Humphreys Headlines

December 6, 2013
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Reading
Our class has been working on traditional literature stories. The traditional literature genre can be divided into other subgenres such as folk tales, fairy tales, myths, legends and fables. As we learn a new subgenre we have been discussing the differences between each of them and examples of each type. With all of these stories we have been talking about story structure such as character, setting, problem and solution and magical elements that are found in many of these stories. The class discussed different versions of the same traditional stories and determined that because these stories were told orally that perhaps the endings or other elements have changed. For example, we read two different versions of Rumpelstiltskin that had different endings. We have also discussed the use of repeated language in some of these texts. The students are also reading fractured fairy tales that take the basic elements of a traditional fairy tale and put a twist on it.

Social Studies
In our current unit of study we are working on understanding the idea of checks and balances and the jobs of the three branches of government. We are also learning about the separation of powers and why the federal, state, and local governments are each responsible for different laws and operations. Discussing the rights and responsibilities of voters, we have thought about the election process and ideal qualities of candidates. I am planning on assessing this unit in the last week before Christmas break. Upon returning from break, we will begin a short unit on the people, land, and industries of Michigan.

Science
The fourth graders started our View from the Earth science unit. Each day, the students have been keeping track of weather information including temperature, precipitation and wind direction. As we continue to collect this information, the students learned how the Earth gets day and night due to the rotation of the Earth. After learning about the cause of day and night, we moved on to the orbit of the moon around Earth as it is rotating on its axis as well. While the Earth makes one complete rotation on its axis in 24 hours, it takes the moon about as long to make one complete rotation as it does to orbit Earth. The moon's orbit takes 29 1/2 days. Students have learned about the movement of Earth and the moon through a lot of movement to help them understand what is happening in our immense universe. We will continue to learn about the orbit of Earth around the sun and the phases of the moon in coming lessons. As we learned about the moon, the students will be making moon observations. Each child will have an evening to take home the moon observation log and make home observations. If you have difficulty observing the moon on your evening observation due to weather, check out a local weather website for the moon phase and location in the sky. Thank you for your support and help!

Math
In math, our class has been working on our first unit on decimals. In this unit, we have been exploring the similarities between fractions and decimals. Fractions with a denominator of 10 or 100 can be easily turned into a decimal. We have also been working on comparing and ordering decimals and adding and subtracting decimals. We will be testing this unit on Tuesday of next week. Please look for a review of Unit 4 to come home with your child on Monday. The following unit is working on multi-digit multiplication. Having strong knowledge on multiplication facts will be very important in this unit going well. Please continue to study facts at home!

M iscellaneous Notes
Please know that if you have any questions or concerns, please get in touch with me at school (863-6362) or by e-mail (khumphreys@rockfordschools.org). Check out the classroom blog at misshumphreys.blogspot.com! I cant wait to see all the performers at the Holiday Music Program on Tuesday, December 10 at 7:30 pm at the high school! I love to see all the fourth graders in their holiday outfits!