Newsletter Mayberry-McFarland Weekly News

for the week of April 30, 2018

Due Dates / Upcoming Events:

Monday, May 7: weekly reading logs due

Tuesday, May 8: April Reading Calendars are due / Home Link due / McFarlands have P.E. (sneakers, please) / ABL (sneakers helpful)

Wednesday, May 9: early release day

Thursday, May 10: math journal pages due

Friday, May 11: Home Link due / SpellingCity activities due + in-class test

Special Announcements:

Please save the date of Tuesday, May 22nd (6:00-6:30) when the entire fourth grade class performs for their first and only time on stage together until their Greely High School Graduation ceremony in 2026!

Students have been learning a variety of friendship-themed songs in their music classes this spring and will be ready to perform for families soon!  

Hard copy of notice to come home Monday, May 7th.

Please have your child meet her/his classroom teacher in the cafeteria at 5:50 to warm up.  

Academic Updates

Writing Workshop

This week, we read and “wrote all over” (annotated) several poems by Donald Graves.  Ask your child about “Lost in a Book,” “Summer Squash,” and “Chicken Pox”! Then, students wrote their own version of Judith Viorst’s poem, “If I Were in Charge of the World.”  With this work, we are focusing on:

• original ideas
• word choice
• sensory details
• figurative language (so far: simile, metaphor, alliteration, and repetition)

I have tons of fun poetry projects that will lift the level of students’ writing.  The kids and I are really excited about this unit!

Reading Workshop

We can’t quite let go yet of historical fiction!  We are doing a second round of book clubs right now, using short texts about the Holocaust.  There are a number of high quality books for students at this age that share stories of the Holocaust.  Ask your child about what s/he is reading.

Math

This week students learned how to multiply a fraction by a whole number. Working with number stories involving recipes they calculated the ingredients needed when doubling or tripling a recipe. They also spent time learning about U.S. customary units of liquid measurement: gallon, quart, pint and cup. Each student now has a graphic reminder to use in class.

Theme

This week students truly enjoyed making a model of the early Jamestown settlement. In groups they built houses and made a palisade from cardboard and paper. Students got to use the new tools we recently received from a Donors Choose grant. The model came out wonderful and it is now on display in our school library. Check out our pictures.