Ms. Tovey's Blog

English
We will finish up the chapter on adjectives this week and the test will be on Tuesday, March 16th. A review sheet should come home on Monday, March, 15th.
Writing
The brochure part of the "Planning a Planet Vacation" project is finished. This week the children will work on writing their descriptive papers to go with the brochure. The paper will be seven paragraphs: introduction, five body paragraphs, and a conclusion. This will be the first time all year that the children will be writing their own introduction and conclusion. (Let's hope I have taught them something)
Science
We will finish up the unit on the solar system this week and the test is scheduled for Wednesday, March 17th. The five short answer questions from Quiz 2 will be on the test along with the following:
1. Name the four planets with rings. The four planets with rings are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
2. If a spaceship tried to land on Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, or Neptune what would happen? Why? If a spaceship tried to land on Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, or Neptune it would fall through the planet because they are made of gases.
3. Name the nine planets in order from closest to the sun, to furthest from the sun. The nine planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. (optional)

English
On Monday, the children will be given an English review sheet for Tuesday's test on adjectives. This week we will also start the chapter on adverbs which is not the next chapter in the book; but since we are working on descriptive writing it makes more sense to me to keep the two chapters about describing words together. The chapter on pronouns will be studied after the chapter on adverbs.

Writing
The children will present their "Planet Vacation" reports to their class this week. I also hope to start the next descriptive writing assignment which is a mystery story about what happened to the Shrouds? The story will be based on the following short article.
What Happened to the Shrouds?
One of the most interesting spots to visit in Pleasant Valley is the Shroud Estate. Clyde Shroud built it in 1884 for his new bride, Charlotte. Nobody from town ever saw Clyde's mysterious bride. The Shrouds lived in their new home for only a few years but in then 1890 the entire family disappeared from Pleasant Valley. To this day, nobody knows where they went!
The Shroud Estate sits on top of the highest bluff like a guard over looking Pleasant Valley. The heavy, front door is always locked and the windows are all boarded up. The tall trees surround and enclose the house in a blanket of gloom.
A rusted iron fences encircles the mansion as a sign to stay away, but many visitors have come to the Shroud estate hoping to uncover the mystery of what happened to Clyde and Charlotte Shroud. Who will unlock the secrets that this house holds and determine once and for all "What Happened to the Shrouds?"
Science
On Monday, we will wrap up the chapter on the solar system with Pluto. The test is scheduled for Wednesday of this week and like the quiz will have some short answer questions. The five that were on the quiz will be on the test along with a few new ones which can be found in last week's blog. At the end of the week, I hope to begin the unit on Space Travel.

English
We will begin the chapter on Adverbs this week which can be found on pages
420 - 431 in the English book. We will cover pronouns after adverbs.
Writing
Due to a few interruptions in the schedule this week (Officer Friendly and St. Baldrick's) I was not able to cover all that I wrote in last week's blog.
The children will begin presenting their "Planet vacation" reports this week, and I hope to introduce the next descriptive writing assignment, "What Happened to the Shrouds?" this week as well.
Science
We will begin the unit on space Travel this week. The unit begins with the Soviet launching of Sputnik I and ends at the present. This unit has a lot of information, so additional review with your child will be very beneficial. The hardest part of the unit is learning the years in which the important events happened. I will include them on my blog each week so that you can review them with your child.
1957 - Sputnik I is launched
1957 - Space Race begins
!958 - Explorer I is launched
1958 - NASA is founded
As the children

English
This week we will cover pages 426 - 427 on Using Adverbs to Compare.
Writing
I am going to put off the "What Happened to the Shrouds?" paper until after break.
Science
The Space Race has officially begun in 4th grade. To date the kids have learned about Sputnik I and II and Explorer I, the world's first man-made satellites. We have also talked about Laika, Able and Baker, and Ham, the world's first animal astronauts. This week the children will take their notes on these topics and set up their important date's page. No new dates will be added this week.