I can’t believe this is our last full week of school for the 2017 calendar year. This school year has gone by so quickly, and I am amazed at everything the students have learned. Here are some important upcoming dates:

Monday-Thursday: read 20 minutes, reading log
Friday- Reading Log due!
Tuesday, December 12th: choir concert at 6:30 pm
Wednesday, December 13th: Pencil Palace, PTA meeting 6:30 pm
Wednesday, December 20th: early dismissal at 11:50, winter break begins!!!

ELA:
We are continuing to push through our never-ending list of sound patterns in spelling. This week we will focus on -ough (rough, slough) and -owse (dowse, browse, and drowse). We will do two more patterns next week and then take our spelling test on Wednesday morning before break starts. We are working on end-of-the-quarter testing this week, taking both the Scholastic Reading Inventory (gives us reading level) and the Evaluate (shows us what students know on reading skills). We will not start a new unit until we return from winter break. We will spend our free times in-between testing to finish our quarterly novel “Chomp” and take a Reading Counts quiz over it. Remember, you only have until next Wednesday, the 20th, to pass a Reading Counts quiz before the end of December. Starting in January, we will move up to 2 books per month. Here are some general fourth grade reading skills games to try:
1. Antonyms, Synonyms frog game
2. Parts of Speech Asteroids game
3. Spelling with Vowels Practice

Science:
We are continuing our study of natural disasters such as volcanoes and earthquakes that quickly change the Earth’s surfaces. We will be challenged to build a structure that can survive an earthquake simulated on our shake table. We will also begin learning about how scientists classify minerals into three categories: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. Check out these practice activities below:
1. Tsunami video
2. Forces of Nature Online activities for volcanoes, tornadoes, earthquakes, and hurricanes
3. Studyjam about Minerals