Montclair Elementary

Montclair Elementary

Summer Skills for Rising Fourth Graders

2008-2009

Dear Parents/Guardians of Rising Fourth Graders,

The fourth grade teachers would like to extend an early welcome to you and your child into our Montclair family. We can’t wait to begin an exciting year of growth and learning using our multiple intelligences. Fourth grade will be a really fun year as your child begins working towards independent learning. In order to prepare for fourth grade, we recommend that you help your child with the following activities during the summer.

Þ READ, READ, READ!! Please have your child use his/her self smarts to read at least 30/40 minutes every day. Make reading a daily habit. Students that are daily readers have shown more success academically. Ask your children to retell what they have read to you. Ask who, what, why, and when type of questions to assess comprehension. In previous years the focus has been on “learning to read.” Now they will be asked to “read to learn” using both fiction and non-fiction texts. Please take advantage of the programs at the public libraries in PWC.

Þ Next year your child will travel through Virginia’s history! If you have time, please take advantage of all the wonderful sites that are in our area. Places such as Jamestown, Williamsburg, Manassas Battlefield, Fredericksburg Battlefield, Mount Vernon, Gunston Hall, Richmond, Luray Caverns, and any of our state capital buildings in Washington, DC are just some examples where your child can get a first hand view of the great places Virginia has to offer. Most of these have a small entrance fee or are free. If possible, please take a photograph of your child at each place visited, we would love to share their experiences with their new class. Place a label on the back of the photo indicating the name of the place you visited and your child’s name and we will be sure to return it.

Þ Encourage your children to use their math smarts to practice the multiplication facts through 10 for memorization and speed. Using flashcards or fun games on the computer will help their learning. They need to work on these each day, so the facts stay fresh in their minds. Each student will need to be able to answer 40 multiplication facts in a minute and a half in September. Please do not wait until the last two weeks of summer vacation. These math facts need to be used each day so they can recall them quickly. Addition and subtraction facts should already be mastered at this point. If your child needs support in these areas, please work with them on these, as well.

Þ Encourage your child to write over the summer each day. Using word smarts, your child may write post-cards to send to friends and relatives, send letters to a pen-pal, write poems, help make a grocery list, or keep a journal/diary.

Encourage your children to use their smarts and lifeskills throughout the summer, along with using the suggestions above. Have a wonderful summer and thanks for supporting your children and getting them ready for a stimulating year !

~4^th GRADE TECHNOLOGY LINKS FOR THE SUMMER~

CHECK THEM OUT IF YOU CAN!

Most sites can be accessed from: http://guest.portaportal.com/maciog

Also see: http://www.pwcs.edu/Montclair/SOLLinks.html

SOLPass: http://www.solpass.org/ Subscription site, excellent for their upcoming Social Studies. Click on “Elementary”. Click on “Virginia Studies Grade 4/5”. The password is MONTY. You must click “log-in”. (Hitting “enter” will not work.)