December Parent Update

Dear Families,

In class, we have been working on the following:

• Reading:  In reading, we continue to read Stories from My Life closely to better understand the deeper meaning of the story and to help us become better writers.  Each week we read Time for Kids magazine, discuss the current events, and complete a comprehension quiz covering the magazine’s content.  We are reading and responding to a variety of texts.  Students should continue to read for FAR and complete several chapter books per month.
• Writing:  In writing, we have been focusing on reading/ writing connections.  The students read a picture book and respond to a given prompt that follows the theme of the book.  We have also been reproducing unfamiliar texts in order to help them identify, label and analyze different parts of a story.  Being able to do this well will allow students to write their stories more effectively. 
• Math:  We are finishing our unit on fractions. After the winter break, we will begin working on decimals.  Students need to continue to incorporate both long division without remainders and 2x2 digit multiplication problems into their Weekly Math Fact Practice.
• Science:  We are beginning our unit on soil, natural resources, fossil fuels and conservation.  After the New Year, we will focus on ecosystems, food chains/webs, plant structure and function and plant life cycles. 
• Social Studies: We are finishing up with explorers. Next, we will study Spanish Missions in Texas and learn how Spanish culture influenced Texas.

Reminders: 

• December 13^th: Early Dismissal
• December 19^th: Early Dismissal
• December 20^st:  Classroom Holiday Party & Early Dismissal
• January 7^th:  Students return to school at 12214 Memorial DriveJ

o   NEW SCHOOL HOURS: 8:00 – 3:00

• January 10^th: Report cards go home 
• January 15^th: Class and Individual Pictures
• January 20^th:  NO SCHOOL
• January 22^nd: Taste of Texas field trip: Rabel/ Yao, Janacek, Davis & White
• January 23^rd: Taste of Texas field trip: Meadows & Root
• February 5^th: SHREK! Field trip to MHS to see the play
• February 19^th: Field trip to MFAH

We hope you all have a very safe and happy winter holiday! J

Fourth Grade Teachers

Clothing/ Shoe Drive

COAT/SHOE DRIVE FOR HOUSMAN ELEMENTARY -The spirit of the season is
upon us. Donate, Donate, Donate!! And this donation helps you and others. As you are
cleaning your closets to make room for your new holiday items, consider donating your gently
used (or new) jackets and shoes to Housman. There will be 2 bins by the front office from
Monday, December 2nd through December 13th to place your donated items. Support our
Sister School!

George Ranch

This past week, we went to George Ranch we saw what it was like to live back then.I learned how to cook food in a pot .Do you know where the name "Chuck Wagon" came from ? We do! It came from a cook  in the cowboy  crew that named it after Charles Goodall. 

By Clara 

Division using base 10 blocks

November Newsletter

Dear Families,

In class, we have been working on the following:

• Reading:  We will continue to map fiction texts as we move into creating characteristic charts that define the different parts of the story arc.  This will help students internalize the infrastructure of fiction stories.  All the while, we are deepening our understanding of texts by analyzing and discussing what is happening in the story and what it means to us, as a reader.  Each week we read Time for Kids magazine, discuss the current events, and complete a comprehension quiz covering the magazine’s content.  We are reading and responding to a variety of texts. 
• Writing:  Students have been working on letter writing.  We are also analyzing personal narratives in order to be able to effectively write our own. 
• Math: We have been working hard at long division.  We are just beginning fractions.  Please continue to practice math facts, and incorporate long division and 2x2 digit multiplication at home.

• Science:  We’ve concluded our weather unit, and are encouraging the students to continue checking the weather each day.  Next week, your fourth grade scientists will begin a unit about landforms, weathering, erosion and deposition.  When they return from Thanksgiving, we will begin a unit on soil components and properties. 

• Social Studies:  In Social Studies, we will continue studying Native Americans. Afterward we will study early explorers such as Christopher Columbus, Robert LaSalle, Francisco Coronado and Cabeza de Vaca. 

Reminders: 

• November 27 - 29:  School Holiday

As the holiday season approaches, we would like to take this opportunity to tell you how truly thankful we are for all that we have been blessed with this school year.  We are so grateful to be a part of such a wonderful learning community.  Thank you for making Frostwood such a warm and friendly place.  We appreciate your friendly smiles, kind words, and positive comments. Thank you for everything that you so generously contribute to our school.  All of the volunteer time, popcorn, books, delicious meals, and sweet treats are greatly appreciated.  Above all, thank you so much for the encouragement and support you give us and your children everyday. The life lessons that you teach them is reflected daily in their sweet personalities and giving nature.   We truly love our job and we feel so thankful to work with your wonderful children. 

We wish you all a very safe and happy Thanksgiving! J

Fourth Grade Teachers

Multiplication

Addition Educreation with Tech Buddy

Adding Educreation

Water Cycle Educreation By Trey and Jonathan

The Water Cycle

Perimeter Educreation

Long Division

Weather Jokes

Weather jokes!

Weather Jokes

How do hurricanes see?

With one eye!

What does a cloud wear under his raincoat?

Thunderwear!

What type of lightning likes to play sports?

Ball lightning!

What type of cloud is so lazy, because it will never get up?

Fog!

What did the lightning bolt say to the other lightning bolt?

You're shocking!

Whatever happened to the cow that was lifted into the air by the tornado?

Udder disaster!

What did the one tornado say to the other?

Let’s twist again like we did last summer.

What did the thermometer say to the other thermome

Water Cycle Notes

Weather

Ed Heads Weather Games

October News Letter

Dear Families,

I hope this finds you all well! 

In class, we have been working on the following:

• Reading:  We have been consuming Stories From My Life (SFML).  While reading these stories together, we have been tracking our thoughts and sharing them as we read.  We have also been responding to our reading in our reader’s and writer’s notebooks.    Additionally, we have introduced Time for Kids magazine. Issues cover a wide range of real-world topics kids love to learn about and it's a wonderful example of nonfiction text. TFK (Time for Kids) builds reading and writing skills and is easily integrated across our curriculum, including social studies, science and math.
• Writing: We have continued to work on generating ideas in our writing journal and building story arcs.  Soon we will begin essay writing for our work with John O’ Flahavan. Students will be given the opportunity to compare two things such as books, or characters and write an essay sample. We will then look at these samples with Dr. O’ Flahavan and see how we can foster our kids to become better writers.

·         Math:  We are continuing to work on 2x1 and 2x2-digit multiplication.  We will begin long division soon. We are building and reinforcing our problem solving skills through the SBISD Problem Solving Model and Mountain Math.  Please remember to study multiplication and division math facts each night.  We have also started sending Lone Star Problem Solving each Monday for homework. These are due on Friday unless you hear otherwise.

• Social Studies:  We are finishing regions and have learned the symbols of Texas. After concluding regions, we will move on to Native American tribes present in early Texas.
• Science: We are studying the phases of the moon, and discussing tides which will conclude our unit on Space.  The next unit of study will be weather: what it is, how to measure it, types of clouds, air masses, and reading weather maps.  Keep track of the weather daily on www.weather.com. 

Reminders: 

• Columbus Day is Monday, October 14^th: NO SCHOOL
• Carnival: October 26^th @ Bunker Hill
• Early dismissal days are October 24^th and 25^th 
• Look for conference sign-ups shortly via email, if you haven’t already signed up
• Report cards go home October 28^th if they are not picked up at the conference.

Thanks so much,

Fourth Grade Teachers

The Water Cycle

The Water Cycle

Click here to enjoy Tides song!

Octavia Spencer is coming to Frostwood!

Octavia Spencer, best known for her role as Minny, the outspoken maid in the 2011 film The Help for which she won the Academy Award for “Best Supporting Actress”, will be speaking to Frostwood students (grades 3-5) in the Westchester Theatre at 9:30 AM on October 23rd.  Blue Willow Bookshop is sponsoring her visit for us. She has written a children’s middle grade novel Randi Rhodes Ninja Detective, The Case of the Time Capsule.

Book order forms are going home with students today and are available on the Frostwood Elementary website. Orders received by Tuesday, October 15, are guaranteed to be personalized. Orders received after that date may not be personalized and will be filled as books are available.

What is a Scientist?

Hello!

Parts of a Flower

Food Chains and Food Webs

Einstein plays the piano!

Einstein

Friday is Earth Day!

Dear Parents:

Pack your lunch and your picnic blanket and join us for Frostwood's 2nd annual Earth Day "Picnic for the Planet" this Friday!  We're celebrating the planet we live on, the food it provides, and the people we share it with. We will be following the regular school lunch schedule, so check your school directory for class lunch times.   

Please remember to bring a waste-free, Earth friendly lunch and use the recycling bins, as we will be celebrating Earth Day. Also, please email your room parent if you are available to help as a class volunteer.  Each class needs 2-3 volunteers to help with moving students to and from the designated picnic areas.  

Thanks and we hope to see you on Friday!  Remember to arrive a few minutes early to allow for time to sign-in at the front office.  If you have any questions, please email your room chair or Connie Jones at cfloresjones@sbcglobal.net.

Connie Jones

Recycling/Go Green Committee 

Customary Weight Conversions

STAAR Conversion Sheets and Notes

Gallon House Conversion Notes

Checkbook Challenge

Our fourth graders are learning how to add and subtract decimals by writing checks and balancing a checkbook. They love it!

Decimal Number of the Day

Decimals- tenths