January 23-27 in Fourth Grade

     Welcome to Fourth Grade in the week of 1-23-17 to 1-27-17. This week we started our Book Clubs. On Monday, we chose what book our group wanted from 3 books. On Friday, we had our first Book Club meeting to discuss the section we read. On Thursday, we worked with a partner to write a poem about dancing. We read a story about a dancer in English class. Fourth grade also learned a new math game with dice. First you roll 3 dice and then you add two numbers then multiply the sum by the 3rd number. First one to 500 wins! This was a very exciting week for Fourth Grade. Bye.
By Henry

     Hi, I'm Nate and we are finally back from the snow. This week we learned about mountain men who were the first pioneers in Oregon. We learned how they had great senses and outdoor skills. We also read a play about Sacajawea. It was about how she got into the expedition and how she was important. Some mornings at prayer and sometimes before a test, we do mindfulness meditations. They help us be calm. This coming week is Catholic Schools week. There will be free dress on Tuesday and Wednesday! It will be lots of fun! So long and next week there will be a new blog post.

By Nate

     This coming up week is Catholic Schools Week! We will be celebrating all aspects of our community. Highlights for 4th graders is free dress for Tuesday's Student Appreciation day and Wednesday for the first day of the month. The 4th graders will be leading Mass this coming Thursday for the All School Mass. Readings went home in Friday Folders. Join us! Please see Friday Footnotes for the rest of the schedule.

    This Tuesday is the Oregon Trail overnight meeting so stay tuned f'or information coming later in the week. I'll be in contact with chaperone volunteers after I know more about it. 

Have a great weekend,

Jenn

Happy New Year!

     We are back from Christmas break and it is 2017!  We had a lot of snow days so we missed some school but missing school is fun. This trimester, Mr. Grant is coming into our classroom to teach Health. We are learning about the environment. We watched a video about nature. It made me think that the earth is a beautiful place. This week in math we are learning about multiples of 10, 100, and 1,000. Religion this week was all about Jesus being the image of God. We had a religion test. Happy 2017!
by Katherine

     Wow! Wasn't that an awesome snow vacation we had?! We missed 4 days of school but this week was different. It is not vacation, it is school so let me tell you about this adventurous week. First, we continued to learn about Lewis and Clark's expedition which was very exhausting but in my opinion is very fun! Now I am going to tell you about something more nerve raking... the math test. That's right, the math test! Oh what an adventure it was to finish that. It was like getting through a maze of goblins. Another thing we did this week that was one of my favorites is learning about muscles. So get your blood pumping, I am going to tell you about my favorite muscle, the cardiac muscle. It pumps your heart! The final thing I want to tell you is I hope you have a Happy New Year!
By Daniel

     Happy New Year to you all! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas Break including a couple extra days at the beginning. I was sad to not get to say a proper Merry Christmas to the Fourth Graders but enjoyed a couple extra days to get ready for the holidays!  My family and I packed a bunch of fun into those two weeks including a trip to snowy Sun Valley, Idaho. It felt like a long break and I was ready to come back to our little Fourth Grade classroom. 

     

     I received the dates for our Oregon Trail Overnight and we will be going the night of April 20-21. We will be departing on the morning of the 20th and returning after lunch on the 21st. I have a few names for chaperones but just to make sure I have everyone, please email me and confirm you are available on those dates and can come with us. There is no charge of parents but you do have to sleep in the cabins with the students. I have a meeting on January 31st to get more information so I will fill you in on the details as soon as I know them. This will be fun!

    The Fourth Graders brought home the latest book report assignment this weekend in their Friday Folders due February 8th. It is a little different this month as we look at non-fiction text. At the end of the month, the Fourth Graders will begin a research project on a National Park of their choice. Most of the research and writing will be done at school with a small amount at home. This coming week, the Fourth Graders will be a member of a book club. Each club will choose a novel to read and over the next 3 weeks will dive deep into discussing and analyzing the text. In math, we will be challenged with 2 digit multiplication coming up.

     This coming week the Fourth Graders are in charge of St. Stephens lunches on Tuesday, January 10th and then we will lead Mass on Thursday, January 12th. If your Fourth Grader has a reading part, the reading was sent home in Friday Folders. Please join us! 

     I hope you saw the letter from Mrs. Steele regard the make up snow days in the Friday Footnotes. We will have school on Tuesday, January 17th and Tuesday, February 21st. I may see you tomorrow night for the Christmas concert make up weather permitting. Have a blessed rest of your weekend!

God Bless, 

Jenn

December in Fourth Grade

     This week we had so much fun! Our church is in the season of Advent and we got to make this cool tree. We made the tree with real pine then we decorated the tree with paper ornaments. On the ornaments, we wrote our Advent good deeds on one side and then decorated the other side with dots and line. They turned out great. We also had Thoughtful Thursday were we wrote a nice and loving note to a person in our class. We had Reconciliation on Thursday. We went to the Fireside room with the 3rd graders with Deacon Mike to learn about life choices on Wednesday to get ready for Reconciliation. Two 8th graders came to role play how to go to Reconciliation. We got to make life packs and light a candle after Reconciliation in the back of the church. This was a great week!

By Katie

     This week was amazing. In science, we learned about how fingers move with muscles, tendon, bones and joints. We learned that the thumb is not a finger. We tried to do all sorts of things without thumbs like opening a jar, buttoning a button, and tying a shoe lace. In Social Studies, we learned how Thomas Jefferson bought the Louisiana Purchase from Napoleon, the leader of France. After Jefferson purchased the new land, he sent Lewis and Clark to explore it and find a waterway to the Pacific ocean. This expedition is know as the Corps of Discovery. We played a game trying to figure out which states were in the Louisiana Purchase. This week was the best week this year. 

By Graham

     There are so many events coming up these last weeks of 2016! Get your calendar ready to add these important dates!

December 5-14th ~ The student council has organized our Christmas service project for the Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, We are collecting travel size shampoos and soaps (easier to distribute), razors, socks, toothpaste and toothbrushes, and deodorant. Boxes are by the school front door. 

December 5th- 16th ~ Scarf Drive for the homeless. Please bring in a warm scarf, new or used to the school or church. 

December 6th ~ Bring in $2 for Free Dress to provide books for the Children's Book Bank

December 8th ~ Madeleine Market place and Tree Lighting 

December 9th ~ Report cards go home. One trimester down!

December 12th ~ Friendship Family Present Pass. Bring a gift wrapped $1-5 for a boy or a girl for this annual event. 

December 15th ~ Madeleine School Musical/CD release party  7pm

December 16th ~ 4th Grade Christmas Party 2:15~ Please join us!

     Wow! This is a busy time! In 4th grade we are taking time to slow down and prepare our hearts for the coming of Jesus this Christmas with mindful advent prayers each day. This season is full of anticipation and hope. I wonder if the forecast is right about the snow! It sure would be beautiful!

God Bless, 

Jenn

November

     Hello parents of the Fourth Grade. I'm Michael and I'm going to tell you about what we did last week in class. First we celebrated Noah and my birthdays with a dance party. Also we made a comic about the rock cycle and after that we had a math test. On Thursday, we led Mass and Gabe from the God Squad said the Homily. On Friday, we made place mats for the people who live in Laurelhurst Village. That is just some of the things we did this week. 
By Michael

     This was a very interesting and fun week. Mrs. Slavik came to visit on Monday and told us a story about the explorers. Then we picked our favorite explorer, wrote about them and made a character. We did a lot of research to see what our explorer did. Another thing we did was made a mannequin video. Everybody froze in a pose. It looked like time had stopped! Table names was another highlight. We came up with a Thanksgiving-like name for our table groups. Then, we decorated a poster with our table group name on it. On Friday, we went to see the 2nd graders do a Thanksgiving act. They sang songs and put on a small play. We had fun at school this week. Hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving!

By Carlyle

       I recommend each Fourth Grader work on practicing multiplication facts and  the book report over this break!       

      I am so thankful for this class of Fourth Graders! I wish you all a blessed Thanksgiving. Here is our mannequin challenge video...Happy Thanksgiving!