May 2023 Update

Dear Room 116 Families,

I hope this note finds you well and enjoying the springtime. If you have allergies
like me, I hope you’re surviving. It’s been a rough spring for allergies for sure. We have
been super busy here at Day School since coming back from April vacation.
We finished all our MCAS testing- wahoo! The kids did a good job trying their
best and staying focused during many reading passages and math questions. Scores
for this test will be released from DESE in the fall. We’re also working our way through
all the end of year testing. Yay!
In ELA, we just wrapped up our poetry unit. Students created wonderful poetry
flip books with their own poems. Our final reading focus will be on Greek mythology and
plays. The kids are excited to be performing in either Pandora’s Box or King Midas &
the Golden Touch.
Students finished up their opinion writing last week. They did a nice job
convincing the reader of their opinion in their letter. Watch out- many of them may be
coming your way to try to persuade you to do something. :) Our last focus in writing will
be free writing and finishing up adverbs in Grammar Zone.
We also did one more short letter project, which is my favorite of the year. I had
the kids write letters to themselves about their experience in fourth grade & about what
life is like for them right now at their age. I will be keeping these letters for many years.
When your son/daughter graduates from high school, they will get a letter from me, a
picture of themselves from this year, a piece of work from fourth grade (if they choose
one), and the letter they wrote to themselves. It’s always a fun trip down memory lane
when the time comes for me to mail their letters. :) I already have current seniors who
are graduating next week tracking me down because they just received their letters from
long ago. This is absolutely one of my favorite activities of the year & the class always
enjoys it too.
In math, we’re finishing unit 7 which has been filled with lots of number stories
that reviewed many skills including fractions, division & measurement. The last math
test for this year will be on unit 7’s skills in a couple weeks. Unit 8 reviews skills which
will wrap up the year.
We're just about done with our USA regions unit in social studies. We’ll be
learning about the west over the next couple weeks. In the meantime, students will each
be in charge of learning some facts about 5 specific states (1 from each region) and
they will complete a final project about the states they chose. We will work on much of
this project in school but some of the finishing touches will need to be done at home.
Keep an eye out for it.
In science, students have learned about weathering, erosion & deposition in our
Earth’s Changes unit. We will wrap it up focusing on fast earth changes such as
hurricanes and tornadoes. Students will do some great hands-on tests with our PLTW
unit this week and next.
Homework will start winding down. You’ll still see some this week and then we’ll
primarily focus on completing the SS project after that. Some students have “checked
out” with regard to homework and I did let them know that if they don’t continue to put in
the best effort with their work, those kids may have an extra week of homework to make
up for all the homework they have not turned in. I sure hope we don’t have to do that!
As fourth grade winds down, I want to let you know that we're having a
successful year with students who have worked hard, families who have been
supportive, and lots of great teamwork. Some kids are still working on self control &
remembering to be responsible with work completion, but overall, the children have
improved their academics as well as behavior skills. We appreciate all your support so
the kids can be so successful. Great job to all!

Important dates:
*Mon. 5/29- no school- Memorial Day
*Thursday, 6/1- Field Day
*Friday 6/2- Book club orders due (optional)
*Monday 6/5- Field trip permission slip & money due
*Thursday 6/15- Southwick Zoo field trip
*Monday 6/19- no school- Juneteenth
*Thursday 6/22- half day- last day of school

I’ll be sending home an end of the year newsletter with specific suggestions for
things you can do with your son/daughter over the summer to keep up all the skills that
they’ve learned this year. Keep an eye out for that later in June.
Happy Spring!

Sincerely,

Nicole Keefe