Late Assignment Policy

Lately, students have been having trouble turning work in on time. In the first quarter, the only thing I gave a late grade for (took points off) was the reading log. This quarter, students will lose 1 point for every assignment that is turned in late. This includes late homework and classwork. In class, when I want students to turn something in, I always stop them from what they are working on, wait until the room is quiet, and then explain what should be turned in, usually holding up an example. We always turn work in to the same place, the homework box. Homework that I want to be turned in is circled on the homework board (as it has been since the beginning of the year), and I remind them to turn it in before we pray. This has been the policy since the beginning of the year, and students should be used to the routine by now.

We have a field trip coming up to see a play version of the book Holes on December 10th. This book was done as a read aloud in third grade, and I highly encourage students to read it again (or read it for the first time if they weren't here last year)! While we will not be reading this book in class, the play will still be a great opportunity to see how professional actors and actresses turn a book into a play, speak fluently and with emotion, and see a great story acted out. This does tie into our current reading project, where students are reenacting scenes from How to Eat Fried Worms. We've divided into four groups, each with a scene and script to share with the class.

In English, we're continuing to look at nouns. Since I would like to go over possessive nouns in more depth, I am pushing the test back to the week after Thanksgiving, probably the Wednesday. I will send a study guide home before Thanksgiving so students can review it over the break. Students have not received a study guide for the quiz in social studies since they will be allowed to use the books we've been creating and taking notes in. The quiz will ask students to apply their knowledge, using the map they create to describe landforms in different regions and looking at their cause and effect chart to predict the weather.

November News

We've started reading one of our funniest books, How to Eat Fried Worms. In this book, Billy makes a bet that he can eat 15 worms in 15 days for $50. While reading, we're paying close attention to the characters' traits and using specific examples from the book as evidence of these traits, and sequencing the events in the story. We also took a poll of things the students would be willing to eat for $50. Only 4 of them said they'd be willing to eat worms (though 9 said they'd eat a fried cockroach); maybe we'll see who's really willing to eat a worm at the end of the unit!

We've also been playing some fun games in science. Today, we played a game called Seed, Mouse, Fox, where students had to catch the animal or plant they needed for energy in order to survive. At the end of each round, students changed roles based on whether they were successful in finding their prey, which also demonstrated how populations of animals and plants can changed based on the resources and predators in the area.

We have several upcoming tests in the next week. Next Tuesday, we'll have a test on ecosystems and food chains. They have already received the study guide for this. The following Tuesday (right before Thanksgiving), they'll have a test on nouns: proper and common nouns, plural nouns, and possessive nouns. They'll also have a quiz in social studies, where they will be able to use the booklet were we've been writing notes down.

Church Bulletin Article

The fourth grade finished up October with lots of different cultural experiences. We went to the opera to see Mozart's Magic Flute, and celebrated both Halloween and the Day of the Dead. Our Day of the Dead experience included making ofrendas after interviewing people about a relative who has passed away, visiting the National Museum of Mexican Art, coloring in skeletons for the classroom, and making skull masks with our preschool buddies. Below is an article that talks more about these activities that will be published in the church bulletin this Sunday.

Opera and Ofrendas in Fourth Grade
The fourth grade has had the opportunity to learn about many different cultural experiences lately. Two favorites have been going to see Mozart’s Magic Flute and learning about the Day of the Dead.

The 3rd through 8th grade went to see Lyric Opera perform The Magic Flute in a version meant just for students at Lake View High School on November 29th. To prepare for this, the 4th grade read about the life of Mozart, discussed the plot of the opera, and brought in “birthday gifts” for their favorite characters. The opera was beautiful, with many arias, an evil queen, and even a dragon that was hiding in a bedroom closet! Marcos said, “It was funny and pretty cool. I liked when the dragon came out the second time and Tamino hit him with his wand.” The students also looked wonderful, dressing up for the event in dresses and suits.

Another big event in October is the celebration of the Day of the Dead. All of the grades participate, bringing in objects to remember loved ones, making pop-up books about the celebration, or creating skull masks. In 4th grade, our celebration centered around remembering someone from our family who has died. Each student chose a relative and interviewed two people about him or her. They then wrote a paragraph about the life of the loved one and brought in objects to create a shoebox ofrenda, or altar. We decorate dthe ofrendas with feathers, tissue paper flowers, glitter, and pictures that the students had drawn, and then we displayed them in our classroom for other classes and parents to see. The students had a great time learning about their family and decorating the altars. Paul said, “I liked the paintings in the museum, and I learned more about my great-grandma.”