Language Arts

What are we learning?

• The next couple weeks will be focused on reading and writing poetry.  This is an exciting unit that allows students to use their creativity as they experiment with language. 
• Students will be using and interpreting figurative language as they encounter similes and metaphors in their reading and learn to use them in their own writing. 
• In fourth grade, students are not expected to know and identify simile, metaphor, onomatopoeia, alliteration, hyperbole and personification; however, students need to be able to recognize these as examples of figurative language.

Home/School Connection

• What is this poem mostly about? 
• What are lines ____ mostly about?
• Which sentence would be best to include in a summary of the poem?
• What was the main conflict the speaker of the poem faced?
• How was the conflict resolved?
• What are you thinking about?
• What are you visualizing (picturing in your mind)?
• What are you feeling?
• How do the poetic tools or organization contribute to the deeper meaning?

Math

What are we learning?

• Comparing fractions (greater than/less than, equal to)
• Benchmark fractions (0, ½, 1) on a  number line. Which benchmark is a specific fraction closest to?
• Comparing and ordering fractions from least to greatest and greatest to least.

Home/School Connection

• Encourage your child to divide their plate in to fractions (how much of your meal is protein, veggies, carbs) 
• Cut food into halves, fourths, eighths. What would give you the biggest/smallest piece? 
• What amount of your meal would you need to eat to be closest to a quarter/half/three quarters of your food?
• Involve your student in construction, cooking, and measurement using measuring cups, spoons, and/or tapes.

Science

What are we learning?

• We will be starting energy and discovering it is both potential & kinetic
• We will see how it can’t be destroyed or created. 
• An object’s motion is described by its direction and the speed. 
• Energy moves through electrical circuits.

Home/School Connection

• Place a ball on the floor, ask if it has potential energy? 
• Once it is pushed, talk about it’s kinetic energy, how far it will move and how fast?
• If you push the ball harder what happens? Softer?
• Ask how the electricity moves through the wires in your house? 
• How can I turn on a switch and the light lights up?
• Why does it go off?

Social Studies

What are we learning?

• We are continuing to explore our current unit of Jamestown! 
• We will compare Jamestown to the Powhatan tribes
• We will begin to explore how the new world began to change - how more settlers came to the new world
• We will understand the life of an indentured servant in the new world
• We will explore the new world as it expanded

Home/School Connection

• Would you travel to Jamestown in 1607? Why or why not?
• What was the voyage to Jamestown was like?
• Why was the location of Jamestown chosen?
• What was the New World like? What would you have done if you went to Jamestown? Would you be scared? Why or why not?
• Why was Captain John Smith important? What did he do for the colonists? 
• What was Captain John Smith’s famous quote? Did you agree or disagree with his view on work?
• What are the differences between Jamestown settlers and the Native People of Virginia?
• What is an indentured servant? What was life like in the New World as an indentured servant?
• How did the government begin to grow in Jamestown?

Positivity Project

• Students explore perspective when they consider all different points of view
  • It is election time and people have different points of view; what are some issues people may consider when choosing a leader? Why is it important to understand where other people are coming from?
• Students show bravery by showing strong mental, physical, and moral strength even when circumstances are difficult
  • During the current school year, how have you shown bravery?
  • What is more difficult for you, mental, physical, or moral strength?