May 7th-11th, 2012

• Student Led Conferences:  May 10th. A Student-led conference is a time for your child to be in charge!  These conferences highlight the most important person in the assessment process – the student. What should a parent expect at a Student-Led Conference?

1.  Your child will do most of the talking.

2.  Your child will tell you the goals he or she is working on in class.

3.  Your child will discuss his or her progress.

4.  Your child will share and explain different types of work that he or   she performs throughout the day.

5.    This conference is a celebration of learning.

We look forward to seeing you!

A confirmation note was sent home in your son/daughter's friday folder.

• Notable person Biography:  Student final project will be our “wax museum” presentation and a written biography, both due on May 18^th. Wax Museum from 9:00-9:45 a.m., students come to school dressed as their notable person. Parents are welcome to join us for this morning presentation.
• Lookout Mountain Field Trip: Tuesday, May 29th from 9:15-1:30. Students will need to wear comfortable shoes, dress for the ever changing mountain weather, and bring a sack lunch.
• Early release day:  Wednesday, May 16th, 1:10.
• Thursday, May 31st, last day of school, 1:40 dismissal, report cards go home.

1.  Spend time this week getting your Wax Musueum, notable person props and costume together.  Many of you need to continue working on your biography report.  We will not have the lap tops in our classroom, so additional work processing will need to be completed at home. 

April 30th - May 3rd, 2012

• Notable person Biography:  Students will choose their famous person from history. They are required to read a book on their notable person and complete research through the Internet and our wireless laptops. Their final project will be our “wax museum” presentation and a written biography, Friday, May 18th at 9:00-9:45 a.m. More information to follow.

• No Word work this week.
• No reaction sheet this week due to the early release day on Wednesday and testing on Friday.
• No School this Friday, May 4th.
• Field trip to Lookout Mountain Nature Center. See the enclosed field trip form in this weeks take home folder.
• Student Led Conferences:  Thursday, May 10th. Please read the note sent home regarding this special conference night. Students are excited to share all the hard work and successes from their fourth grade year.  We look forward to seeing you.

Africa Test Review Questions and Topics

Africa Region Test will be on Wednesday, May 2nd. We will review these questions in class on Tuesday.

ü Know the definition of REGION.  A region is a large area of land with similar geography.

ü Be able to create a bubble map (describing) or a tree map (categorizing) for the 3 major regions of Africa:  savanna, desert, and rain forest.

ü Be able to answer the question:  What African region is most similar to the geography of Colorado?

ü Be able to pick an African region and compare and contrast it to the Colorado region we live in (mountain region). Be ready to show your thinking using a double bubble map.

ü Be able to answer the question:  How does the geography of where you live affect how you live?  Your answer should be specific and detailed. A possible question may look like this…Jebrilla is part of the Taureg tribe.  He lives in the Sahara Desert in the country of Niger in Africa.  How does the geography of where Jebrilla lives affect how he and his family live?

ü Be able to compare and contrast your life as an American child living in a suburb of a metropolitan area located in the mountain region of Colorado to a child who lives in one of the three major geographic regions of Africa.

ü Be able to identify positive and negative human interactions with different geographical regions.  For example:  Clear cutting the rain forests of Cameroon to make room for more palm oil plantations is a ___________________ interaction. 

ü Be able to look at a set of pictures and identify the African region.

Have a great weekend, see you all Monday!