Week of February 13, 2012
NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS
Thank you for the wonderful start to my week - a lovely bouquet of tulips! It is a pleasure to teach your children each day, and I do appreciate your thoughtfulness. Before I got to finish this week's Quia, I was treated to a very special luncheon from my class. We sat down to linen tableclothes and napkins, china and crystal, and a delicious meal of salad, lasagna, and brownies for dessert. It was so nice to have a chance to visit with my co-workers in a quiet atmosphere! Thanks so much.
Important dates: Friday, March 2nd - St. Joseph's Altar. This is a wonderful 4th grade tradition, and if you have older children, you have probably experienced this day before. Please join us for the Blessing of the Altar at 9:15 a.m. in the Parish Hall. You are invited to stay and eat from the Altar with us around 9:45 or so. Please bring grandparents, aunts, uncles, godparents, and any special family members. The second day to remember is Friday, May 11th. This is the new date for making the Rosary. We will need parents to help set up at 8:45 in order for us to begin at 9:45.
A special thank you to Shannon Petz-Bonaccorso, Briona's mom, who is a nutrition educator. She spoke to the 4th graders Friday afternoon about nutrition and MyPyramid, which we are covering in science now.
Stapled to your child's assignment pad is an important letter about Alternative Assessments during this 9 week period. These assessments are simply additional tools to measure your child's mastery of a skill. The Alternative Assessment for science will be on Wednesday, February 15th. Instructions and a rubric will be sent home on Monday, February 13th. The Alternative Assessment for reading will be the writing and sending of a friendly letter this week. I gave each student an envelope, which should be addressed to the student. Please also put a 45 cent stamp on it so the friendly letter can be mailed.
We will celebrate Valentine's Day in the classroom on Tuesday afternoon, February 14th. The students should not address their valentines to a particular student; they should just sign their name on each card. This saves time in distribution. We have 24 students in the class, and we ask that if your child is going to bring valentines or a treat with the card to please include everyone. There should be no "special" valentines for anyone. I will be asking a few parents to send a simple treat and drinks. Thank you for your help.
New student registration begins on Monday, February 13th.
Congratulations to MaKenzie Bordok, our Star Student this week.
Order forms went home at the beginning of the month for the 2011 - 2012 Yearbook. You will only get an order form if you did not order your book in November. Please do not order twice, and the sale will run through the month of February.
We will definitely not finish Champ before the end of the nine weeks. It can start everyone off to a great start for the final nine weeks though. AR end on Friday, March 2nd, so your child should be at 75% by now. I understand that some students are reading long novels, but they should not wait until a few days before the end of the period to take the test.
Our reading curriculum for the 3rd nine weeks (and some of the 4th) will be based on the novel, Champ . We will read three chapters at a time and have vocabulary words and skills that go with each three chapters. The other two classes will have different novels, but the same skills. Champ is a modern-day story that is realistic fiction. It has many worthwhile lessons for the students, so please ask your child about it as we go through the novel. The students have been asked to not go ahead and to stay only on the chapters we are working on.
Your child received his/her recorder on Friday, November 4th, along with a song book and some instructions. We thank Dr. Ted Hudspeth and a grant from the Northshore Regional Endowment for the Arts for their generous donation of these recorders. In the past, I have seen such a transition from when the students received their recorders to the Spring Concert. The recorders should be brought back to school on Wednesday so the students will have them for class on Thursday. Then they will go home again on Thursday so the students can practice between classes.
You child has been given a user name and password to continue with the First in Math program they started in 3rd grade. Everyone is starting over, but this program can be worked on at home in addition to school. Prizes for completing sections of the different activities will be given weekly. The prize is a Snack Coupon for your child to bring any snack he/she wants for one school day. It can be a soft drink and other food snacks that they are not normally allowed to bring (candy, cookies, etc.) This program is an excellent tool to use for practice in math.
Below you will find important information for the beginning of school:
If your child is absent because of illness or a doctor's appointment, please send in a written excuse or copy of the doctor's excuse form. I may know your child is sick, but I cannot change the absence to "excused" without that note. If your child is sick more than 3 days, a doctor's excuse is required before returning to school. All notes need to be turned in within 3 days of the student's return. Absences because of family travel are not excused.
We will go to the library every Monday morning at 8:00. We will also be going to the computer lab every other week on Wednesday.
Because your child has the option to bring a lunch from home, you can check the menu for the month on the school website. The breakfast and lunch menus are listed under Parent Portal. I will also be announcing the choice for the next day.
Please send a note with your child if there is a change in the normal afternoon transportation. The office needs to know, and I keep the note in a file. I would also appreciate if you could let me know if your child is going to check out early. I may change the order in which I teach something to be sure he/she gets the necessary information. Thank you for your help with that.
Please check Quia every Monday afternoon/evening even if you don't use it for the homework assignments. I post valuable information and reminders on Quia
every week by Monday afternoon. There is also a feature for you to use if you need to email me. I will return any correspondence or phone calls as soon as possible.
REMINDERS
Students may practice spelling words on a website, Spelling City. If you go to spellingcity.com and click on Linda Owens, all the lists for the year are there. Our list this week is Homophones. (Test on Thursday, February 16th) I showed the students how to get on the website to use for practice. There are games as well as instructions.
BINDERS, BINDERS, BINDERS - We take a good deal of time setting up the students' binders at the beginning of the year. This year we even tried labels to mark the slash pockets. Our system is very user friendly, and there should be a place for everything. Could you please remind your child that an organized binder will eliminate stress and make them a more productive student? Thank you for your help in this matter. Also, we will clean out the binders periodically. Please let us do that at school since you may accidentally throw an important paper away. If you want your child to keep all papers even when we are finished with them, I will let the students know what to take out and leave at home.
If your child is walking anywhere after dismissal (even if it is only once during the entire school year), you must complete a Walker's Release Form. Please let me know if you need one.
If there is a difference between Quia notes and the assignment pad, please follow the assignment pad.
~~For additional information on religion and social studies, please check under Linda Owens or Robbyn Davis on Quia.~~
TEST SCHEDULE -:
Timed Test #22 will be given this week. Division facts have been added.
Wednesday, February 15th - Science Alternative Assessment on nutrition. The students will plan 3 meals and a snack according to MyPyramid and dietary guidelines according to the Department of Agriculture
Thursday, February 16th - Social Studies on the Middle West, Chapters 8 and 9 and Spelling on homophone words. This spelling test is completely different than our normal tests. The students will have to choose the correct word when used in a sentence. There is a sample test in the spelling packet.
Friday, February 17th - Reading on Champ , chapters 10 - 12, vocabulary, and the skill of the friendly letter.
HOMEWORK
Monday, February 13, 2012
Reading - Read 15 mins., Review vocabulary and questions
English - Skill sheet (commas and capitalization)
Spelling - Finish Homophone cards by Wednesday; Write Homophone words 3x each by Thursday
Math - WB, page 63 back, #1 - 5
Science - Observe and record the Moon; get parent to sign Nutriiton Math guidelines
Social Studies - Study for test on Thursday
Religion - Practice Morning Offering
Bring your valentines for the class.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 - Happy Valentine's Day!:
Reading - Read 15 mins.; Review vocabulary and questions; complete any pages in packet
English - Review Friendly Letter parts and positions
Spelling - Finish Homophone cards by Wednesday; Write Homophone words 3x each;
Math - WB, page 64 back, #1 - 5
Science - Finish Outline
Social Studies - Study for test on Thursday
Religion - Same as Monday
MASS tomorrow - please join us at 8:00 a.m. if you can.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012:
Reading - Read for 15 minutes; Review vocabulary, questions and homophones in packet
English - Same as Tuesday
Spelling - Write Homophone words 3x each by tomorrow; study for test tomorrow; Show parents practice test
Math - WB, page 68 front, #5 - 8
Science - None
Social Studies - Study for test tomorrow
Religion - Same as Monday
Bring your recorder for music class tomorrow.
Thursday - February 16, 2012
Reading - Read for 15 minutes; Study for test tomorrow (vocabulary, questions and skill of homphones and friendly letter
English - Study Friendly Letter, which is on reading test tomorrowBR>
Spelling - none
Math - WB, page 67 front, #1 - 4
Science - Observe the Moon and record on Night-Sky sheet; Night-Sky log is due tomorrow
Social Studies - None
Religion - Same as Monday
Friday, February 17, 2012:
Have a great Mardi Gras week - have fun, be safe, and READ, READ, READ if you have not met your AR goal. We will only have 5 school days to meet your goal when we return. Be ready to take an AR test on Monday, February 27th.
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| Last updated 2012/02/13 12:03:13 CST | Hits 62 |
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