Information
Attendance: Good attendance is very important for school success. If children are absent, assignments are collected for them; a friend or sibling should bring work home for them. If students have perfect attendance for an entire month, they are rewarded with a homework pass.
Homework: Fourth graders have homework every night but Friday. There are math and language arts homework assignments daily, as well as either science or social studies work. Homework is posted on this website each week, and the children have assignment books. Mrs. McMahon checks these books and signs them each day for the first marking period. By that time, good habits should be established.
Projects: There are two book reports assigned every marking period. They are important grades for both reading and language. Students will also complete either a social studies or science project each marking period.
Communication: A note goes home every Monday with information about upcoming tests and events. A spelling list and an envelope of graded work are sent home on Monday as well. Parents are asked to sign a slip in the envelope to show they have seen the contents. Grades can be checked on line in the PowerSchool program after parents are trained and given a password. Send Mrs. McMahon e-mail with any questions. There are links for e-mail on this website and the school's web page. A conference can be arranged at any time by calling the school office.
In general, fourth grade is fun. Students are more responsible and independent. They learn more by reading now than in the younger grades, but there are still plenty of projects to do. Long stories are read every week. Written composition is a big part of fourth grade. Students use the computer to complete all longer tasks. We focus on New Jersey history and geography in social studies. In science students do many experiments and activities to learn concepts in biology, earth, and physical science. Students should already know the multiplication tables. We will be working on word problems, multi-digit multiplication, division, and fractions. Fourth graders wil also be cooking, reading Ernest Hemingway's novella "The Old Man and the Sea", and working on measurement and geometry by helping to make an apron with a sewing machine.