Dear Parents,

Congratulations to all of your students! I was pleased and proud to see how well they conducted themselves on stage and to hear the enthusiasm with which they sang. Learning how to behave in public and perform properly is one of the many benefits of Great Hearts’ classical education, and your students are learning this lesson well. I especially appreciated the enthusiasm with which your scholars sang “The Chipmunk Song.”

Thank you to all of you parents for the time and dedication you put into this concert. We know that you put a lot of energy into preparing you students for the concert, finding appropriate attire, and bringing you families to see your students perform. We are sorry for the haphazard communication that made this concert more difficult. As this was our school’s first concert week, we also had much work to do to organize the concerts, and there were many bumps along the road. In the future we will be prepared to communicate more efficiently with you regarding concerts.

This week before break is exciting and busy. On Monday we have our Shakespeare festival. Students will spend much of their time during school that day preparing for the festival. On Thursday we have our Bard Competition. Students who have entered a poem in the competition would do well to practice this weekend.

In addition to exciting events, we also have tests. They will have five tests in three days. On Wednesday they will have a science test and a sentence diagramming test. On Thursday they have a Latin quiz. On Friday, they have a math test and a history test. These are not final tests in the sense of cumulative tests. They are only tests on information covered between now and the previous test in that subject. In science, for instance, they will not need to study electricity and magnetism; they only need to know the circulatory and respiratory systems.

The intention of this week of tests is to prepare the students for middle school finals by giving them a chance to practice studying for and taking a large number of tests in a short period of time. Wednesday-Friday are half-days to give your students more time to study. Please encourage them to use this time wisely.

As usual, I have created study guides for the math and science tests.  I have posted them on this blog post below my signature. With the science study guide I have also posted helpful videos on the circulatory and respiratory systems. Please note that the Mayo Clinic video on the circulatory system is long, and students do not need to know all the information it contains. The important information is between 0:00 and 1:40 minutes.

Students do also have math and science quizzes on Monday. This will help me further asses any particular needs of students so that we can review those topics.

These are all the notes I have for you this week. As always , please email me at rwycklendt@archwaytriviumeast.org with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Sincerely,

Miss Wycklendt

Math Study Guide

1.       Division: Students should be familiar with division as the inverse of multiplication. 12 x 3 = 36, 36 divided by 3 equals 12, and 36 divided by 12 equals 3.

2.       Students should know and be able to articulate the difference between dividing into x groups and dividing into groups of x. For example, 24 divided by 3 can mean 24 divided into 3 groups with 8 things in each groups OR 24 divided into groups of 3 with 8 groups of three.

3.       Students should be able to draw the difference in #2 when requested to do so. For example, they should be able to draw 24 divided into 3 groups by drawing 3 circles with 8 dots in each circle. Then they should be able to show 24 divided into groups of 3 by drawing 8 circles with three dots in each circle. (Tally marks or other appropriate marks may also be used.)

4.       Students should be able to perform division with a remainder. For example, 20 divided by 3: Is there anything times 3 that equals 20? No! What is the math fact for 3 that is closest to 20 but not greater than 20? 3 x 5 = 15; 3 x 6 = 18; 3 x 7 = 21. 3 x 7 is greater than 20, so 3 x 6 must be the math fact we want. Now subtract to find the remainder. 20 – 18 = 2. Therefore, 20 divided by 3 is 6 remainder 2. (Students do not need to put all this work on paper, this is just one example of a conversation to have in case a student is unsure how to answer.)

5.       Students should be able to read and evaluate exponents. For example 5³:  You read 5³ as “five to the third power” or “five cubed.” 3 is the exponent. It tells you how many times to multiply 5. You multiply 5 three times. 5 is the base; it is the number being multiplied. 5³ = 5 x 5 x5 = 125

Science Video Links

1.       Respiratory System (Whole Video) http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/videos/humanbody/respiratorysystem.html

2.       Circulatory System (Watch from 0:00 -1:40 minutes) https://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play;_ylt=A86.J3bmIWVW8TwA4o8nnIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTByNWU4cGh1BGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--?p=circulatory+system+video&back=https%3A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fyhs%2Fsearch%3Fp%3Dcirculatory%2Bsystem%2Bvideo%26hsimp%3Dyhs-002%26hspart%3Dmozilla%26ei%3DUTF-8&fr=%26fr%3Dyhs-mozilla-002&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DWN.93JfPRlGh%252fY9Qjj3crbxRw%26pid%3D15.1&rurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DoE8tGkP5_tc&tit=Circulatory+system&l=178&vid=4fd46bf5123b398c9b552fc18775e37c&sigr=11bett1a5&sigb=134k4lcok&sigt=10imes7aa&sigi=1219g7pgm&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-002

Science Study Guide

1.       Cells: Every part of your body is made of smaller parts called cells. Your skin is made of skin cells, your muscles are made of muscles cells, your bones are made of bone cells, etc.

2.       Your body’s cells need oxygen. They use it for fuel similar to the way your car uses gas for fuel. After your cells use oxygen, they release carbon dioxide waste. This is similar to the way your car releases smoke out the back after it burns gas.

3.       Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide:  You breathe in air. Air is not just oxygen; it has other things in it as well, like carbon dioxide. However, you breathe in air in order to get the oxygen in the air so your cells can use the oxygen. You breathe out in order to get rid of the carbon dioxide waste from your cells.

4.       4 parts of blood: Red Blood Cells, white blood cells, plasma, platelets

5.       Red blood cells carry oxygen from the lungs to the all the body’s cells and carry away carbon dioxide from the cells back to the lungs.

6.        Red blood cells turn red when they are carrying oxygen and blue when they give away their oxygen. There are no such things as “blue blood cells.” They are not called blue blood cells; they are red blood cells that have given away their oxygen and so turned blue.

7.       White blood cells protect your body from invaders. They devour bacteria, viruses, and other foreign invaders

8.       Platelets protect you from losing too much blood when you get cut by sticking together to form blood clots. When the clots dry, they become scabs.

9.       Plasma is a yellow liquid in which the other three kinds of blood cells float. Plasma carries blood cells, nutrients and hormones.

10.   Path of blood through the heart: Blue red blood cells that have given away all their oxygen and are carrying a load of carbon dioxide enter the right side of the heart. They go into the right atrium. When the right atrium is full of blood, it squeezes the blood into the right ventricle. From the right ventricle, the blood red blood cells leave the heart and go to the lungs. In the lungs, the blue red blood cells drop off the carbon dioxide from the body. They pick up oxygen from the lungs to bring to the rest of the body. As they pick up oxygen, they turn red again. The red blood cells carrying oxygen return to the heart. They enter the left side of the heart through the left atrium. From the left atrium they go into the left ventricle and out to the body. The red blood cells bring oxygen to each cell of the body and pick up carbon dioxide from each cell of the body. As they give away their oxygen, they turn blue. When they have given away all their oxygen they turn fully blue and return to the right side of the heart to start the process all over.  (See the video on the circulatory system through 1:40 minutes for a visual explanation of these concepts.)

11.   Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide:  You breathe in air. Air is not just oxygen; it has other things in it as well, like carbon dioxide. However, you breathe in air in order to get the oxygen in the air so your cells can use the oxygen. You breathe out in order to get rid of the carbon dioxide waste from your cells.

12.   Diaphragm: A large muscle beneath your lungs.

13.   Motion of breath: When you breathe in your ribcage pushes out and your diaphragm moves down. This creates extra space in your lungs. Air rushes in to fill the extra space. When you breathe out, your rib cage pushes in and your diaphragm moves up, forcing the air out of your lungs. (See the video on the respiratory system for a visual.)

14.   Path of air: Air goes through your nose and mouth, down the windpipe in your neck. When your windpipe meets your lungs it branches off into two large tubes, one in each lung. The large tubes are called bronchi. The bronchioles branch off into smaller tubes called bronchioles. At the smallest ends of the bronchioles are small round structures called alveoli. Oxygen passes through the alveoli into the red blood cells. Carbon dioxide passes from the red blood cells, through the alveoli and into the lungs.

Concert Week!

Dear Parents,

Welcome to week 17! We are only two weeks away from Christmas break and we have a lot of exciting events coming up.

This week we have our second round of the school spelling bee. It will take place at some time on Wednesday during the school day. Winners from each classroom will compete against each other, and the winner of this competition will represent Trivium East in a further competition against the winners of all other Great Hearts grade schools.

As I’m sure you are all aware, the winter concerts are also this week. The 4^th grade concert is at Palm Valley Church from 5:30-6:30 on December 10. While the concert does not start until 5:30 students are required to be there by 4:30. This will allow adequate time to make sure everyone is in their places and to run through some last minute rehearsals.

Requirements for dress code have already been sent by email. Also, please be aware that performing in the concert is required. It makes up part of the quarter’s music grade. If you have any questions regarding the concert, you can email me or Dr. Janet Norman, our music teacher. Her email is jnorman@archwaytriviumeast.org.

In math class this week we will continue to work on long division and we will also work on order of operations. In science, we will complete our study of the circulatory system and begin a brief look at the respiratory system. We have already covered many important points of the respiratory system in our study of the circulatory system because the intimate connections between the two systems make it difficult to talk about one without the other.

Next week, we have science our science and math tests coming up. The science test will be on Wednesday, and the math test will be on Thursday. If your student is not going to be present for one or both of those dates, please let me know so they can make up the tests beforehand. Students who are absent without excuse and do not make prior arrangements to make up the tests before Christmas will not be permitted to make them up, resulting in a zero grade.

As we approach the end of the semester, students often become anxious for break and lose some of their focus. Please encourage them to put their full effort into classes and homework all the way until break. We will have high quality material to present to them through the end of the last day, and we would not want them to miss out.

These are all the notes I have for you for the week. Please let me know if you have any questions, comments or concerns. You can email me at rwycklendt@archwaytriviumeast.org.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Wycklendt

Week 16

Dear Parents,

I hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving with your families. As I thought about the many things I am grateful for this year, being a teacher was at the top of my list. Every weekday, I get to guide my students on our mutual quest for knowledge. I watch them struggle to solve a new math problem. I watch their eyes light up as they make connections between ideas in science. They greet me with smiling faces each morning and leave tired but contented each afternoon. Thank you for allowing me the privilege of educating your children.

In the classroom this week our schedule should be fairly normal. The only difference is that on Wednesday we begin our first round of the Great Hearts spelling bee. 2nd-5th grade classrooms will each host a spelling bee. The first place winner from each classroom will compete with the other winners next Wednesday, December 9. The school's winner will then go on to compete against all the spelling bee winners of other Great Hearts schools.

All students will be required to participate in their classroom spelling bees. However, they are not required to study beforehand. Students who do hope to win are encouraged to study beforehand. Word lists to study were provided before break; they are in the students' homework folders.

Having completed our mid-quarter math and science tests, we will not have tests in my classes for the next few weeks. The next math and science tests will be in the final week of the quarter before break. In the meantime, please encourage your students to persevere in their studies as we approach our Christmas break.

In science class, we will continue our study of the circulatory system by studying the heart. In math, we will continue to work on division, especially long division and division-based word problems. Homework in both classes will resume its usual schedule.

These are all the notes I have for you this week. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, you can post a comment to my blog. You can also email me at rwycklendt@archwaytriviumeast.org. Have a great week!

Sincerely,

Rebecca Wycklendt

Thanksgiving Week!

Dear Parents,

I hope you are all getting excited for Thanksgiving! Before school lets out for our four-day break, here are some things to know:

This week in math we will be having a math test on Wednesday. The study guide was posted over the weekend. We are also beginning our study of long division this week. Having watched your students learn to accurately perform column multiplication, I am very excited to teach them long division. However, few good things come without effort and struggle. Please be aware that your students may need extra support in their math homework as they learn long division.

In science class, we have completed our overview of electricity and magnetism. We will now begin our study of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. This will take us to the end of the quarter. If your student found the first half of science this quarter challenging, please encourage them to renew their efforts. This is a chance a new chance for them to succeed at science.

Don’t forget, Wednesday is a half day in honor of Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving break is also an r-and-r break for students, meaning that we will not assign homework over break. Please use this as an opportunity to refresh yourselves and enjoy time with your families.

These are all the notes I have for you this week. If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please email me at rwycklendt@archwaytriviumeast.org. Have a Happy Thanksgiving and a great break!

Sincerely,

Rebecca Wycklendt

Math Study Guide!

Dear Parents,

A few of you have emailed me inquiring about the study guide for the math test. It is posted below. I will have other notes for you for the week, but I am posting the study guide right away so that you all have access to it. Enjoy!

Sincerely,


Rebecca Wycklendt

Study Guide on Area , Perimeter and Column Multiplication

1.       Column multiplication using two-digit numbers: Students should be able to accurately find answers to questions such as 1,234 x 13 and 548 x 49. Students should be able to perform such problems whether or not carrying is involved.

2.       Perimeter and Area: Students should be able to distinguish between perimeter and area. Perimeter is the border around a shape while area is the space inside the shape. (A good way to make this concrete is to say perimeter is like the fence around a playground while area is the space inside the fence where you get to play.

3.       Find Perimeter of Squares and Rectangles: To find perimeter of a shape means to find the length of the border around the shape. To find perimeter, add all the sides together. Students should be able to find perimeter of rectangles and squares without having the shape drawn for them. They should know that all sides of a square are equal and that opposite sides of rectangles are equal to each other. When given numbers for length and width of a rectangle or a number for the side of a square, they should be able to draw the correct shape, label its sides with the correct lengths, find the perimeter and answer in correct units. (For instance, find the perimeter of a square with a side of 5in. Students should be able to draw a square, label its sides 5in, find the perimeter of the square, and answer 20in.)

4.       Find the Area of Squares and Rectangles: To find the area of the shape means to find how much space is inside it. We measure area in square units (30in², for instance). To find area of rectangles, multiply length x width. Squares are just rectangles that happen to have all sides equal, so you still multiply length x width to find the area of a square, but length and width happen to be equal so you end up multiplying the side by itself. When given numbers for the length and width of a rectangle, students should be able draw and label the shape, multiply the length by the width, and give the area in square units. (For instance, find the area of a rectangle with a length of 45ft and a width of 5ft. Students should draw a rectangle, label length 45ft, label width 5ft, multiply 45ft x 5ft and answer 225ft².) Students should be able to do the same process to find area when given the side length of a square.

5.       Distinguishing between area and perimeter: Sometimes students know the processes to find area and perimeter but do not read the problem carefully and end up applying the wrong process. Other times, students read a problem that says to find area or perimeter and forget which process they should apply. For such students, drawing the shape is especially important. It is also helps students if they can remember, “Perimeter is the one where I add; area is the one where I multiply.”

Week 14

Dear Parents,

I hope you all had a refreshing Veteran’s Day with an opportunity to thank some veterans for their service. I know the students and faculty alike enjoyed the break.

Thank you to all of you who put in extra effort to help your students dress up for literary and historic figure day. Everyone enjoyed seeing the different characters portrayed. The entire school had an assembly, and the fourth grade students stood out with the care and creativity of their costumes. We all had a lot of fun due to your efforts.

This week the special event is the book fair! Students have an opportunity to go to a book fair in the school library on Monday and purchase high-quality, engaging literature that will continue to expand their minds and open their hearts.  Students who participated in the Read-A-Thon will have the ability to use their vouchers at this time. Also on Wednesday, students who did not get a chance to purchase what they wanted on Monday will have another opportunity to do so.

As many of you already know, there is a science test on Monday. I have written and attached a study guide. The study guide may look long, but the concepts are simple, and they are ones that we have studied thoroughly in the last few weeks. We will also be continuously reviewing in science class this week.

In math this week, we continue our study of division. We will be examining multiple ways of understanding what it means to divide, using manipulatives to illustrate the concepts. We will be working on the formal names for parts of the division problem and also learn shortcuts to divide round numbers.

In both math and science classes, I am constantly looking for ways to better support my students. One thing that has troubled me is that I cannot always personally help students correct the mistakes they make on assignments. In order to learn, we must learn what our mistakes are and how to correct them. In order to motivate to students to correct their mistakes and learn from them, I am establishing a new procedure for my classes: When a student receives less than a 50% on an assignment, I will enter the grade in my gradebook. However, I will also return the assignment to the student with the words “Try again!” at the top and a checkmark next to items that need to be corrected. Students who return the corrected material will receive full credit for their corrected answers. The only assignments that will not be open for correction will be tests and assignments with true/false type questions where the correct answer is obvious. If a student should happen to receive a lower grade by attempting to correct the assignment, their original grade will stand. Also, the grades on work returned in Friday folders will be final. If an assignment appears in a Friday folder with less than 50%, it will normally be one that the student was given an opportunity to correct.

These are all the notes I have for you for the week! Please contact me with any questions, comments or concerns at rwycklendt@archwaytriviumeast.org.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Wycklendt

Week 13

Dear Parents,

Welcome to week thirteen! Here are some notes for the week that may be important to you:

Wednesday, November 11, is Veteran's Day. The day is off for students and teachers alike. Enjoy the time with your children!

In math class, we will continue our study of area and perimeter of rectangles. Last week we got a firm grasp on the concept of perimeter. We examined area briefly, and so we will continue to study area more thoroughly while also reviewing perimeter.

After that, we begin our study of division! I am extremely excited to work on division with your students because, for many of them, this is the first time they will seriously study division. We will begin with the basic concept of division, using simple problems based on the multiplication tables. We will also learn the formal names for parts of a division problem (dividend, divisor, quotient).

 Although we are moving into division, I will continue to assign multiplication flashcards as homework. Students who know their multiplication tables are much more successful studying division because they can simply work the multiplication facts backwards to find the answers to division problems.

In science class, our study of electricity culminates in look at the fascinating topic of electromagnetism. We intend to teach your students everything that is known about this mysterious topic that would not requires us to introduce Einstein's theory of relativity. We will also use experiments with wires, batteries, and magnets to illustrate the lessons on electricity and electromagnetism.

Regarding testing, I am sorry to put off the first science test, but we will be putting off the test until next week. This is largely due to the mid-week holiday. Mr. Conklin and I prefer to spend the Wednesday and Thursday before a test helping students review material in order to set them up for success. That would obviously not be possible this week. Additionally, an uninterrupted week of study will help keep the material fresh in the students' minds and give the students more time to work on homework assignments designed to help them review. For these reasons, the test is postponed until next week Friday. However, this date is not flexible and will no longer be changed because the week after will be our first math test.

Those are the important things to know this week. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please email me at rwycklendt@archwaytriviumeast.org.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Wycklendt

Week 12 Already!

Dear Parents,

Exciting topics have been introduced in our classroom last week, and there are more on the way! Last week, your students were introduced to multi-digit column multiplication. They have been using their hard-won multiplication facts to solve problems such as 1,234 x 37. Their energy and enthusiasm have continued to impress me as they each volunteer to work problems on the board in front of the class, to answer questions about the problems, and to help each other if they get stuck.

This week in math class we will be working largely on the concepts of perimeter and area. This will give students an opportunity to take a break from abstract problems by working with shapes they can see. It will also strengthen their understanding of multiplication by allowing them to see it in the area of rectangles and squares.

Some of you may have noticed that this is the third week of the quarter, and you may remember that there was to be a math test in the third week of the quarter. However, on Tuesday this week the students will be standardized a math assessment to help teachers get a better understanding of students’ strengths and weaknesses. This will allow us to plan math lessons accordingly and increase the value of each lesson for the students. Because this assessment is taking place, it seems to me that the students do not need to take another math test in the same week. Therefore, I am cancelling the third week test. We will still have sixth and ninth week tests as planned.

In science class, we are working on electricity. The students have been rapidly grasping the concepts of electric charge, current, voltage, and circuits. We will continue our exploration by introducing parallel circuits. We will also continue to examine the relationship between current and voltage and occurrences such as fires, lightning, and electric shocks.

Those are the main points being highlighted this week. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at rwycklendt@archwaytriviumeast.org.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Wycklendt

Week 11 Notes

Dear Parents,

Thank you to all of you who signed up for conferences last week. It was such a joy to finally put faces to your names and communicate directly with you about your students’ growth. Your commitment to your children’s education is an essential component of their academic success, and it was wonderful to see that commitment expressed by you at our meetings.

In the classroom this week, we return to our normal schedule of four full days and one early release Wednesday. As some of you are probably aware, we did not have science classes last week due to the half-day schedule. This week, we will resume our daily science classes. We will continue our study of electricity with a specific focus on the relationship between electricity and magnetism.

In math class we continue our study of multiplication. During our math class instruction time, we will be working on factoring, multiplying with round numbers and performing column multiplication.

Please continue to have your students review their multiplication flashcards three times each night. Also, please make sure you are signing their multiplication logs. If they have lost their log, you can always send me an email or sign a note. As I mentioned in many conferences, knowledge of multiplication facts is essential to students’ success in multiplication and division. For this reason, if students cannot verify that they practiced their multiplication facts, I will be having them complete a multiplication fact worksheet before they go out for recess. This is not meant to be a punishment but rather a way of ensuring that they are equipped to succeed in my class.

We will also continue our routine of having students work on their computer math accounts for twenty minutes each night. Twenty minutes online and reviewing flashcards three times are going to be their assignments every night for the at least the next several weeks, so even if your students are absent, you can still have them log in and review flashcards.

These are the important notes for my classes this week. If you have any further questions, concerns, or comments, please do not hesitate to email me at rwycklendt@archwaytriviumeast.org. I wish you all a joyful week!

Sincerely,

Rebecca Wycklendt

Welcome Back!

Dear Parents,

Welcome back! I hope you had fun with your students over break. As I wrote evaluations for your students this past week, I had a chance to reflect on how blessed I have been to get to know each one of them during the past quarter. Their energy and enthusiasm are contagious, and their insights are often deep. I am looking forward to spending the rest of the school year helping them discover math and science.

As we begin the second quarter, I thought you would appreciate an overview of what I am planning. First off, quizzes and tests!  There will be three math tests and two science tests.  The math tests will be in the third, sixth and ninth weeks, while the science test will be in the fourth and eighth weeks. They will also be having one or two short quizzes a week. These are designed to assess how well they understand concepts being covered and to make sure they are continuously reviewing what they have already learned.

Regarding science class, we will continue our study of electricity and then begin our study of the circulatory and respiratory systems. Each week, students will normally have two science homework assignments, one on Tuesday and one on Thursday. They should be bringing their science notebooks home, so please have them use their notebooks to help them with their homework.

In math class, we will continue our study of column multiplication and then move on to the related topic of area and perimeter of geometric shapes. This should help them visualize the multiplication they are learning. At the beginning of November, we will start on division! We will spend the rest of the quarter on division, including division with a remainder and long division.

As for homework, we will continue to have math homework each night. I will be assigning students to work on their online math accounts for twenty minutes a night. If internet access poses any difficulties, please contact me so I can help make other arrangements for them to complete their homework.

Additionally, I will be assigning students to review their multiplication facts each night. This is extremely important because students need to know multiplication facts to understand division. In order to ensure your students’ success with our continuing study of multiplication and our upcoming study of division, please commit to reviewing the flashcards at home with them. Also, please sign their logs so I know they are getting the practice they need.

By now, the students are familiar with multiplying by 0,1,2,and 5. We have also been reviewing multiplication by 3 in class. Because the multiplication tables overlap, learning them gets easier as students study. For this reason, we will be studying three multiplication tables this week, 3, 4, and 7. Next week it will be 8, 9, and 12. After this initial exposure, we will be consistently reviewing our multiplication tables in class, and I will continue to assign some practice as homework.

Hopefully, this plan will help you understand where we are headed this quarter. Of course, if you have any questions at all, please contact me. My email is rwycklendt@archwaytriviumeast.org. I hope everyone has a great quarter!

Sincerely,

Rebecca Wycklendt

Week 9 Study Guides!

Dear Parents,

As we approach the end of the quarter, I am continually impressed by the growth I see in each of my students. Their joyful diligence has helped them learn so much, and I hope you are all very proud of them. To help you value their efforts even more, I thought you would appreciate the following summary of topics we have covered this semester. (These are not study guides for tests; those are below.)

 Math Summary:

1.       Distinctions between digits, place, and value

2.       Review of addition and subtraction with regrouping

3.       Learned formal names for parts of addition and subtraction problems (summand, sum, minuend subtrahend, difference)

4.       Properties of addition and subtraction

5.       Evaluating expressions with parenthesis (order of operations)

6.       Evaluating expressions with letters

7.       Solving for unknown minuends, subtrahends, summands

8.       Review of multiplication

9.       Properties of multiplication

             Column multiplication by a one-digit number with regrouping

Science Summary:

We started by leaning the scientific method and applying it to a chemistry experiment. We moved into physics, learning the distinctions between force, energy, and work. We studied gravity and friction as specific concepts under the category of force, and we studied potential and kinetic energy as specific concepts under the category of energy. We deepened our understanding of matter by studying inertia and the distinction between weight and mass. Last but not least, we began studying atoms in light of the relationship between atoms and electricity.

As I mentioned last week, we do have two tests coming up this week, one in science and one in math. The exams will be Wednesday and Thursday respectively. Although these are the last exams of the semester, they are not “final exams” in the sense of cumulative exams. Cumulative tests often force students to cram, which is not an effective way to study. Therefore, the exams will only cover a few topics we have been working on recently. The math exam will be on evaluating expressions and finding unknown minuends, subtrahends, and summands. The science exam will be on inertia and the distinction between mass and weight.

As promised I have written study guides! They are included at the end of this blog post after the sign-off.I have made every effort to write thorough study guides. While they make look long; don’t worry. We have been going over these topics for weeks and also reviewing for the tests in class. The students are very familiar with them.

I have also created a set of practice math problems with an answer key that you can use to review the material with you students. If you wish to work on the practice math problems with your students, please email me, and I will send you the problems and the answer key.

If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please contact me at rwycklendt@archwaytriviumeast.org. I wish you all a joyful ninth week followed by relaxing fall break with your students.

Sincerely,

Miss Wycklendt

Math Study Guide

1.      Parts of an addition problem: Summands are the numbers being added. The answer to the addition problem is called a sum. In the problem 8+2=10 8 and 2 are the summands and 10 is the sum.

2.      Parts of a subtraction problem: The number being subtracted from is called the minuend. The number being taken away/ subtracted is called the subtrahend. The answer to the subtraction problem is called the difference. In the problem 12-7=5 12 is the minuend, 7 is the subtrahend and 5 is the difference.

3.      Evaluating Expressions with Letters: If a problem includes a letter with a given value, replace the letter with the given value and solve the problem. For example, what does A-8 equal when A=100? What does 1,000+C equal when C=237? What does G X D equal when G=5 and D=11

4.      “Evaluate,” “Calclulate,” and “Find the value” mean find the answer to the math problem.

5.      Finding unknown minuends, subtrahends and summands: Remeber and apply the rules for finding unknown minuends, subtrahends, and summands.

6.      To find an unknown minuend, add the subtrahend and the difference. H-12= 37. 12+37=49. H=49.

7.      To find an unknown subtrahend, subtract the difference from the minuend. For example, 100-N=45. 100-45=55. N=55.

8.      To find an unknown summand, subtract the known summand from the sum. For example, 575 + F = 600. 600-575=25. N=25.

Science Study Guide 

In science, the standard for answers is that students should know the definition, understand the definition, be able to give examples of the definition, and be able to explain why the examples are examples of the definition. For example, force is anything that changes the position, speed or shape of an object. If I push a desk across the room, I have applied a force to the desk because I have changed the desk’s speed and position.

The specific topics for this test are as follows:

1.      Memorize the definition of inertia: Inertia means that a motionless object will remain in motion unless something moves it. Inertia also means that a moving object will not stop unless something stops it.

2.      Understand that moving objects do not run out of energy. Moving objects only stop because they are stopped by outside forces such as gravity, friction or other objects. This is true on earth and in space. The only reason moving objects ever stops is because something stops them.

3.      Give an example of inertia and explain why it is an example of inertia. For example: A hockey puck is sitting on ice, but it is not moving. A hockey player hits it with a stick, and it slides across the ice. The friction between the ice and the puck slows down the puck and eventually stops it. This is an example of inertia because the hockey puck would never have started moving if the player had not hit it. Also, it would not have stopped moving if the friction had not stopped it. (Without friction the puck may have continued until it hit a wall or another object, but it would not stop without something to stop it.

4.      Know the definitions of mass and weight. (I am not requiring students to memorize these definitions, but that may be the easiest way for some students.) Mass is how much matter or “stuff” an object has in it. (For instance, your mass is how much matter or “stuff” you have in your body.) Weight is how hard gravity pulls on an object’s mass/stuff.

5.      Be able to identify instances in which weight changes and mass does not. For example, Mars has less gravity than earth. A rock that weighs 100lbs on earth weighs only 19lbs on Mercury because gravity. Has the mass of the rock changed? No. The rock has the same amount of matter or “stuff.” (It is the same size, shape, density, etc. Size, shape, and density are separate but related concepts. They are not mass, but they do help students visualize the fact that the rock has not changed.)

6.      Be able to identify instances of changing mass. For example, if I eat twenty-five cookies a day for a month, will I gain mass? Yes. The cookies will make me fat, so I have more matter/ stuff in my body. (I will also gain weight because earth’s gravity will pull harder on my increased mass.

7.      Understand weight as an effect of mass. Objects that have more mass on earth also weigh more on earth. This is because gravity has more matter to pull on, so it pulls harder on objects with more mass.

 Happy studying and good luck! Let me know if I can help at all. ~Miss Wycklendt

Week 8 Buzz

Dear Parents,

Last week I announced math and science tests which were to occur this week. However, the students have had several tests recently. In order to give them time to rest and time to study appropriately, I have decided to postpone the tests until next week. (I want to teach them to study, not to cram.)

The science test will take place Wednesday, October 7. The math test will be the following day. The topics for the math test are evaluating expressions with letters and solving for unknown minuends, subtrahends, and summands. The topics for science are inertia and the difference between mass and weight. Stay tuned, as I will be posting study guides later this week!

In math class we are beginning our review of multiplication. Most of you have seen the multiplication flashcards I sent home with your students. Please review the flashcards with them at least twice each evening and sign the multiplication logs your students have in their homework folders. I have shortened the written math assignments in order to give students time to study multiplication facts.

In science we are transitioning from physics to electricity. We introduced atoms last week, and this week we will be using our knowledge of atoms to understand the nature of electricity. The students and I are enjoying the change of pace from the abstract study of physics to the concrete study of electricity. This change of topic will allow us more opportunities for experiments and activities.

I wish everyone a productive work week. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me.

Sincerely,

Miss Wycklendt

Seventh Week News

Dear Parents,

Can you believe we are already in the seventh week of this quarter? Time flies! As we approach the end of the quarter, we are entering a time of more frequent tests and quizzes. We have a math test this week on properties of addition and subtraction. We also have another math test next week and a science test on inertia and mass vs. weight next week.

Although this testing schedule may seem intense for fourth grade, this schedule is meant to give your students several advantages:

 First, it allows them to learn study skills they will need in middle school and high school. While middle school may seem far away, the sooner they start learning to study, the better the  foundation they will have for middle school and beyond.

Second, it allows them to focus their effort while diffusing the effect of each test on the grade. Rather than cramming for one large test, students can demonstrate their mastery of a few topics at a time. The more tests they have, the more chances they have to prove their mastery of math and science and the more chances they have to earn a good grade.

Third, it gives teachers frequent assessments of how the students are doing. This allows us to catch struggles early and partner with you parents to help any struggling students.

In other exciting news, Mrs. Walters has graciously volunteered to be the classroom coordinator for 4A. She will reach out to the families regarding things such as school events, classroom notes, and fundraisers. You will be hearing from her by email shortly.

We are still in need of a classroom coordinator for 4B. If anyone is interested, please email me or Mr. Ohbayashi.

Last but not least, Friday is the unveiling of our school mascot! The event will take place from 6-8pm at Archway Trivium East this Friday evening. There will be ice cream and games. I will be attending, and I hope to see you all there!

Sincerely,

Miss Wycklendt