Happy Friday! Can you believe we've already finished 2 weeks of school?!?

Just a few quick reminders for this week:

If you have  not already, please return the emergency card, permission form for extra food in the cafeteria, and early release info sheet (orange) ASAP. If you need an extra copy of anything let me know. You may also receive a form with you child's current Powerschool info. Please check this form and make any changes. The back must be signed. Some of you completed this at Parent Info Night, if not it will be sent home.

I'm making a minor change with our classroom strikes. If your child gets a strike (the consequence for breaking a class rule after a warning) I need it to be initialed or signed by a parent and returned to school the following day. I think this will make sure that strikes are making it home to parents :) Below is an example of what a strike looks like. They will always be on yellow paper. Once we use up all the ones I have I will add a line for parent signature.

Name______________ date____________

Today I received ___ strike(s) because I:

_____________________________________________________________

As always, let me know if you have any questions.

Have a great weekend!

Important dates:

July 31       T shirt orders due

Aug 22       Early release @ 11:35am

Sept 3        No School- Labor Day

Sep 14       Last day of the first 9 weeks

Oct 8          First day of the 2nd 9 weeks

Hi Everyone!

We've had a great first week of school and are off to a wonderful start to the year! I will use this class blog to share info, reminders, and pictures of things we are doing in the classroom. 

Thank you so very much for all of the supplies you have sent in. My cabinets and cubbies are well stocked and I hope to not have to ask for donations for a while! 

A few reminders to start the year:

-Please return forms ASAP (emergency card, early release form, parent questionnaire, permission to buy "extras" in the cafeteria)

-school starts at 7:55am , students are expected to be unpacked and in their seats at that time

-all doors to all buildings are locked once the school day begins, to get in the main building push the button and someone in the office will let you in

For now, the only 2 things I'm assigning for homework are to read independent books for 20 minutes and practicing multiplication facts for automaticity.  Students should be reading the same book at home and at school. Students can use flash cards, computer games, verbal quizzes, or anything else that works for your family to make sure they  have MEMORIZED their multiplication facts through 10's.  

Occasionally students will be assigned homework if they didn't complete an assignment in class. If I feel they worked hard and used time wisely in class I will not send unfinished work home. If they didn't finish an assignment because they weren't focused, wasted class time, etc, they will bring home the assignment with a yellow slip on the front explaining any 
instructions.

You should have received an email from me with our class rules and consequences. Here is another copy for your reference. 

1. BE KIND.
2. BE SAFE.
3. BE RESPECTFUL & POLITE.
4.  LISTEN  & FOLLOW DIRECTIONS.
5. FOCUS ON YOURSELF & DO YOUR BEST.

If a student breaks a rule they will get 1 reminder/warning. If the rule is broken again they will get a strike. This will be a yellow slip of paper explaining their actions and which rule they broke.

1 strike= 10 minutes of silent lunch

2 strikes= 20 minutes of silent lunch

3 strikes= silent lunch and phone call home/possible office referral

Important dates:

July 26       Parent Info Night 5:00-5:30 OR 5:45-6:15

July 31       T shirt orders due

Aug 22       Early release @ 11:35am

Sept 3        No School- Labor Day

Sep 14       Last day of the first 9 weeks

Oct 8          First day of the 2nd 9 weeks

Lastly, at anytime this year if you have questions or concerns regarding your child please let me know. Email is probably the quickest and easiest way to get in touch with me. The only time I wouldn't use email is if your child's transportation plans change during the school day. I may or may not get an email about a change in time for dismissal.  IF YOUR CHILD'S TRANSPORTATION PLANS CHANGE DURING THE DAY, PLEASE CALL THE MAIN OFFICE, 919-732-6137. 

**Quick Update**

Our class will visit the book fair next WEDNESDAY, April 18th.

Welcome Back and Happy Spring (finally!)

Time has flown by and here we are starting the 4th quarter! Please bear with me, this post is long and has lots of important dates and info for the 4th 9 weeks. :)

In reading we will begin a long anticipated study of the book Wonder by RJ Palaccio.  In this book study we will focus on how to treat people who are different, describing characters and their actions, and making inferences. This has been a 4th grade tradition for many years and the kids have been asking when we will read it since the first day of school! I know that many of you have probably seen the movie that came out a few months ago, as a class we will talk about differences between the two and agree not to give ANY spoilers!

Last quarter we briefly began looking at the 4th grade nutrition objectives. We will continue with those by learning to read food labels, analyzing food choices, and learning about the organs involved in digestion. 

In math we will start the 9 weeks with metric measurement, then move on to customary and finding area and perimeter. Then we will cover our geometry unit and spend the rest of our math time reviewing for the EOG's. 

And speaking of EOG's...we will have them on Wednesday and Thursday May 30-31. Over the next few weeks we will start reviewing and practicing to get ready for the EOG's. As a general rule I try to down play the tests, while making sure students understand that it's important to do their personal best. While we will focus on review reading and math concepts, much of our preparation will be test taking strategies. This year both tests will be taken on the computer. Much of our test prep will be on how to "show your work" and not just "guess and click". Many students experience worry and anxiety as we start to prepare for the EOG's, if you notice that your child  is showing a lot of fear associated with testing please let me know. I absolutely  DO NOT want the end of the year to be dominated by test anxiety.

You should have received an email today about our upcoming trip to the Greensboro Science Center. The date for the trip is April 19th. We are finalizing the student cost based on the generous help of our PTA :) and hope to have that amount and permissions slips sent home in the next day or so. Reminder- all parents must drive and meet us there, all students must ride the bus to the museum but may be checked out and ride home with their 
parents.

As you have probably heard the HES Spring Carnival is Saturday, April 21st. Each class is creating a themed basket. The theme for our basket is "Dog Lovers", if you would to donate an item please do so.



Important Dates:

April    12       Picture Day (11:30)
            16-20  Book Fair (we will visit as a class on Thursday)
             21       HES Spring Carnival

May      2     early release, 11:35 (HES only)
             28    no school- Memorial Day

June     7    LaSt DaY oF sChOoL

Happy Friday Everyone!

Here are few good pictures from our Science Made Fun in school field trip today:

Petting a ball python after learning about animals and their adaptations

Building an earthquake proof structure: 

 

trying to figure out who has the most acidic breath

Reading:

During reading time students are working in book clubs across the grade level. All of the books are set during the Civil Rights Era. All book clubs are focusing on learning about describing characters and following them through the story looking at how they change and what causes the change. Much of our work is focused on teaching students to support their thoughts about their reading and answers to questions with evidence from the text.

Writing:

In writing students are working independently or in groups on research projects they created based on our study of the Civil Rights Era. Students have chosen significant people or events that we touched on during a timeline activity and are creating a display for our upcoming Civil Rights Museum- keep an eye out for an invitation to this!

Math:

In math we are continuing to work on fraction concepts and operations with fractions. We have just started to look at fractions that are greater than 1 (for example 5/4 = 1 ¼ ). Students have access to a google doc titled ‘Student Math Links’ that has many links to instructional videos and games that we have used during class.

Social Studies:

This week we completed a mini unit our objectives related to branches of government. Students researched the purpose and function of the judicial, legislative, and executive branches. The have identified important roles in each branch, such as governor, senator, etc.

Other important info/reminders:

Our final field trip to the Greensboro Science Center has been approved! We are planning to visit on Thursday April 19th. We will send out detailed info about the trip when we return from Spring Break.

If your child brings their computer home, please help them remember to charge it each night so they will be able to use it the following day at school.

Important Dates:

February 23 PTA Yoga and Movie Night

              28 Box Tops due

March     7 early release, 11:35 (HES only)

              16 last day of the 3rd 9 weeks

April        9 first day of the 4th quarter

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!