2A Newsletters

Dear 2A Families,

Thank you for helping to create such a happy and peaceful first week in second grade! 2A had a lot of fun getting to know each other. Though we primarily focused on learning our routines and procedures for the year, we also took time to imagine what rules for our perfect classroom would look like and came up with virtues that would help us reach our goals. On Friday, we reflected on the 20th anniversary of September 11th by reading 30,000 Stitches, a book that focuses on the moving story of the repair of the flag that flew over ground zero by hands all across the country. Then we made cards for firefighters that were delivered to Fire House 3 in Ridgefield. 

Finally, we learned about our classroom’s patron saint to be: Blessed Carlo Acutis. Blessed Carlo was a young boy who loved playing on the internet, soccer, and the Eucharist, making him a perfect saint for 2A as many of us prepare for our First Holy Communion this year! You can learn more about him here and ask for his intercession for our whole class this year!

Looking forward to a great year ahead and an exciting first full week of school! 

*Issuing a gentle reminder to check your child’s backpack for notes from school from this week. I will attach them to this email for those who did not find them!*

Best,
Julia Guthrie

Dear 4th Grade Families,

Happy Catholic Schools Week! This week is always a highlight for our students and we are sure this year will be no different as we balance CSW activities with learning!

In math, we have been working on geometry such as parts of polygons, angles, transformations, and coordinate geometry. This week we will solve problems by finding geometric patterns, review what we have learned in Chapter 10, and take a test on Friday. Our MAP math test is scheduled for Tuesday morning. A good night's sleep and a healthy breakfast (along with a loving reminder not to rush!) are the best gifts you could give us!

In reading, we are starting a nonfiction unit as we delve into different text structures that writers use to tell a story or report on news. Our current read aloud is Skeleton Tree. We are brimming with theories and predictions and are looking forward to Skyping with author Kim Ventrella when we finish! Students are also continuing to work on grammar with a focus on verbs. There will be a quiz on Thursday on the material in Unit 4, lessons 12-17.

Science finds us learning about fast land changes and how rapid processes change Earth's surface. This week, we will explore the past and present pattern of where volcanoes exist on the earth. In the activity, Mapping Volcanoes, we will plot volcano locations on a world map and look for patterns. We will analyze these maps to discover that volcanoes form a “Ring of Fire” around the Pacific Ocean.

Hoping all out families will have a wonderful week as we celebrate what makes Catholic schools so special!

Some Notes:
* Monday is our Catholic Schools Week mass. Come celebrate with us at 9am!
* Tuesday: MAP Growth test - Math
* Tuesday is also our Day of Service - send in any used jeans for our service project!
* Thursday is our School Olympics (whooo!). Be sure to check with your child to find out what they need to wear!
* Thursday: Grammar quiz (Unit 4, Lessons 12-17) 
* Friday: Math Chapter 10 Test, 1/2 day, Teacher & Staff Appreciation Day, AND a dress down day with donation (whew!)

Dear 4th Grade Families,

We had a great first week back! We are looking to continue our wonderful work this week as we prepare for our mid year MAP testing. 

In math this week, we will learn to use angle measure and the concept of parallel lines to describe different quadrilaterals. We will also identify and name a circle, its parts, and polygons. Please encourage your child to practice math facts and review what we have learned in class daily.

In reading, we are working on test taking strategies for our upcoming MAP exam. Your child will sit for the reading portion of MAP on Thursday of next week. We will make sure to remind you the night before, but please make sure your child has a healthy breakfast, a good night’s sleep, and a loving reminder from you to not rush! If you are looking to reinforce skills, your child can practice using Classworks any day of the week, not just on night where it is assigned for homework. 

In science, we are exploring how weathering, erosion, and deposition can change Earth's surface. We will learn how solid rock breaks apart into smaller pieces through a process called weathering (including root-wedging and ice-wedging). 

In religion, Father Bill is teaching the children about the sacraments. All students are creating posters with explanations, images, and symbols to deepen their understanding of their faith. 

Looking forward to another wonderful week with your children!

Best,
The 4th Grade Teachers

Looking Ahead:
* There will be a vocab test tomorrow on Unit 4. Study links can be found on Mrs. Guthrie’s website!
* Just a reminder that Monday, January 20th is a day off for students in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. Teachers will be here for a training to better support your children! 
* Congratulations to our Martin Luther King Jr. Oratory representatives! Gregory Coyle, Lucas Ho, Mia Tirabassi, and Justin Yoo will be competing in our school wide contest this Wednesday afternoon. Best of luck to our amazing speakers!

Dear 4th Grade Families,

In math this week, we are exploring equivalent fractions, factors, and lowest terms. We will have a quiz on pgs. 266-279 this Friday. Please encourage your child to practice and review what we have learned in class daily.

In writing, we are working on strategies to help us generate ideas for our writing as we start diving more deeply into our writing unit. Great job to our 4th graders on their personal essays! They took feedback so well and excelled at incorporating ideas about what makes great intros and conclusions into their work!

In science, we have been working hard on our rocks and minerals project on google slides. This week we will be able to present and share it in class.

Social Studies will find us learning about plagiarism. As we continue working on research throughout the year, our understanding of citing others' work and making sure the work we present really belongs to us will become increasingly important. 

In religion, Father Bill is teaching 4th grade about the Advent season. We are very blessed to have his expertise as we try to grow in our faith.

Notes:
* If you haven't checked out our new home pages, you might now have seen our video slide shows. Here are some links:
October - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ai8VQhsWMvE&feature=youtu.be
November - https://www.youtube.com/watchv=EgJr2NBB1lY&feature=youtu.be
* Math quiz pgs. 266-279: this Friday
* Vocab Unit 3 test Friday: study link - https://quizlet.com/6252879/vocabulary-workshop-level-orange-unit-3-flash-cards/

Dear 4th Grade Families, 

Hard to compete with such an awesome week as book fair week always is, but we are still trying to make school cool in 4th Grade!

In science, we have been exploring properties of minerals; color, luster, hardness, streak, shape and cleavage. We will start a project on rocks and minerals using google slides this week.

In social studies, we are using hyperdocs to better hone our inquiry questions- we already have our topics, now we are trying to create a research question we will try to answer as we build towards the culmination of our research. This is hard work for students because up to this point in their academic career, they have been told what to research, or have not had to pick a research question beyond "who was" or "how did?" The work we are doing now will help prepare them for the work they will do upstairs (with major, trimester long projects like their Sustainable Development Goal unit) and in life. I'm sure most of the work you do in your offices does not center around what you can easily google. This is foundational work and the kids are off to a great start!

In math, we started a new unit on fraction concepts. We will continue to learn about equivalent fractions, factors, common factors, and the greatest common factor of two or more numbers. Please encourage your child to practice math facts and review what we have learned daily. 

In language arts, we will start working on crafting a five paragraph essay with a focus on ourselves as the topic. Students are participating in Scholastic's Flaunt Your Differences contest where they will be asked to write about something that makes them unique. I love this unit because aside from the five paragraph essay format being a very useful tool for young writers to have in their belts, it's also great preparation for the type of self reflective writing prompts that they will one day submit to highschools, scholarship funds, etc. It can be hard to write about yourself, but NDA scholars are up for the challenge!


A Look Ahead:
* There will be a Grammar Test on chapter 2 this Friday
* Handbag Bingo is this Friday! 


Warmly,
The 4th Grade Teachers

Dear 4th Grade Families,

It's Book Fair Week!! I'm sure you can imagine the excitement down in the 4th Grade corridor. Books are officially Our Thing, so we can't wait to get our hands on some new reading material (and yes, wear our PJs, sport some crazy hair, and show off our arctic looks!)!

This week in math, we will finish up our unit on division and move on to fraction concepts. We will explore fractional parts of regions and sets and learn about equivalent fractions and mixed numbers. 

In Social Studies this week, we are learning about what a quality research question is as we begin our northeast research projects.

Last week in science, we learned about food chains: how every animal has something it eats, and for many animals, also some predator it's eaten by! Your child learned that by asking the two food chain questions:  “What does it eat?” and “What is it eaten by?,” you can find surprising animals living near you. Hopefully your child will come home curious to flip over a log and look for creatures living nearby!

In reading this week, we will be focusing on theme- a difficult skill to master that we will be refining all year (and beyond, as your child will return to theme again and again in their academic career). We will primarily work with our read aloud, Front Desk, but it is important for your child to read at home independently as well. Please encourage your child to read at home daily- whether you listen to audiobooks in the car and discuss, read to them at night, have them read to you, or leave them alone to read while you ask about what part they are at later. Reading consistently is so key to success. You wouldn't try to run a marathon without training first- building reading stamina now will prepare them as texts increase in complexity later down the line.

A Look Ahead:
* Vocab Test this Wednesday, 11/6, on Unit 2. Study link: https://quizlet.com/383976311/sadlier-level-orange-unit-2-flash-cards/
* Science Chapter 4 Lessons 1-3 Test: Friday, 11/8
* Math Chapter 5 Test: Next Tuesday, 11/12

Book Fair Schedule:
* Monday and Tuesday - Students visit the Book Fair at 1pm on each day.
* Wednesday - Arctic Accessory Day! Students will visit the Book Fair at 10:30. We will also be open from 6-8 for a family and friend shopping night.
* Thursday and Friday - Shop with your children! 4th graders and parents are welcome to shop any time from 9:30 - 10:30. Thursday is crazy hair day (can't wait to see how everyone looks!). Friday is pajama day (yay!).
* Reminder: the class with the most donated books gets a pizza party! Help us grow our library (SO key to us helping your reader!) AND enjoy piiza at the same time!