skills by mixing up pancake batter for this yummy treat.  All parents are invited to join us.  Breakfast will start at around 8:45.

This Friday our grade 4 students will be going on their second of five PE field trips.  Last Friday they were doing gymnastics, this Friday will be Racquetball.  FUN!!!

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES THIS WEEK:

Reading:  We will be practicing reading rhyming poetry aloud.  Students will practice reading poems with fluency, rhythm, and tone.  We will also begin reading our next class novel, 'Because of Winn-Dixie'.  We will be using the 'thinkstrip' activities to help us summarize how we felt after reading the introduction of our new story.

Writing:  We will continue writing rhyming poetry this week, while paying attention to rhyme patterns and rhythm that we learned last week.  We will also be having a 'Million Dollar Contest' just like in our book.  Each class will have three winners and those three will take foul shots to see who will be our Million Dollar Champion.

Math:  This week in math lessons we will be learning to add and subtract fractions with like and unlike denominators.  We will also learn about standards units of measurement for length and capacity so that we can properly follow our pancake recipe Friday morning.

Social Studies:  We will learning more about the life of Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad this week.  We will using a Reader's Theatre play about Ms. Tubman's life to gain perspective on what it was like as an African-American slave in the 1800's.

Thanks to whomever reads this post.  Here's to a great week!!

Class Activities for May 31st-June 3rd

 Hello everybody!!

Well we are officially on the homestretch.  I hope all our grade 4 families are looking forward to a relaxing summer holiday.  Here's to a great last few weeks of school!

I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who was a part of our baby shower this past Friday.  Magda and I were truly touched.  We are very lucky to be part of such a caring community here at Discovery.

This Week's Classroom Activities:

MATH

This week we will be working on interpreting information from bar graphs, pie graphs, and line charts.  We will also be practicing calculating elapsed time, which seems to be very difficult for our students.

READING

We will be finishing our class novel, "Because of Winn-Dixie" and watching the movie version.  We will be having a class discussion where we will compare and contrast the book with the movie version of the story.  We will also finishing our class read aloud, "The Adventures of Edward Tulane", a fantastic book by the same author as "Because of Winn-Dixie".

WRITING

We will be writing our end of year reflections this week.  Before doing so each student will take a look at their very first journal entry of the year to see how much they've improved as writer's over the course of the year, and to remind themselves how they felt back in August this year.

SCIENCE

For our final assessment in Science the students will be creating an open circuit with a switch that should be able to turn connect and disconnect their circuit with ease.  We will also have a follow up lesson to the experiment that identified the difference between conductors and insulators.


Here's to a great week in grade 4.  Thanks for reading,

Jordan Rose

Activities for the week of May 23rd to 27th

Greeting parents and students,

I hope everyone is well and has enough energy to finish the end of our school year strongly.  Our trip to the Montoya's last Thursday was a great success.  We had a wonderful morning up in the hills of El Hatilo.  Thanks again to Vivian Flores for being such a gracious host, and I apologize for the sunburnt students, I should have been more careful about re-applying sunscreen throughout the day.  Mi Disculpe!

THIS WEEK'S ACTIVITIES:


Math:   On Tuesday we will have our final Math chapter test of the year.  The test will be on the what we've learned about measurement, decimals, and adding and subtracting fractions.  On Wednesday we will begin our final Math strand of the year, graphing.

Reading:  We will continue to read our class novel 'Because of Winn-Dixie'.  As part of our reading skill, 'compare and contrast', we will begin watching the movie and discuss the similarities and differences that we find between the book and the film.

Writing:  As we prepare to say goodbye to some of our grade 4 classmates, we will work on writing special notes of appreciation to each member of our class.  This should be a 'feelgood' activity that will provide our departing students with a keepsake and memories of all their friends here at Discovery.

Science:  Continuing with our Electricity unit, we will be learning about electric circuits and how they are created.  We will then work on building our own circuits using a D cell battery, Fahnestock Clips, and a lightbulb.  We will also learn about conductors and insulators, and see if we can use a paper clip to complete an electric circuit as a conductor of electricity.

Grammar:  We will be looking at common and uncommon homonyms, and learning about how to not let them confuse us when reading and writing.


Thanks again for reading everybody.  I hope all's well with you and yours.  Sincerely,

Jordan Rose

Grade 4 for the week of May 16th-20th

Greetings parents and students!  I hope all's well.  I think we're officially on the homestretch of the school year.  Here's to a great last 4 weeks of school!!

IMPORTANT REMINDERS:


This Thursday, May 19th we will be going on a field trip to the Montoya residence.  The trip will be from 8-12:30 and give our students a chance to get some fresh air and take a well-deserved break from all the hard work they've been doing in class lately.  Parental permission slips will be coming home today (Monday).  Parents are welcome to join us.  If anyone is interested please contact me today or tomorrow.



Here are some photos I took while the students were putting together their final social studies projects last week.  Great job everybody!!!  

THIS WEEK'S CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES:

MATH  

In math this week we will be focusing on decimals.  We will be learning to order and compare decimals, round decimals to the nearest tenth and hundreth, and add and subtract decimals.  To do so we will be relating decimals to our prior knowledge of fractions and percentages.  We will also be using grids to help us and add and subtract decimals.

READING

In reading this week we will continue to read our class novel 'Because of Winn-Dixie'.  Our class discussion will centre on comparing and contrasting the main character, India-Opal with some of the other main characters that we've come across in our previous class novels.  We will also look at the overall tone and style of our novel, and see if we can compare and contrast that as well.

WRITING

In writing this week we will be writing reading letters that mirror our classroom discussion, (comparing and contrasting main characters).  We will also be doing an exercise where we practice writing positive messages about each person in the class.  This should be a feel-good exercise, and will be coupled with a general reflection on each student's year as a fourth grader that will follow next week.

GRAMMAR

We will be looking at past tense verbs this week in grammar.  Specifically at common mistakes that occur in our writing and speaking.

SCIENCE

This week in Science classes we will be experimenting with electricity.  Students will be given a chance to work hands on with electric power using a D-cell battery, lightbulb, and copper wire to see if they can create an electric circuit that will light the bulb.  Students will then learn take a closer look at electric circuits, and how they work.

Here's to a fun filled week in fourth grade.  All the best,

Jordan Rose

Class Activities for May 9th-13th

Greetings grade 4 parents and students!

Thanks to everyone for making me feel so appreciated during Teacher Appreciation Week.  You're too kind!!

IMPORTANT REMINDERS


We will be starting our third and final MAP testing session this week.  Hopefully our test scores reflect all the students' hard work over the past few months.

Progress reports will be coming home on the 11th.  Please look out for those.

GARAGE SALE – The DPTO is putting together the annual Garage Sale for next Saturday May 13^th. The price of each table is L250. This is a great opportunity to buy and sell “treasures”! If you are interested please contact Martha Bandes atmbandes@yahoo.com or call her at 99456338


DISCOVERY ZONE SUMMER CAMP – This summer check out our Discovery Zone Summer Camp.   The camp begins on June 13th  If you would like more information about the camp, please contact Ms. Cristiana for details.  cbanegas@discoveryschool.edu.hn

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES THIS WEEK:

MATH   

In math lessons we will be reviewing adding fractions with unlike denominators before getting into measurement with metric units of weight, length, and capacity.  The students will then connect what they learn about the metric system to decimals and their prior knowledge of percentages and fractions.

READING


In reading we will continue to read our class novel, 'Because of Winn-Dixie' and compare and contrast it to our previous class novels.  To do so we will create a Venn-Diagram as a visual aid to help our understanding of comparing and contrasting as a reading skill.  In reading this week we will also be focusing on the Mystery genre of fiction writing.  The students will choose a mystery novel and read in class and at home to discover the key aspects of mystery writing.

WRITING


In writing this week we will be writing a reading letter about the mystery novel that each student has chosen to read.  The students will be asked to write about what they know about the mystery genre, as well as their reflections on the book they have begun to read.

SOCIAL STUDIES


After putting the finishing touches on their project posters, the students will prepare their oral presentations.  The presentations will be on Wednesday afternoon.  Students will be graded on their clarity of their voice, their understanding of the information, and their overall ability to communicate with their audience.

SCIENCE

We will begin our science unit on Electricity, by first finding out what the students know about electricity and how it works.  To do so the students will create a KWL chart on what they know, and would like to know about electricity.

GRAMMAR

We will be looking at antonyms and synonyms in this week's grammar lesson.


Thanks for reading everybody!  And have a great week!!

Activities for the week of May 3rd-6th

Hello everyone,


I apologize, but I appear to have experienced some technical difficulties and my weekly blog posting was not posted online correctly.  I'm sorry if you checked in and were not able to find the blog post las week.


IMPORTANT REMINDERS:


There's lots of stuff going on at Discovery School right now.  It should be a fun and busy final 5 weeks.  Here's a list of things to look out for:

• The General Assembly meeting and the Art Exhibition is on the evening of May 5th here at school. Please mark your calendar and we hope to see you here.
• There will be a half day Friday, May 6th. Students will be dismissed at 11:45 a.m. Your child needs to bring a only a snack to school on that day, no lunch.
• Progress report will be sent home May 11th.
• This year Discovery School will be having a 'Book Drive'. If you would like to donate any books that are in good condition, please do so by May 9th.
• Discovery Idol- This year the school will be having the annual 'Discovery Idol'! This is a talent competion that is open to all students. If your child would like to participate, auditions will be held on May 17th and 18th. More information will be sent home soon.

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES THIS WEEK:

Math:

We will be learning about Customary units of measurement in math lessons this week.  We will explore units of length, weight, and volume.  We will also look at breaking down measurements into fractions, such as  fractions of an inch.  Finally we will be practicing our measuring skills with rulers and other measuring tools.

Reading:

Our new reading skill is comparing and contrasting.  We will be learning to compare and contrast things in our lives and things that we read.  We will also be starting our final class novel of the year: 'Because of Winn-Dixie'.  We will read this novel and analyze by comparing and contrasting it to our 4 previous class novels.  

Writing:

The majority of our writing lessons this week will focus on drafting, proofreading/editing, and publishing the written portion for our social studies project.  The students will be working together to take the information they've learned and then put it into their own words and then get it ready to display to their fellow classmates in their final presentation.  We will also be working on creating a Venn Diagram to help us understand our reading skill: compare and contrast.

Character Studies:

We will continue to work on conflict management, and role-playing different ways to find win-win solutions to conflicts that arise in our lives.

Social Studies:

We will spend a lot of time getting everything ready for our social studies poster and presentation.  The students will need to use all of their reading, writing, and cooperation skills this week in order to put together a  quality presentation by early next week. 

Here's to a great week at Discovery School!!   All the best,

Jordan Rose