I know I am the only adult appreciating the snow this weekend. However, I hope your kids take advantage of this snowfall to play outside this weekend! Dyson and I have enjoyed playing in the snow, catching snowflakes, and enjoying the scenery. It's hard for me to accept that we will be back to spring by Wednesday this week. Ohio!!

Please note this upcoming week will be atypical for us. First, this four-day week will be ending our third quarter as fourth graders. I will be working on report cards Friday; please remember that there is no school for students Friday. Second, we will be taking the Language Arts AIR test this week. Testing begins at 8:40 on Tuesday and Wednesday. Students will not start their day with math and are encouraged to eat a good protein-packed breakfast. Finally, we are shifting from science back to social studies. Our upcoming unit is on government.

After testing each day, we will be working on our I Survived group work. The students enjoy the books, and their reading journals are looking good! One group has started a Newscast on their natural disaster while the others are in the book's second half. Please note that every group is reading a different story, so everyone will be finishing at different times. I suspect most will be moving on to the project phase of this novel study before spring break. 

Dates to Know:
March 29 / 30 - ELA AIR Testing
March 30 - PTA Family Game and Book Swap
March 31 - Builder's Club / Coder's Club (students must have a note if staying for these activities)
​April 1 - In-Service/Records Day (No school for students)
April 11 - 15 - Spring Break
April 28 / 29 - MATH AIR Testing
May 12 - Fourth grade Field Trip (details coming soon!!)

Despite that title sounding so ominous, it is meant to reflect how well the children are doing with our current language arts series, I Survived. The class separated into six groups this past week and began reading the following titles:

• I Survived Hurricane Katrina
• I Survived the Children's Blizzard
• I Survived the Joplin Tornado
• I Survived the Great Chicago Fire
• I Survived the Japanese Tsunami
• I Survived the San Francisco Earthquake

When the groups finish the novels, they will have the opportunity to rate the book, create a book trailer, and then create a newscast that describes their disaster and how to prepare for it. By watching their groups in action, I can tell that they are learning a lot. The end products will be fantastic!

In math, students who stay in my room are wrapping up the fourth-grade curriculum, believe it or not! We are using resources from Engage NY and Zearn to help prepare the students for fifth grade. Once we are all in the same spots, we will use the time to review what we know and have fun with math labs. I am so thankful for the hard workers in my room and their dedication to their studies in math. To say I am proud is an understatement. 

In science, we will start to talk about water resources. During this portion of our unit, the class will learn how much water is on our planet. In addition, we will explore fresh versus saltwater and use maps to find water sources near us. I love how this ties into the upcoming Earth Day; the students are the best advocates for our planet. 

Dates to Know:
March 24 - Magical Theater Performances (masks required!!)
March 25 - Popcorn Friday / Bath Team Hero shirts
March 29 / 30 - ELA AIR Testing
March 30 - PTA Family Game and Book Swap
​April 1 - In-Service/Records Day (No school for students)
April 11 - 15 - Spring Break
April 28 / 29 - MATH AIR Testing
May 12 - Fourth grade Field Trip (details coming soon!!)

Did you know the first St. Patrick's Day parade was held in America? According to an article in the Washington Post, Florida holds the honors for the event in 1601. Then, a year later, homesick Irish soldiers paraded in Boston. Now, I think the largest parade is in Chicago. Although we won't be dying the water green here at Bath, I know the staff looks forward to a bit of luck of the Irish each year. Encourage your children to dress up and enjoy the festivities, too, this week!

We had a great week in Language Arts! We had a professor of Emergency Management and Homeland Security in our classrooms this week, talking to the children about preparing and preventing disasters. It led to a great discussion! We read some articles on unique disasters around the world, which allowed us to practice gathering text evidence and comparing two texts. This is a fantastic lead-in for this week when we pick an "I Survived" book to read in small groups. Each group will be responsible for a reading journal and post-reading activities. 

In science, we continued our discussions on weathering and erosion. We weathered rocks in class and saw some amazing pictures that demonstrated the power of forces like wind and water. This week we will read about rapid changes to our Earth's surface, allowing us to explore earthquakes, volcanos, and landslides!

Finally, tomorrow is Pi Day!! The children will get a chance to have pie with lunch. In addition, if they have any number shirts, tomorrow is the day to wear them! In my math class, we will measure round objects to calculate pi after listening to "Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi." It should be fun!!

Dates to Know:
March 14 - Pi Day!
March 17 - St. Patrick's Day
March 18 - No school for students
March 24 - Magical Theater Performances
March 25 - Popcorn Friday / Bath Team Hero shirts
March 29 / 30 - ELA AIR Testing
March 30 - PTA Family Game and Book Swap
April 11 - 15 - Spring Break
April 28 / 29 - MATH AIR Testing 

I was so thankful for a "normal" five-day week last week! I know by Friday, I was exhausted but having our regular routine back was so nice! We finished STEM Monday and even got back to our normal schedule in the classroom. I feel renewed by this, and I hope your children do too!

We finished Lost on a Mountain in Maine in language arts on Friday. We have some fun follow-up pieces to do on Monday as we learn more about Donn Fendler's amazing rescue. Our comprehension and writing activities in our Reading Journals are done, though. If your child needs to submit the LOMM Reading Journal this weekend, please make sure it gets finished tonight. 

This week we will start focusing on survival in natural disasters. We have a special guest speaker visiting our fourth-grade classrooms on Tuesday. This will kick off our fun "I Survived" book series. I know the children love to read these, so I am looking forward to navigating them together. It is a nice balance of opinion, research, and creative comprehension activities. 

In addition to reading those books, I will encourage children to pick a book to read in April for a book report. It can be any novel, but it does need to be one they haven't read before. I will mention that this week but the official book report requirements won't come home until the end of the month. 

In science, we started our unit on Earth's Resources. Miss Rice did a fantastic job leading the class on a lab that allowed them to visualize sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rocks by putting starbursts through pressure and heat treatments. This week we will focus on minerals, weathering, and erosion. I suspect your children can already sing the difference between weathering and erosion for you; you should ask them!

Thank you for all of the wipes and paper towels! We are all set on both for now. We hope the number of COVID cases continues to decline, of course. Still, we will keep up our table-wiping all year regardless. It helps us all to stay healthy... and makes the room smell good!

Dates to Know:
March 8 - Guest speaker for fourth grade survivalists
March 9 - Builder's Club after school
March 11 - PTA Meeting
March 14 - Pi Day!
March 17 - St. Patrick's Day
March 18 - No school for students
March 24 - Magical Theater Performances