We did not get finished with the prep work for the Science Fair, although Ms. Conway helped us this morning. I plan to come in one day over the break and try and fine-tune the questions that have been approved and make a list, so you can begin to look at them at home. I apologize that we did not get this sent home before the break, but we will have plenty of time to get these done when we get back!
Today I sent home a practice CRCT packet with students who brought back the request form. I also sent home packets with a few students who I felt needed the practice. If your child did not bring home a packet, you can access the digital file HERE and either print it off (it is 48 total pages), or work through it by reading the questions online and recording your answers on paper. I am also including an answer key HERE. I did not get a chance to copy and send answer keys home with anyone, as we were crunched for time at the end of the day!
We did not get finished with the prep work for the Science Fair, although Ms. Conway helped us this morning. I plan to come in one day over the break and try and fine-tune the questions that have been approved and make a list, so you can begin to look at them at home. I apologize that we did not get this sent home before the break, but we will have plenty of time to get these done when we get back!
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Today we were able to retrieve the trap we set yesterday. The air temp today was 62 degrees, and the water temp was 56! We did not catch anything in our trap, but another class caught one SMALL turtle! Hopefully after Spring Break we will have more turtle activity!
Today we set the first turtle trap! I had many students volunteer to get in the water to help, but unfortunately everyone cannot get in at the same time! I will make sure everyone that wants to get in to help has a turn eventually! We will try and retrieve the trap in the morning, weather permitting. If it is raining, I plan to retrieve it after school. We took baseline data on the air and water temperature. The air was about 64 degrees this afternoon, and the water was about 60 degrees. We hope to find a correlation between air/water temps and number of turtles we catch in the trap after a few visits.
In addition to setting the trap, we also found a deceased turtle while we were there that has apparently been marked by DSC for their turtle study. We brought it back to school (wrapped in waders!) and consulted with our DSC expert on how we could preserve its shell for future study. He suggested we bury it on the school grounds and let the decomposers go to work! Our Fourth grade team worked together to do this after school, as it was already beginning to decay. We hope to dig it up in the fall to retrieve the shell and any bones. I am truly excited by the work and learning we are able to do here at Brookwood! Thank you for allowing your children to go on this journey with me! I appreciate everyone's enthusiasm about our
Science Fair! As we have gotten into the process, it has become clear that we need further discussion and evaluation before approving topics. We will be working on this the rest of the week, and I will try to have several topics for each student for your approval prior to Spring Break. Please DO NOT begin work on a topic until further notice! Thank you so much for your understanding, as the concept of a Science Fair is new to me too! We have a new addition to our classroom, the READBOX! Bring your previously READ books to share with others! Bring a book, trade a book, borrow a book--just READ a book! If you have any books at home to donate to our box, please let me know! It's Science Fair time! We are in the process of selecting topics for our Science Fair that will be on display on May 8, when the STEM certification committee visits Brookwood. I sent home a letter with your child today that explains the topic selection that we used on sciencebuddies.org, and I would like to have it returned Monday with your signature. See the letter HERE. Finally, report cards were sent home today for the 3rd nine weeks. Please look over them with your child and sign the folder to return on Monday. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me by email or phone. I will send home the end of 9 weeks assessments that were given to help determine the grades on Monday.
This week we will continue review of previously covered Social Studies and Science content. We are working on review of Physical Features of the US and Explorers this week in Social Studies. See the map activity we are using for review HERE. We will be reviewing weather, forecasting, and weather instruments in Science. We are learning new content in Math, focusing on area and perimeter and measuring angles using a protractor. We also have new vocabulary for the next two weeks (-tion, -sion, and -cian words). You can view the list HERE. Finally, we will be working on poetry and prose, focusing on similies and metaphors. If time permits, we will also go into idioms, adages, and proverbs.
We will be having a quiz on Westward Expansion, Women of Suffrage, and Technological Inventions of the 1800's tomorrow. During class today, the students reviewed topics and created test questions for me to include on the quiz and a study guide. Ms. Conway's students were not in class for the review, but all students should have brought home a copy of the compiled study guide. Resources used for the study guide are also on the Fourth Grade weebly site (www.bwfourthgrade.weebly.com) Please help your child study this tonight! We are postponing our quadrilaterals quiz until Tuesday, as many students are still having trouble classifying polygons by their sides and angles. We will continue to work on this tomorrow and Monday in class.
***Field Day t-shirt orders are due TOMORROW!! (FRIDAY) Please send in your child's form if at all possible. ***Early Release tomorrow at 1:00! As I previously wrote, we are reviewing Solar System (planets, stars, constellations, moon phases, etc) in Science this week. We will be working on Native Americans and Economics in Social Studies. I will also be giving a final assessment for the 9 weeks on Westward Expansion/Technological Inventions of the 1800's (including the women of suffrage) THIS FRIDAY. We will review on Thursday in class, but your child can use completed webquests and other activities to study. You can also access some of these items on the Fourth Grade website, www.bwfourthgrade.weebly.com. We will also have a final assessment on Geometry (polygons & angles) on Friday as well. We are continuing to work on measurement and conversions in Math this week. In ELA, we will be reviewing adverbs, and discussing relative adverbs.
Notable Dates this week include: 3/12 Jonas String Quartet 3/13 Reward Movie for good behavior 3/14 Early Dismissal at 1:00 Next week we will be beginning content review for CRCT. We will start reviewing the Solar System in Science, and our student teacher, Miss Evans, will teach a lesson on Wednesday. We will also be finishing work on classifying quadrilaterals and angles, and create a "Geometry Town". We will also work on finishing the end of 9 weeks assessments I mentioned last week, including a final pass on Persuasive writing. In Social Studies, we will begin reviewing Native Americans. As the week progresses, we may move into Explorers. We will NOT have new vocabulary this week, but will have new words beginning March 17.
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Mrs. Rojas's 4th Grade
This page is designed to update parents and students about what is happening each week in our class. It may be a short blog entry, a picture, or other media, depending on the skills covered each week. I look forward to hearing your comments and suggestions! Archives
July 2016
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