Q3Week5

Dear Parents,

We are more than half way done with the third quarter. As we get closer and closer to summer vacation your students are going to get ever more restless. Keep encouraging them to stay on task and give their best effort! We still have a lot to learn this year.

This Week

1) In Writing we will be reviewing their handwriting (some of it has gotten quite sloppy) and letter formation. We will also be learning about the importance and uses of commas and quotation marks. Feel free to ask them about when it is appropriate to use a comma, they might surprise you with how many rules their are!

2) In History we will be learning about the first shots fired in the American Revolution. There will also be a TEST this Thursday. The students have been prepping for it since last week and a review will go home, just make sure they are studying for it.

3) In Reading  we will be finishing the Princess and the Goblin. On Friday we will have a seminar centered around the question: "What does it mean, according to the story, to be a true prince or princess?"

Keep up your great work! We really appreciate you.

Best,

Mr. Ohbayashi

Q3Week4

Dear Parents,

This week

1) In Writing  we are going to be continuing to work on "Paul Revere's Ride." Make sure your student is practicing the poem every night for at least ten minutes. Our goal this week is the have the first four stanzas memorized! We will also be doing vocab root words again this week, so ask your student to show them to you.

2) In History we will be learning about the early conflict between the American Colonists and the British Empire. Ask your students about what the British did that angered the colonists so much. Let them tell you about specific events such as the Boston Massacre.

3) In Reading we will be continuing the Princess and the Goblin. When they have reading to do at home it is always beneficial to let them read to you so you can talk about the story with them. Especially if they are struggling on the Focus Questions.

Best,

Mr, Ohbayashi

Q3Week3

Dear Parents,

I hope you all are enjoying Martin Luther King day. This week we will be beginning the long endeavor of memorizing Paul Revere's Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It is a very long poem can certainly be frustrating, but I have seen many fourth graders master it before. We will be setting weekly goals for memorization which will be put in the students agenda. Make sure they are keeping up with these goals, we do not want them to have to memorizing 10 stanzas in a single week.

In class this week:

1) In History we will be learning about the French and Indian War and the early grievances that began the strife between the American Colonies and England.

2) In Reading we will be continuing the Princess and the Goblin. There will be fewer focus question assignments to make time for Paul Revere's ride memorization, but make sure your student is still keeping up with the story.

3) In Writing we will be learning about and diagramming sentences with conjunctions.

Best,

Mr. Ohayashi

Q3Week2

Dear Parents,

This Tuesday night is the 4th grade project night! Come out and see your student's project displayed and hear them explain the circulatory system. If you are concerned about the written portion feel free to email me, but don't stress too much. The written part of the science project will be a very modest grade.

If you have filled out your tax return information for your students they will get ice cream on Friday! If you haven't yet, there is still time. Contact the front office to have $400 of your taxes redirected to our school.

In class this week:

1) In History we will begin our unit on the American revolution. We will be learning about the Colonies in the early 1700's and the Rights of Englishmen that early colonists came to expect and value.

2) In Writing we will be summarizing a short story and breaking it down into what happened first, next, and last. Students are being taught to summarize stories by recognizing the beginning, middle, and end. Feel free to ask them to summarize other stories in a similar fashion if you see an opportunity. (Ex: Could you summarize the movie we just saw? What happened first, next, and last?")

3) In Reading we will be continuing to read The Princess and the Goblin. Ask your student what the story is about and who their favorite characters are? Is Irene a good princess? Why or why not? The more students engage with the story the better they will comprehend its plot.

Sincerely,

Mr. Ohbayashi

Q3 Week 1

Dear Parents,

Welcome back! The second semester is officially underway. Its sort of hard to believe that time flew by so fast. This first week will be all half days, so make sure to pick your students up at 12:00, not 3:00!

This whole first week will be focused on a science project that Ms. Wycklendt will be communicating to you about. The project will be worked on both at school and home and will be presented on project night (Thursday January 12th). If you have any questions about project night, feel free to email myself or Ms. Wycklendt.

Most of our time this week will be devoted to helping the students put together and write about their project, but they will also be reading the Princess and the Goblin at home. The story by George McDonald is a wonderful one and I highly encourage you to read it with your students. Make sure they know the details because there will be focus questions and quizzes on the plot.

Best,

Mr. Ohbayashi

Q2Week9

Dear Parents,

As we close out the final week of the semester, here are some things to keep in mind:

1) The Shakespeare Festival is taking place this Monday from 12:00-1:00 in the MPR. Come out and see your students perform Twelfth Night!

2) We have quizzes this week in History and LA. The History Quiz will be on Thursday and the LA Quiz will be on Friday. These quizzes will not be too difficult and should not stress the students out too much.

3) The Bard competition is this Thursday! If your student is preparing for it make sure they put the finishing touches on their poem!

4) Have fun! The first 2 semesters of Great Hearts can be tiring. Enjoy your Christmas break and let your students relax and have fun. There is no homework over the break, so they can get a much needed rest.

In Class

1) In History we are learning about the earliest European colonies in the Americas. Ask your students what it was like to be a colonist in the 1600s. What colonies were there? What countries started colonies in different areas? The more they discuss, the more they will understand and retain the history that they learn.

2) In Reading we will be reviewing all the parts of speech we have learned so far. We will be diagramming sentences and learning the function of Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives, and Adverbs.

3) In Reading we will be learning the story of Hamlet and watching scenes from that play and Much Ado About Nothing.

Best,

Mr. Ohbayashi

Q2Week8

Dear Parents,

It is hard to believe we are coming to the end of our first semester at Archway Trivium East. Your students have been doing great, keep encouraging them, only a little bit more to go before Winter Break!

Coming up next Monday (December 14th) is the Shakespeare festival. During the day your students will give a readers theater performance of the play Twelfth Night. More details will be emailed to you soon.

Many of your students have been preparing for the Great Hearts Bard competition. I am very excited to see the work of the 4th grade Bards! They will perform their poems of the 17th of December, so make sure they are practicing their memorization.

In Class

1) In Writing and Reading we will be practice for our performance of Twelfth Night  on Monday. Have your students read through their scene with you at home and tell you about the part they will be playing! It is readers theater, so they don't have to have any lines memorized, but it would be helpful if they are familiar with their lines and cues.

2) In History we will be studying the motivations and events that led to the first explorations west by the European powers in the late Middle Ages. What were explorers like Colombus trying to find when they sailed across the Atlantic? What consequences did this have for Europe and the rest of the world? Conversations at home will help deepen your students understanding of the material.

As always, feel free to email me at bohbayashi@archwaytriviumeast.org if you have any questions or concerns!

Best,

Mr. Ohbayashi