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Fourth Grade News Flash

November 1, 2013

Language Arts

This week’s selection is So You Want to Be

President? by Judith St. George. We will be

practicing identifying main ideas and details

and making inferences. In grammar we will

continue our work with nouns, focusing on

plural possessive nouns.

Homework is due Wednesday. The weekly

selection test and spelling test are on

Thursday. The grammar quiz will be given

on Friday.

Math

I can tell that the

students have been

practicing their

multiplication facts at

home! I have had

several students pass

multiplication on

Xtramath.org. Keep up

the hard work! Next

week the students will

be taking the Unit 3

Assessment over

Multiplication and

Division; Number

Sentences and Algebra.

Check student’s planner for daily homework

assignments!

Science

This week students learned that

temperature is NOT a measure of

how hot or cold something is but

rather how much thermal energy

the object has.

Students also discovered that

thermal energy (more commonly

referred to as heat) can be

transferred through different

materials. We will continue to work

on the different ways thermal

energy can be transferred

(convection, conduction and

radiation) and developing

definitions for these.

You can reinforce what we’re

learning in class by helping your

child identify energy transfers in

their daily life.

Check student’s planner for

daily homework assignments!

Spelling

Words

Words with

ear, ir, our, ur

1. return

2. courage

3. surface

4. purpose

5. first

6. turkey

7. heard

8. early

9. turtle

10. birthday

11. journal

12. courtesy

13. nourish

14. purse

15. furniture

16. search

17. curtain

18. burrow

19. hamburger

20. survey

21. turquoise

22. absurd

23. furthermore

24. flourish

25. nourishment

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So You Want to Be President?President of the United States is a tough job that many people strive to get. This book tells you what it takes to be president, but also how our past presidents stayed true to themselves and their unique personalities while in office.

ActivityPresidential Decisions With your family, talk about the types of changes and decisions you would make if you were president of the United States. Explain why these changes are important to you and the country.

Summary

Name

Main Idea and DetailsThe main idea of a passage makes a point about the passage’s topic and has at least one supporting detail. Details are smaller pieces of information that tell more about the main idea.

ActivityRadio News Together with a family member, listen to a news report on the radio. Pay close attention to what is being discussed. On a piece of paper, write down what you think is the main idea of the report and two supporting details. Compare your notes. Did you agree?

Comprehension Skill

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Practice Tested Spelling Words

Words to KnowKnowing the meanings of these words is important to reading So You Want to Be President? Practice using these words.

Vocabulary WordsConstitution the written set of fundamental principles by which the United States is governed

howling very great

humble not proud; modest

politics the work of government; management of public business

responsibility the act or fact of taking care of someone or something; obligation

solemnly seriously; earnestly; with dignity

vain having too much pride in your looks, ability, etc.

Lesson Vocabulary

Plural Possessive NounsPlural possessive nouns show that something is owned by more than one person, place, or thing. Like singular possessive nouns, plural possessive nouns are created by adding an –’s to the noun. However, if the noun already ends in s, add only an apostrophe to the end of the word. For example: men’s shoes, geese’s feathers, books’ covers, buildings’ windows.

ActivityAnimal Parts Describe a recogniz-able feature of a certain type of animal. For example: These are long, spotted, and stretch into the trees. Have a family member respond with the plural possessive name of the animal and the feature. For example: giraffes’ necks.

Conventions

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Vocabulary 155

Want to Be President?

VocabularyDirections Choose a word from the box that best completes each sentence. Write the word on the line to the left.

1. A person might look in a mirror all the time.

2. The President has much .

3. He behaved as he took the oath.

4. The is an important document.

5. Many people voted, so the election was a success.

Directions Choose the word from the box that best matches each numbered clue below. Write the letters of the word on the blanks. After you are finished, the boxed letters will spell a secret word.

6. seriously

7. government work

8. the act of taking care of someone

9. having too much pride

10. not proud

Write a SpeechPretend you have just been elected President of the United States. On a separate sheet of paper, write a short speech you would give to the public. In the course of explaining how you will approach your new job, use as many vocabulary words as you can.

Home Activity Your child identified and used vocabulary words from So You Want to Be President? Together, read an article about politics or government. Discuss the article, using as many vocabulary words from the selection as you can.

6.xe

7.ut

8.9.

10.

Check the Words You Know

Constitutionhowlinghumblepoliticsresponsibilitysolemnlyvain

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Name Want to Be President?

Home Activity Your child identified the main idea and supporting details in a nonfiction passage. Together, read an article about a famous person. Work with your child to identify the main idea and supporting details of the article. Then ask your child to summarize the article.

Main Idea and Details

• Themain idea is the most important idea from a paragraph, passage, or article.

• Details are small pieces of information that tell more about the main idea.

Directions Read the passage and complete the diagram. State the main idea and three supporting details. Then answer the question below the diagram.

Rosalynn Carter, the wife of President Jimmy Carter, took her role as First

Lady seriously. She did not let her time in the White House pass her by. Mrs. Carter attended official meetings and represented the United States on business trips. Mrs. Carter also supported programs to help

needy citizens. For example, she worked to improve the lives of elderly people and citizens with mental health problems. Another accomplishment of Mrs. Carter was pointing out the importance of the performing arts to our society.

5. What is a one-sentence summary of this passage?

3. She represented

Main Idea1. Rosalynn Carter took

Supporting Details

4. 2. She attended

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DVD•106 Plural Possessive Nouns

Want to Be President?Name

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Home Activity Your child reviewed plural possessive nouns. Have your child find and circle examples of plural possessive nouns in a magazine or newspaper article.

Plural Possessive NounsDirections Write the possessive form of each underlined plural noun.

1. cities residents ____________________

2. senators speeches ____________________

3. streets names ____________________

4. cliffs ledges ____________________

5. women dresses ____________________

6. children toys ____________________

7. mice tails ____________________

8. congressmen letters ____________________

Directions Write the possessive form of each underlined plural noun.

9. Two wolves approached the deer feeding ground.

__________________________

10. The wolves coats were thick and gray.

__________________________

11. They wanted a deer for their cubs dinners.

__________________________

12. The deer saw the wolves and vanished into the trees shadows.

__________________________

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