November 19-November 26th- 2 Weeks

Wishing you and your Family a Lovely Thanksgiving!!!


Welcome, Mr. Kowalsky from Lewis University!  
Enjoy your time in our class until Christmas Break!!!


Our monthly time with our preschool reading buddies!!!

Time for a WALK!!!  Catching snowflakes on our tongues!!!

Coming Up:
Wed 11/21 - Fri 11/23 - No School (Thanksgiving Break)

December

Tues 12/4 - Early Dismissal 11:00am

Wed. 12/19-Bowling

Mon 12/24 through Fri 1/4 - Winter Break

Spelling 
Week of 11/19 - There will be no Spelling lesson the week of 11/19. 

Week of 11/26 - Unit 13 - Homographs
This week's list will consist of homographs. Homographs are two or more words that are spelled the same but have different meaning and sometimes different pronunciations. For example, the word pitcher is a homograph. A pitcher is a player who delivers the ball to a batter or a large container with a handle used for holding and pouring liquids.  The final TEST for the homograph lesson will be on Friday, 11/30.

English - Capitalization & Punctuation
We are studying Chapter 5. 
The students will learn about commas this week.  How do you use commas in a series?  We will have a mini-lesson on commas tomorrow and then have some practice station time.

Creative Writing
We will apply what we learned about commas and ¨hooks¨ to our Thanksgiving Turkey Perspective stories.


Social Studies - The Southeast - "Sunlight & Storms"
The week of 11/26 we will explore the diverse climate of the Southeast. Be sure to ask your child about the destructive nature of hurricanes.

Science - Energy Conversions
Writing arguments to support scientific claims and energy converters are the topics for the next two weeks. 


During the week of 11/12, students participated in an investigation in which they were asked to build a simple electrical system that would cause a fan to spin, an LED to light and a buzzer to make noise. Their supplies included a solar panel, wires, a buzzer, an LED light and a fan motor with a blade. Below are some photos of our junior scientists collaborating to design and test their systems.

Mrs. Spakauskyś Math Class-
We have begun unit 3. The students will review fraction skills and concepts and extend their understandings to mixed numbers, improper fractions and more sophisticated strategies for generating equivalent fractions.

Nov. 12-16

Veteranś Day Assembly

Coming up:

November

Fri 11/16 - End of first trimester

Wed 11/21 - Fri 11/23 - No School (Thanksgiving Break)

December

Tues 12/4 - Early Dismissal 11:00am

Mon 12/24 through Fri 1/4 - Winter Break

Spelling -  Unit 12 - Homophones
The week of 11/12, the list will contain words that are homophones. A homophone is a word that sounds like another word, but has a different spelling and meaning, for example, bear and bare.  The final TEST for the homophone lesson will be on Friday, 11/16.

Week 12 Word List

Quizlet  https://quizlet.com/165859341/integrated-spelling-and-vocabulary-week-12-16-sp-7-vocab-flash-cards/

https://quizlet.com/165866906/integrated-spelling-and-vocabulary-week-12-12-sp-5-vocab-mod-flash-cards/

Reading - "Courage"
Students will take the comprehension and vocabulary QUIZ for Lou Gehrig on Thursday, 11/15. The comprehension portion of the quiz will be open book. Students should review the word work on Google Classroom and the text-dependent questions from the story to help them prepare for the quiz.

English - Capitalization & Punctuation
Capitalization of places and things, abbreviations, and commas in a series are our topics for next week.

Social Studies - The Southeast - Coastal Plains to Mountains
We will continue our study of the geography of the southeast.

Science - Energy Conversions
Forms of Energy and how to write an argument using claims and evidence are the topics for the week.

Mrs. Spakauskyś Math Class-Unit 3-Fractions and Decimals
We will begin unit 3. The students will review fraction skills and concepts and extend their understandings to mixed numbers, improper fractions and more sophisticated strategies for generating equivalent fractions.

Nov. 5-9

I hope you all enjoyed Halloween as much as we did!  Thank you to our amazing parents who took time out of their busy schedules to help out with our party.

We will be spending some time next week as a class learning about the importance of Veteran's Day.  We will finish the week with a school-wide assembly to honor our veterans.  We are having a red-white-and-blue spirit day on Friday to show our support for the veterans and armed forces. 

FOURTH GRADE STUDENTS SHOULD WEAR WHITE ON FRIDAY. Thank you to all who have served!

Coming up:

November

Fri. 11/9-Veteran's Day Assembly 8:00am-FOURTH GRADE STUDENTS SHOULD WEAR WHITE ON FRIDAY

Fri. 11/9-Pizza Lunch in the classroom  (sponsored by Marissaś family)

Fri 11/16 - End of first trimester

Wed 11/21 - Fri 11/23 - No School (Thanksgiving Break)

December

Tues 12/4 - Early Dismissal 11:00am

Mon 12/24 through Fri 1/4 - Winter Break

Spelling -  Unit 11 - Words with "ei" & "ie"

This week's list contains words that have the letter combinations "ei" and "ie". We will study the rule for spelling these words. The final TEST is scheduled for Friday, 11/9.

Reading - Unit 1 - "Courage"

The next story that we will read in the Courage unit is a biographical piece about baseball player Lou Gehrig. While studying this text, we will continue to practice our close reading skills and focus on identifying statements that are facts and statements that are opinions. Students will work in small groups to respond to text-dependent questions and there will also be vocabulary work. Look for a QUIZ on the Lou Gehrig story and vocabulary to be scheduled for the week of 11/12.

English - Capitalization & Punctuation
Using quotation marks will be our focus this week. This skill can be quite challenging so we will spend extra time on it.

Social Studies - The Southeast
The Southeast Map QUIZ is scheduled for Mon., 11/5. Your child should study the map that he/she created and use the blank copy in the binder to practice. A word bank with names of states and water areas will be provided.

Science - Energy Conversions
Students will continue to explore electrical systems by completing a simulation online. We will also look at what uses electrical energy. This past week, students worked in small groups to create a system that would cause a fan blade to spin. They were given a solar panel, a motor, a fan blade, and two wires. Once they built their system, they had to hold the solar panel to a heat lamp to test it. They were all successful in getting the blade to spin in both directions. Below are some photos of their investigation...

Mrs. Spakausky's math class:    In math this week we will continue Unit Two, Module Three, Multiplication Stories and Strategies. Students investigate the effect of doubling and halving factors in multiplication combinations. The students should also be practicing their multiplication facts nightly.  Next, we are working on division with remainders.  The students will learn how to divide a 2-digit number by a one digit number with remainders.

The Unit 2 Test will be coming up this Friday.  A study guide will be coming home this week.