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