Factors, Fourteen States, and a Fourth Grade Nothing!

Welcome back from a relaxing break.  This week marks the middle of the 2nd semester and we are knee-deep in fourth-grade awesomeness.  Here is what's going on in Room 25 this week:

Math
The Chapter 4 Test was finished before break and I was proud of the progress the class made in Division.  This week we begin Chapter 5 - Factors, Multiples, and Patterns, which will be building upon everything we have learned with multiplication and division, and will set us up for upcoming units on fractions.  The lessons we will be covering this week are:

• Monday - Modeling Factors (click on image for a video) 

• Tuesday - Factors and Divisibility

• Wednesday - Common Factor Problem Solving
• Thursday - Factors and Multiples - A video that compares the two.
• Friday - Review and Quiz

Social Studies/Science

The week before break we completed a project regarding the importance of importing and export goods through international trade.  This week will conclude our Southeast Region Unit with the students creating a 5-slide research presentation created in Google Slides.  This will give the kids an opportunity to learn some more in-depth information about a specific state in the region and present that information on Thursday.  In addition, the region's States and Capitals test will be on Friday.  Al 14 states in the region will be tested, along with their corresponding capitals. A study sheet can be found here (along with Delaware and Maryland).

On Friday we will begin our Science Unit: The Rock Cycle.  The unit will begin with a really cool hands-on activity that models sedimentary rock (and it will be edible!)

Language Arts

Word Study

This week's word list will be abbreviated with a list of only 10 words.  The words all follow specialty spelling rules when followed by suffixes -ing or -ed.  There will be a test on Monday, December 5th. Here are the words for the week.

Reading

We will finish Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing this week; using the text to review how to identify character traits, themes, mood/tone, and point of view.  Friday will wrap-up our fiction unit with Part 2 of the fiction assessment.

FYI - I haven't loaded the Pandora's Box plays onto the blog yet, but when I do, I'll let you all know (this week!)!

Writing

Tuesday we begin our next persuasive essay.  We will begin focusing on the craft and style of our writing; making it sound more personal and less robotic.  Tune-in to Twitter to see the process!

Have a wonderful week!  As always, let me know if you have any questions or concerns.