Hi Families!

Last Friday, our day ended with a power outage, so I never got the opportunity to send a blog post. I meant to do it once I got home, but of course I got distracted... Sorry!

It's been a busy week here. I am so attached to this class and feel so much pride in all of the work they've done during this difficult year. They are resilient and flexible and earnest -- and they are learning so much in spite of the challenges of masks, desks in rows, etc. What a group!

Here's what's been going on:

Math: We are finished with our fraction unit! The final assessment was today, and I was pleased with the results. Yesterday we made a list of all we have learned, and it's a long list: equivalent fractions, placing fractions on a number line, adding and subtracting fractions and mixed numbers, multiplying fractions by whole numbers, and so much more!  Wow! They should all be very proud of all they have learned.  Next week, we will begin our final multiplication and division unit, learning long division and also double digit by double digit multiplication. Stay tuned!

Reading: We finished up our social issues book clubs last week. Once again, I am impressed with how much the class learned about ways to identify the issues in books, and at their desire for justice and equity in general. They expect the world to be a good place, and I love that about them! We have talked a lot about how so many fiction books have social issues in them -- they should be able to continue this work on their own. This week, and for the next 2 weeks, we are just free reading. I am reminding them of all the strategies I have taught them so far this year, and they are choosing to read whatever books they want. While they read, I am conferring with them individually and working with some students in small groups. In preparation for report cards, I assessed each reader and I feel like they have all made so much progress in their ability to read and comprehend!

Writing: I feel like I am beating a dead horse, but we are STILL working on our essays. We finished up our opinion essays, and everyone wrote a persuasive essay in two weeks. We printed those today and shared our favorite parts. For the next 2 weeks, we will write literary essays, using some of the same strategies to write about books. They are all getting SO good at finding a thesis and at using paragraphs.

Science: We did a very quick unit about natural resources and how humans use them to make electricity. Last week, the kids all researched one renewable and one nonrenewable resource, and they compared their pros and cons. This group is all set to save the planet!

Social Studies: Today we started a new unit about Vermont's geography. We discussed a variety of landforms and what they look like. Next week we will begin looking more closely at the map of Vermont.

Here are a few more important notes:

Report cards come home on Monday. Since we were in the middle of the fraction unit when the trimester ended, the scores for that part of the math section will be only a partial score -- you will see an updated score in the final report card.

Conferences: We are holding parent conferences at the end of April. These are optional, of course. I will be sending home more information about them and  how to sign up next week.

Masks: Please remember to pack extra masks for your children. We are going through them really fast here at school, and I notice the students needing new masks after every recess and PE class. Having a few extras in their backpacks would be wonderful.

4th Grade Celebration: Thank you to all of you who have reached out to Miss Fecura about the Memory Book. I think we have plenty of parents working on that, but we will reach out again as soon as we know more about how we plan to celebrate the 4th graders at the end of the year (COVID protocols permitting!)

I think that's everything. Please, as always, be in touch if you have questions about anything. We are a team!