Week of October 1-5

Families of 4C,

As the first quarter is winding down and coming to an end, your fourth grade students are continuing to persevere and work hard to finish strong!

Regular Grade Reports will be sent this weekend as per usual. If your student has any missing assignments, they can turn them in no later than Thursday, October 4 for partial credit. No missing assignments will be accepted for late credit after October 4, as grades for the quarter will be finalized.

Parent-Teacher Conferences will be held the first week back to school from Fall Break. The Sign-Up for conference times will be posted to the blog on Wednesday, October 3.

This Week:

Math: Students will continue to learn how to multiply by two-digit numbers. Students will learn long division with one and two-digit numbers and will take their test toward the end of the week on Thursday or Friday.

Grammar: This week, students will learn about Personal and Indefinite Pronouns, Interrogative Pronouns, Interjections, Contractions, and Introductory Elements. They will also be doing review of last week’s concepts: demonstrative pronouns, and comparative and superlative adjectives.

Spalding: This week, students will be studying their next 31 words, Avenue----- differ. We will typically study 30 words every week; however, this is subject to change by a word or two from week to week depending on word groupings. A family member should dictate the words to the student each night for homework. Students will review words on Thursday and take the final test on Friday. On Thursday, we will be doing our Spalding review lesson with our Spalding coach Mrs. Clause!

Science: Students will continue working through our Life Sciences Unit as they learn about vascular and nonvascular plants and plant reproduction and seed dispersal. Students will have two quizzes, one at the beginning of the week and one toward the end. Each quiz will be review of the notes they have taken thus far. Students should be reviewing their notes regularly to ensure they are prepared.

History: We will continue studying the Middle Ages by reading about William the Conqueror, King Henry II, and Thomas Becket. There will be a quiz on this week’s notes a the end of the week, so students should be reviewing history notes regularly this week to ensure they are prepared.

Essays and research packets for the European Country Project are due Tuesday, November 13. Presentations will be due November 13-16, and will be assigned later in second quarter.

Literature: We have finished our first literature book this year, The Princess and the Goblin. We will be having our end-of-quarter celebration on Friday afternoon to commemorate our first novel completed as fourth graders!

Greek and Latin Roots: On Wednesday, students will be taking a review test on roots 1-25. They can use their set of notecards and their review from September 26 as a study guide. The review check they were given will be nearly identical to the test, except it will include roots 23-25 as well.

Poetry: Students will give their oral recitation of “Dreams” by Langston Hughes on Monday, October 1. All students should be prepared to recite the poem on Monday, but may present on Tuesday depending how time allows. 

Week of September 24-27

Families of 4C,

Homework Surveys:

Upon reviewing the fourth grade homework survey data, the majority of families are finding that homework is being completed within the suggested time (61%). About twenty percent of families are taking up to 90 minutes, and about another twenty percent are taking over an hour and a half. When all of the data is averaged, it looks like the average child is spending around 75 minutes a night on homework.

One common comment was that the homework load isn’t too much, except when there are test and quizzes to study for. There are three accommodations we are proposing to help resolve this concern.

The first is a student and parent accommodation. In the history and science notebooks, at the end of each unit or section, is the study guide for the next test. We recommend that students start filling in this study guide as they learn new information. As they learn this information, their focus should be on those things. We also recommend that they make note cards with this information for easier study. This way, they are working toward memorizing what is most important during the whole unit or section and not just in the last few nights before the test.

The second and third accommodations are teacher accommodations. First, instead of having the study guides due the day before the test, they will be due at least two days before the test. This will provide students with more time to study their finished and corrected study guides. Second, the two nights before any history or science test, students may use the 25 minutes of nightly reading time to study for the upcoming test.

For some families, these accommodations will not be sufficient to relieve the amount of time being spent on homework. If you are finding that your child is still spending more than 70-90 minutes on homework every night, please reach out to your classroom teacher.

This Week:

Math: Students will begin the week reviewing rounding and estimation on Monday before taking their test Tuesday on addition and subtraction. We will spend the rest of the week learning about multiplication and division, and we will be using estimation to help solve.

Grammar: Students will be taking their Classifying and Diagramming Test on Direct and Indirect Object, the ‘not’ adverb, helping and linking verbs, predicate nominatives and predicate adjectives. Students should use their graded in-class practice and homework practice to review over the weekend. If you are interested in supplemental sources to help your student understand Direct and Indirect Objects, Predicate Nominatives and Predicate Adjectives, or Linking Verbs and Helping Verbs, you can click the links for supplemental videos that briefly explain each.

Spalding: This week, students will be studying their next 30 words, Laid----- Publication. We will typically study 30 words every week; however, this is subject to change by a word or two from week to week depending on word groupings. A family member should dictate the words to the student each night for homework. Students will review words on Thursday and take the final test on Friday.

Science: Students will continue working through our Life Sciences Unit. On Monday, we will be finishing our foldable project as we continue learning about Taxonomy. Students will also learn the types of vertebrates before going on to learn about plants, the parts of a flower, photosynthesis, and vascular vs. nonvascular plants. Students will take a short quiz on Friday to review the life sciences terms they have learned so far.

History: In order to provide more review time for students, the Unit 2 Test on chapters 5-10 will be given on Tuesday and our review day will be on Monday. Students were given complete answers to every question except #4, #5, and #8. These questions they should complete for homework so we can review as a class on Monday. Moving forward, study guides will be due two days before the test is given. This one is due the day before since we have been working on it for the last three days. After the exam Tuesday, students will finish the week continuing to learn about life in the Middle Ages.

Students were assigned their country for the European Country project earlier in the week. The packet students were given has all necessary information required to complete the project, including a weekly outline as a guide for when things are due. The only specific due dates are for essays and the research packet, aside from the final project itself. Research and Essays need to be completed by the beginning of Quarter 2, Week 5. This will fall on the week following Veterans Day, so essays will be due on Tuesday, November 13 (no school that Monday).

Literature: Students will continue to study characterization as we continue reading “The Princess and the Goblin.” All students should bring in a copy of the book to use every day for literature.

Greek and Latin Roots: On Wednesday, students will be learning the next three roots and taking their weekly quiz. The weekly quiz will cover two previously taught roots from last week, and one previously taught root from the weeks before. Students need to know the meaning of the root and a derivative word of that root.

Helpful Links:

Singapore Math: If you are interested in additional resources to help your child study at home, you may reference these videos from Archway Glendale.

Grammar: If you are interested in supplemental sources to help your student understand Direct and Indirect Objects, Predicate Nominatives and Predicate Adjectives, or Linking Verbs and Helping Verbs, you can click the links for supplemental videos from the Khan Academy and Shurley English that briefly explain each.


I wish you all a wonderful weekend, and I look forward to a lot of learning in the shortened week to come!

--Mrs. Conforti

Week of September 17-21

Families of 4C,

I hope all of your weekends are off to a lovely start after putting in hard work this week!

Class Announcements:

Thank you to those of you who have donated tissues to our classroom; we now have quite the ready supply approaching cold and allergy season!

Parents, please be advised that there was an error to the answer key on question #1(f) on Math Test 1.5A. This question will be removed from the scoring making the test out of 13 points, so no student will have this question marked against them.

Weekly Grade Reports will be sent to all families this weekend to serve as a snapshot of your child's grade. If you have any questions or concerns with their current grade, please first direct them to the student to promote self-responsibility in academics.

Upcoming Events: You can find more information about all upcoming events on the Archway Arete Newsletter. Here are this week’s events:

The Mother and Son Event is Saturday, September 15 from 5:30 to 8:30 at the school. We hope to see our young men there with their moms!

Picture Day will be this Thursday, September 20. Students should bring their best smile to school on this day!

Grandparents Day will be this Thursday, September 21. All scholars are welcome to invite their grandparents to spend part of the day with them at school and get a feel for what happens in the student’s school day!

This Week:

Grammar: Students will continue practicing classifying and diagramming simple sentences. This week, students will learn about helping verbs and verb phrases, the “not” adverb, predicate nominative, and predicate adjective.

Math: On Monday, students will be taking their cumulative review assessment on the last 6 chapters. This test will cover negative numbers, order of operations, multiples, factors, rounding, approximation, and place value. Students will use the Cumulative Test B worksheet for review. As the week progresses, we will dive into addition and subtraction using bar models. On Wednesday, students will continue working through practice in the Khan Academy.

Spalding: This week, students will be studying their next 31 words, Perhaps----- Courage. We will typically study 30 words every week; however, this is subject to change by a word or two from week to week depending on word groupings. A family member should dictate the words to the student each night for homework. Students will review words on Thursday and take the final test on Friday.

Science: As we are delving into the Life Sciences unit, students will be learning about the needs of living things and classification and ordering of species. Students will be doing a special foldable this week while taking notes on Classification Taxonomy. Students will continue to have regular weekly quizzes in science.

History: Hear ye, hear ye! This week is Chivalry Week in fourth grade! During Chivalry week, students will be making rules for our classroom to follow for the week that reflect attitudes of courage, honesty, helpfulness, honor, justice, and other virtues upheld by the knights of the Middle Ages. This is not a romantic activity, but rather an exercise to display the Code of Chivalry and why it was valued by the knights. For the knights, the Code of Chivalry was not only about honor and feats of war, but was also used to uphold respect and manners to everyone in society, not just the knights. For this reason, we will be tailoring our class laws to resemble respect for self and others and showing good manners. Throughout the week, students will continue learning and reading about life in the Middle Ages, and will take the Unit test on chapters 5-10 on Friday. Students will also have their European Country projects introduced this week.

Greek and Latin Roots: On Wednesday, students will be learning the next three roots and taking their weekly quiz. The weekly quiz will cover two previously taught roots from last week, and one previously taught root from the weeks before.

Poetry: Poetry Recitations will be this Monday, September 17. Students should be ready to recite “Afternoon of a Hill” by Edna St. Vincent Millay.

Literature: Students will continue to study characterization as we continue reading “The Princess and the Goblin.” All students should bring in a copy of the book to use every day for literature.

I wish everyone an enjoyable weekend!

-- Mrs. Conforti

Week of September 10-14

Families of 4C,

Please welcome our class parent, Mrs. Restivo! She will be serving her third year as a class mom for Archway Arete. She will be communicating with you this year in respect to how you can help out with classroom celebrations and will keep you up to date on what is happening with the PSO. I have confidence that her giving heart will make an impactful difference for our students this year!


Grade Reports will be sent weekly to keep you up-to-date about your child’s current grade status. The grade report primarily serves as a snapshot for the child to see where they are and how they are doing, and does not require any additional action items for parents to complete. Grades will commonly fluctuate week-by-week, as they are a tool to track learning progress to see where the student can get stronger. Our goal is not to chase a certain number or letter, but rather to track their growth.

The goal for homework is an average of 60-75 minutes. As this is an average, some students may take longer or shorter depending on their skill level and the rigor demanded for each assignment. If homework ever exceeds 1 hour and 30 minutes, feel free to send an email to let me know that you eclipsed your 75 minutes and outline any specific problems you may have encountered on it so I can see where to offer help. In terms of subjects, students should be spending no more than about 30 minutes on any one subject, unless a project or larger assignment is required and these dates will be given ahead of time. If you find that your child has met the 30 minute mark with a subject, feel free to end homework for that subject and switch to another.

In an effort to provide a fruitful homework experience for our scholars, we rely on the feedback of our families. Parents, please share your feedback by completing this homework survey at your earliest convenience.

History: The Europe Map Test will be given on Monday to allow students more time to study. Students were given a detailed study guide of the map to complete for homework, and this should be the primary study source. You can visit the links for songs about Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and Southern Europe for review. As an additional resource, I have also included a link to an online quiz that can be used to study. On Tuesday, students will take their unit test on the Byzantine Empire, and they can use the Study Guide on page 48 in their notebook for review. This week, we will learn about Charlemagne, feudalism, and castles as we continue our time travel through the Middle Ages.


Science: We will begin this week by continuing to learn about electromagnetism before taking our unit test on electricity Thursday. Students can use the Study Guide on pages 29-30 for review. At the end of the week, we will begin our new unit on life sciences.


Spalding: We will continue Spalding as regularly planned this week, with 3 sets of 10 words for homework this week. Our 30 words this week will run from “themselves-------state.” Your student is responsible for bringing their Spalding notebook home to dictate words. You may also reference the curriculum night packet for the full year’s list of Spalding words.


Math: We will be taking our Order of Operations test on Monday. On Tuesday, we will begin working with negative numbers. Your student is responsible for bringing their math workbook to and from school every day on the nights they have workbook homework. Students should have up to page 33 completed in their workbooks thus far. Check in with your child nightly to ensure they are getting all the practice they need.


Greek and Latin Roots: Greek and Latin roots are taught and reviewed from the set of cards students make in class every Wednesday, unless otherwise noted. This week students will be learning the next three roots and will be tested on 3 previous roots they have learned. Students are responsible for keeping track of their own cards.


Grammar: On Tuesday, students will be taking a Classifying and Diagramming test on pronouns and prepositions. Students should use the homework over the weekend to help them prepare for this test. This video might be helpful when helping your student with classifying and diagramming. There are other resources like this available online, just keep in mind that Great Hearts teaches “Shirley English” and these will be the most effective resources for practice.


As always, I look forward to another week of learning, and I hope you all enjoy your weekend.

--Mrs. Conforti

Week of September 4-7

Families of 4C,

Thank you for coming to our fourth grade Curriculum Night! For those of you who were unable to make it, I have attached a digital file of the Curriculum Night packet to the blog here. In this packet, you can find information about procedures, homework policies, and curriculum scope for the school year. You can also find the complete list of Spalding words with rules and markings, and Spalding instructions for you to practice reviewing phonograms and dictating words to your student.

Monday is Labor Day and we will have no school. This will be an R&R (Rest and Relaxation) weekend for our students. Students will have the opportunity to spend this 3-day Labor Day weekend with loved ones free from homework, so they can come back to school refreshed on Tuesday!

Grade Reports will be sent this weekend. If you have any concerns with your child’s current grade, feel free to reach out with any specific questions.

Our classroom is in need of tissues! With cold season rearing its head, we have been going through tissues very quickly in our classroom and have run completely out of our supply. If your family is willing and able to donate some tissues to our classroom, it would be greatly appreciated! Sending your student to school with a reusable whiteboard eraser (such as an old sock) will also help cut down on how often tissues are being used.

There are still clubs with spots available after school! Clubs with Spots Available:

• Monday: 1-5 Math Club, 2-5 Sports Club, 2-5 Band, K-1 Art Club
• Tuesday: 2-3 Art Club, 3-5 Dance Fitness Club, 4-5 Choir
• Thursday: 3-5 Science Club

Visit archwayarete.configio.com if you are interested in more information regarding after school clubs. 

Math: We will continue learning Order of Operations this week. This week students will begin nightly reviews for math that will be graded for accuracy in addition to workbook pages and test practice. We will be taking our Order of Operations test on Friday. We will also be beginning the Khan Academy this week, an online math program that will take place of our Wednesday math groups. If you are interested in being one of our Wednesday math tutors, please send me an email expressing your interest. You must have a fingerprint card on file with the front office in order to volunteer.

Science: As we continue making our way through our unit on electricity, we will be spending this week learning about electrical circuits. We will conduct lab experiments where students have the opportunity to build their own circuits. At the end of the week, students will begin filling in their study guides to prepare for the Unit test next week. Students will also take regular quizzes on vocabulary and concepts to help prepare them for next week’s test.

History: In our study of the Middle Ages, we have also been reviewing the countries of Europe on a map as a class. Students will be tested on the Europe Map next Thursday. On Friday, we will review the second part of Unit 2 on the Byzantine Empire as a class to prepare students for the Unit 2: Byzantine Empire test they will take on Monday, September 10.

Spalding: This week, we will continue dictating our next 30 words. For homework, students should be writing the words two times (once with rules, markings, and syllables; and one time how the word is read). The exception for this is the night they write all 30 words; for all 30 words, the word only needs to be written once. These words should be dictated to them by a family member in the order they are presented in class. If students misspell a word on their homework, they should write the correct spelling three times next to the misspelled word. On Thursday of this week, our Spalding lesson will be observed by Mrs. Clause, our Great Hearts Spalding coach!

Grammar: Students will continue practicing classifying and diagramming simple sentences as we add new parts of speech into simple sentences. By the end of this week, students can recognize nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, article adjectives, prepositions, object of the preposition,

Literature: As we continue our journey through The Princess and the Goblin, students will be taking a closer look at indirect and direct characterization as well as narrative perspective. Reading logs are due at the end of each month. Since the last day of September falls on a weekend, September reading logs will be due Monday, October 1.

Roots: On Wednesday, students will be quizzed on the first 12 Greek and Latin roots they have learned, and they will learn the next three roots. Students should expect to have a roots quiz every Wednesday.

I hope that your families are all able to enjoy a restful and relaxing holiday weekend!

--Mrs. Conforti