Dear Parents,

The students’ book boxes are great! Some students have had the opportunity to share about their survival books, and the rest will share next week.

This week our reading time focused on independent novels and Time for Kids, a weekly news magazine for kids. We  learned about text features and how to use them to better understand the articles. Periodically students will receive a magazine quiz. We don't use the quiz as a quiz. Instead students will read and complete the quiz using the magazine to practice comprehension of nonfiction information.

For our next reading unit, students will read books of their choice at an appropriate level for independent reading. The books will be the basis of written responses in their literature logs. The students will have ten response cues from which to choose. The cues are focused on reading skills such as predicting, analyzing, summarizing, and inferring. In class we will work in small groups to explore these reading skills. Students may read one or more novels during this reading unit. Most of the work will be done at school; however, students are always encouraged to read at home for pleasure. 

The first chapter in social studies focuses on the development of Ohio's land. One highlight of the chapter is Ohio's four land regions. Students will work in small groups to teach the class about the land regions. This is an in class assignment. On November 3 we will travel to Ohio Caverns to see first hand the minerals and stone under Ohio. Mrs. Carter will focus on cave formations and cave life as the trip nears. The next chapter in the text is about archeology and Ohio's prehistoric people. The students are enjoying social studies classes.

It looks like it will be a rainy fall weekend. We hope you can find some time to snuggle with your fourth grader!