Week of February 27 to March 3

What We Learned this Week:

Bible: This week, we talked about David's covenant with his best friend Jonathan. We then talked about how David fulfilled that covenant by finding and taking care of Jonathan's son. We spent some time talking about how this story is similar to God's love for us as His adoptive children. This story and message might be a good topic of discussion this weekend as a family.

Math: We are applying our knowledge of writing equations to solve for an unknown part of a word problem and are applying it to solve for two-step problems. It is a lot of work, but the students are doing a good job. Keep it up, 4th graders!

Writing: We have started to draft our personal expertise papers. We will spend a good amount of time in the drafting process.

Reading: This week, we practiced identifying major themes of books we have already read this week. We took that knowledge and applied it during a compare and contrast exercise. We compared and contrasted the themes of two books we have read. We discovered that authors write about similar themes regarding life. That's pretty cool!

 

Grammar: We took what we learned last week about the Spanish conditional tense and reviewed the irregular conditional tense verbs. The students used their knowledge in order to debate each other if it is a good idea to allow gum chewing at schools.

Social Studies: We read two books detailing the experiences of the journeys immigrants took as they traveled to America. We researched Ellis Island and looked at some historical photographs of immigrants arriving to Ellis Island. We talked about how immigrants couldn't take much with them to America-only what could fit in a trunk. We talked about what we would all pack in a trunk if we had to travel to a new country to start a brand-new life. 

4th Grade Parent Teacher Conferences:

Parent Teacher Conferences are scheduled for March 20 and 27, and they will be student-led. This means that the students must be present during the conferences. In addition, both of these dates (March 20 and 27) will be in-person. There is no virtual option. 

Parents, there will be a part of the conference in which your student will ask you to name one thing you think they are good at. Please think of a response to that question before the conference.

Lansing Trip:

Please check your emails for information on the upcoming Lansing trip scheduled for Wednesday, March 22. I will also include a link to the information here. 

Abigail Nasari Visit:

We have the honor and privilege to invite recent Hope graduate Abigail Nasari to our classroom on Tuesday, March 7. Abigail grew up in Tanzania and went to school in Kenya. Abigail will share with our students a bit about her artwork in addition to talking to the students about Faith Ringgold. We will also have the opportunity to eat some authentic African American food. We look forward to this event. Thank you, Jasmine Irish, for organizing this cultural activity. 

From the Office:

To the elementary and middle school students who are interested in playing lacrosse for Holland Christian this year, there will be a parent informational meeting on Thursday, March 9 at 7pm. It will be held in the Lecture Hall at Holland Christian High School. Please enter through Door A which will be unlocked at 6:45. This meeting is to provide you with details in terms of practice, equipment, times, etc. If you have any questions, we will be willing to answer any you may have there as well.

From the Spanish Immersion Department:

If you are interested in having your child attend Spanish Immersion camp this summer, please click here to view more information. We do have enough kids to run the camp. The more the MERRIER! Come join us. :)