Week 36

Dear Parents and Students,

Congratulations to Kindergarten and Grade 6, whose graduation ceremonies took place on Monday and Tuesday respectively. In addition, our Art Exhibition took place on Thursday; thank you to Mr Johnson and all who helped to set it up. We have a very talented school of artists! We then finished our week with the monthly assembly. Despite the distractions, we have been very industrious in Grade 4, and we have managed to accomplish a great deal.

In the Classroom:

Maths

We completed Topic 18, and had our test on Thursday. Topic 18 was largely focused on algebra, and it was very pleasing to see how everybody was able to take the new concepts on board. We are expanding our range of problem-solving skills and learning new ways to express and communicate mathematical problems and functions. We have already begun Topic 19, which we will continue to study throughout next week.

Literacy Workshop

We have been planning and drafting our Persuasive Essays. We will continue to revise them next week, with the aim to publish them on Thursday. In grammar, we have continued with our study of adverbs, and we will move on to prepositions next week.

Science

We have been investigating how plants and animals respond and adapt to their environments. We have learned that physical traits are inherited, as are many behavioural traits. Some behaviours, however, are learned. We spent time discussing how all of these traits, inherited or learned, can help a species survive and reproduce in its natural environment. We also observed a fascinating example of symbiosis.

Social Studies

We have been preparing for our next Social Studies assignment. Each group will focus on a specific region and topic. We will then spend next week researching our topic and preparing our presentations, which will be presented the following week.

Extra

Last Monday's regular Performing Arts and Physical Education classes did not take place due to the graduation ceremonies, and have been rescheduled for next week. An extra Performing Arts class will take place on Tuesday, and an extra PE class will take place on Thursday. I'm sure Mr Keller will understand if you are unable to wear your uniform for all three PE lessons, but please remember to wear something suitable!

Other important dates are listed below, as usual. I hope you all enjoy the weekend, and I'll see you all on Monday!

Dates to remember:

Tue.      June 2:             Extra Performing Arts class

Thu.     June 4:             Extra Physical Education class

Fri.       June 19:           End Semester 2!

Click here for more photos of our Art Exhibition.

Student of the Week, Week 36

Congratulations to Yuma!

Yuma has been quietly making progress in all areas. He has increased his work ethic, and his performance has improved as a result.  Well done, Yuma!

Homework, Thursday, 28th May

Maths: Practice 19-1 Translations; Enrichment 19-1 What Doesn't Fit? 
In the classic video game, Space Invaders, the space ship would translate left and right across the screen. Ask for your parents' permission first, then click here to play Space invaders. (Requires Adobe Flash)
Writing: Persuasive Essay - be ready to draft tomorrow.

Homework, Wednesday, 27th May

Maths: Review Topic 18  pp.442-445  (test tomorrow)  Answer key below
English: Make sure you have your goal, three reasons, and details to support.
Social Studies: Leaf trough Units 5 and 6 in your book to see what interests you. We will be discussing project ideas tomorrow.

Practice Test 18 Answers

1. B      2. B      3. C      4. B      5. A     6. C      7. D     8. C      9. D     10. C    11. A   12. C    13. D

Topic 18 Extra Practice Answer Key

Set A 1. true 2. false 3. true 4. true 5. 6 6. 2 7. 4

Set B 1. 11 2. 46 3. 24 4. 50 5. 15 6. 25 7. 10 8. 31 9. 15 10. 30 11. 79 12. 15

Set C 1. 9 2. 360 3. 3 4. 30 5. 25 6. 28

Set D 1. s < 10 2. m > 5 3. j > 25

Set E 1. 99 tickets

Check out how these amazing octopods adapt to their environments.

Homework, Tuesday, 26th May

Maths: Practice 18-4 Understanding Inequalities; Enrichment 18-4 Common Inequalities
English: Decide on your Persuasive Essay topic. Who will be your audience? What reasons do you have to support our idea?

Spelling: Review List 24       Click here for Spelling City

List 24 – Commonly Misspelled Words

Core Words

brought	enough	buy	guess
Saturday	January	February	favorite (favourite)
lying	tying	around	swimming
heard	also	tried

Challenge Words

choose

chose

loose

lose

millimeter  (millimetre)

Homework, Monday, 25th May

Maths: Practice 18-2 Solving Addition and Subtraction Equations; Practice 18-3 Solving Multiplication and Division Equations
Writing: Think about a topic for your Persuasive Essay.
Social Studies: Unit 4 team test tomorrow

Week 35

Dear Parents and Students,

It has been a very busy week. We began the week with in-class Science Fair presentations, the Science Fair itself took place on Tuesday, and then we presented again to Grade 2 on Wednesday. On Friday we were able to celebrate with the birthdays of Lucas, Janae, and Luke.

In the Classroom:

Maths

We held our Topic 17 test on Wednesday, and began Topic 18 on Thursday. Topic 18 returns our attention to equations and extends our understanding of algebra. We will continue with the topic next week, and the test will take place next Thursday.

Literacy Workshop

We read a biography of Gloria Estefan this week, and discusses why she might be considered a hero. We also began our final grammar unit for the year, which is dedicated to adverbs and prepositions. Next week, we will begin planning our final major writing assignment for the year: Writing to Persuade. After so many high-quality Opinion essays were submitted last week, I am confident that our persuasive writing will be quite effective!

Science

Our week was dominated by our Science Fair presentations. The presentations were of a high quality. All of the hard work over the past two months has certainly paid off, and everyone should be very proud of your work! Photos are available via the link at the end of this post. Our final unit dedicated to Life Science will be our primary focus in Science for the rest of the semester.

Social Studies

We are reviewing what we have studied about America’s Midwest, and we will be having a team-test on Tuesday. On Wednesday, we will begin discussing our final project for the year, in which groups will present a region to the rest of the class.

Extra

Kindergarten and Grade 6 will have their graduation ceremonies next Monday and Tuesday. To accommodate these, it has been necessary to reschedule some of our specialty classes. As a result, Monday's Performing Arts and Physical Education classes will be postponed until the following week. There will be no Performing Arts or PE on Monday.

Other important dates are listed below, as usual. I hope you all enjoy the weekend, and I'll see you all on Monday!

Dates to remember:

Tue.      May 26:          Social Studies team test – Unit 4

Thu.     May 28           Art Exhibition

                                    Maths test – Topic 18

Fri.       May 29:          Monthly Assembly

Click here for Science Fair photos.

Click here for birthday party photos.

Student of the Week, Week 35

Congratulations to Janae!

Janae has had a great week. She presented very well during the Science Fair and her display was one of the most popular. She has also been working hard in all other areas, producing some very good work. To complete the week, she celebrated her birthday along with Luke and Lucas today!

Homework, Thursday, 21st May

Reading: We will read the second half of Gloria Estefan tomorrow. If you would like to tlisten to the mp3, use the link below.
Maths: Practice 18-1Equal or Not Equal: Enrichment 18-1 Connection Detection
Social Studies: Chapter 9 Review pp.290-291 due next Tuesday

kerlyeddie · 03 Gloria Estefan

Homework, Wednesday, 20th May

Maths: Practice 17-10 Problem Solving: Make a Graph; Enrichment 17-10 Mystery Machines

Homework, Tuesday, 19th May

Maths: Review Topic 17 (test tomorrow) pp.425-425  Extra practice pp.426-429,  Answer key below

Practice Test 17 Answers

1. B      2. A     3. C      4. D     5. C      6. D     7. A     8. B      9. B      10. D

Topic 17 Extra Practice Answer Key

Set A 1. 8 people 2. High bar 3. No. Uneven bars were not in the survey

Set B 1. The number of teeth animals have 2. Scale = 0-45; Interval = 5 3. Walrus 4. About 8 more teeth

Set C 1. 2 teams 2. 9 teams 3. 8 goals 4. 3 teams

Set D 1. (1,3) 2. (5,7) 3. (3,0) 4. (2,4) 5. H 6. B 7. G 8. E

Set E 1. 1820 2. About 6 million more people 3. Increase

Set F 1. 10 2. 23 3. 64 4. 44 5. 21 6. 91

Set G Median; Mode; Range: 1. 7; 3; 10 2. 50; 50; 14 3. 99; 99; 14 4. 85; 80; 9

Set H 1. 51 2. 52 3. 47

Set J 1. 1/3 2. 1/3 3. More than half

Set K 1. Compare the length of the bars to the values in the data table 2. 3 3. Hawks

Week 34

Dear Parents and Students,

Congratulations to everyone for getting through Iowa week. It can be quite exhausting to complete so many tests within such a short space of time, but everyone has met the challenge and you should all be proud of yourselves. While most of our week has been consumed with the Iowa tests, we did manage to complete some other work, too.

In the Classroom:

Maths

We have completed Topic 17, and we will review the topic on Monday, with the topic test to take place on Wednesday. On Thursday, we will begin Topic 18, which is a return to equations. We will use what we know about equations to solve algebra problems, and we will also acknowledge that sometimes, we are unable to create an equation, and instead must provide an inequality as an answer to a problem.

Literacy Workshop

We have been busy with Writing an Opinion, and we published our work on Thursday. Next week, we will take a break from writing and read a short biography of Gloria Estefan. We will then commence our final writing assignment, Writing to Persuade, the following week.

Science

We have been categorizing plants and animals, reviewing the parts of a flower, and investigating how different plants reproduce. Next week, we will shift our attention to how plants make their own food, but our main focus, of course, will be our Science Fair presentations. We will be holding in-class presentations on Monday, and then the  Science Fair will take place on Tuesday. On Wednesday, we will also be presenting to give Grades 2 and 6 a chance to see our work, while we will also be visiting their displays.

Social Studies

Social Studies took a back-seat to the Iowa tests this week. Next week, we will finish and review our unit dedicated to the American Midwest.

Extra

Important dates, including the Science Fair, are listed below, as usual. I hope everyone has a good rest over the weekend, and I look forward to seeing you (and your Science presentations) on Monday!

Dates to remember:

Mon.    May 18:          Science Fair in-class presentations

Tue.      May 19:          Science Fair

Thu.     May 28           Art Exhibition

Fri.       May 29:          Monthly Assembly

Student of the Week, Week 34

Congratulations to TJ!

TJ has been working hard to produce his best work possible. This week, he completed an assignment two days before it was due, but rather than settling for good enough, he decided to use the extra time to revise it again, producing an essay of even higher quality than before.  Great job, TJ!

Week 33

Dear Parents and Students,

I would first like to thank all parents for taking time out of your busy schedules to come in to see me. Communication is integral to the healthy development of your children, and it is good to be able to discuss the progress of your kids, and share viewpoints of how to support and encourage the students of Grade 4.

In the Classroom:

We have had a fairly regular week, with the exception being the number of practice Iowa tests we did. As you know, the Iowa tests will take place throughout next week.

Maths

We  began a new topic about data and graphs, and we have started looking at how to calculate averages.   We will continue with averages next week. We will review the topic on the following Monday, and the topic test will take place on Wednesday, 20^th May.

Literacy Workshop

We have just completed a grammar unit dedicated to pronouns, and are beginning our final grammar unit for the year, which is all about adverbs and prepositions. We have also started work on or next writing assignment, Writing an Opinion. We have planned and drafted our essays, and we will revise and proofread them next week, and then publish them next Thursday.

Science

We have begun our final unit for the year – Life Science. We have started with categorizing plants and animals, and will continue next week, although less frequently, to accommodate the Iowa tests. We are also in the final stages of our Science Fair preparations, and will spend some time next Friday setting up our displays for the presentations the following week.

Social Studies

We are still learning about the American Midwest. This week we were focused on the Great Lakes States, and we took another look at the Plains States. We will review the entire chapter after the completion of the Iowa tests.

Extra

The schedule for the Iowa tests is included at the end of this post. The best way to prepare is to get plenty of rest, and eat healthy meals and snacks. There will be no homework assigned next week, so there should be plenty of opportunity to get to bed early each night and be well rested at the beginning of each day.

I hope you all have a restful weekend, and I will see you all on Monday!

Dates to remember:

Mon-Fri. May 11-15:  Iowa Tests

Mon.    May 18:          Science Fair in-class presentations

Tue.      May 19:         Science Fair

Thu.     May 28           Art Exhibition

Fri.       May 29:          Monthly Assembly

Student of the Week, Week 33

Congratulations to Timothy!

Timothy has been trying to improve his performance in all areas recently, and his efforts haven’t gone unnoticed. He is becoming more involved in class discussions, and has shown enthusiasm towards our recent tasks and activities. Keep it up, Timothy!

Homework, Thursday, 7th May

Maths: Practice 17-6 Mean; Enrichment 17-6 Stamps for Sale
Complete your Ordered Pairs worksheet
Writing: Make sure you are ready to revise and proofread your Opinion draft on Monday.
Complete the Yearbook questions (check email).

ESL: Prepare an oral presentation on any country. It should last roughly 2 minutes. Due Thursday, May 21st

Homework, Wednesday, 6th May

Maths: Practice 17-5 Line Graphs; Enrichment 17-5 Cricket Weather!
Writing: Make sure you have 3-4 reason to support your opinion. We will continue drafting tomorrow.
Reading: If you haven't made a Flipgrid clip yet, I want you to try it today.
Follow the link below and then follow the prompts.
Please note:  if you need to download the app for a phone or tablet, you cannot use your HIS account to download! Use a different account (e.g. your parents) to download the app, then CLOSE the app and follow the link below again.
If you still can't create a video, send me an email to let me know.

https://flipgrid.com/g4costello2020

Science: Check out this cool video of the parts of a flower under a microscope!

P

Homework, Tuesday, 5th May

Reading: Check Google Classroom and follow the prompts to FlipGrid
Maths: Practice 17-5 Line Graphs; Enrichment 17-5 Cricket Weather!
Writing: Decide on a topic for your Opinion essay.
Science: Bring flowers (if you can find some) to examine tomorrow.

Homework, Monday, 4th May

Maths: Practice 17-3 Line Plots; Enrichment 17-3 Life of a Hamster
Spelling: Review List 23  Test tomorrow.  Click here for list and links.

Week 32

Dear Parents and Students,

Recent news of Taiwan's consecutive days with zero new Covid-19 cases is very reassuring, but we remain vigilant at HIS, and everyone is to be commended on the efforts made to ensure that we wash our hands, wear masks, and do all of the things recommended in order to keep healthy. Grade 4 is also to be commended for the outstanding efforts made towards making our Mad Tea Party an event to remember for years to come. In addition to drawings, comics, models, alternative endings, book reports, and character profiles, our special day was full of activities including card games, quizzes, a character guessing game, mazes, a 'break-out' challenge and a game of croquet, complete with flamingo-mallets! All art, stories, activities, and games were designed and developed by the students of Grade 4. Outstanding effort, everyone. I take my hat (in this style 10/ ⁶ ) off to you! Pictures of the day can be found via the link at the bottom of this post.

In the Classroom:

Maths

We sat our benchmark and cumulative tests this week. Parents, please check, sign and return the tests at your earliest convenience. We also began Topic 17, starting with a study of surveys. We will continue with Topic 17 throughout next week.

Literacy Workshop

Our week was dedicated to our tributes to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and preparing for our Mad Tea Party. We also spent some time revising possessive pronouns and contractions. Next week, we will begin our next writing assignment, Writing an Opinion.

Science

We spent our week working on our Science Fair projects and making sure that everybody is on target to be ready to present on the 19^th May. Next week, we will begin studying Life Science, which is our final unit for the year.

Social Studies

We reviewed Chapter 8 this week, and previewed Chapter 9, which is an investigation of what the American Midwest is like today. We will continue with Chapter 9 next week.

Extra

Throughout next week, we will also be doing some short practice tests in preparation for the upcoming Iowa tests. There is no way to study directly for the tests, but tips on how to best prepare for the tests will be sent home. Important dates are included below, as usual. For parents who have arranged interviews next week, I look forward to seeing you then. I hope everyone enjoys the weekend, and I'll see everyone on Monday!

Dates to remember:

Mon-Fri. May 4-8:     Parent/Teacher meetings

Mon-Fri. May 11-15: Iowa Tests

Tue.     May 19:         Science Fair

Thu.     May 28          Art Exhibition

Fri.       May 29:         Monthly Assembly

Click here for pictures of the Mad Tea Party!

Student of the Week

Congratulations to Dylan!

Dylan has increased his participation in class discussions recently, which has been a welcome change, as he has a lot to offer. It's great to hear from you, Dylan. Keep it up!