Wednesday, March 4, 2015

March 2, 2015

Upcoming Dates
March 12 - 4th Grade Spring Performance
March 12 - Spring Pictures
March 16-20 Spring Break
March 30-31 STAAR Writing Test

Math
We finished Decimals and have started our Geometry unit. We have been learning vocabulary such as point, line, line segment, and angles.  The students have learned how to use a protractor to measure angles by comparing them to a right angle of 90 degrees and discovering acute and obtuse angles based on types of measurement.  We  have also used a protractor to draw angles with specific degrees. Example: draw an angle with a measure of 74 degrees.

Social Studies
We have been reading about the history of the Texas Revolution and the fight against Santa Anna.  The Texans fought 2 small battles in the beginning named Goliad and Gonzales. We won both of those battles. Then, the Texans fought in the Alamo, and we read about all of the important people involved in this battle.  The students have learned that many people from other U.S. states helped the Texans fight at the Alamo, but unfortunately, we lost that battle.  Then, the Battle of San Jacinto was the culminating battle of the Revolution. We won that battle. Texas received its independence during the Texas Revolution, but the men fighting did not learn this information until later.

Writing
We finished out last narrative paper. In these last weeks leading up to the STAAR test, we will be working with the kids to help them improve their grammar skills, such as making compound sentences, using quotation marks correctly, and correct capitalization.  These are skills that our kids will need to make sure they know for any kind of writing in life, not just a test. So, we will review different editing skills and apply them to written pieces.

Reading
We are working with Media Literacy. How do we interpret pictures, commercials, advertisements, and any other kind of media in reading?  How does this media impact us in our daily lives? Our class has talked about how these things can also impact us as consumers, and the messages the people behind the media are trying to get across to us. For example, commercials on Saturday mornings have items in them that are geared towards kids who may be watching cartoons.  The creators of the commercials are hoping the kids will see the commercial for the toy during the cartoon and run to you all to beg you to buy it. The students have done well with learning how to use the images, word choice, music, and graphics to see how to read media.

Science
We have been reviewing the parts of the Water Cycle: Evaporation, Condensation, Precipitation, Run Off, Groundwater. Another term we learned was transpiration which is the process of excess water that a plant does not absorb and gives off through its pores into the atmosphere. The students learned about rainforests, their locations, and why they always have a wet atmosphere. We are now moving into studying patterns of Earth and learning about the impact of the seasons, tides, and how the moon affects the tides.

                

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