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Spelling: We learned about common spelling patterns for the /k/ sound: c, k, qu, ck, ch.

Cursive: Cursive pp. 31-33 are available in class and due on Friday.

Reading: Today was a reading skills and AR practice day.

Writing: Students received their grade from the last piece of writing, and they wrote goals for what they would like to work on for the current piece.

Today was a revising day; students focused on revising something that was lacking in their last writing piece. A fiction story will be due Friday, December 18. Your student should be done with their draft and revising by making improvements and changes. Homework is to work on writing for at least 15 minutes.

Math: None today due to Eagle Time.

Below are some skills we’ve been working on lately:

• Place value and rounding
• Addition within 1000
• Subtraction within 1000

Homework is to practice MobyMax Math or Khan Academy for at least 15 minutes.

Science: None today due to extra time with social studies. We’ll have extra science on Monday and a test about electricity and safety.

Social Studies: We learned about the history of automobiles in Michigan, and learned about how factories using specialization, division of labor, and assembly lines to be more productive.

Notes:

• Our Fiesta Mexicana is Tuesday, December 22 from 9-noon. Family members are welcome to help out and join us. Here is our volunteer list.
• Check out our class calendar to stay up-to-date.
• Visit our Links page: keep track of all the websites we use for learning, or try something new.
• View grades, assignments, and attendance at ParentVue or StudentVue.

Our Mission:
All students in Room 130 will do their best and get ready for 5th grade.

Spelling: None today.

Cursive: Cursive pp. 31-33 are available in class and due on Friday.

Reading: Today was a discussion day in Literature Circles.

Writing: We talked more about making characters seem real by adding talking, visual details, action, and the reaction of other characters.

Today was a revising day. A fiction story will be due Friday, December 18. Your student should be done with their draft and revising by making improvements and changes. Homework is to work on writing for at least 15 minutes.

Math: We practiced subtracting across zeroes. Students also used Khan Academy to practice math skills.

Below are some skills we’ve been working on lately:

• Place value and rounding
• Addition within 1000
• Subtraction within 1000

Homework is to practice MobyMax Math or Khan Academy for at least 15 minutes.

Science: We learned about electricity safety today. Here are some websites we used:

• Electrical Safety World
• Find the Hidden Dangers
• Make the Safe Choice

We will have a test about electricity and safety tomorrow.

Social Studies: Today was our reading skills and AR practice time.

Notes:

• Check out our class calendar to stay up-to-date.
• Visit our Links page: keep track of all the websites we use for learning, or try something new.
• View grades, assignments, and attendance at ParentVue or StudentVue.

Our Mission:
All students in Room 130 will do their best and get ready for 5th grade.

Spelling: We talked about spelling larger words by splitting them into syllables.

Cursive: Cursive pp. 31-33 are available in class and due on Friday.

Reading: None today due to the late start schedule.

Writing: None today due to the late start schedule.

Today was a revising day. A fiction story will be due Friday, December 18. Your student should be done with their draft and revising by making improvements and changes. Homework is to work on writing for at least 15 minutes.

Math: Students used Khan Academy to practice math skills.

Below are some skills we’ve been working on lately:

• Place value and rounding
• Addition within 1000
• Subtraction within 1000

Homework is to practice MobyMax Math or Khan Academy for at least 15 minutes.

Science: None today due to the late start schedule.

Social Studies: We learned that specialization and division of labor increases productivity. We tested this by making paper snowmen. Two groups dividing the work into steps and worked as a team. The rest of the class each made paper snowmen individually. The groups working as an assembly line had 50% of their snowmen made correctly. The groups working on their own had only 20% made correctly. The assembly line made it so that each worker could focus on their job and not have as many mistakes.

Notes:

• Check out our class calendar to stay up-to-date.
• Visit our Links page: keep track of all the websites we use for learning, or try something new.
• View grades, assignments, and attendance at ParentVue or StudentVue.

Our Mission:
All students in Room 130 will do their best and get ready for 5th grade.

Spelling: None today.

Cursive: Cursive pp. 31-33 are available in class and due on Friday.

Reading: Today was a reading day in Literature Circles; some groups worked on visualizing as a reading strategy.

Writing: We talked about developing characters to make them seem real by adding these detail:

• action
• visual details
• talking
• the reaction of other characters.

Students also worked on drafting today. A fiction story will be due Friday, December 18. Your student should be done with their draft tonight and ready to revise tomorrow. Homework is to work on writing for at least 15 minutes.

Math: We practiced adding large numbers today. Students also MobyMax Math to practice math skills.

Below are some skills we’ve been working on lately:

• Place value and rounding
• Addition within 1000
• Subtraction within 1000

Homework is to practice MobyMax Math or Khan Academy for at least 15 minutes.

Science: We learned about another surprise conductor: salt water.

Social Studies: Students completed a miniquiz today about incentives. We also started to learn about specialization and division of labor. We learned that productivity can be increased by having experts divide up the work.

Notes:

• Check out our class calendar to stay up-to-date.
• Visit our Links page: keep track of all the websites we use for learning, or try something new.
• View grades, assignments, and attendance at ParentVue or StudentVue.

Our Mission:
All students in Room 130 will do their best and get ready for 5th grade.

Spelling: Today we reviewed common spelling patterns for the long /i/ sound and also learned that idioms are sayings that have a hidden meaning.

Cursive: Cursive pp. 31-33 are available in class and due on Friday.

Reading: Today was a discussion day in Literature Circles.

Writing: We read a story called, Girl Wonder, that was organized in chronological order, with each chapter being about an event in a person’s life as she got older.

Students also worked on drafting today. A fiction story will be due Friday, December 18. Your student should be drafting at this point. Homework is to work on writing for at least 15 minutes.

Math: We practiced using rounding to estimate addition and subtraction answers. Students also used Khan Academy to practice math skills. Students are finishing rounding and place value skills, and also trying to master addition or subtraction within 1000.

Below are some skills we’ve been working on lately:

• Place value and rounding
•  Addition within 1000
•  Subtraction within 1000

Homework is to practice MobyMax Math or Khan Academy for at least 15 minutes.

Science: We reviewed our last experiments about electromagnets and conductors, and we wrote notes in our minibooks. We also started to learn abut surprise conductors. Conductors are usually made of metal, but one surprise conductor is graphite (pencil lead, made of carbon).

Social Studies: We started learning about some Mexican holiday traditions and decorations today. This December, we will be looking at how Esperanza, the Mexican girl from our shared reading story, Esperanza Rising, would have celebrated holidays in December. Mexico has many more days of significance during December, January and even into the beginning of February, than we have in the US. Today, we learned about the primary holiday decoration in Mexico: the Nacimiento (the birth).

This scene is usually placed in a prominent location, and can be as large as an entire room. The Nacimiento contains various people, animals, cacti, mountains, lights, cellophane waterfalls, mirror ponds, houses, and Spanish moss. There could be as many as 200 different figures in the display. Ours is in our showcase; Esperanza’s was in her hallway. Visit MexConnect for other holiday traditions in Mexico.

Do you have a family tradition you would like to share? Please feel free to comment or share a note and the class can compare your tradition to others they have heard of.

Notes:

• Check out our class calendar to stay up-to-date.
• Visit our Links page: keep track of all the websites we use for learning, or try something new.
• View grades, assignments, and attendance at ParentVue or StudentVue.

Our Mission:
All students in Room 130 will do their best and get ready for 5th grade.