French:
Class has been lively lately as we mimed biking, skating and all the various action words we learned last year. We have reviewed many topics and I am impressed by how much students have retained. We discussed greetings, numbers, colors, introductions and talking about siblings and one's age. We are poised now to jump into Alex et Zoé and will be learning next how to say "I know how to______". Please ask your student to play charades with you and have him/her tell you what you are doing in French!

Parent Letter 10/9/09

Dear Fourth Grade Parents:

Energies are high and excitement is mounting as we approach the Medieval Faire. Fourth graders are looking forward to their duties as knights and ladies of the court on Saturday. Thank you all for your contributions to this wonderful and important event.

Our mushroom study continues with the “planting” of our oyster mushrooms in class. We are using toilet paper rolls as a medium in which to incubate the spores of three kinds of edible oyster mushrooms. We will have to wait a few weeks to see the first signs of mycelium and then another two weeks for mushrooms to appear. Ask your fourth grader to tell you more about this project and explain why toilet paper works well in this context.

In math we are about to complete our second unit. Students have been adding and subtracting multi-digit numbers using several methods. We have also been investigating the use of graphs and interpreting landmark data. In language arts we have finished reading Dear Mr. Henshaw and students are completing their friendly letters to the main character, Leigh Botts. We have also begun work on our mushroom stories, a creative project designed to assess students’ knowledge of mushrooms, their properties and their importance to our ecosystem.

In an effort to gain a deeper understanding of place for our sustainability unit, fourth graders have been drawing detailed maps of our classroom. Future mapping assignments will include mapping their bedrooms, the Grammar School trails, and their routes from home to school. It is delightful to see the different perspectives each student brings to his or her map and which details they view as important to include.

A few reminders – Parent/Teacher conferences are on Thursday, October 22, from 8:30 – 4:30. Please sign up with Tammy for a time slot. I look forward to meeting with you all. Long Fall Weekend follows that conference day. There is no school on Friday, October 23.

As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns. Hope to see you all at the Faire.

Best regards,

Libby