Social Studies

We have had a great start to the year in Social Studies. Our first unit has been on geography and map skills. To that end, we have been learning these terms about the globe:

• Parallels of latitude
• Meridians of longitude
• Equator (0 degrees latitude)
• Prime Meridian (0 degrees longitude)
• Tropic of Cancer
• Tropic of Capricorn
• Arctic Circle
• Antarctic Circle

We have also worked on a packet with lots of maps, and we have been using the latitude and longitude grid to find different types of information on these maps. 

Finally, we have talked about how a flat map cannot accurately depict the round earth. We explored some different models of the earth, and their strengths and weaknesses. To illustrate the distortion that occurs, we had the students cut up a beach ball, and Mr. Merritt took some scissors to slice up the ball. We found it was impossible to make it flat, and hilarity ensued!

Homework Responsibility

Many of you have seen a homework slip (or two..) make it's way home in your child's agenda. Last week was the first week that we held the students accountable for getting all of their work and materials back and forth each day. There is so much to remember....the agenda must get signed, the reading log needs to be filled out, math fact combinations need to be practiced, the novel they are reading must go home each night (and make its way back to school!). We are doing many things on our end to help your student get their homework recorded accurately. Our initials show you that we have reviewed their agenda and ensured that they have written everything down correctly. Additionally we review each afternoon what needs to go home in their backpacks, and we have provided them with a packing check-list to use. We had a great class meeting to share strategies about successfully getting everything back and forth. The kids had so many great ideas about how to be organized!  This is a terrific time to talk with your child about routines at home to help ensure success in this area. We know they are learning the routines and will all be working on this!

First Gathering with Book Buddies!

Last Friday afternoon, we met with our book buddies for the first time. After we lined up, we all joyfully jumped up and down to let Mrs. Mauney and Ms. Frick's class know that we were on our way. Enjoy these photos of your children sharing the joy of reading with their first grade friends!

Calling all Shutterbugs...!

Jessica Masanotti is starting a photography club for students in grades 4 - 8. If your child is interested, please have them fill out the application in the link below. They are due this Friday. 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1HENFSFe1MV-K-gpZ1EqgaMCvqgdxFQFC3c_Y6ByQbfg/viewform

First Visit to the Metro School

The excitement has been building! On Tuesday morning, we will have our first visit to the Metro School. This first day is one of butterflies and anticipation. We have had many conversations in class to prepare the students for this experience and hope they will all have a great first day.

Questions to ask your student about our first day:
1) What were the teachers and students doing in the classroom?

2) Were you able to find a way to be helpful?

3) What was the most surprising thing about your experience?

4) What do you look forward to next week?

5) Did you connect with one of the students?

Landmarks in Large Numbers

We are hard at work in our math unit Landmarks in Large Numbers.
There are four mathematical emphases in this unit:

The Base-Ten Number System: 
Extending knowledge of the number system to 10,000

Computational Fluency: 
Adding and subtracting numbers accurately and efficiently

Whole Number Operations:
Describing, analyzing, and comparing strategies for adding and subtracting whole numbers

Whole Number Operations:
Understanding different types of subtraction problems

Family Letter

Activities to Try at Home

Here is a photo of a morning when we were working on understanding place value. 

The "millions period" group are holding up their numbers. 

Daily Schedule

Trinity Episcopal School

Rencher/ Merritt 4th Grade Daily Schedule

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
8:00- 9:00	8:00 – 8:20 Greet the Week 8:20 Morning Meetings and Word Study	8:00 Readers’ Workshop	8:00 Morning Meeting 8:15 Math	8:00 Morning Meeting 8:15 - 8:45 Healthful Living	8:00 – 8:40 Community Chapel 8:45 Math
9:00- 10:00	9:00 - 10:00 Faith Studies (LC Meetings)	9:00-11:00 Metro 11:00-11:35 Writers’ Workshop	9:15 Readers’ Workshop	8:50 Math 9:50 Snack	9:45 Snack/ Recess
10:00- 11:00	10:00 Snack / Recess 10:20 Math	OR 9:00 WW and Word Study 10:20 Snack 10:30 Imaginon	10:15 Snack and Recess 10:45 Word Study	10:00 Word Study 10:30 – 11:25 Chapel/Tribes	10:10 Readers’ Workshop 11:10 Word Study
11:00- 12:00	11:35 – 12:00 Lunch	11:35 – 12:00 Lunch	11:35 – 12:00 Lunch	11:35 – 12:00 Lunch	11:35 – 12:00 Lunch
12:00- 1:00	12:00 RW, part 1 12:35 – 1:05 Healthful Living	12:00 Science/ SS 12:40 Math	12:05 - 1:05 ART	12:00 Readers’ Workshop	12:15 – 1:00 Music
1:00- 2:00	1:00 RW, part 2 1:30 Writers’ Workshop	1:40 Recess	1:05 Read Aloud 1:20 Writers’ Workshop	1:00 – 1:45 Music 1:45 Recess	1:05 Science/SS
2:00- 3:00	2:20 Science /SS Carpool MR	2:00 – 2:30 Spanish 2:35 – 3:05 Wellness Carpool JY	2:15 Spanish Carpool AM	2:10 Science / SS Carpool LB	2:30 Book Buddies Carpool A&L