Torch Times

August 22, 2019

Dear Parents,

I enjoyed seeing so many parents at our Open House! I hope you now have a good overview of what you can expect
while your child is in 4th grade. We have been very busy getting into the routine of our school day. We will be
adding in more and more to our daily routine as we progress through the next few weeks. I have such a wonderful
class! They are doing so well with staying on task while independently reading and they’re good at working together
in teams too!

I would like to thank you again for all the supplies and for sending healthy snacks for the students! I appreciate
your support at home! The kids loved their surprise taco treats for our specialization day from our room moms,
and our lemonade and snacks for The Lemonade War kick off! I posted several pictures so far on Seesaw and there
will be many more to come! Please email me if you need your child’s sign up code and I can send it to you.

Please look at what we have been learning so far:

Math: We are learning how to round up to the hundred thousand place. Over the next couple of weeks, we will learn
how to add and subtract multi-digit numbers within 1,000,000 with the traditional algorithm, including subtraction
across zeros. I have some math videos and resources on my blog http://mrstorch.weebly.com/ if you would like to
see how we subtract using strategies based on place value, as well as the “old fashioned way” that I learned in
fourth grade. They will use their rounding skills to estimate sums and differences to determine reasonableness of
answers and to solve multi-step word problems. They will be using a C.U.B.E.S strategy to circle numbers, underline
questions, box clue words, write equations, and solution statements.

I send home a code for Xtramath.org so your child can log on to practice fact fluency at home. I will send a picture
of their fluency pretests using Seesaw so that you can see what your child should set as a goal. If your child is
struggling with homework, please have them practice on Xtramath.org and send them in to get help from me in the
morning (7:15-7:45).

Coming up in math, we will be writing equations with variables for solving multi-step word problems. On the Weebly
Parent Resources tab you can find parent math videos from the county and downloadable information sheets. I
would be happy to print them for you if you don’t have access, just let me know.
Reading: Lemonade War Novel Study of Personal Narrative in Third Person Point of View, setting guided reading
personal goals based on skills and reading levels, and we will introduce our first guided reading group books this
week too. The students are learning how to respond to literature about their 40 book challenge choices. Coming
soon we will begin our vocabulary and spelling units too.

Writing: We will be writing about a word of advice for a short writing assignment, and a longer personal narrative
piece based around a memory attached to a strong feeling. Students will work on different skills based on their
needs (ideas, sentence structure, word choice, organization, or conventions).

Grammar: We’re working on capitalization, sentence structure, review of parts of speech. We’ll be starting mentor
sentences.

Social Studies: We introduced the year-long themes of economics and map skills.

Science coming soon: We will learn about the causes of day and night and understanding the phases of the moon.
We’ll focus on planets and stars in the next few weeks.

Teamwork: We’re focusing on how to participate in classroom conversations, how to take on a role in a group, how
share math strategies with others, and how to solve problems in various ways.

Upcoming important dates:

August 23rd: Foundation Tailgate Party, 5:00-7:30 PM

August 28th, Early Release

Aug. 27: Taco Mac Spirit Night; 5:30
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns! Mrs. Torch

Molly.torch@cobbk12.org
http://mrstorch.weebly.com/