updated 1/2/08

Happy New Year! Next week starts the 4th grade ELA exams. We have been working very hard preparing for these tests. The children know what to expect and I know they will do their best. I hope you had the opportunity to review the practice exams that were sent home over break. All students have made tremendous improvements since we began writing essays. We are still working on including detail, answering all of the bullets (items asked for in the question), grammatical and mechanical aspects, as well as strong introductions and conclusions. As far as the multiple choice, we have discussed how to look for the answers in the selections and to star or underline important information. We have also discussed reading the questions prior to answering the story to preset the reader. If you have any last minute questions, please contact me. Additional information can be found at the New York State Elementary Education page as well.

We have just started a new chapter in math. This chapter includes time and graphing. Anytime you get the opportunity to have your child tell you the time and how many minutes to the next hour, it will greatly help them. Elapsed time is another major area we cover. When planning dinner, events, etc. you can have your child help you calculate how much time things may take. This will help reinforce what we are doing in class as well. Multiplication facts should continue to be practiced. The upcoming chapters include both long multiplication and long division. This will definitely help once we get to that.

Finally we are halfway through our tradebook, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. This is an incredible true story about a Japanese girl who, through her determination and spirit, encouraged many to seek peace. Please look for the end of the book report information to go home at the end of next week. Students should be up to Chapter 6 at this point.

Keep signing the agendas and checking that your child has completed everything listed. It helps keep them organized and prepared for the day ahead. Thanks for all of your help!