Issue No.

JOHNSONS JOURNAL
P I N Seventeen
MRS
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ELE ON September 11, 2017
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Dear Parents and Guardians,
We are off and running in fourth grade. The students
have learned many new routines and have made new
friends. Thank you for the privilege of working with
your child; Im looking forward to a great year.
If you were unable to attend the recent Curriculum
Night for parents, the information has been posted
onto our classroom blog.
The children have been busy taking baseline
assessments in math, math lab, and spelling. The
reading assessments will begin to take place soon. I will
go over the data at your childs conference in October.
Grades will begin to be posted onto Skyward soon.
More information about how to view grades and
register for Skyward (If you didnt register last year.)
can be found in the Parents section on our classrooms
website.
Reading
The students have been working to set personal
reading goals, build their reading stamina, and choose
books that are just right to read during their daily
reading workshop time. Research has shown that
students who read books that are just right, or even a
little easy, make the most growth in reading levels.
Books that are too difficult actually slow down
progress. Heres more information about how to find
just right books.
Writing
Students have spent some time building their writing
stamina by writing for increasing amounts of time
each day. Theyve also brainstormed several writing
topics based upon their favorite, people, places and
things. This week, they will begin to compose personal
narratives, which are true stories of their lives.
Mathematics
Our current topic in math is the place-value of
numbers up to 1,000,000. Students have been
practicing writing numbers in standard form (i.e. 1,246),
expanded form (1,000+200+40+6), and in word form
(one thousand, two hundred forty-six). Also, they have
been creating place value drawings in preparation for
their work with adding and subtracting large numbers.
Multiplying fluently was a third grade skill. In an effort
to improve the speed and accuracy of that skill,
multiplication facts testing has begun. Please watch the
planner for upcoming quiz dates.
Science
The children have been reviewing the states of matter
(solid, liquid, & gas). This week, they will review the
following metric measurements: kilometers (km),
meters (m), centimeters (cm), grams (g), kilograms (kg),
liters (l), and milliliters (mL).
Social Studies
After a review of some third grade content, fourth
grade will pick up in 1837, the year Michigan became
a state.
Spelling
The new spelling list will go home on Thursday, and
the test will be the following Thursday. More
information about spelling can be found here.
Next Page Please
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Specials Schedule
Heres our schedule.
Monday Library Checkout & Physical Ed.
Tuesday Art
Wednesday Physical Education
Thursday Library Skills
Friday Computer Lab

Lunch & Recess Schedule

Lunch 12:10 - 12:35 Recess 12:35 - 1:04

Important Dates
September 11
PTO Meeting (6:30 PM) at Pine River Library

September 15
1/2 PD Day (Students will be released at 12:05 PM.)

September 19
Laurenz Farm Field Trip (8:55-1:30)
Students will need to bring a sack lunch. See the
information that was sent home with your child today.

September 21
Picture Day (More info. coming home soon.)

September 25-29
Homecoming/Spirit Week (More info. coming soon.)

September 26
From Forest to Mill Field Trip to the Chippewa
Nature Center (9:10-12:00)
Students will walk to/from the CNC.
Please email me if youd like to chaperone.

October 19 & 24
Parent-Teacher Conferences (Info. coming soon.)

More dates can be found on our districts calendar.

Calculation fluency [answering facts quickly and accurately] is important for measuring future math ability, enabling
performance on advanced arithmetic, and reducing processing time in order to maintain meaningfulness in the problem.
Adela Korn, Cognitive Scientist