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May 21st-25th
I find it hard to believe this is the last week of school! The year has flown by and I am always so proud of how much the students have grown both academically and in maturity. I will miss this class.
Tomorrow is our class field trip, we will meet at church for the 7am Mass, please sit where we normally sit for our Friday Mass.
Students need a lunch and drink for tomorrow. They may bring their lunch bag as the bus will stay with us for the day. If they wish to purchases something from the Museum of the Diocese, they will need money. As I mentioned in an earlier email, the class voted on khaki or gray shorts (no basketball shorts) and a nice shirt, not a Cubs, Cards, or other sports t-shirt.
They may wish to bring a jacket as forecast is for rain, we will eat lunch in the Spaulding Center if it does rain. We plan to be back by 3:45pm-4:00pm.
Subject wise,
Math: Finish Chapter 15
Reading/Spelling/Lang. Arts: Finish reading Charlotte's Web, with our Pig-out party on Wednesday as we watch the movie of Charlotte's Web. Please have your child bring a finger food for a snack, such as chips/dip or veggies, or sweets. Please DO NOT send food that is messy or sticky as we will be eating in our room.
Social Studies, the State Posters are due at the end of Social Studies time on Tuesday. Students can draw the State Tree, Flower, or Animal or they may print it at home. Pictures should be small, no larger than 3 x 5 in size. They also need a landmark of the State, along with 4-6 interesting facts about thier State.
I will send home the Saints projects on Tuesday.
Thursday, we will turn in all textbooks. Please send an extra bag with your child so they may bring home their crayon's, etc.
Thank you for your help this year.
I look forward to serving as your prinicpal next year.
Clarification on school uniforms: Jackets with hoods are not to be worn in the classroom. Several students have worn these and although they have SMS on the back of the jacket, they are not part of the school uniform due to them having a hood.
If at any time you have a question or concern, please do not hesitate to contact me. I feel your role as a parent is vital in order to have a successful school year with your child.
You can always check my webpage as it is updated each week.
The Irish vs. Saints game was so much fun, I hope the kids had as much fun as I did!! Thank you to all the moms that helped with coloring hair and getting kids ready for the game.
A huge shout out to Alison Tarr, Amanda Lauritsen, and Ellen Yedinak for helping me plan the different activities!
Looking to this week before spring break, we will start a new chapter in Science, continue learning about the history and economy of the Northeast.
There is a Math test this Wednesday,
For reading and language arts, we will be working on our class book. This will be a learning process for all involved but it will be a great keepsake for many years to come. More information will follow about this.
The Salad luncheon is this Wednesday, if you plan to eat with your child, please meet him/her in the school office.
The 4th grade has Mass this Friday, it is a casual day but do wear green for St. Patrick's Day!
Report cards will go home this coming Friday.
School is dismissed at 11:30a.m. on Friday, March 17th, Spring break is March 20th-24th. We will then begin school again on Monday, March 27th.
April 6th, the 4th grade will be singing at the Elk's Club for the Hope pregnancy Center for this fundraiser. Please mark your calendar as I need the entire class to be a part of this.
Thank you to all that contributed to help our pen pals at Washburn, this was a school wide one day event to collect money, we raised $410.00. The principal at Lowpoint-Washburn thanked me and everyone that donated money. He told me he was "blown away" by the generosity of St. Mary's.Book-it Reading logs are due Monday, April 3rd.
This program ends with the month of March, however, it is still important for children to read every day.
Monday, April 3rd: Students may wear hats of their favorite BASEBALL team along with their school uniform.
Wednesday, April 5th: Students may wear their favorite team jersey/shirt with jeans, no shorts, leggings or yoga pants.
Clothing changes:
No boots worn to school and shorts can be worn after we return from Easter Break.
Thursday, April 6th
Meet at Monicals at 5:00p.m. for supper
Be at Elk's Club by 6:00p.m.
As previously mentioned, Blue Polo shirts and Khaki pants, no navy pants, I want each child to be wearing the same uniform that evening. We will be done by 7:00p.m. or shortly after, please make arrangements to pick your child up or have a ride ready. Parents may sit in chairs to listen to performance.
IF you are planning on eating at the Elk's Club, please call the Hope Preg. Center today to reserve your spot and to pay for your ticket. If you do not buy a ticket, you will not eat supper at the Elk's club.
Please let me know by Monday, April 3rd if you are eating at Monicals with the class. I need a head count for Monicals. Parents will pay for their own meal, I will pay for the class.
Monday, April 10th: 4th Grade has Mass at Pontiac Rehab (Asta Care) at 9:30 a.m. I will need at least 1 more driver for Monday, April 10th.
Tests:
Social Studies: Wed. April 5th
Spelling: Friday, April 7th
Math: Tuesday, April 11thLooking ahead to this next week:
We have MAP testing Monday and Wednesday, we will also be doing AIMSWEB testing as well.
In Math, we will begin looking at patterns that help to identify a multiplication problems. In 4th grade we spend many chapters learning Multiplication and Division. I think our math series is very good at demonstrating different ways in which to solve multiplication problems. It is not how I or even you the parents have learned how to multiply so bear with me as I teach these ways to your children!
Also in Math, we will be doing Simple Solutions, I will not be taking a grade for the daily lesson but each Friday, there will be a quiz over the lessons of the week.
We will have our first Spelling test this week, I give a pretest on Monday, any child that misses a word on the pretest will write it 3 times on Tuesday, and the final test is on Friday. The pretest is never for a grade, I do this to see how well children can hear the different parts of the word and sound it out.If a child misses no words on the pretest, then they do not take the spelling test on Friday.
In both Science and Social Studies, I will be introducing the textbook. I try very hard each day to have both Science and Social Studies as I feel both subjects are important.
In Reading, we will begin the book with an Unit overview. Children were able to get a book from our classroom library, I expect them to read 20 minutes each evening, the more they read, the more fluent they become. AR tests will begin after Labor Day.
We will also begin our study of our Religion book, I will be sending home soon the SAINTS Project, I have given the students this past week a word search of a different Saint. I have asked them to keep these in a safe place as they will be able to go back and use them as a resource.
The students have PE on Monday and Wednesday, they may wear their PE uniform to school, and then they will change into their school uniform after PE. Please make sure they pack their school uniform!
If at any time you have a question or concern, please do not hesitate to contact me. I feel your role as a parent is vital in order to have a successful school year with your child.
You can always check my webpage as it is updated each week.The 4th Grade will be doing Computer Coding for the next several months during Computer time as well as some science times. They are very excited to begin these missions.
Looking ahead to next week,.
Math: We will finish Chapter 2, the chapter test is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 29th THe study guide will come home today
There will also be a Simple Solution Quiz that day as well.
Language Arts: Continue to work on building Better and Best Sentences
Reading: Strategy will be re-reading a text to ensure we are comprehending all details
Spelling: Pretest Monday, Grade Appropriate Words, Post test is Friday
Religion: Learning that God speaks to us through Scriptures
Social Studies: Begin the tour of the U.S. by learning about the North East.
Science: Classifying and Computer Coding
Dates to remember:
Math Test-Fri. Sept. 29th
Go for the Gold, dress in as much Gold as possible, this is a National Day for Pediatric Cancer. Students should bring at least a dollar for this worthy cause.
Early Dismissal, Friday, Sept. 29th at 2:00p.m. There will be bus service that day.
Thurs. Oct. 5th, the 4th Grade will be attending the Livingston County Ag Expo at the 4-H Park in Pontiac. A letter will be sent home today.Next week is another busy week with many activities planned.
We will have an extra Art class on Monday to finish painting our outer space tarps.
Tuesday, We will walk to the Hope pregnancy Center to meet Sarah Brummitt, the director. The HPC is our service project for the year, after meeting and talking with Sarah, we will have ideas on what the HPC needs are.
Thursday, Oct, 5th, we will travel by bus to the 4-H Park for the Livingston County AG Expo. A note went home last week with details. Please have your child dressed in long pants and tennis shoes.
They need a sack lunch and drink. Please do not send anything that needs to stay cold.
We will begin Chapter 3 in Math, Place Value and continue Simple Solutions.
We also continue to learn about the North East Region, in addition, we will be talking about each state that is in this region. Students should be practicing the capitals of these states, a quiz will be given the week after next on these states and capitals.
Science will be split between Computer Coding and Classifying.
In Reading, we continue to work on reading strategies and a spelling test is next Friday.. We have learned the difference between Good, Better, and Best sentences. We will focus on narrative writing next week.
Beginning in October, we will begin Book-it, students will need to read 20 minutes a night and keep a daily log of their saying they have read. At the end of the month, they will bring this completed monthly log to me and then they will receive a Pizza Hut Certificate.
Book orders will go home next week as well..
These next couple of weeks will be busy in the classroom as we finish many items by the end of the quarter as well as getting ready for parent teacher conferences.
Looking ahead to this coming week:
Math: We will finish chapter 3,
Social Studies, this will be our last week spent in the Northeast. Students will be receiving a study guide this week for the upcoming test.
Spelling: Long O sound, pre -test is Monday
Reading: Strategy: Re-read and talking about what is a persuasive article
Science: Finish classifiying
Religion: God's Word
Upcoming Tests:
Simple Solution quiz: Monday, Oct. 16th
Math: Chapter 3: Thursday, Oct. 19th
Spelling: Post test: Thursday, Oct. 19th
Social Studies: Northeast Region: Thursday, Oct. 24th
The class has been telling me about their Saint's projects, they sound amazing! I appreciate theirs and your willingness to work on these together at home.
Tri boards can be found at Wal-mart, Dollar Tree, Target, Hobby Lobby, and Klopensteins.I wanted to share with you more information about my Atlanta trip, it was funded by NAEP(National Assessment of Educational Progress) and Pearson's (Textbook Publishers)
There were 21 of us in a group which consisted of 4th Grade Teachers and Author's(mainly children's authors) from literally around the U.S.
We were placed within groups, teachers and authors, my group had 2 children's authors, one from Oregon and the other from Massachusetts, along with a 4th grade teacher from Washington D.C and the other lady was a Curriculum Director from Connecticut. There was also a lady from Alaska!
Our focus of the week was to individually read 300 4th Grade Writing Samples and determine if they were Below Basic, Basic, Proficient, or Advanced. Form there NAPE people tabulated our results and then we discussed among our own sub group and then the entire group our data.
The last day was spent determining what the cut scores would be for each of the four assessment types. Our newly created scores will be used by NAEP and Pearson for the next 10 years and all 4th grade students from the U.S. will be measured usign the data we compiled. It was a fascinating week being part of such a dynamic group. It was a wonderful learning experience which will give me even greater insight of your own children's writing.
One of the biggest take away's from this week concerned spelling in writing. It is important we teach writing as a subject. However, when a child writes and uses incorrect spelling, as long as the mispelled words do not detract from the meaning of the writing, then the child is not penalized far as the four types of assessments.
For an actual score, there is a rubric that scores the child's writing far as conventions (grammar, spelling, etc), the child may miss points for having spelling errors. A Rubric for Scoring is completely different than taking a writing sample and saying it is below basic, basic, proficient, or advanced. After reading 300 samples, I feel I am very well trained to identify good/bad writing!!
I know this was a concern at the beginning of the year and at parent teacher conferences from several parents. I wasn't worried about the mispelled words then, I am not now atfer being at the NAEP's meetings.
Onto this week,
Math, we will begin chapter 5
Social Studies: Continue the Southeast
Spelling: Diagraphs
Reading: Main Ideas and Key Details
Science: Continue Chapter 2
Language Arts: Expository Writing
Religion: Chapter 4, God Offers Us Eternal LifeWeekly Information for next week:
There will be no spelling next week or a Simple Solution quiz.
Tuesday, Nov. 21, Social Studies Quiz over the Southeast States and Capitals only, Students have made flash cards and have known about the quiz all this week.
Also, on Tuesday, the class and I will walk to the Hope Pregnancy Center to finally meet Sarah Brummitt, the director. We will be making Thanksgiving cards for their clients. We will leave school about 9:30a..m. and return to school by 10:30a.m.
The week of Nov. 27th, there will be a Math Test over chapter 5, I will be emailing you that date next week.
Thank you and have a wonderful weekend,
I find it hard to beleive this is the last week of school! The year has flown by and I am always so proud of how much the students have grown both academically and in maturity. I will miss this class.
Tomorrow is our class field trip, we will meet at church for the 7am Mass, please sit where we normally sit for our Friday Mass.
Students need a lunch and drink for tomorrow. They may bring their lunch bag as the bus will stay with us for the day. If they wish to purchases something from the Museum of the Diocese, they will need money. As I mentioned in an earlier email, the class voted on khaki or gray shorts (no basketball shorts) and a nice shirt, not a Cubs, Cards, or other sports t-shirt.
They may wish to bring a jacket as forecast is for rain, we will eat lunch in the Spaulding Center if it does rain. We plan to be back by 3:45pm-4:00pm.
Subject wise,
Math: Finish Chapter 15
Reading/Spelling/Lang. Arts: Finish reading Charlotte's Web, with our Pig-out party on Wednesday as we watch the movie of Charlotte's Web. Please have your child bring a finger food for a snack, such as chips/dip or veggies, or sweets. Please DO NOT send food that is messy or sticky as we will be eating in our room.
Social Studies, the State Posters are due at the end of Social Studies time on Tuesday. Students can draw the State Tree, Flower, or Animal or they may print it at home. Pictures should be small, no larger than 3 x 5 in size. They also need a landmark of the State, along with 4-6 interesting facts about thier State.
I will send home the Saints projects on Tuesday.
Thursday, we will turn in all textbooks. Please send an extra bag with your child so they may bring home their crayon's, etc.
Thank you for your help this year.
I look forward to serving as your prinicpal next year.