Dear Parents and Guardians,

I can’t believe that we are now a little bit over the halfway point of fourth grade! I am pleased, as I hope you are, with the growth that has taken place with your child. Children are reading award winning literature and developing the skills to think critically. Strategies to solve math problems are being employed, and students are beginning explore more complex concepts in math.

MCAS Test Dates

For planning purposes, here are the MCAS test dates for 4^th grade. We ask that you not plan family vacations during this time period.  Thank you in advance!

Thursday, March 31^st & Friday, April 1st:  Reading Comprehension

Tuesday, May 10^th & Wednesday, May 11^th:  Math

Classroom/Muraco Announcements

Some children who are writing and proofreading multiple paragraph stories with ease will be meeting in groups to discuss more sophisticated methods of improving their compositions, while other students will concentrate on expanding ideas and checking over for sentences, spelling, and sense. In addition, all students have been working very hard in their book clubs to identify character traits, story purpose, and inferencing.

Conferences: It was wonderful to meet with all of you during our winter conferences. It was especially exciting for me to share all of the hard work that your children have completed!

BEA: The next BEA will be a flexible one that will encourage you and your child to read together. More details will follow next week.

Field Trip: We will be visiting The Harvard Museum of Natural History tomorrow! Please remember to send your child to school with a completely disposable paper bag lunch. No glass bottles, please! If you are chaperoning, don’t forget to pack your own lunch, too!

Tissues: It’s that time of year again... our tissue and hand wipe  supply is running dangerously low. If you can spare/send in a couple of boxes, it would be greatly appreciated! The snow and constant fluctuating temperatures have brought some runny noses!

Upcoming Curriculum Highlights

Science:                 Rocks and Minerals, Plants

Social Studies:     Southwest and West Regions of the United States

Math:                     Fractions, Division, Volume, Probability

Reading:                Inference, Cause and Effect, Character Analysis

Writing:                -5 paragraph stories using a writing process

                                -Descriptive language

                                -Appropriate mechanics 

Happy Spring, and enjoy the rest of your week!

Best, 

Jen and Denise