Room 204 Update April 28, 2013 Spring Street School Mrs.

Liportos class

General Information In the Monday folders tomorrow there will be permission slips for the upcoming field trip to SELCO. Please sign and return the permission slip by Friday, at the latest. Please note that they serve popcorn at the field trip and parents need to check out whether or not their student has permission to eat it (it is made with coconut oil). I believe this piece is on the back of the permission slip. I will also need a few chaperones for this trip. Thanks! We will continue with our before school MCAS Math Review Groups. Tuesday we will be reviewing probability and on Wednesday we will be reviewing graphing. If your child is going to attend please try to have them there by 8:00. Many students can in late last week and it becomes very distracting. Thanks in advance. IMPORTANT DATES *Media Dates- 5/8, 5/22 *Wax Museum- Monday, May 6 from 9:1510:00 *MCAS Math Tuesday, May 14Wednesday, May 15 *SELCO Field Trip Friday, May 17 *4th Grade Chorus Concert- Tuesday, May 21

*Memorial Day- No School- Monday, May 27th *Sing and Swing- Thursday, May 30, 2:002:45 *Field Day- Friday, June 7th (rain date, 6/10) *Fourth Grade Celebration- Friday, June 14th 9:45-11:00am (rain date Monday, 6/17) *Last Day of School, Thursday, June 20th, Dismissal at 12:15 Homework Homework this week will include another math MCAS packet. When we were reviewing them in class on Friday the kids were commenting on how easy they thought there were. I told them that all the problems came from past tests so they should feel very confident with their math abilities going forward from this point. SUPER READERS The following students have read over 10,000 minutes this year and have been added to the Liporto Super Readers Hall of Fame! Helen Lim 2/15/13 Amar Kapoor 3/8/13

Writing Students will be reading various articles on uniforms in public schools and using them to develop a pro/con list. Then they will have to choose a side to write about as we begin to develop our persuasive essays. Language Arts We will continue to work on Determining Importance in our reading. We will also be looking at similes and metaphors and identifying the similarities and differences between these two types of figurative language. Please dont forget that the first drafts of biography speeches are due this Tuesday. After Tuesday we will use some class time to edit and revise them before the final draft is due on Friday. The final drafts of the speeches need to be on index cards. Either 3.5x5 or 5x7 are fine. If students want to type their speeches, first or final draft, they are welcome to print it out and glue it onto index cards.
Upcoming Biography Wax Museum Due Dates:

positive and negative numbers. This is an introductory skill this year and we will not spend a lot of time on it. Our goal is to expose the kids to this skill before fifth grade. A site for practice adding positive/negative integers: http://www.mathsteacher.com.au/year8/ch 03_integers/03_addsub/integers.htm Math Club will be replaced with the before school MCAS math sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday. EVERYDAY MATH FAMILY LETTERS on-line address:
http://everydaymath.uchicago.edu/parents/4 th-grade/view-family-letters/

If you cannot access them, please let me know. If your student forgets to bring home the Study Link for homework, they can be printed from the following site: http://www.mrnale.com/StudyLinks_Grade _4.htm They can also print the Study Links from the Everyday Math Online site: www.everydaymathonline.com Social Studies- from Mrs. Luby We have looked at the states and capitals of the three subregions of the West Region. This week the children will complete their region maps and use laptops to learn more about the economy of the region. States and capitals materials will be sent home this week for quiz (Students, the secret number is 38, the number of days left in 4th grade!) on Monday, May 21. Science In science we will be taking our circuit investigations one step further. Well be

First Draft of Speech (outline)- Tues. 4/30 In class editing- 5/1-5/2 Final speech copy on index cards-Fri. 5/3 Wax Museum, Mon., 5/6 from 9:15-10:00 Math In math this week we will be finishing up unit 10. On Monday well go over Rotations, Reflections and Translations of shapes. Tuesday we will learn a little bit about positive and negative numbers. At the end of the week we will assess this quick unit. Some of the students may have difficulty with adding and subtracting

learning about two different types of circuits, series and parallel. These circuits allow you to use multiple electricity receivers with just one electricity source. Classroom Birthdays This Month

May Birthdays:

Helen 5/2 Julia 5/10 Selena 5/11 Colby 5/27 Uma 5/31
*Specials*
ART: Monday, 10:45-11:25 AM MUSIC: Tuesday 10:00-10:40 AM PHYSICAL EDUCATION: Wednesday 10:4511:20 AM Health: Thursday 9:15-9:55 AM CHORUS: Friday 10:00-10:40 AM MEDIA: Every Other Wednesday, 2:45-3:00 PM

As always, your questions/comments are welcome. Please send me an email or a note to school. Kristen Liporto