Room 17 is off to a quick start on their novels that they are writing during the month of November. The entire concept is part of "National Novel Writing Month", or NaNoWriMo for short. Students have done alot of work planning their characters, settings, and plots. We spend at least twenty minutes every school day working on our novels - students are also encouraged to write at home. Each student has set a word count goal for November - ask them about their goal! In addition to working on their novels, students are working on writing summaries over the next few weeks.
Having finished out last class novel, "From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler", students will now read selections from our textbooks until Thanksgiving. Our next class novel will be "The Watsons Take Birmingham", which is an historical fiction book.
In science, we are now working on our Drug Education Unit which places a great deal of emphasis on students setting goals for themselves and learning to avoid situations involving drugs, along with making the best choices for meeting their goals. After the Thanksgiving break, we will start a new science unit, "The Solid Earth" which is all about rocks and minerals.
In social studies, 4th graders are working on a Native American project in small groups - they have each been assigned a California tribe to research and create a poster which illustrates all aspects of the tribe's lifestyle. This project is due Monday, Dec. 5.
In math, 4th graders are learning how to multiply numbers by double digits and use division as an inverse operation. 5th graders are learning how to multiply and divide fractions. Please practice these skills at home with them also.
Just a reminder - students are expected to practice online with Spelling City for the weekly words at least 30 minutes per week. I am able to track online which students are completing their weekly activities, and will be talking to students who are not completing all their online activities each week.
Just a reminder - there is no school on November 11 - Veteran's Day!
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