Mrs. Shari Sokol

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Homework for the week of May 7th:

1. Read, log at least 3 times in the week, and write your letter.

2. Write at least 3 entries in your notebook.

3. Math-

Monday, pg. 119
Wednesday, pg. 120-121

Thursday, pg. 124

4. Vocabulary- Lesson 9, test Friday, sentences due Friday

5. Social Studies- Study for test, Tuesday May 8th!!

Homework for the week of April 30th:

 1. Read, log at least 3 times in the week, and write your letter.

2. Write at least 3 entries in your notebook.
3. Math-
Monday, pg. 115
Tuesday, pg. 116
Wednesday, pg. 117
Thursday, pg. 118
4. Spelling- Menu and test on Thursday, multi-syllable words
5. Vocabulary- Lesson 9 sections A-D due Friday
6. Social Studies- Study for test, Tuesday May 8th

 

Homework for the week of April 24th:
1. Read, log at least 3 times in the week, and write your letter.
2. Write at least 3 entries in your notebook.
3. Book Club- Catch up on any corrections needed. Book Club on Thursday
4. Math-Test- Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday
5. Spelling- Find 15 multi-syllable words (folder or dictionary)
6. Vocabulary- Lesson 8 sentences and test Friday

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Homework for the week of April 16th:

1. Read, log at least 3 times in the week, and write your letter.

2. Write at least 3 entries in your notebook.

3. Book Club- Catch up on any corrections needed. Book Club on Thursday

4. Math-

Monday- page 91

Tuesday- page 92

5. Spelling- Test and menu, Thursday

6. Vocabulary- Lesson 8- Sections A-D, Friday

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Homework for the week of March 26th:

1. Read, log at least 3 times in the week, and write your letter.

2. Write at least 3 entries in your notebook.

3. Book Club- Thursday! Did you read your chapters, complete your job, and the packet?

4. Math:

Tuesday: page 87

Wednesday: page 88

5. Vocabulary:

Sentences with Lesson 7 words. Due Thursday, test Thursday.

6. Spelling:

Spelling lists, 15 words that have prefixes and suffixes, due Friday

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Homework for the week of March 19th:
1. Read, log at least 3 times in the week, and write your letter.
2. Write at least 3 entries in your notebook.
3. Book Club- Thursday! Did you read your chapters, complete your job, and the packet?
4. Science test tomorrow!
5. Math:
Tuesday: page 85
Wednesday: page 86
6. Vocabulary:
Complete Lesson 7: Sections A-D
(Due Friday)
7. Spelling:
Spelling menu, suffixes 15, due Thursday, test Thursday

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 Homeworkfor the week of March 5th:

1. Read, log at least 3 times in the week, and write your letter.

2. Write at least 3 entries in your notebook.

3. Book Club- Wednesday! Did you read your chapters, complete your job, and the packet?

4. Math:

Test on March 12th. Prepare by reviewing your workbook pages 54-70.

5. Vocabulary:

Complete Lesson 6: Sections A-D

(Due Friday)

6. Spelling:

Spelling menu and test (prefixes) due Wednesday

Homework, Week of March 5th:

1)Read, log at least 3 times in the week, and write your letter.

2)Write at least 3 entries in your notebook.

3)Book Club- Wednesday! Did you read your chapters, complete your job, and the packet?

4)Math- Please go back through pages 54-70 in your workbook. Make sure it is complete and all corrected. Test next Monday!

5)Vocabulary- Complete lesson 6 A-D, Due Friday

6)Spelling- Complete menu, due Wednesday, test Wednesday

Wednesday- 2:00 Dismissal
Thursday- No school
Friday- Dress up Day

Fourth Grade News: February 2012 Newsletter

February was a fantastic month filled with learning...

Reading: Our book clubs have continued with gusto! They really enjoy this reading time in class. I am always encouraging the children to think deeply about what they are reading and to monitor their own understanding of the text. In order for book club sessions to run smoothly, the students created certain rules that we call "Book Club Etiquette."

We have continued to delve deeper into the concept of visualizing. As the students put it, "It's like a movie playing in your mind." Visualizing is a vital reading strategy that allows the reader to use all their senses to create sensory images in their minds thus enhancing their reading experiences.

Writing: This month the students have spent a great deal of time revisiting their writing pieces. They have worked on editing and revising, writing final drafts, and illustrations. While editing, we have discussed conventions a great deal including capitals, end marks, quotations, apostrophes, commas, and paragraphing. While revising, the students have learned about combining sentences, changing the order of sentences, choosing more powerful words, paragraphing, and stretching out moments by adding important details. The students practice these skills by analyzing their own writing.

In the girls' class we were very lucky to have a special guest teacher, Mrs. Berenson. She shared with us how she transformed a small moment in her life into a half hour sitcom. So much of what she shared supported what we do in class: small moment stories, editing and revising, elaborating, working with others.... It was a pleasure and inspiration to have her here. The boys are now looking forward to her visitJ

Math: After completing our unit in multiplication, the students were ready for "long" division. They have learned division with 1-digit divisors, 2 and 3-digit quotients, regrouping in division, and mental math. In problem solving, the students are required to read the question carefully. The question may require them to drop the remainder, add one to the quotient, or just tell the remainder. They learned how to divide with money, divisibility rules, prime and composite numbers, averages, and estimating in division. Needless to say, this is a very long unit with many facets. Please help me make sure your child keeps up with his/her math homework. This is a way for me to be sure they are getting the practice they need and it's also a great indicator as to whether your child may need extra assistance. We will be testing on this unit after Purim on March 12th.

Social Studies: The children learned so much throughout our unit on Mexican California. They learned about the importance of foreign trade to the Californians, the causes and effects of the Mexican War for Independence, the concept of bartering, and the hide and tallow trade. They learned about the effects of the closing of the missions and the beginnings of ranchos and pueblos. Our discussions are often lively and interesting during social studies! The students have been reviewing for the test this week and are testing on Monday, March 5th. Next up: newcomers from the United States and the discovery of gold, finally!

Science: Science is always so much fun! One experiment we conducted was entitled "Breaking the Force." The students began by making predictions to the following question: "What do you think will happen to the force of attraction between two magnets if you put a plastic spacer between the two attracting magnets? Do you think the force will get stronger, weaker, or stay the same?" Using balances, magnets, washers, cups, and plastic spacers, the students conducted the experiment being careful to use the same technique each time. They recorded their data on T charts and then transferred the data onto graphs. They learned how to set up their graphs and how it represents the relationship between the distance between two magnets and the force needed to separate the two magnets. Most children felt the graph was a better visual representation. The experiment proved to them that the greater the distance between two magnets, the weaker the force of attraction. The students also learned about induced magnetism and making a temporary magnet. They were surprised to see that an ordinary iron nail could act as a magnet for a short period of time. We will be testing on this unit in about 2 week's time. An extensive review will be given with at least one week's notice.

Our next social studies assessment will be on March 5th. Please consult the study guide completed in class.

Homework for the week of February 27th:

1. Read, log at least 3 times in the week, and write your letter.

2. Write at least 3 entries in your notebook.

3. Book Club- Thursday! Did you read your chapters, complete your job, and the packet?

4. Math:

Monday, page 67

Tuesday, page 68

Wednesday, page 69

Thursday, page 70

5. Vocabulary:

Complete Lesson 5: sentences and test

(Due Thursday)

6. Spelling:

Spelling lists (16 words with prefixes) due Friday

Homework for the week of February 21st:

1. Read, log at least 3 times in the week, and write your letter.

2. Write at least 3 entries in your notebook.

3. Book Club- Thursday! Did you read your chapters, complete your job, and the packet?

4. Math:

Tuesday, page 63

Thursday, page 65

5. Vocabulary:

Complete Lesson 5: sections A-D

(Due Friday)

6. Spelling:

Spelling test Friday, spelling menu due Friday

Homework for the week of February 13th:

1. Read, log at least 3 times in the week, and write your letter.

2. Write at least 3 entries in your notebook.

3. Book Club- tomorrow! Did you read your chapters, complete your job, and the packet?

4. Math:

Monday, page 59

Tuesday, page 60

Wednesday, page 61

Thursday, page 62

5. Vocabulary:

Complete Lesson 4: sentences (due Thursday). Test Thursday.

6. Spelling:

Spelling lists (2) 16 homophones- due Friday

Homework for the week of February 6th:

1. Read, log at least 3 times in the week, and write your letter.

2. Write at least 3 entries in your notebook.

3. Math:

Monday, page 55

Tuesday, page 56

Wednesday, page 57

4. Vocabulary:

Complete Lesson 4 sections A-D (Due Friday)

5. Spelling:

Spelling menu (use new menu) and test- Thursday

January 2012 Newsletter
Wow, how time flies! We are halfway through the year and we are soaring! I have spent quite a bit of time this month writing report cards. This has given me the opportunity to reflect of each of your children. They are each so special and I thank you for giving me the honor of teaching them...

Science: We have completed our unit on rocks and minerals and have officially begun our next unit on magnetism and electricity. We have already learned so much about magnetism! Students found that objects that contain iron stick to permanent magnets; other objects do not. They discovered that two magnets will either attract or repel one another, depending on the orientation of the poles with respect to one another. Students observed that steel objects in contact with a magnet become temporary magnets. This induced magnetism disappears when the steel object separates from the magnet. Students found out that the magnetic force acts right through materials, with the exception of iron. All our discoveries happened with hands-on experimentation using magnets, test objects, and regular classroom materials. We always love making discoveries and recording data in science.

Math: In math we got heavily involved in multiplication! We started with understanding multiples of 10 and the concept that when multiplying a number by a multiple of 10 or 100 or 1,000, there is a pattern of adding as many zeros as needed to the basic multiplication problem. In other words, 300 x 4,000 yields the same product as 3 x 4 and then adding 5 zeros. We continued delving into multiplication by estimating products, problem-solving, multiplying 2-digit by 2-digit numbers and then multiplying 3-digit by 2 digit numbers. One goal is to avoid making careless errors. One solution is using graph paper which helps the children keep their numbers properly aligned. We will be testing on this unit this week. Naturally, the next math unit will be on division!

Writing: The students love writer's workshop, they can't seem to get enough! During a typical writing session, some students may be peer editing together, one child may be illustrating a piece of writing, others may be writing final drafts, while other children may be writing a first draft. Meanwhile, I take this time to work individually with as many students as I can. With some I may give some pointers as to what their piece may be missing, with others I may advise them on conventions (punctuation, spelling, and capitalization mostly), and finally I may help them revise by encouraging them to add, remove, or rearrange details in their stories. We have been talking a lot about when and how to make paragraphs. When writing essays, we generally stick to the 3-5 sentence rule. However, in story writing, the decision as to when to start a new paragraph is subjective and requires great thought. Some children have already incorporated these ideas naturally, while others need more guidance. We also spent some time gathering inspiration from Mrs. Orenshein's 5th graders as they shared their personal narratives with us. We will share ours with them next month. Very exciting!

Reading: Book clubs! Each child has been placed in a book club group of 6-7 children and they each have a copy of the same book. Independently, they read one or two chapters at a time and respond in their reading spirals. I have given them a variety of ways to respond to what they are reading. When we have book club sessions, each book club group gathers together and discusses their thoughts and ideas about the previous chapter. In this way, they are all reading great books (at their own level) and reflecting on what they have read. They are learning from each other through their discussions. They seem to be having fun with it! Through this process they are practicing several important reading comprehension strategies: questioning, inferring, visualizing, determining important language, summarizing, and connecting.

Social Studies: Our current project is a huge timeline that stretches back to 12,000 years ago and goes until the late 1700's. Small groups were formed by each child choosing the time period that seemed most interesting to him/her. They are now writing and illustrating about each time period using our depth and complexity icons and thinking: language, big idea, multiple perspectives, and details. It is refreshing to see them review information they learned in the past and write concise paragraphs that really capture the important ideas. Next up, we will be discussing the rancho period and how California became part of Mexico (but not for long!).

Separately, we also spent a good deal of time learning about Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement. We actually watched and listened to the I Have a Dream speech in its entirety on Youtube. We stopped after almost every line to discuss meaning and context. We read books about the time period and about Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott. We even talked about Mahatma Gandhi, MLK's inspiration for nonviolent protests. We made great connections to the topic of Unity; unity amongst all people, and within Judaism, which is the theme of our Shabbat with the Chief Rabbi.

Homework for the week of January 30th:

1. Read, log at least 3 times in the week, and write your letter.

2. Write at least 3 entries in your notebook.

3. Math:

Monday, page 53

Tuesday and Wednesday, study and complete review sheet

Thursday, test!

4. Vocabulary:

Complete Lesson 3 sentences (Due Thursday) Test Thursday!

5. Spelling:

Spelling list, 10 words with silent letters, 5 words from list (Due Friday)

Homework for the week of January 17th:

Homework for the week of January 9th:

1. Read, log at least 3 times in the week, and write your letter.

2. Write at least 3 entries in your notebook.

3. Math:

Monday, page 47

Tuesday, page 48

Wednesday, page 49

4. Vocabulary:

Complete Lesson 2 sentences and prepare for test (Due Thursday)

5. Spelling:

Spelling list- 10 compound words, 5 words from folder (Due Friday)

Mrs. Sokol's Fourth Grade News

December 2011

What a fantastic month it has been...

Reading: Wordly Wise has been added to the curriculum as our main source of vocabulary study. It is a challenging book, but increasing their vocabulary is beneficial in so many ways, including reading comprehension. We will complete one lesson over two weeks and continue to have bi-monthly vocabulary tests. Homework will come from the workbook and other assignments in order to help them learn the words. Another exciting addition has been our pairing with nursery children. Every Wednesday afternoon, our 4th graders have been reading to the nursery children. This has brought out the best in our students as they continue to learn how to be role models. The children have shown patience, interest, and pure sweetness to these little ones! Please continue to encourage your children to read everyday at home. The letters and reading logs are evidence to me that they are applying the thinking strategies on their own. This is part of their weekly homework!

Social Studies: The students had an awesome adventure at the Chumash Interpretive Center. Lead by Mr. Gray Wolf, the children learned just how resourceful the Chumash are. During the visit to the Chumash Center, the 4th grade learned all about the Chumash's tools and their daily lives. The students took a short hike, catching glimpses of gorgeous deer along the path (that stretches 10 miles long). They played a stick/rabbit game, explored a mock Chumash village with its own huts, kitchen, sweatlodge and ceremony area, and then headed back for lunch. After lunch, the students learned a funny nonverbal communication game (using their mouths to point), and prepared a Chumash stick game that the students decorated with Chumash symbols. It was an incredible day!

In class, we completed our unit on Spanish explorers and settlers. We have begun "exploring" California history! After completing our unit on California Native Americans, we began learning about Spanish exploration along our California coast. They have learned about why the Spanish chose to explore California and what they did when they got here. They also have been learning about some of the more famous explorers and their expeditions on the galleons. I introduced some Jewish history as Spanish exploration coincided with the Spanish Inquisition. This will connect for the children even deeper as we will be discussing the Mission system and its effect on the Native American population and lifestyle.

Math: The students mostly did well on relating multiplication and division. For some, the algebraic concepts are very challenging and the goal is mostly exposure to these skills. We are well into our current unit, multiplication of one- and two- digit numbers. I have introduced the children to mental math, such as multiplying by 10, 100, and 1,000. In addition to the traditional approach to multiplying 2 digit numbers, the students extended their thinking and number sense skills by multiplying using the distributive property. For example, when multiplying 29 x 4, the students can do this mentally by doing (20 x 4) + (9 x 4). I welcome the students to use whatever strategies they are most comfortable using. And if they have a strategy for any math concept that I haven't shared, I encourage them to do so with the rest of us. Over the years. I have learned new ways of looking at math from my students. Estimating products and studying patterns in problem solving has also been introduced.

Writing: The students have been working so hard to raise the quality of their personal narrative writing. We have been studying mentor texts, or published personal narratives. Some have been written by children and others by adults. By doing this they can try to emulate good writing. The students have been trying to see life as a writer, paying attention to details and thinking, "I could write a true story about this." They are keeping on-going lists of story ideas in their writer's notebooks and increasing the amount of entries. I have told the students that any skills they mastered in the revision process for their first narratives should be evident in their everyday writing. They are looking at turning point moments to tell and are working on seeing big ideas or discoveries in small moments. Finally, the biggest push has been to story tell rather than to summarize. This is a tough challenge, but one that we are tackling head on!

Science: The students did such a fantastic job with the second and third investigations of minerals. They understand how to use tools to determine the hardness of minerals and how to use Mohs hardness scale, just like amateur geologists! Most importantly, they learned how to state, support, and argue their conclusions based on data that has been collected. Finally, they experimented with vinegar and calcite and were able to observe and compare results. We had a great discussion about how to study for tests and the students shared such wonderful ideas. I am so proud of their efforts!

Homework for the week of January 3rd:

1. Read, log at least 3 times in the week, and write your letter.

2. Writing, write at least 3 entries.

3. Math:
Tuesday Page 45
Thursday Page 46

4. Vocabulary:
Lesson 2- complete sections A-D (Due Friday)

5. Spelling:
Menu and test (Thursday)

6. Please prepare to re-take the science test if need be. (Friday)

Homework for the week of December 27th:

1. Read, log at least 3 times in the week, and write your letter.
2. Write at least 3 entries in your notebook.
3. Math:
Tuesday, page 43
Wednesday, page 44
4. Science:
Test on Friday!
5. Vocabulary:
Test on Thursday!
-Use each word in a sentence from Lesson 1. Due Thursday
6. Spelling:
Add 10 more contractions to your list. (test next week) (Due Friday)

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