Q2 Week 3

"The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity." -Ellen Parr

Dear Parents,

Never forget to encourage your students to keep asking questions. Even though they can some times be frustratingly abundant, a child's questions are key to opening their minds to engage and understand new ideas. Ask them your own questions: "How do you think that works?", "Why do you think he made that choice?" Always keep them thinking and never discourage their natural desire to know.

This Week

1) In History we will be learning about the Magna Carta and the first Parliamentary government in England. The principles set down in the Magna Carta would become the cornerstones of the American Constitution 500 years later. Be sure to talk to your students about ideas such as trial by jury and no taxation without proper approval of those being taxed!

There will be a quiz this Friday on what we learned this week.

2) In Writing we are going to be reviewing proper punctuation and practicing our diagramming skills. You can help your students by asking them to identify what the subject noun and verb are in everyday sentences that they encounter. There will be a spelling test and a grammar quiz on Friday. The spelling quiz should be fairly easy for the students, the words we are going over in Spalding are mostly to get them back in the groove and rhythm of doing Spalding.

3) In Literature we are nearing the end of King Arthur. I must warn you, the ending is rather depressing in places, though with promises of greater victory to come. If you haven't been reading to your student so far, now would be a great time to start!

Best,

Mr. Ohbayashi

Q2 Week 2

"Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell 'em, 'Certainly I can!' Then get busy and find out how to do it." -Teddy Roosevelt

Dear Parents,

We are beginning to encounter assignments that are more difficult than what your fourth graders have been asked to accomplish previously. You may be seeing some frustration at home, but a little frustration is actually part of our goal. Learning is frustrating. One lesson we want our fourth graders to walk away from this year is that sometimes, in order to learn, you have to struggle. To that end we sometimes ask our students to reach for goals that are not easily accomplished. If you feel the workload is becoming too stressful on your scholar, please contact me and we can figure out a way to continue to challenge them without creating unhealthy levels of anxiety.

This Week

1. In History we will be working on our Medieval Persons project this week. This project requires students to ask questions and research a famous Medieval figure and gather information to share with their group. They will then present this information to the whole class. This is one of those difficult projects, especially the research. Do not think of this as a full on research project, but rather a foray into world of research. It can be really challenging for students to know where to start, but I have been very pleased with the results and experiences that students have had with this project in previous years.

2. In Writing we will be learning how to use Being verbs. Students will will be parsing and diagramming sentences using the verbs Am, Is, Are, Was, Were, Be, Being, Been. If you want to challenge your students at home, ask them to stop and tell you whether the sentences you have been using use Being or Action verbs.

3. In Literature we are continuing with King Arthur. This week we are reading the story of Gawain and Lady Ragnell. This is a story of the power of sacrifice and service. Feel free to read with your students and enjoy the story!

4. In Spalding we will be taking our first spelling test! The 20 spelling words this week have gone home as Spalding HW assignments #2 and #3. I do not expect these spelling words to be especially challenging for our students, but it is good for them to get into the routine of Spalding homework and spelling tests.

Best,

Mr. Ohbayashi

Q2 Week 1

"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths"

Walt Disney

Dear Parents,

This quarter is a new beginning for us and our scholars. It will bring new challenges and new joys, and we don't know where we will be when we come to the end of it. Last quarter was a period of learning and adjustment. Now that we have our feet under us a bit more solidly, we will start seeing precisely what we can do. The rigor and expectations are going up, but don't panic if your student comes home frustrated once or twice. We will be working to help them rise to their potential here at school, just let us know if things seem to be getting too much for them and we will figure out a way to help.

This Week

1, In History we will be learning about the earliest European cities that began to grow in the Middle Ages. What was it like to live in a city? Why might a serf leave his home on a manor and move to live in a place like London or Paris? 

We will have an open note quiz on Friday.

2. In Writing we will be doing a myriad of activities this week. Because it is a week of half-days we will be switching from subject to subject in ELA. On Monday we will be learning our new poem, "Rhinoceros" by Ogden Nash and reciting it on Wednesday. On Tuesday we will learn how to write a personal letter and practice it with a homework assignment. On Thursday we will be doing Spalding and our first Spalding homework assignment! Look for an explanatory note coming home on that. Friday we will get back to reading King Arthur with reading homework.



Best,

Mr. Ohbayashi

Q1 Week 9

“Can't say I've ever been too fond of beginnings, myself. Messy little things. Give me a good ending anytime. You know where you are with an ending.” - Neil Gaiman

We now come to the end of our beginning, the first quarter in 4th grade at Archway Trivium East. It has been an awfully exciting beginning, and even in this time every one of us has grown a lot. As we wrap up our opening act it is always a good idea to review how things went. Did we do our best? How can we improve? What comes next? These questions and more can help focus us as we enter into a new chapter in our 4th grade adventure.

Sign ups for parent teacher conferences have gone out, if you did not get the email the link to find the sign ups is: www.SignUpGenius.com/go/30E084CAFAF22ABFF2-4thgrade

Sign up quickly! Spots fill fast.

This Week

In History we will be learning about city life in the Middle Ages and the urban environments that began to spring up across Europe. What was it like to live in a Medieval city? We shall discuss everything from the governments to the guilds, from the street design to the smells might one encounter on a jaunt through London or Paris.

In Literature we will be reading the tragic story of Tristram and Isault. You may see some weepy students this week as this is King Arthur's equivalent to Romeo and Juliet except with more dragons.

In Writing we will continue learning about describers, this week our focus will be adverbs. Adverbs allow us to not just learn, but learn well. They are essential to describing our actions and even our very being.

I hope you and your students enjoy the final week of our quarter!

Best,

Mr. Ohbayashi