March 2nd, 2010
L’équipe P4
HOT TOPICS
Almost there... 1 but we still have a lot to
Homework Discussion 1 have a nice relaxing
What’s going on in P4 2
Useful resources 3
Dates to remember 4
Contact with the teacher…
If at any time throughout the
year you need to speak with me
or would like to book a teacher/
parent conference regarding a
concern or a question, I encour-
age parents/guardians to let me
know ahead of time in order to
get your child’s file ready. We can
schedule conferences before or
right after school. You can use
your child’s agenda for communi-
cation purposes as I will be sign-
ing them daily. You can also call
at convenient hours such as be-
fore or after school (905) 665-
2001.
News from Portable 4
M m e . T o m s
M A RC H B R EA K I S A L M O S T H ER E !
With March Break just the break, March 10th
around the corner, ex- in the afternoon at Iro-
citement is in the air quois Park. Parents are
welcome but are asked
do before we can all to meet us at the arena
around 12:30pm. The
week off. cost to skate for stu-
Reminder to all that we dents is $2.00. Students
have a great afternoon are required to wear a
of skating just before helmet and mittens/
H O M E WO R K D IS C U S S IO N !
Term 2 has begun (started in Febru-
and homework will ary and due every
continue. Each week Friday)
students are responsi- Please make sure you
ble for 3 things: are reading your
Mots de la se- child’s agenda and
maine (words of signing it daily.
the week- due Absences:
every Tuesday)
If a student is away, it
Journal de Math is their responsibility
(due every Thurs- to ensure that they
day) catch up on work that
Reading log was missed and hand
gloves when skating.
Be sure to check your
child’s skates before
next Thursday to make
sure they fit and are
sharpened, and if you
happen to have extra
skates please let me
know.
Mme. Toms
in any work that was
due upon their return
to school.
Lates:
Things are getting
much better, thank
you. Just a reminder
that the school bell
rings at 8:15am and
we begin our daily
activities at this time.
Page 2
WHAT’ S GOING ON THIS
Math:
Our 2D geometry unit has fin-
ished and now we are onto our
addition and subtraction unit.
The number sense strand is a
very large strand and students
will find that from here until the
end of the year there will be a lot
of adding, subtracting, multiply-
ing and dividing. To prepare for
these units, I encourage students
to practice basic facts of all four
areas at home. During March
Break I will be sending home a
small booklet for students to
work on and following the
March Break, a package will be
sent home with activities, work-
sheets and games to play with
the students/parents to help stu-
dents become more familiar with
basic facts.
Language: Students have been
working hard at analyzing fairy
tales, specifically looking at the
climax of such stories. Where is
it found? Who is involved?
Which decision needs to be
made? What is the highest point
of the story? Now students are
being asked to re-create the end-
ing of a famous fairy tale. Stu-
dents have been put in groups
and assigned a fairy tale. Indi-
vidually they will re write the
ending and then in groups
choose which ending they like
best. Once they have chosen the
ending they like best, as a group
they will begin script writing the
end of the story. Once the scripts
are written, students will be pre-
senting their plays with the new
MONTH
endings to other students in the
school. They will be using puppets
or marionettes to present their
plays and will be responsible for
creating scenes and other props
that they may need. During the
march break I will urge students to
look around the house for small
items they may want to use during
their presentations.
Science: Light and sound is our
new unit of study. Students have
been learning what causes sound,
what are vibrations, how does
sounds travel through discussions,
group work and experimentation.
We have looked at the scientific
method and how it is written. We
will also be looking into pitch as
well as how to create a high/low
sound. Then we will be learning
about light, how it travels, how it
is used, and rainbows. Students
will learn through discovery and
inquiry methods as well as experi-
mentation in class.
Social Studies: Our last unit of
study will be Canada. Students
will focus on our science units un-
til about the middle of April and
then we will dive into our Social
studies unit on Canada. Students
will learn how to create a map,
symbols on a map as well as Can-
ada’s natural resources.
Physical Education: Fitness was
our focus in February and will
continue to be in March. Students
participate in a 12-15 minute cir-
cuit at the beginning of each physi- the dramatic world.
cal education period where they
are running, jumping, stepping,
doing sit-ups etc. These circuits are
L’équipe P4
IN P ORTABLE 4
then followed by a team game such
as broomball, hockey, scoops or
soccer.
Health: We have almost finished
our unit on growth and develop-
ment. We looked at the 4 stages of
growth and are now focusing on
health relationships. What makes a
good friend? How to deal with con-
flicts? Our next unit will be sub-
stance abuse, with a primary focus
on tobacco and alcohol.
Art: Our art project this month will
be minimal as students are finishing
up any incomplete assignments.
Stemming off of our 2D geometry
unit, we will look at tessellations
but will then being using paints,
mixing colours, creating colour
hues and using tools to create dot
art.
Music: Students have been learning
about the different types of notes
that are found in written music.
They have been learning about beat
and rhythm using 4/4 count. Stu-
dents will soon be evaluated on
their own creation. Students will be
asked to write a piece of music and
then play it out using their hands,
feet or a combination of the two.
Drama: Students will be creating a
puppet play where voice and tone
will be evaluated as well as their
ability to play in role. We have
been playing several games in
Drama that ask students to think
outside the box trying to emphasize
that creativity plays a large part in
News from Portable 4
S O ME H E L P FU L R E S O U RC ES
When studying new words:
When learning new words or re-
viewing words that students al-
ready know, here are some key
points or useful tools that will help
students to learn the words rather
then memorize them.
1. Say the word
2. Stretch the word– work
through its syllables
3. Split up the word
4. Look at the word
5. Pronounce the word out loud
6. Write the word
7. Use the word in a sentence
8. Correct the word
How to find errors in your writ-
ing:
1. Did I forget any letters?
2. Did I add any letters?
3. Did I write two letters instead
of just one?
4. Did I put a letter in the place
of another?
5. Did I pronounce the word
wrong?
6. Did I write a word that has
the same pronunciation as my
word?
How to keep math ideas fresh…
The Nelson Math website link for
our unit on Number Sense, try it
out. There are questions, activities
as well as other links to help rein-
force the concepts learned in class.
This month we are focusing on
Chapters 4 and 6.
http://www.nelson.com/nelson/
school/elementary/mathK8/
math4/studentcentre/
studsurf.html#ch2
This link provides you with the
topics we will be covering
throughout our unit on Number
Sense.
The MathFROG website is an-
other great site that allows stu-
dents to play games based on the
concepts learned in all of our
math units.
http://cemc2.math.uwaterloo.ca/
mathfrog/english/kidz/
index.shtml
This month focus on the following
games:
Choose Grade 4
Quadrilateral Quest
Arithmagic
Glowla’s Estimation Contrap-
tion
Multipli ACTION
Rounding and Estimating
It is also encouraged that students
regularly practice their basic com-
puting skills of addition, subtrac-
tion, multiplication and division.
Practice booklets will be sent
home soon.
Page 3
READING PROGRAM
This month, students have begun
an at home reading program. Every
Friday a new log sheet is being sent
home where students record the
amount of time they read daily,
how many pages, the book they
read and then a parent’s signature.
This sheet stays at home the entire
week and then is to be returned the
following Friday.
Students can read anything they
choose so long as it is in FRENCH.
A great site to use is Tumblebooks.
I encourage students to use this site
at least once a week for the read
aloud option so that they are hear-
ing the book being read to them.
TUMBLEBOOKS:
Click on the Clarington Library
link and go to QUICK LINKS
Select tumblebooks
They will find a collection of
animated, talking picture
books.
Use the drop down language
menu to select French
Choose any of the icons but for
age appropriate read aloud’s
choose ―Livres pour enfants‖
Once they choose a story that
they like they are to choose
―Visualisez en ligne‖
Enjoy!
 KEY DATES TO REMEMBER:

March 10th—Skating at Iroquois Park

March 11th-March 21st—March Break
March 22—Pizza Day
March 30– Family Fitness Night
Be sure to take a look at the school website calendar for other relevant information
and important dates.

SCHOLASTIC
Scholastic orders will continue to be handed out monthly to students. Due dates for
forms and money will be written in the agenda as well as on the school website.
Please make cheques payable to Scholastic Canada.