Mrs. Phillips 4th Grade

September 2nd - Labor Day (No School)

September 6th - Spirit Day & Birthday Celebrations for August & September

September 9th-13th - Book Fair

September 11th & 12th - Grandparents Day

September 20th - 3rd-5th Grade Dance 3:00-5:00pm

September 25th - John A Walker Center Field Trip; Progress Reports go home

September 26th - Literacy Night

September 27th - Teacher Workday (No School)

September 30th - PTO Capital Campaign begins

Please make sure students bring the following items to school each day:

• Backpack
• Refillable Water Bottle (no glass bottles & water only please)
• Snack - Please do not send anything with peanuts or peanut butter due to allergies.

Please send all beginning of year paperwork in as soon as possible in the folder that was given to you at Open House.

It's important that your child brings the green folder back and forth to school each day. This folder will be used to send home student work, permission forms, important flyers/handouts, and carry any notes from home.

Please communicate all daily transportation changes to the office.

We will celebrate August and September birthdays on September 6th. If you're interested in bringing in cupcakes or a small snack for our monthly birthday celebration, please use the link below to sign up! We do have a peanut allergy in our classroom - please keep this in mind when considering snacks.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090E4AA4AB2BA0FF2-50906619-birthday

In September we are learning about literal and figurative language through our first module in Wit & Wisdom. We will learn about the figurative great heart by reading about famous people with great hearts such as Clara Barton, Hellen Keller and Anne Frank. See below for in depth information from our Wit & Wisdom Curriculum "Tips for Families"

WHAT IS MY GRADE 4 STUDENT LEARNING IN MODULE 1?

Wit & Wisdom® is our English curriculum. It builds knowledge of key topics in history, science, and literature through the study of excellent texts. By reading and responding to stories and nonfiction texts, we will build knowledge of the following topics:

Module 1: A Great Heart

Module 2: Extreme Settings

Module 3: The Redcoats Are Coming! Module

4: Myth Making

In Module 1, we will examine the complexity of the human heart. Not only is the heart a biological wonder, it is also a symbol of human emotions. We will explore what it means to have a “great heart,” both literally and figuratively.

OUR CLASS WILL READ THE FOLLOWING:

Picture Book: The Circulatory Story, Mary K. Corcoran

Novel: Love That Dog, Sharon Creech

Poems

▪ “The Red Wheelbarrow,” William Carlos Williams

▪ “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” Robert Frost

▪ “The Pasture,” Robert Frost

▪ “Love That Boy,” Walter Dean Myers

▪ “dog,” Valerie Worth

▪ “Heart to Heart,” Rita Dove

OUR CLASS WILL EXAMINE THIS PAINTING

▪ The Clinic of Dr. Gross, Thomas Eakins

OUR CLASS WILL WATCH THIS VIDEO

▪ “Exploring the Heart: The Circulatory System”

OUR CLASS WILL ASK THESE QUESTIONS

▪ How does someone show a great heart, figuratively?

▪ What is a great heart, literally?

▪ How do the characters in Love That Dog show characteristics of great heart?

▪ What does it mean to have a great heart, literally and figuratively?

QUESTIONS TO ASK AT HOME

As your Grade 4 student reads, ask:

▪ What do you notice and wonder?

BOOKS TO READ AT HOME

▪ Clara and Davie, Patricia Polacco

▪ Clara Barton: Angel of the Battlefield, Editors of TIME for Kids

▪ Who Was Clara Barton? Stephanie Spinner

▪ Sergeant Reckless: The True Story of the Little Horse Who Became a Hero, Patricia McCormick

▪ Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story about Brain Science, John Fleischman

▪ Breakthrough!: How Three People Saved “Blue Babies” and Changed Medicine Forever, Jim Murphy ▪ The One and Only Ivan, Katherine Applegate

▪ Katerina’s Wish, Jeannie Mobley

▪ Locomotion, Jacqueline Woodson

▪ The Circulatory System, Christine Taylor-Butler

PLACES YOU CAN VISIT TO TALK ABOUT THE HEART

When you visit the doctor together, ask:

▪ What do you notice about the doctor?

▪ What do you wonder about your own heart?

▪ What do we do to be sure we have healthy hearts?

▪ Tell me about a time when you felt like our family showed great heart?

Text above taken from: https://greatminds.org/english/witwisdom/family-engagement

Learning Objective(s)

• Identify and draw perpendicular and parallel lines.
• Identify lines that are neither parallel nor perpendicular.
• Identify, name, and draw points, lines, line segments, rays, and angles.

• Explain how to identify parallel, perpendicular, and intersecting lines.
• Recognize and identify parallel, perpendicular, and intersecting lines in two-dimensional figures and justify reasoning.
• Explain what points, lines, line segments, rays, and angles are.
• Explain how to draw and name points, lines, line segments, rays, and angles.

• line segment, angle, ray, point, line, endpoint, intersecting lines, parallel lines, perpendicular lines

In September, we are learning all about magnets, their properties and how they interact.

We’re excited to kick off the new school year by talking about Kindness. Our definition of Kindness is acting with understanding, generosity, and care. We believe developing skills around Kindness will help us build a strong foundation for a great year of learning, connecting, and growing together. Check out our Family Letter for more information about PurposeFull People and some fun ways you can join us in kicking off our most Kind year yet! Watch for monthly newsletters like this that outline the skills we are learning in class and provide fun ideas to grow as a family at home.

Unite for Literacy: Unite for Literacy provides free access to more than 400 original picture books, one fourth of them written in Spanish. The digital books provide audio narrations in more than 40 languages, spoken by native speakers in warm, expressive voices.

Free Children's Stories: Free Children's Stories allows you to search books for age 3 through 10 and includes middle grade novels. Book are available in six languages by clicking the flag on the bottom right while navigating the site.

Monkey Pen Books: Monkey Pen provides free digital books to young readers around the globe.

Flyleaf Books: Flyleaf Publishing provides access to free books through their Online Materials Portal. Books are organized by skills a child may be practicing such as blends, multisyllabic words, words with endings, digraphs, words with a long vowel and silent e, and r controlled vowels.

Storyline Online: Do you need an example of fluent reading? Storyline Online is a free online library that features popular books read by celebrities including Betty White, James Earl Jones, Tia and Tamera Mowry to name a few. New books are added regularly and it's funded by the Screen Actors Guild.

Just Right Reader: Just Right Reader offers a selection of decodable books from Pre-K through 2nd Grade, including a high interest section, and a Spanish section.

Email: phillipsa@wilkes.k12.nc.us
Phone: (336) 838-4261

Contact Hours: Monday - Friday 7:00 AM - 4:00 PM

As many of you know, classrooms have many needs beyond what is on a school supply list. I aim to make our classroom an inviting, engaging, productive place where children thrive, grow, and learn. This Amazon Wishlist contains materials and resources I would love to have for our classroom in order to help support the unique learning needs of my hardworking students. Donations or purchases are never required, but always extremely appreciated. Thank you!

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/KNNVA47UPWVH?ref_=wl_share