Last Weekly Update of 2017!

**Please check the previous post about our Winter Holidays Around the World celebration this Thursday, if you haven't already seen it.**

Our 1st semester awards ceremony is this Wednesday, 12-13. If your child is getting an award you should have received and email from me last week. 

If your child has their computer charger at home, please make sure they bring it back TOMORROW, (Tuesday 12-12-17). They are currently only labeled with their bar code number but we need to label them with their classroom number as well.

Tomorrow will be our Market Day! Students are very excited about spending the money they have earned for good behavior/hard work and making money by providing a good or service to other 4th graders. If they have been working on their business at home please make sure they bring anything they need for tomorrow. 

Tomorrow will also be our Pajama Day to celebrate meeting our Splash goal as a school! Students are welcome to wear pj's but please make sure they have shoes and coats for recess. 


Reminder- the last day of this quarter is THURSDAY, December 14th. The first day of the 3rd quarter will be TUESDAY January 9th. If you would like some work for your child over break I am assigning OPTIONAL assignments on www.tenmarks.com Also, I am asking for each child to read 1 independent book over the break. 


I hope everyone has a wonderful winter break! I look froward to seeing all of you in January. Thank you so much for all you do to help our school run smoothly and supporting our efforts in the classroom!

This week and next week  during our reading time we are concluding our study of nonfiction with a short mini unit about winter holidays around the world. Students are choosing what countries and/or holidays are most interesting to them and researching them. They are recording info about popular celebrations, traditions, foods, etc and comparing/contrasting them to traditions in their families. To celebrate the end of the 9 weeks and our break we will spend next Thursday (Dec. 14) sharing what we’ve learned as we read different books/websites about other countries. I would like to have different foods from some of the countries/holidays that we read about for the students to sample.  Please let me know if you would like to send in an item listed below or if you have another idea of something that we could sample.

Ginger bread or ginger bread cookies (Germany, Sweden)
marzipan candy (Germany)
colored marshmallows or fruit salad w/ colored marshmallows (Mexico)
rice pudding (Sweden)
fruit cake or fruitcake cookies (England)
pizzelles (Italy)
Yule log cake (France…. maybe Little Debbie Swiss Cake Rolls?)
Sugar cookies (Norway)

Or please feel free to make or bring another snack- if your family has a special treat/tradition we’d love to taste it and hear about it!  We will also need water bottles or juice boxes, plates, napkins, and spoons or forks. Also, a parent has volunteered to send in pizzas for lunch that day, so students will not need lunches or lunch money. If you’d rather send in a fruit or veggie than a holiday food that will be fine.

Thanks so much!

11-30-17

I hope you and your families all had a wonderful Thanksgiving Break! We are charging full speed ahead into the last bit of the 2nd quarter!

By now you have probably heard some pretty excited chatter from your child about our Social Studies unit focused economics unit, it is always a favorite! We have done some background work about economies and vocabulary associated with business such as entrepreneur, supply and demand, good vs. service, etc. Students have brainstormed ideas and formed groups to become entrepreneurs themselves. They have completed business plans and gotten approval from me- the next step is approval from you :) Some of their ideas will require some supplies to be purchased by parents. THIS IS NOT A REQUIREMENT- I can supply paper, posters, glue, tape, markers, etc. I have asked students to run their idea by their parents to see if they are willing to buy what they need, if not just let me know and we will come up with a business idea that will work based on the supplies I have here at school. We are asking all items be ready/completed by Monday, December 11th for our holiday market on Tuesday December 2nd. Most students can use class time to work on their products (items like bookmarks, bracelets, paper airplanes, etc), as long as they aren’t something that is super messy (like slime).

In Reading we will continue to work on nonfiction reading with a project researching winter holidays around the world. Students are charting info about their own families and countries/holidays they’ve read about. Toward the end of next week will start to look at similarities between lots of different celebrations. As a way to culminate this work and celebrate the end of the 2nd 9 weeks we will have party with different foods from different countries/traditions. Be on the lookout next week for a letter about this and a list of food ideas.

In Math we have started working on long division and are continuing to practice/reinforce multi digit multiplication. We are studying the relationship between multiplication and division. We will continue to focus on division for the rest of this 9 weeks and into the 3rd quarter.

Here are some important dates for the rest of the quarter:

December 6 Early Release, 11:35

    12   Holiday Market Day

    13  Awards Assembly for the 2nd semester- more info soon

    14  last day of the 2nd quarter, **please note, this is a THURSDAY**

January     9   first day of the 3rd quarter, **please note, this is a TUESDAY**

               15   No School- MLK, Jr. Holiday

Weekly Update 10/23-10/28

Red Ribbon week 10/23-27

Schedule of Events

Monday, October 23rd: Wear Red in support of Red Ribbon Week!

Wear Red Today!

Tuesday, October 24th: Keep your body healthy by eating right!  Eat more fruits, vegetables, and healthy snacks today!

Encourage kids to bring fruits & veggies for snack!  

Focus on fruits (RED strawberries and/or apples!) and veggies in the Cafeteria today!

Wednesday, October 25th:  Keep your body healthy by getting lots of exercise today!  Breath fresh air, and enjoy the outdoors!!

Extra recess time today!!

Thursday, October 26th:  Help HES stay safe by taking a stand against Bullying!  HES Dolphins help keep our school safe by pledging to be a Bully-Free zone!

Classes will take a Bully-Free Pledge and sign our Bully Free banner! (I will provide this for you)

3-5 will take a digital Bully Survey to give us more information about bullying at our school (google form that I will share with you)

Show school pride by wearing school/Dolphin gear!

Friday, October 27th:  Celebrate a successful Red Ribbon Week by wearing Red again!

Wear Red Today!

THURSDAY OCTOBER 26th- SYMPHONY TRIP

~optional: students may dress up for the symphony~

If you plan for your child to attend the Old Salem field trip on 11/17 please send in $22 and the completed permission slip.

Beginning Friday 11/3 students have the option to earn extra recess by demonstrating mastery of their multiplication facts through 10’s. Students who have their facts memorized (know them automatically without drawing a picture, making a list, etc) will have extra recess at the end of the day. Students who need more practice with their multiplication facts will use Friday afternoons to practice them.

The bookfair will be at HES next Monday- Friday! Our class will visit the bookfair on Tuesday. If you would like to send money with you child please label it and put it in an envelope or baggie. If you would like them to ONLY purchase books (not posters, pencils, etc) please note that on the envelope or baggie.

Weekly Update 10/16-20

Just a few quick updates for this week:

Please send in your child’s form and money ($22) for Old Salem by Wednesday 10/18. If you plan to chaperone please note that on the form and make sure you have completed an OCS background check this school year.

This Wednesday, 10/18, is early release day. We will dismiss at 11:35. Please make sure your child knows their transportation plans if they are different than normal.

Each year in February you complete a form to let OCS know that you plan for your child to continue at HES or plan for them to attend school elsewhere. This year that process will take place in NOVEMBER. Be on the look out for the info in your child’s yellow folder. The form will list their districted school just so you know where they would attend if you choose to opt out of having them return to HES next year. You have to complete this process for each child you have attending our school.

We will visit the NC Symphony on Thursday 10/26. Please send a bag lunch for your child that day, we will likely return to school after our usual lunch time. If your child needs another permission slip please let me know.

As always, please let me know if you have any questions!

Welcome to the 2nd 9 weeks! I hope everyone had a wonderful break!

A quick overview of the next few weeks:

Math- We will be studying multiplicative comparison problem solving, multiples, factors, prime and composite numbers, and patterns. Please continue to help your child practice their multiplication facts until they become automatic.

Reading/SS- Most of our focus this quarter will be on nonfiction. We will be integrating much of our SS NC history curriculum into this unit and will read about different Native American groups in NC and the colonization of NC.

Science/Writing- We will integrate our Science unit focusing on animals and their adaptations with nonfiction opinion essay writing.

Homework will continue to be 20 minutes of independent reading and finishing any classwork that could/should have been finished during the school day.

Important Dates:

October 18 Early Release

                       26 Symphony Trip (note in yellow folder, free for all students)

November 10 No School- Veteran’s Day

22-24   Thanksgiving Break

December 6 Early Release

                      14 Last Day of the 2nd 9 weeks  **this is a Thursday**

Weekly Update September 8, 2017

Hopefully this class blog will be a quick and easy way to keep you updated about what’s going on in our class and at HES. Please read below for important info and check out the previous post for pictures from our Science Fun for Everyone Day in August.

Believe it or not we just have 1 more week of school  before our first 9 weeks is over!

Thank you so much for those of you who have already been by to meet with me and talk about your child’s progress this quarter. I look forward to meeting with the rest of you next week!

Below is a copy of an insert that you received/will receive with your child’s report card with some ideas for things to do over break to keep your child in the swing of things with reading and math:

This 9 weeks we have worked to build good habits in both math and reading. In Social Studies we focused on the features and location of the 3 regions of NC. In Science we learned about forces, specifically electricity and magnetism. Next quarter we will spend much of our time in Reading and Writing nonfiction. This means we will be focusing on things like main idea, cause and effect, etc. We will integrate our Science unit ( animals and their adaptations) with both nonfiction Reading and informational writing.

Please keep reading independent “just right”  books and practicing multiplication facts over fall break!

Some great websites we use in class for math practice/games:

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/math.htm

http://mrnussbaum.com/math-for-kids/

A few important date to keep in mind for the 2nd 9 weeks:

October   9- first day of the 2nd quarter

     18- early release

November  10- no school, Veteran’s Day

       22-24  No school- Thanksgiving Break

December  6- early release

                14- last day for students (**note that this is a Thursday**)