PS273Q

December 2015

FANTASTIC FOURS
I.Lopez | W. Copeland | A. Robinson | D. Altman

Meet the Teachers

Ms. Lopez- Math and Science
Teacher
Mrs. Copeland- ELA and Social
Studies Teacher
Mrs. Robinson- ICT Teacher
Mr. Altman- 3/4-407

!
!
Important Dates
12/01- Parent Engagement
workshop- Math
12/15- Parent Engagement
Workshop- ELA
12/23- Festival of Lights
Celebration
12/24-01/03 Winter RecessNO SCHOOL
*Parents can meet with
teachers on Tuesdays from
2:30-3:00pm

Fantastic Fours

Welcome to Winter
The fourth grade teachers hope that everyone had a wonderful
Thanksgiving with family and friends. That being said, this month has
the 4th grade doing many things academically. As we come to enter
quite a season of a few upcoming holidays, our students need to
remember to stay focused on school. It is a very exciting time, but we
still need to plug away at our curriculum. Please continue to study
multiplication facts at home. We have started our chapter on Division,
so practicing division facts at home will also be beneficial. Fourth
graders are starting to catch on to what is expected of them this year and
are showing an improvement overall since the beginning of the school
year. This improvement is seen in focus, being prepared for school and
classes outside of homeroom, and bringing items home for studying or
homework. However, sometimes these materials are not brought back to
school the next school day! Please help your child through subtle
reminders of putting materials back into his or her backpack to be
returned to school. In this time of thanks, we are thankful
for a terrific and supportive team of parents, and for the
way your children make me smile each day!

We cant believe 2015 is coming to an end and it is
almost 2016. We wish everyone a Happy Holiday
and a Healthy New Year!

1

PS273Q

December 2015

What are we learning this month?!

ELA
Essential Questions: How does a reader identify
themes?!

!
Birthday Shoutouts
December
12/05- Isabel J.
12/06 Adrian
12/08- Aaron
12/10- Abigail
12/13- Dillon
12/19- Ariana

Good readers identify themes in a given text. They can

determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are
used in a text, They will develop their ability to identify
key ideas and details in a text. They will use academic
vocabulary words to help them understand and identify
themes.!

Math
Essential Question: What strategies can you use to divide by 1digit numbers?!
Learning division concepts oers many opportunities for students to
attend to precision. Placing the first digit in the quotient relies on
their understanding of place value and number sense. They also need
to understand the eect of the operation and the meaning of the
remainder in order to give accurate solutions to problems.!

12/21-Briana I.

Social Studies

12/26- Julio

Essential Question: What eect did explorers have on North

America?!

12/29- Brianna Z.
12/30- Alexander

Resources
Class website:
PS273QFourthGrade.weebly.com
Vocabulary and Spelling Gameshttp://eduplace.com/edugames/html
Multiplication and Division Practicehttps://sqworl.com/isn228

!
!
!

Fantastic Fours

Explorers came North America looking for a shorter route to

Asia.!
Science
Essential Question: How do adaptations help living things
survive?!
All living things have basic needs and have adapted to their
environments to meet these needs. Living things that were alive
long ago may have died out, became very dierent, or stayed
nearly the same over time.!

!
!
!
!
!

PS273Q

December 2015

Six Ways to Improve Reading Comprehension!

Tips
! for Elementary Parents
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
What We
Did
Last Month !
!!
! R ead
i ng C or ne r
! Achievement!
Book Character Parade!
Junior
Multicultural Fest!
ave him read aloud. This
forces him to go slower, which
gives him more time to
process what he reads. Plus, hes not
only seeing the words, hes hearing
them, too. You can also take turns
reading aloud.!

Provide the right kinds of books.

Make sure your child gets lots of
practice reading books that arent too
hard. She should recognize at least 90
percent of the words without any help.
Stopping any more often than that to
figure out a word makes it tough for
her to focus on the overall meaning of
the story.
Reread to build fluency. To gain
meaning from text, your child need to
read quickly and smoothly- a skill
known as fluency. By the end of 2nd

grade, for example, your child should

be able to read 90 words a minute.
Rereading familiar, simple books gives
your child practice at decoding words
quickly, so shell become more fluent.!
Talk to his teacher. If your child is
struggling mightily with
comprehension, he may need more
help with his reading - for example,
building his vocabulary or practicing
phonic skills.!

Supplement class reading. If your

childs class is studying a particular
theme, look for easy-to-read books or
magazines on the topic Some prior
knowledge will help her make her way
through tougher classroom texts.!

remember and think through the

themes of the book. Ask questions
before, during, and after a reading
session. For example Before: What
are you interested in about this book?
What doesnt interest you? During:
Whats going on in the book? Is it
turning out the way you thought it
would? What do you think will
happen next? After: Can you
summarize the book? What did you
like about it? What other books does it
remind you of?
-Scholastic

Talk about what hes reading. This

verbal processing helps him

!
!

A folktale is a sto
ry or legend
handed down from
generation to
generation usually
by oral retelling.
Folktales often ex
plain something
that happens in na
ture or convey a
certain truth abou
t life.

Identify and discuss

: **These are
stories from the pa
st and may

Fantastic Fours