A Week Before Easter!

Dear Parents,

Welcome back from spring break!  In our first week back I would like to give a huge thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make our fieldtrip to the MIM a success! Thank you to the generous donors who made it possible for our students to experience the MIM for the price of bus fare! Thank to Mrs. Dixon and Mrs. Walters, our classroom parents who coordinated so many aspects of the field trip and worked so hard to communicate with all the parents! Thank you to Mr. Ohbayashi, who was responsible for coordinating much of the field trip on the school’s end.  Thank you to our parent chaperones, Mrs. Penn, Ms. Pacheco, Ms. Lipman, Mrs. Connery, Mrs. Copeland, and Mrs. Ball, who guided our students safely through bus rides, museum exhibits and lunch time! Thank  you to all of you parents who volunteered to be chaperones and were not selected in the lottery; it was encouraging to see so much support for our class! Thank you to all of the parents who joined us at the MIM and at the park; it was fun to have you!

Tuesday is our MOD Pizza fundraiser! If you purchase pizza from MOD and present the flyer sent in our school newsletter this week, a portion of your purchase will go to support our school. If you need a copy of the flyer, feel free to contact the school, and we will be happy to make sure you have one.

This week is, of course, the week before Easter. In preparation for Easter, our students have off all day on Friday. Other days will run on their normal schedule.

As you may be aware by now, our school will have state standardized tests in math and English next week. This week in math we will be learning and reviewing a few topics related to these tests. Topics will include a review of place value, a review of adding and subtracting mixed numbers, some work on patterns, and some simple geometry. In order to help the students get into the rhythm of standardized testing, homework this week will be in multiple choice format on topics related to the state test. Please be prepared to support your students in case they need a little extra help during these temporary changes.

As I have also previously mentioned, the fourth grade students have been and will continue to be reviewing for their standardized science exam. In Arizona, fourth grade students are required to take a standardized science exam. Students in other grades are not required to do so. Therefore, if you have students in more than one grade at Trivium East, only your fourth grade students will need to take a science exam. In order to reduce any sense of pressure the students may feel, the science exam will not take place next week with the math and English tests. It will take place in the fifth week of the quarter.

On a related note, the week of state tests is extremely important. Students are required to take the exams, and the school is not in full control of the exam dates. Therefore, we ask that you do not allow your students to have unexcused absences next week.. Absences due to illness, accidents, etc. are unfortunate and sometimes unavoidable, but please only allow absences that are truly necessary. Thank you.

Since we are in fourth quarter, students may now wear shorts with their uniforms. All other dress code standards remain in effect.

These are all the notes I have for you this week. If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Miss Wycklendt

Field Trip Week!

Dear Parents,

Welcome to week 28, the final week of third quarter! This week we have our long-awaited trip the MIM on Tuesday. If you have not handed in a permission slip and $10 bus fee for your student, you have one last chance to do so tomorrow. Otherwise, you student will become an honorary third grader for the day!

A few students have asked me about the results of their recent math and science tests, and I have been happy to discuss the test with them. If parents would like to know the results of the tests, they can always contact me. In order to improve communication with parents regarding tests and help parents gain clarity about the tests, I did send one math test and one science test home this quarter. However, in order to meet administrative requirements, I need to keep some tests on file for students' records. From here on out, I will attempt to send approximately every other test home, starting with the first math and science tests in fourth quarter. When tests are taken on a Friday, as they usually are in my classes, you can expect to see them in the students' Friday folders on the following Friday. For tests that are not being sent home, please wait one week before inquiring about tests results, and I will be sure to have your students' tests graded and ready to discuss at that time.

In science class this week we will briefly cover some topics that may appear on the state test but are not ordinarily covered by our curriculum. These include natural disasters, erosion, and environmental concerns. In math we will continue to work with fractions, converting mixed fractions and improper fractions and finding equivalent fractions.

We also have our final meth test of the quarter this week. For those that are interested, here is the study guide:

1. Fractions are equal parts of a whole. The denominator of the fraction is the bottom number. It tells us how many parts make up one whole. The numerator is the top number. It tells us how many parts are being considered.

2. There are also two other main, important ways to think about fractions. One of them is as division. The numerator then becomes the dividend of the division problem and the denominator becomes the divisor. For example, 3/4 = 3÷4. 5÷7 = 5/7. 255/100 = 255 ÷ 100. 35/17 = 35÷17. Students should be able to change fractions to division problems and division problems to fractions.

3. The last main concept of fractions is typically unfamiliar to Americans. It is as follows: We can think of a fraction x/y as the amount each person gets if you divided x items among y people. (I would NOT expect students to understand the algebraic language, but it is  usually easier to generalize ideas for adults in algebraic language.) For example, if there are 4 pizzas and 7 people, divide each pizza into 7 slices and each person gets four slices, one from each pizza. Each of the 4 slices is 1/7 of a pizza, so each person gets 4/7. (It may help to write names of seven people, draw four circles, divide them into seven parts, and draw lines from each person's slices to their name to see that this actually works. It took me awhile to understand this concept when I was first introduced to it.) Similarly, 9/4 could mean 9 pizzas divided among 4 people. If you divide each pizza into 4ths and give each person one slice per pizza, each person gets 9/4. Students should be able to model this concept by drawing a number of shapes equal to the numerator, dividing those shapes into parts equal to the denominator, and shading one part from each.

4. Proper fractions are fractions where the numerator is less than the denominator. Improper fractions are fractions where the numerator is greater than or equal to the denominator. Because proper fractions have a numerator less than the denominator, they are always less than 1. (Take 7/8: if you have one pie divided into 8 slices and your family eats 7 slices, they have not yet eaten the whole pie.)   Improper fractions with numerators and denominators equal are equal to 1. (Take 8/8: if you divide a cake into 8 slices and eat all 8 slices, you've eaten the whole cake. Also, any number divided by itself equals 1.) Improper fractions with numerators greater than the denominators are greater than 1. (Take 9/8: if you have two cakes divided into 8 slices and you eat 8 slices of one cake and 1 slice of another cake, you've eaten one whole cake and an extra slice.)

5. Students should know and be able to give examples of proper fractions and of both kinds of improper fractions. They should be able to accurately compare fractions to 1 using <, >, and = signs.

6. When using the greater than/ less than sign the rule is that the larger end always goes toward the larger number. 56 < 57; 56 > 55. 3/4 < 1; 5/4 > 1.

7. Mixed numbers are numbers expressed with two parts, a whole part and a fractional part. 4 1/2 is a mixed number with a whole part of 4 and a fractional part of 1/2. The fractional part of a mixed number must always be a proper fraction. Students should be able to identify and give examples of mixed numbers and their whole and fractional parts.

8. We can convert improper fractions to whole numbers or mixed numbers by dividing. Improper fractions that divide evenly become whole numbers. 10/5 = 10÷5 = 2. Improper fractions that divide and have remainders become mixed numbers. The whole number answer to the division problem becomes the whole part of the mixed number, and we write the original denominator of the improper fractions as the denominator of the remainder, and this fraction becomes the fractional part of the mixed number. 13/5 = 13÷5 = 5 R3 = 5 3/5.

9. We can convert mixed numbers to improper fractions by multiplying the denominator of the fractional part by the whole part and adding the fractional part to the resulting fraction. 3 1/4  3x4 =12 12/4 +1/4 = 13/4, so 3 1/4 =  13/4. Intuitively, this should make sense. Division and multiplication are inverse operations; the one undoes the other. If we convert improper fractions to mixed numbers by dividing, it makes sense that we would convert mixed numbers back to improper fractions by multiplying. Also, think about it this way: if you have 3 1/4 pizzas and you divide the three whole pizzas into 4 parts each, 3 pizzas x 4 fourths per pizza = 12/4 of pizza  Now add the extra 1/4 from the fractional part of the mixed number 12/4 + 1/4 = 13/4.

10. Students should be able to convert improper fractions to mixed numbers and vice-versa.

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.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Wycklendt

Week 27

Dear Parents,

I’m sure you’ve all heard from your students, but we had a great time at our school’s official Jump Rope for Heart event on Friday! Congratulations to our winners. Thank you also to all of you who donated to the worthy cause of heart research in support of this event.

Our field trip is coming up, and I must say, I am impressed and excited by all the parent interest in the event. So many parents volunteered to chaperone that we couldn’t take all of you up on your generous offers! However, if you would still like to participate, you can meet us at the museum at 9:30am and stay with us for as long as you would like. You would have to pay the full adult admission price and also bring lunch if you wish to eat with the students. (Our students are going to the museum on a grant, so the $10 field trip fee is just to cover the bus.) All students will be traveling by bus to and from the museum, so you will have to go back to school to pick up your student after the event.

On a related note, please have your field trip admission slips in ASAP—the official due date is today, but if you still have a slip to turn it, please get it in! The students are all very excited for the trip, and we want to have the whole class join us. Please get those slips in so your students can come! I did send an email with a copy of the permission slip attached, but if you didn’t get it or if you have any questions regarding the trip, please let me know.

I am going to be making a few changes to classroom procedures starting on this week. The first major change will be with “Try Again” assignments. As most of you know, I have been handing back “Try Again” assignments as I grade them, so when students receive the assignments varies. In order to improve communication between parents, students, and teachers regarding these assignments, I am going to change this procedure. From now on, I will put “Try Again” assignments in the students’ Friday folders with the rest of their graded work. That way, parents will be better able to help their students keep track of what they have done well and what they need to redo. I already handed back a few “Try Again” assignments in Friday folders this last week, so be sure to keep your eyes open for them and encourage your students to complete them.

The second change will be regarding online homework. Students who do not complete their online homework are sent to homework club during afternoon recess to complete it. This will still occur. However, in addition, students who do not complete their online homework will receive a UPL infraction as a reminder to students that homework is required and as a means of communicating with parents regarding students’ online homework. Under some circumstances, students will be given the opportunity to complete online homework early at school. Under such circumstances, I will sign and date notes for students who have completed their online homework early at school.  

This week in math we will continue our study of fractions, emphasizing the relationships between mixed fractions, improper fractions, and proper fractions. In science class we will have a test on the geology learned so far and on states of matter. The test will be on Friday. The study guide for the test is below:

Science Test Study Guide

1.       Groups of atoms bonded together are called molecules.

2.       The three (main) states of matter are solid, liquid, and gas. Matter changes states according to its temperature. A solid that gets heated becomes a liquid, and a liquid that is further heated becomes a gas.

3.       Heat gives atoms and molecules energy. Atoms and molecules are always moving, at least a little, but when they get heated they move more quickly. The hotter they get, the faster they move. The faster they move, they more space they need in which to move. This need for more space causes atoms to spread out from one another, which we experience as a change in state from solid to liquid and then from liquid to gas.

4.       Cooling down has the opposite effect on atoms. They slow down, and they need less space to move. As a result, the atoms are able to stay closer together.

5.       Because the atoms n solids are moving so slowly, solids keep their own shape. Because the atoms in liquids and gasses are moving more quickly, liquids and gasses do not hold their shape. They take the shape of whatever container they are in.

6.        The earth is divided into three main layers, the crust, the mantle and the core.

7.       The crust is extremely thin compared to the mantle and the core. In drawings of the earth, the crust is represented as the outline of the drawing.

8.       There are two kinds of crust, oceanic crust and continental crust. Continental crust is the crust found on land. It is mostly made of solid rock covered by thin layers of dirt. Oceanic crust is the crust found under the ocean. It is mostly made of solid rock covered by thin layers of sand.

9.       The mantle is the middle of the earth’s main layers. It is divided into the lithosphere, the asthenosphere and the mesosphere.

10.   The lithosphere is composed of huge slabs of solid rock called “plates.” The plates fit closely together, like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. The gaps between the plates are called “faults.”

11.   The plates of the lithosphere float on the asthenosphere. The asthenosphere is made of hot, liquid rock called “magma.”

12.   The mesosphere is the lowest layer of the mantle, beneath the lithosphere and asthenosphere. The mesosphere is made of solid rock (not plates).

13.   The core is the innermost of the earth’s three main layers.  It is divided into the outer core and the inner core. The outer core is made of super-heated magma. The inner core is made of extremely hot, dense solid iron.

14.   The deeper into the earth you go, the hotter it is.

15.   Earthquakes occur when heat rises from the inner core and causes the magma of the asthenosphere to move and bubble. (Think of water in a pot.) This moves the plates of the lithosphere, which float on the asthenosphere. When the plates of the lithosphere move, they sometimes bump into each other, causing earthquakes.

16.   Mountains are also formed by the plates of the lithosphere bumping into each other.

17.   Volcanoes occur when liquid magma from the asthenosphere bubles up through the faults between plates.

I know this looks like a lot of material, but your students should already know it. These are exactly all of the things we have covered in class in the last 5 weeks, no more, no less, so they have had a lot of practice and review on these topics.

These are all the notes I have for you for the week! If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Miss Wycklendt

Week 26

Dear Parents,

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend! We are already only three weeks from the end of the quarter, after which will be a week of break. This week will be a fairly normal week; no tests (at least in my classes) and no half days or days off.

In math class this week, we will continue our study of fractions, emphasizing the connections between mixed fractions and improper fractions and working on comparing fractions. In science, we will continue our study of the earth’s interior and also examine earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountains.

As spring approaches, we also approach the time when schools must administer state standardized tests. At Great Hearts, our philosophy on standardized tests is that we do not “teach to the test.” We teach students important human skills each day, giving them opportunities to engage in meaningful ways with important ideas on a variety of subjects. We develop knowledge in specific areas, of course, but we also teach students communication skills, reading comprehension skills, and critical thinking skills. These skills will benefit student throughout their whole lives, and they also aid students when taking standardized tests. This eliminates the need for us to spend our time “teaching to the test.” At the same time, we feel it is unfair to students to expect them to take tests on material they have not seen. For this reason, we will use some of our class time in the upcoming weeks to introduce students to material that would otherwise not be directly covered in our curriculum.

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

Sincerely,

Miss Wycklendt

Week 25

Dear Parents,

I hope your students enjoyed their President’s Day holiday, and I hope that those of you who were off enjoyed your break as well.

This week in science class, we are continuing our study of geology by continuing to study the inside of the earth. We will talk about plates and plate tectonics as the cause of earthquakes and other disasters. We will also demonstration in the lab how heat convection can cause the motion of plates.

In math, we will continue our discussion of fractions, focusing especially on mixed fractions, improper fractions, and the relationships between the two. We do also have a test on order of operations on Friday. Your students’ Friday folders from last week should have contained the worksheet on order of operations they completed last week. Most of the students did extremely well, but if you wish to review further with your students, here is a study guide:

Math Study Guide on Order of Operations

Order of operations is a list of rules that mathematicians have agreed upon in order to decide what operation to perform first, second, third, etc. in problems with multiple operations. Changing the order you perform operations changes the answer you get, so mathematicians have come up with an agreed upon order of operations in order to avoid having two correct answers to the same problem. This order is: 1. Parentheses  2. Exponents  3. Multiplication and Division  4. Addition and Subtraction

It is helpful to think of order of operation in as a list of ranks with 1 being the highest rank and 4 being the lowest rank. Operations are performed in order of rank from highest to lowest. For example:

70 – (4 x 5) x 3 becomes 70 – 20 x 3 and then 70 – 60 = 10

 If there is more than one operation of the same kind in a problem you perform the operations of the same kind from left to right:

(75+9) – (24-4) – (5x5) becomes 84 – (24-4) – (5x5) then 84 – 20-(5x5) then 84-20-25=39

One of the tricky parts of order of operations is the fact that multiplication and division are together on the same rank, and addition and subtraction are together on the next rank lower. What does it mean to have two operations on the same rank? It means that after exponents and parentheses have been evaluated, you evaluate multiplication and division in whatever order they happen to appear from left to right. Similarly, after multiplication and division have been performed in the order they appear from left to right, we perform addition and subtraction in the order they appear from left to right.

Here are some examples:

1. (35 - 30) x 50 ÷ 10 x 3 ÷ (10 + 5)

 5 x 50 ÷ 10 x 3 ÷ (10 + 5)

5 x 50 ÷ 10 x 3 ÷ 15

250 ÷ 10 x 3 ÷ 15

25 x 3 ÷ 15

75 ÷ 15 = 5

2.  5 x 5 -10 + 40 – (30 + 7)

5 x 5 – 10 + 40 – 37

25 – 10 + 40 – 37

15 + 40 – 37

55 – 37 = 18

Some students remember order of operations with the acronym PEMDAS. That is okay as long as they understand that multiplication and division are on the same rank, and addition and subtraction are both on the next lower rank. We do not perform multiplication first from left to right and then division first from left to right. We perform them in whatever order they appear in from left to right. Simialrly with addition and subtraction…

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

Sincerely,

Miss Wycklendt

Long Weekend and More!

Dear Parents,

Last week in class, we had such joyful time working on our introduction to fractions! Your students thoroughly enjoyed using fraction manipulatives to make and name fractions, and to find equivalent fractions. They worked in groups, teaching each other what they already knew, and learning from students who knew different concepts than they did. Mr. Elefson, Mr. Conklin and I supervised, gave advice when students were confused, and asked questions to check for student understanding. Now that the 4^th grade has the basic concept of fractions down, we will study mixed fractions, improper fractions, and addition and subtraction of fractions.

In science last week, we studied the three states of matter as a precursor to geology. We will be studying molten rock and atmospheric gasses in various contexts, and it is important for students to understand how the substance can be solid, liquid or gaseous under different circumstances. With this foundation laid we will work on understanding the earth’s interior this week.

We don't have any tests in math or science this week, but our next math test will take place at the end of next week. It will be on order of operations in case you are interested in having your students start reviewing early.

Keep your calendars marked for a long weekend this weekend! This Friday, February 12, is a half-day, and next Monday, February 15, is off in honor of President’s Day. This weekend is also an R and R weekend, meaning students’ will not be assigned homework in any of their classes. Please enjoy the extra time with your students!

Also, this week is deficiency week, meaning that if students are below a C- in any of their classes, you will receive an official notice from the school regarding their scores, so that you, your student, and your student’s teachers can take action to correct the deficiency before the end of the quarter. I have already contacted any of you whose students may be at or near deficiency in my classes, and most of those scores have already been corrected. However, if you have any questions or concerns about your students’ performance and how you can support their achievements, please feel free to contact me.

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

Sincerely,

Miss Wycklendt

Week 23--Science Test!

Dear Parents,

I hope you all had a relaxing weekend. We are entering our fifth week of third quarter, and we have lots of exciting things going on:

In math class we are working on fractions. Some of the students have seen fractions in their online math lessons or in previous years, but we are discussing them for the first time this week in class. We will be using pictures, word problems, and physical manipulatives to help students get a concrete understanding of what fractions are.

In science class we will be doing an experiment on states of matter, and we will also begin studying the earth’s interior. We also have a science test on Friday. The test was announced to students last week, and it will likely be easy relative to some tests we have had. The test will be focused on graphs, the scientific methods, and observations vs. inferences. The students like the graphs, and they seem to understand them well, and these will comprise most of the test. Here is the study guide:

1.       Students should be able to interpret horizontal and vertical bar graphs, and they should be able to create their own bar graphs when given a simple set of data.  Here is a link that gives a simple explanation of bar graphs and also some sample bar graph interpretation problems. http://www.mathsisfun.com/data/bar-graphs.htm

2.       Students should be able to interpret line graphs with a single line of data, and they should be able to create their own line graphs when given a simple set of data. Here is a link that gives a simple explanation of line graphs and some sample line graph interpretation problems. http://www.mathsisfun.com/data/line-graphs.html

3.       Students should be able to interpret line plots, and they should also be able to create their own line plots when given a simple set of data. The first 2.5minutes of this video are useful to explain line plots. The information on range, mode, median and beyond is unnecessary. https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?p=line+plot+tutorial&ei=UTF-8&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-002

4.       Students should understand what type of information typically requires a bar graph and what type of information typically requires a line graph. (Line graphs usually show changes in one thing over time, while bar graphs usually compare and contrast different items all at once. Of course, line graphs can compare changes in several things over time, but we are not showing that to the students right now.

5.       Students should give an appropriate title to all graphs and line plots they make. For example, a line graph reflecting changes in average temperature in Good year over the course of a year could be titled “Average temperatures in Goodyear 2015” or something similar.

6.       Students should label the number scale and data points (x and y axes) for all graphs they make. For example, the number scale of the line graph mentioned in 4 could be labeled “Temperatures” or “Temperatures in Goodyear.” The data points could be labelled “Months” or “Months in 2015.” Each month should have its own increment. Similarly for bar graphs and line plots students should make labels that explain what the number scale represents. (Temperatures? Numbers of students with a certain favorite food? Ages of students?) They should also label their data points, so the reader understands what the data pints are (Cities with a certain temperature? Favorite foods? Students at certain ages?)

7.       Students should make sure their number scales for graphs are evenly spaced on their page and reflect even increments of numbers. A number scale could be labelled 0,1,2,3,4,5,6 etc., or it could be labelled 0,5,10,20,30 etc., or any other even numerical increments. It cannot be labelled 0, 5, 10, 13, 15, 20, 30, 40, 57, etc.

8.       Students should know the revised steps to the scientific method in order:  1.Observe 2.Ask a question (about the observation) 3. Make a hypothesis (a “best guess” of what the answer to the question is)  4.Experiment  5.Collect the results  6.Draw a conclusion (based on the results) 7.Communicate the results

9.       Students should know the difference between an observation and an inference. (An observation is something you personally see or experience. An inference is a reasonable conclusion drawn from an observation. This is similar to a cause and effect relationship.)

10.   When presented with a simple observation, students should be able to come up with a reasonable inference. For instance, if a gardener has two of a certain kind of plant, one in the sun and one in the shade, he might observe the plant in the sun is taller and stronger than the one in the shade. He could infer that this kind of plant prefers sunlight or that it grows best in sunlight. Similarly, given an observation and inference, students should be able to distinguish which is which.

I’m sure many of you have noticed the shift from flashcards to multiplication worksheets. Hopefully this will save you some time in the evenings. Please be aware that these worksheets are part of your students’ grades. They will be calculated as part of the “participation” portion of the students’ grades on the principle that fluency in math facts enables students to be effective class participants. The result is that these worksheets will have a much stronger impact on students’ grades than if the worksheets for calculated as homework. Please make sure your students are completing their worksheets and especially that they are putting their names on them. Each time I have collected worksheets, I have had several that had no name and had to be thrown away.

Also, I’m sure you have all seen the fliers, but 4A students are collecting donations to fund a piece of artwork to hang in our classroom! It is a beautiful piece called “The Fighting Termeraire,” and the students are very proud of it. Mrs. Walters, our classroom parent, will also be emailing more information on the painting, how to contribute, and how to arrange to view the painting so you can see what you are funding. The painting will not be hung in our classroom until it is fully funded, so the sooner we finish fundraising, the sooner our students can enjoy it!

To those of you who have already contributed, thank you! In our first day of collecting donations, we have already collected $70! This is a great start towards funding our painting.

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

Sincerely,

Miss Wycklendt