Ms. Tovey's Blog

Welcome Back!
My name is Carolyn Tovey and I will be teaching your child English/Writing and Science this year. Please be sure to carefully read the Parent Letter that will be coming home on Monday so as to get a better understanding of each of the Fourth Grade Teacher's expectations for your child.

English
This week we will cover pages 2 - 5 in the English book. I have found in the past that the four types of sentences (declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory) can be quite difficult for some fourth graders. Any extra review you can to do with your child will be greatly appreciated.

Writing
This week we will work on topic sentences and paragraph structure. We will also review how important it is for paragraphs to be written in a time order that makes sense.
The first assignment will have the kids coloring either a boy or a girl who are wearing sunglasses. They will then draw into the sunglasses the two most favorite things they did this summer. We will then set up an outline where each child will have to write four additional facts to go with each picture. Finally, as a class we will come up with some good topic sentences and the children will then write their two paragraphs. The final paper will also have a teacher guided introduction and conclusion.

Science
I like to begin each year teaching the children how to interpret and make graphs. The two types of graphs we will focus on in science are bar and line graphs. This short unit usually takes about three weeks and then we will move onto The Animal Kingdom.

English
Last week my goal was to cover pages 2 -5 in the English book. Unfortunately, all I was able to cover was pages 2 and 3 in the book. This week I plan on covering pages 4 and 5. The topic for these two pages is Declarative and Interrogative sentences. Last year the children learned these two types of sentences, however they learned them as statement and question. So the concept should not be difficult but the terminology will be. Any extra review you can give your child will be greatly appreciated.

Writing
On Tuesday the children will be writing their final copies of their Summer Fun papers. I am most impressed with the writing ability of the children thus far and I am looking forward to being able to really push the kids to become the best writers they can be.
We will alos spend some time this week on topic sentences. We will cover identifying them in a paragraph and also work on writing a good topic sentence.
By the end of the week I hope to assign the next writing assignment. This assignment will be creative writing. The children will see themselves as a superhero. They will have to come up with a superhero name and then follow a strict set of directions for writing their paper. Each child will be given a set of these directions, so please feel free to ask your child to view them.

Science
We will continue our unit on graphing. To date I have introduced the three types of graphs that are used in science and the children have made two simple bar graphs. Your child should have notes in his/her notebook on the three types of graphs and when it is appropriate to use each type. I will give one more set of notes this week on the parts of a graph. Please know that when it comes time to study for a science test all your child will need to bring home is his/her notebook. I have discussed with the kids how important it is to put the notes neatly into their notebook. If you notice that your child is missing notes please let me know so that I can get him/her caught up.