Week of January 22nd

 Well, last week was odd! Only coming to 2 days of school in 8 days felt really weird. I have made some adjustments because of last week. One of those is that there was some confusion on IXL math homework. I told my class to work towards 40 minutes of IXL on Friday, meaning just for that day before moving on to the next Must Do. Several of my students misunderstood and only did 40 minutes total for the week. I didn't feel like it was fair to count that against them so I made last week's homework grade extra credit. :)

ELA:

This week in ELA we are going to continue reading The One and Only Ivan. This book is told from the perspective of Ivan, the gorilla. We talk a lot about the author's use of personification in this novel as we read. We will also be talking a lot about animals in captivity and the ethical treatment of animals. This will lead to learning how to write an opinion essay. 

Your student should have brought home their January Reading Calendar last week. Again I apologize for sending those home late. 

This week is a quiz week so we DO have a Morning Warm Up quiz on Thursday. We also have a spelling test on List P. This is another adjustment from the crazy last week since we didn't take our spelling test last week. 

Math:

This week we are finishing up our work on factors and multiples. We will begin our introduction to fractions (Topic 8) on Wednesday. We WILL have a Math 4 Today quiz this week as well. 

Red Robin Dine and Donate:

PFSA will be doing a fundraiser this Friday the 26th with Red Robin. Red Robin will donate 20% of your order to our school! Please consider supporting them and eating there that day! More details on this can be found in the school newsletter. 

Valentines Day:

We will celebrate Valentine's Day on Wednesday, February 14th.This party is different than our other parties as it mostly consists of passing out valentines and then reading them. Students are welcome to create a box at home to collect their valentines from classmates. They do not have to though. I will have a grocery sack for students who need something, it isn't fancy but it will do the trick. :)

I posted our class list in the virtual classroom and you can click on that from the whiteboard or click HERE. Bringing valentines is optional! Your student is not required to bring any. However, if they do, please have them bring one for every student or one for every boy or every girl. That way no one has hurt feelings. :) This is a day that we focus on love and friendship. We don't worry about boyfriends and girlfriends in 4th grade so please remind your student of that as well. :)

We will also be watching Because of Winn Dixie on this day. It is a great story that celebrates friendship and family. We will compare and contrast it to the book as well. This movie is rated PG. If you do NOT want your student to watch the movie, please email me and let me know and I will provide an alternate activity for them to do during that time.