Week of 10.14.19

Highlights for the Week of 10/14/2019
in Mrs. Bell's Classroom

Spelling -  Unit 7 - "Suffixes "-ness", "-less",  and "-en"
This week's spelling/vocabulary list will include words with the suffixes -ness, -less, and-en.  We will study the definitions of these suffixes and how to determine the meaning of unknown words by breaking the words into base words and suffixes and by using context clues. The final TEST is scheduled for Friday, 10/18.

Reading - Unit 1 - "Courage"
Students will continue to build background knowledge about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by reading short biographical texts in small groups and responding to text-dependent questions.

English - Capitalization & Punctuation
This chapter in English focuses on the correct use of capitalization and punctuation. The first few lessons review sentence structure, the capitalization of names, people, places and pets, and abbreviations. 

Social Studies  - The Northeast 
The final draft of the Northeast Trip descriptive paragraph is due on Wednesday, 10/16. Students should submit their projects through Google Classroom by 8:00 a.m. that day. 

We will complete our study of the NE region with a look at the Native Americans of the area, the Narragansetts. Our focus will be on the culture and traditions of the group and how they have changed over time. We will also spend some time creating the Northeast portion of a United States Map. This is a year-long activity that is completed region by region. It is a favorite activity of mine...I hope the children enjoy it as much as I do!

Science - Energy Conversions
Students will finish the simulation to create energy systems and learn to define an electrical device. Below are some photos of students working together on the simulation last week.

Social-Emotional Learning (SEL)
There will not be a formal Second Step lesson this week. Instead, we will spend our morning meetings doing team-building activities such as "Share Chair", "Going on a Field Trip" and "Heads or Tails". Be sure to ask your child about these activities. On Friday, the entire fourth grade will play a game of SEL Bingo. The game will review the topics that have been taught since the beginning of the year which include empathy, listening with attention, being assertive, and respecting similarities and differences. 

During the week of 10/7, we worked on respecting similarities and differences. Below are some photos of students in small groups sharing their feelings about specific scenarios that were given to them. I enjoyed listening to their thoughtful conversations.

Mrs. Bell's Math Class - Unit 2 - Adding & Subtracting Fractions

Using clocks as a reference for finding common denominators will be our focus this week. Then, students will look at how to decide which model (money or clocks) works best for different denominators. Students will complete a graded WORK SAMPLE (similar to a Checkpoint) in class on Thursday, 10/17. 

FYI...

10/14 - Columbus Day - No school

10/24 - Picture retakes (NEW DATE)

Parent/Teacher Conferences are scheduled for October 29 & 30. Look for an email from me next week to sign up for your conference.

The pizza party that we won from the Magazine Drive was a blast! Thank you to the PTO for recognizing our class as having the highest percentage participation at PV!

Enjoy the Holiday Weekend!

Mrs. Karen Bell