Hello Parents,

Thank you all for coming to our parent teacher conferences this past week. We really enjoyed sharing all of the progress your children have made this past quarter. We appreciate all your feedback and are working hard to make sure our 4th grade classroom is a happy, healthy and safe learning environment for your kiddos.

We began our new unit in opinion writing last week. Students brainstormed ideas for their topic sentence as well as reasons and evidence to support their ideas. We are using the format below to help structure our writing. Be sure to ask your student about their topic and challenge their reasons!

Today the 4th graders took a break from opinion writing and participated in Windshield Poetry. A movement that began in Colorado Springs and has now been brought to WES. The students wrote small haiku poems that were placed on the windshields of WES employee cars. We hope to do this again and spread the joy and hope around the whole town of Woodstock! See a few examples below :)

Our multiplication and division unit is finishing up next week. Below are the family letter and related activities for the next Geometry unit, Size, Shape & Symmetry.

Family Letter for Unit 4: Size, Shape & Symmetry

Unit 4: Related Activities to Try at Home

Here are all of the strategies we have been utilizing to solve both multiplication and division problems!

Thank you again for making time to meet with us and we are looking forward to an even better 2nd quarter with the 4th graders!

Enjoy your Thanksgiving break!

Best,
Kelley & Cindy

Friday, Nov. 11, 2016

Hello Parents,

We hope you are enjoying a day at home with your children!  We are taking the opportunity to get caught up with school communication.

The Halloween parade was a big success.  Everyone seemed to enjoy the festive atmosphere and opportunity to parade through town in costume.  See photos for comfirmation:

We had fun sharing our realistic fiction pieces with the second graders.  Some of the comments were that the younger student listened carefully, laughed at the funny parts and even related to the episode in the writing piece.  It was nice to have such an engaged audience!

Currently, pairs of children have written articles about the Hulbert Outdoor Center experience.  We have figured out how students can each work on the same piece while typing different paragraphs on his/her computer.  Pictures from H.O.C. are displayed in the hall.  Check them out when you come for your conference next week.  (There are still a few of you who have not yet signed up for a conference so please get in touch with us to set up a mutually convenient time.)

The entire class has started reading the classic fourth grade historic fiction book, Green Mt. Hero.
Support and discussion is given in a small group format with daily meetings.  We will be gearing up for the creation of our 100 acre plots to show what is needed to live comfortably in the "Grants" in the late 1700's.

In Math we are still working to make the relationship between division and multiplication clear, as well as, using multiples of 10 to build on our understanding of basic one digit facts.  4 x 6 can help you understand that 40 x 6 = 240.  Obviously, if your child is still not comfortable with all of his/her facts this can prove challenging.  Think 3-D math continues with fun and creativity every Friday.

We were fortunate to have three sessions using the stream table rented from Ottauquechee Natural Resources Association.  Everyone got a hands on experience building culverts and modifying river flow to finally make a plan to save Woodstock from flooding.  The table will sadly leave on Monday.

We will begin topographical mapping this week.  We will need 3 five pound bags of white flour and 3 containers of table salt to make our VT maps on this coming Friday.  Please let us know if you are willing to send one of these items into school.  Thanks.

Finally, we have a Food Shelf box to fill in our classroom.  A note was sent home last week asking for items such as canned beans, tuna, soups, cereal and peanut butter.  Please contribute to this worthwhile cause.

Cheers,
Cindy & Kelley