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Dear Parents,

We have had a fun week of history and cartography in the fourth grade. The students have been hearing the history of the City of Big Shoulders up until the start of the Chicago Fire. We have been focusing on the natural and geographical aspects of the area which gave it such an important place in our nation’s history: from the waterways, to the railroads, to Cyrus McCormick’s invention of the Virginia Reaper, which allowed large scale farming to take place on the fertile soil left by the glaciers.

Our latest project is creating an overlay map of the city, which allows us to see it’s growth over a period of almost 40 years, from 1795 – 1833. Please stop by to take a look at it! It is one of the most interesting projects we’ve undertaken in our morning lesson so far this year. This week also saw the inaugural episode of the Anachronistic News Hour. This is a time for the children to give a journalistic report on the topics we’ve been covering in class. It is a lot of fun, and we will be continuing with this review method for a long time to come. Next week, we will be wrapping up our first Local Geography block. We will have a state Geography block in the late winter. We will briefly revisit Chicago before moving onto the State of Illinois and the Great Lakes region.

In anticipation of the upcoming block on Norse Mythology, we will be starting our blacksmithing next Tuesday. It will be an introduction to the forge and its safety protocol. For the next five weeks, please be sure that your child is not wearing any synthetic fibers on Tuesdays (until Thanksgiving). Jeans and a long sleeve cotton flannel shirt are a great idea, along with a sturdy pair of shoes. Children who are not wearing the appropriate clothing will not be able to participate. Ms. Leidy and I have a number of projects planned and are excited to be working with the children in this new capacity!

Also, we are finishing with Abel’s Island in our literature circles this week. We will begin reading The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich.

The final drafts of their family history projects will be due on Friday. I will be speaking with the students about this on Monday, but please let me know if you’ve got any questions on your end!

Upcoming Dates:

•Friday, October 30th. Halloween Celebration. Children are invited to wear costumes related to anything we’ve covered so far this year. With the Kalevala, Early Chicago History, and Abel’s Island, there are a lot of costumes to choose from.  We will have a show and tell of costumes.  There are no all school events on this day.

•Tuesday, November 3rd. Dia de los Muertos. This week I will tell the children about the event and invite them to bring pictures of a deceased loved one.  They will be able to present during the week of 10/26 so please send a framed picture with your child by that Monday.