Summer Reading and Review

Thank you to all parents for your support and open communication throughout the year!

I have one final reminder:
All Achieve 3000 accounts will remain open throughout the summer.
In addition to being great practice for keeping reading and English skills in good form during the summer, reading two articles per week can lead to an increased reading lexile.

For parents and students searching for additional (and maybe more entertaining) reading material during summer, below is a link to Education World's reading suggestions for Grade 4 students going on to Grade 5.

http://www.educationworld.com/summer_reading/4th_grade.shtml

Happy reading, and enjoy your summer!

P.S. Your Freckle accounts will also remain open if you would like to practise your maths during the summer. To access:

1. Go to student.freckle.com
2. Type in your name and code: 3CQKU5

(No) Homework, Tuesday. 18th June

No homework! (Except for regular reading, of course!)
Here are this morning's Vi Hart videos:

Homework, Monday, 17th June

Writing: Be ready to revise, proofread and publish our friendly letter tomorrow.
Spelling: Review List 27 - Test tomorrow  Click here for List and links
Maths: If you would like to watch today's video again...

Week 38

Dear Parents and Students,

Our penultimate week finds everyone excited in anticipation of Summer Break. We have all but finished our year’s work and we are now reflecting on all we have learned.

In the classroom:

We have completed our entire Maths curriculum, and we sat our final topic test on Tuesday. This was followed by our benchmark and cumulative tests, which took place on Wednesday and Thursday. We finished the week with activities that combine mathematics with art. We will continue with these fun and educational activities next week.

In our Literacy Workshop, we continued with our final grammar unit, Adverbs and Prepositions. We also read a biography of Gloria Estefan, who, after working hard throughout her youth, became a celebrated singer, and used her success to benefit others. On Friday, we had our final Level Set Tests for Achieve 3000. Please note that all current students’ accounts will remain accessible throughout the summer break. It is recommended to continue to read at least two articles per week to maintain and improve reading lexiles.  I hope everyone finds time to do two articles each week during summer!

In Science, we have continued our studies of ecosystems, and how living things interact with the environment. We will complete the unit next week, finishing with a final Mystery Science activity for the year.

All of our hard work over the past few weeks in Social Studies has finally paid off, and we all enjoyed some very high quality presentations on Tuesday and Thursday. Some photos are available via the link at the bottom of this post.

As this will be the final standard Grade 4 news blog for the year, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all parents for your support throughout the year. Support at home is an important part of a child’s education, and I greatly appreciate the efforts you have made to help, assist and encourage your children, and also for the open communication we have maintained throughout the year. I would also like to thank all students for the efforts you have made throughout the year. There have been fun times and challenging times, but we have all made progress, and are ready for Grade 5.

Congratulations!

We still have one week to go, including our in-class break-up party on Thursday. We will be watching Disney’s production of Alice in Wonderland. If you would like to bring snacks to watch during the movie, you may, but it is not obligatory.  Our final school assembly will be held at 2pm Thursday afternoon. Parents are welcome, as always.

Enjoy your weekend, and I will see you all on Monday!

Important Dates:

Thu, Jun 20:                G4 break-up party

                                    Final assembly – parents welcome

Fri, Jun 21:                  Half day; last day of school!

Click here for pictures of our Social Studies Regions presentations!

...and click here for birthday photos - Happy birthday Nao and Becky!

Group devised Apollonian Gasket:

 (with a few extra fractals for good measure!)

Student of the Week, Week 38

Congratulations to Gary!

 As summer vacation gets closer, we are all becoming quite distracted and excitable. Gary has managed to stay focused and is still doing his best to improve. Outstanding, Gary!

Homework, Wednesday, 12th June

Reading: Achieve 3000 - complete the thought question for the article Slimy, but Smart.   Achieve 3000: Slimy, but Smart

Science: Check your email for links to today's video clips.

Homework, Tuesday, 11th June

Reading: Achieve 3000 - complete the article Slimy, but Smart.   Achieve 3000: Slimy, but Smart
Spelling: Review List 27   Click here for Spelling City

List 27 –Unusual Spellings

Core Words

health	flood	guide	guard
blood	month	style	wonder
type	magazine	wealth	guest
against	guess	guilt	gasoline
receive	women	says	neither

Challenge Words

vaccine

quarantine

guarantee

threaten

rhyme

Did you enjoy our lesson about fractals?  Here is the video for if you would like to watch it again.

Homework, Monday, 10th June

Maths: Review Topic 20 - Test tomorrow - Test practice pp. 478-479 Extra Practice pp. 480-481  Answers below
Social Studies: Presentations tomorrow!
Spelling: List 25  test tomorrow. Click here for list and links.  

Practice Test 20 Answers

1. D     2. A     3. C      4. C      5. B      6. B      7. D     8. A     9. C      10. C

Topic 20 Extra Practice Answer Key

Set A 1. 6 combinations 2. 15 combinations

Set B 1. 2 outcomes 2. 3 outcomes 3. 6 outcomes 4. 12 outcomes 5. 8 outcomes 6. 4 outcomes 7. See me tomorrow

Set C 1. ¼ 2. 5/12 3. 1/12 4. 1/6 5. impossible

Set D 1. Larry 8th; Vivian 6th; Evelyn 5th; Terri 10th

Week 37

Dear Parents and Students,

Our final 'short week' for the year comes to a close, and we are all once again fortunate enough to enjoy a three-day weekend. The short weeks always seem to be the busiest in Grade 4, and this week has been no exception.

In the classroom:

We have completed or final Maths topic, which had us drawing tree diagrams and expressing probability as fractions. We will review Topic 20 on Monday, and our test will take place on Tuesday.  Our topic test will be followed later in the week by benchmark and cumulative tests, and then we will finish the week by combining maths with art, and learning about how the two come together in nature.

In our Literacy Workshop, we published our Persuasive Essays, and presented them before the class. We have also begun our final grammar unit, Adverbs and Prepositions.We will continue with this unit next week, and we will also begin reading another story from our Reading books.

In Science, we have seen how different species adapt to their respective environments, and we also observed a fascinating example of symbiosis. We completed our studies of adaptions this week, and we have turned our attention to ecosystems as a whole. We will continue our investigations throughout next week.

In Social Studies, we have continued to prepare our Regions Projects, both in the classroom and through online collaborations. Presentations will take place next Tuesday.

I hope everyone enjoys the long weekend, and I look forward to seeing you all back on Monday. Happy Dragon Bot Festival!

Important Dates:

Fri, Jun 7:                    Dragon Boat Festival – No School!

Thu, Jun 20:                Final assembly

Fri, Jun 21:                  Half day; last day of school!

Student of the Week, Week 37

Congratulations to Liam!

 Liam has been highly productive all week, and despite so many projects and the distraction of the end of the year upon us, he has managed to stay focussed throughout. All of this while keeping  a great sense of humour and having fun with his friends. Outstanding, Liam!

Homework, Wednesday, 5th June

Maths: Practice 20-2 Outcomes and Tree Diagrams; Enrichment 20-2 Triangle Shapes

Complete any unfinished work.

Homework, Tuesday, 4th June

Maths: Practice 20-1 Finding Combinations; Enrichment 20-1 Is It Possible? 
English: Finish publishing your Persuasive Essay - due Thursday
Spelling: Review List 25   Click here for Spelling City activities

List 25 – VCV pattern

Core Words

pilot	depend	visit	human
seven	chosen	paper	reason
become	parent	never	modern
tiny	tuna	event	fever
moment	prison	basic	open

Challenge Words

alert

license  [licence*]

select

radar

feature
*outside the USA, license is a verb, and licence is a noun