Week of December 1st

 I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving Break! I enjoyed a restful week with my family snuggling up and reading. :) Now we are headed into the final 3 weeks of Semester 1! It's so hard to believe our year is already about half way over, I am not ready!!

ELA:

These three weeks in ELA we are going to be changing from our novel study to studying how countries around the world celebrate the holidays. Each day we will study a new country and their traditions. We will be reading and answering questions as well as looking at maps. There are five pages per country that we will be working on together in class, if your student is absent they will need to make up all five pages. 

At the end of these three weeks we will have a celebration and get to try out all of the amazing foods from around the world! I am going to share the sign up today, please check it out by clicking HERE. :)

Math:

This week in math we will start working on dividing with 3-digit dividends. This always throws my students at first, but once they get it, they usually cruise on through! I have so many students who are close to completing their multiplication facts!! I had one more complete them today! Keep up the good work!!

End of Quarter2/Semester 1:

The end of this quarter is quickly approaching. I will be accepting late work up until the end of the day on Thursday, December 18th. After that any work not turned in will just be a 0 in the gradebook. Please take a moment to go over any missing work in Infinite Campus with your student each day to ensure they don't have anything missing. :)

Week of November 17th

It's hard to believe that this is the last week of school in November! We will be off for Thanksgiving Break next week. This will be an excellent time for your student to get caught up on any missing work for Quarter 2 as the end of the quarter is quickly approaching. When we come back after Thanksgiving, we will have 3 weeks left of Quarter 2, which ends right at Christmas Break. 

ELA:

This week we are going to really be focusing on how to answer short answer questions. I have noticed lately that my students do well with this when we practice it in isolation, but not so well when they are working on it in general. We will spend our time reading shorter passages and answering the questions fully. If your student gets their paper returned, they will need to erase the one marked wrong and redo it completely making sure they use RACE (restate, answer, cite, explain) and CUPS (capitalize, usage/understanding, punctuation, spelling). 

Math:

This week in math we will continue working on long division. Our math curriculum only has about 6 lessons total for long division and I just don't feel like that is enough for this abstract of a concept. We will continue working on it on our own using a packet I have created for my students. This will likely take us up to Christmas break, depending on how my students do with it. 

Thanksgiving Break Extra Credit:

Your student still will have reading homework for their reading calendar. However, they will have an opportunity for extra credit! If they complete 100 minutes of practice on assigned (or recommended skills if they complete all of the assigned skills), for both Language Arts and Math, they can get 20 extra credit points in each subject. 

Students are able to work for extra credit if they have no missing assignments. Any missing assignments must be completed before they qualify for extra credit. 

Week of November 10th

 We are cruising right through November and Quarter 2 so quickly! This is a great group of kids and you should all be proud of the wonderful young people you are raising. :)

ELA:

This week in ELA we are going to be reading non-fiction texts about Veteran's Day. We are also going to be interviewing a veteran tomorrow and learning about his time in the service. 

We finished up all of our suffixes last week in our Morpheme Lexicon. Today we started adding in prefixes. We will move through these quicker than we will the roots and bases since it is mostly a review for the students. 

Math:

We are continuing our work on long division this week. Students will be learning a few different strategies on how to solve these problems, just like with multiplication. The goal is for them to use the standard algorithm, but until their brains are developmentally ready for that they will have other strategies to use. 

Enrichment:

Your student had their first enrichment class last Thursday. We will have another this Thursday as well and it will go from 12:15-1:00. Students will have Enrichment classes on November 13th, 20th, December 4th, and 11th. To attend Enrichment, students cannot have any missing work. If they have work that is missing (including reading calendars and multiplication fact homework), they will use that time to get caught up in the hallway. 

K-5 VCS Food Drive:

Our food drive will be running from November 10th-13th. Elementary students need to bring items to the class. Please make sure the canned food that your student brings are non-perishable and not expired. The 3rd-5th grade class that brings the most will get a popcorn and juice party. Everything brought in will go to benefit our own VCS families in need!

Week of November 3rd

 We are firmly into the holiday season when things get busy! We have a lot going on at the school in addition to our regular academics. I will do my best to keep everyone updated here. :)

ELA:

We are working hard on our first essay which is a narrative essay. Students in 4th grade will learn how to write narrative, opinion, and informative essays. We are working on writing a 5 paragraph narrative that includes lots of details, actions, and dialogue! They are doing great so far and I am excited to see what they come up with!

We are continuing to work on how to write a short answer response as well. This can be tricky as it has several parts to it. We also are being careful to write things in our own words so that we aren't plagiarizing. 

Math:

I postponed our Topic 4 Celebration of Learning until today. With our book celebration on Thursday, I was worried students would be distracted and not show what they really know. That means we won't start Topic 5 until Wednesday. Topic 5 begins working on division. Again, students who do not have their multiplication facts down, really need to be working on mastering those!

Enrichment:

Your student should have brought home their Enrichment form on Thursday with the class they will be taken highlighted in yellow. If your student did not return a form they will be taking Mrs. George's Performing Arts class. 

Enrichment starts this Thursday and will go from 12:15-1:00. Students will have Enrichment classes on November 6th, 13th, 20th, December 4th, and 11th. To attend Enrichment, students cannot have any missing work. If they have work that is missing (including reading calendars and multiplication fact homework), they will use that time to get caught up in the hallway. 

Retro Roller Skate Night:

Tonight from 6pm-8pm our Middle School Student Government is partnering with the Nampa Rollerdrome to host our first skate night! Wear your best 60s, 70s, or 80s attire for a fun, FAMILY skate night! Admission is $8 and rentals are available for $3. VCS staff supervision is not provided so you need to plan to stay and have fun with your kiddos!

Guardian Gala:

K-5 VCS Food Drive:

Our food drive will be running from November 10th-13th. Elementary students need to bring items to the class. Please make sure the canned food that your student brings are non-perishable and not expired. The 3rd-5th grade class that brings the most will get a popcorn and juice party. Everything brought in will go to benefit our own VCS families in need!

Week of October 27th

 I cannot believe we are already in the final week of October! Time really does fly when you are having fun and I am having so much fun with this class. They make me laugh every day! We have a really busy week this week with it being a quiz week and our October Book Celebration week!

ELA: 

This week in reading we are really working on how to thoroughly answer short answer written response questions. We use RACE as an acronym to help us remember all of the parts that should be in our answer. RACE stands for restate, answer, cite, and explain. 

Math:

This week we will be finishing up Topic 4! We will take our Topic 4 Celebration of Learning on Thursday. Instead of calling it a test, we think of it as a way to show off all that we have learned and celebrate that! 

Like I told my class today, I do not expect them all to be able to use the standard algorithm to multiply multi-digit by multi-digit numbers by the end of the week. I want them to be able to solve them using the strategy that works for them! They will get to the algorithm when their brain is ready. :)

Alice in Wonderland Book Celebration:

We have been reading Alice in Wonderland each day this month and we will finish it up on Wednesday! Just in time to celebrate on Thursday! Your student is invited to wear their costume if it is a character from our book on Thursday, all dress code rules still apply. Your student does NOT have to dress up if they don't want to! The day is meant to be fun. Costumes don't have to be over the top either, just use what you already have on hand at home! 

Students are invited to bring in snacks to share while we watch the movie. Please don't send in junk food, we really like to encourage healthy habits. I will proved the sweet treat and the drink. If you would like to send in veggies, fruits, crackers, cheese and meat, those are all things that the kids usually go through first at parties. :)

We will be watching the 2010 Disney version of Alice in Wonderland and it is rated PG. If you would prefer your student not watch the movie with us, please email me and let me know. I will provide an alternate activity for them to do elsewhere during that time. 

Enrichment Forms:

Your student is bringing home their first Enrichment Sign Up Form today. It is a first come first serve type situation. So if they are really hoping to get a certain class, they need a parent to sign it and bring it back ASAP. To qualify for Enrichment, your student cannot have any missing work, including homework. This is meant to enrich their curriculum on top of regular curriculum, therefore they will need to get all of their regular work done before getting to participate in enrichment. This does take the place of Thirsty Thursdays on those Thursdays we have Enrichment. 

Enrichment takes place twice a year during the school day. :)

Guardian Gala:

Week of October 20th

 Welcome back from Fall Break! I hope you all had a wonderful break! My students seemed to have a lot to share this morning. :) It was wonderful to see all of their smiling faces, I missed them!

ELA:

This week in reading we are going to be  focusing on subjects and predicates. We will be working on a page in our Interactive Reading Notebook as well. This is NOT a quiz week, but your student is welcome to retake any quiz that they did not pass last week when they are ready. 

Math:

This week in math we are going to be starting Topic 4. This is all about multiplying two multi-digit numbers. Students will be working on a variety of strategies to use to help them understand the concepts and properties being used.

Book Celebration:

In 4th grade we read Alice in Wonderland as our classic book for our October Book Celebration. Students are invited to dress up as a character from the story on Thursday, October 30th. All dress code rules still apply to costumes. I encourage my students to create their costume using things they already have at home! 

We will be watching the newer Disney version of Alice in Wonderland and it is rated PG. If you would prefer your student not watch the movie with us, please email me and let me know. I will provide an alternate activity for them to do elsewhere during that time. 

Your student is also invited to bring in snacks to share with the class. We prefer all snacks that are brought in to be healthy snacks. Meat and cheese trays, fruit trays, and veggie trays are great options! I will provide drinks and a small sweet treat. Any extra sweets sent in will be put into goodie bags for the kiddos to bring home to enjoy. :)

 

Week of October 6th

Hello everyone! I am so excited for this week, we have a lot of awesome things happening! This is actually the first day of Quarter 2. I somehow got my dates mixed up and thought this was the last week of Quarter 1. I think I am just trying to extend this year so I get to keep these kiddos a little longer. :)

Missing Assignments:

If your student has missing assignments from Quarter 1, they have until tonight to get them in. I was going to offer until this Thursday, but I got an email from Mrs. OldenKamp this morning letting us know the grading window is actually going to close tomorrow morning at 8:00 am. This means that your student will not be able to submit any missing work for Quarter 1 after that because my gradebook will be locked. 

If your child completes a missing assignment at home tonight, please take a picture of it and email it to me. I will be working to get anything turned in into the gradebook throughout the evening and tomorrow morning before 8. 

Math:

This week we are reviewing the concepts we have learned in Topic 3. Since we are headed into Fall Break next week, I didn't want to start Topic 4 before that. Topic 4 is continuing our work on multiplication with multi-digit x multi-digit multiplication. 

It is SO important that your student be practicing their multiplication facts and mastering them as quickly as possible. Even if they understand how to solve these multi-digit multiplication problems, they will still struggle if they don't know their facts. 

English Language Arts:

This week we are continuing our work on reading comprehension with our novel study and ReadWorks. We are also really working on our morphemes and are adding in several pages to our Lexicon each week. 

A Day in the Life of a 4th Grader:

Tomorrow is the day! I am so excited for you to come and spend a "day" with us in 4th grade. I can honestly say this is my favorite parent/teacher conference I have ever done! I love  having parents come in and see what class looks like for us. If you haven't yet signed up for a time slot, please click HERE to do that. This time is not set in stone, it just let's me know how many to plan for. :) Just a reminder, I will be locking my door 5 minutes after to protect that time. If you get here and the door is locked, feel free to join the next session! 

Fall Break:

Next week we do not have school for Fall Break. Your student still will have reading homework for their reading calendar. However, they will have an opportunity for extra credit! If they complete 100 minutes of practice on assigned (or recommended skills if they complete all of the assigned skills), for both Language Arts and Math, they can get 20 extra credit points in each subject. 

Quarter 1 House Winners: ALTRUISMO!!!!

Congratulations to the members of ALTRUISMO for being our Quarter 1 winners! We will be celebrating them and all of their awesome work on Wednesday! Students are encouraged to wear the color black on Wednesday to celebrate them. They can still wear their house color as well, but something black is encouraged. :)

We will also be joining the other grades and classes Wednesday afternoon to play a game and celebrate our friends!

Week of September 29th

Thank you to all who came to the Fall Festival on Friday! We had so much fun. A HUGE thank you to our wonderful PFSA for putting on such a fun event for our school! 

This week and next week we have a lot of information, thank you for taking the time to read through my blog each week so that you are prepared right along with your student. :)

Parent/Teacher Conferences:

Please, please plan on coming to our "A Day in the Life of a 4th Grader" on Tuesday, October 7th. This is one of the things that my students' parents talked about all year long last year as something that was so helpful to them. It is an amazing way to get a glimpse into your student's daily life here at school. It will also give you really good insight into why I do the things I do and hold students accountable in certain ways. :) If you haven't already, please click HERE to sign up for a session. Remember, if you can't make it to your session, just join us on the next one. Signing up lets me know how many copies to make of everything and make sure I have what I need to be most efficient during our time together.

I have emailed those of you that I have specific concerns with. If you would like to meet with me but did not get an email, please send me an email and I will get you on the schedule. :)

Math:

This week we are really working on multi-digit multiplication. Often times parents are frustrated because they do not know or understand the strategies I teach my students to be able to do this. Please know, the algorithm is the goal! But as research has shown how student's brains develop mathematically, we have developed strategies to help their brains progress through to the algorithm. My students know that if you are helping them on their homework and you only know the algorithm, that's ok! They need to listen to you as you explain it. 

I have also posted our multiplication strategy page on my online Interactive Math Notebook for students to reference at home if they are struggling. :)

ELA:

This week in ELA we are working on reading comprehension with our book, Because of Winn-Dixie, and with  non-fiction text on a website called Readworks. Students will continue to learn new morphemes this week as well. 

October Book Celebration:

If you are new to Vision Charter you may not know that we don't celebrate Halloween like most schools. Each grade level will read a classic novel and on the 30th students are invited to dress up as a character from that book as we do our book celebration party. For 4th Grade we read Alice in Wonderland. On Thursday, October 30th your student can dress up (dress code rules still apply) as a character from the book and we will do different activities to celebrate. I will send out a snack sign up when we get closer to that date. Costumes do not have to be crazy or expensive. My own kids have fun finding things around the house that we already have to create their costumes each year! 

Week of September 22nd

 I am sorry this is getting out to you late. I had a meeting during my prep time on Monday and yesterday I was at a training all day. But there is some important information I wanted to make sure I got out to you this week anyway!

Fall Festival:

The fall festival is this week on Friday from 5:00-8:00! You won't want to miss out on all of the fun things happening. There will be food trucks, silent auction items, games, and so much more! My family always has fun going and we look forward to it every year. It is a fun way to build community and get to know the teachers and your child's friends as well. :) There will also be a booth to order house swag if you are interested in that!

We still need some help for Fall Festival! Please click below to sign up!

Sign up to bring goodies by clicking HERE. 

Sign up to help run a booth by clicking HERE.

A Day in the Life of a 4th Grader:

On Tuesday, October 7th I will be doing 3 sessions for parents to come in and do a condensed version of our day  with you students! Each session starts on the hour and my door will be locked after the first 5 minutes so that we limit interruptions since we have a limited time. I would like my students to come to this session because they will be helping you to be a 4th grader in my class. We will be modeling how we do different things in class and how we handle redirections and expectations. If you sign up for a time below and don't make it in time before the door closes, feel free to join the next session. This just gives me an idea of how many to plan for in each session. 

I am hoping we have around 12 students with their parents per session. Since space is limited in my room, this will make it easier. I know there are times when it isn't possible to leave siblings at home, but if you are able please do. Please also be prepared to take your younger kiddos out if they are disruptive so that we can make the most of our time together. :)

I am going to open the sign up for it now hoping that everyone can come! Click HERE to sign up for a session and plan ahead! :)

House Shirts:

One of our lovely parents sent in some extra shirts!! Thank you! If your student would like a shirt, let me know and I will get them one of the extra shirts I have available. I have one of each house color to give away!

I did end up with one extra green shirt that didn't have a name on it. If your student brought in a shirt and doesn't come home with one today, please let me know!

Week of September 15th

 Welcome back to another fun week in 4th grade! I am really excited about the progress I am seeing in my students already. I know it is a big adjustment from 3rd grade to 4th grade, but my students (and their families) are doing such a great job!

Math:

This week in math we are going to be finishing up Topic 2 which is all about addition and subtraction. My students will be taking the Topic 2 test on Monday. Students who do not pass tests have the chance to retake it within 1 week. If students want to retake a test, they have to study at home and then let me know when they are ready to take a retake. A 70% is the highest score I will give on a retake. :)

ELA:

This week we will continue working on learning morphemes. We will also be working on our reading comprehension strategies as well as writing. We talked about 9/11 last Thursday and began an assignment on Epic. Epic will only allow students to work on that site at school. This is the first time I have used the site so I wasn't sure how that would work out. My students handled themselves perfectly and emailed me over the weekend to let me know that. 

House Shirts:

I made all of the house shirts that were brought in this weekend and gave them to my students today! One of our lovely parents sent in some extra shirts!! Thank you! If your student would like a shirt, let me know and I will get them one of the extra shirts I have available. 

I did end up with one extra green shirt that didn't have a name on it. If your student brought in a shirt and doesn't come home with one today, please let me know!

4th Grade Essential 44:

The biggest reason for the Essential 44 is to really encourage students to start being independent learners who are able to advocate for themselves. Essential #23 says that students need to email me if they are struggling to complete an assignment at home with specific information on what the problem is. When students do that, I do not take off points for being late on the assignment. I am encouraging them to communicate their needs in a professional, respectful way. :)

Fall Festival:

The fall festival is next week! You won't want to miss out on all of the fun things happening. There will be food trucks, silent auction items, games, and so much more! My family always has fun going and we look forward to it every year. It is a fun way to build community and get to know the teachers and your child's friends as well. :)

A Day in the Life of a 4th Grader:

On Tuesday, October 7th I will be doing 3 sessions for parents to come in and do a condensed version of our day  with you students! Each session starts on the hour and my door will be locked after the first 5 minutes so that we limit interruptions since we have a limited time. I would like my students to come to this session because they will be helping you to be a 4th grader in my class. We will be modeling how we do different things in class and how we handle redirections and expectations. If you sign up for a time below and don't make it in time before the door closes, feel free to join the next session. This just gives me an idea of how many to plan for in each session. 

I am hoping we have around 12 students with their parents per session. Since space is limited in my room, this will make it easier. I know there are times when it isn't possible to leave siblings at home, but if you are able please do. Please also be prepared to take your younger kiddos out if they are disruptive so that we can make the most of our time together. :)

I am going to open the sign up for it now hoping that everyone can come! Click HERE to sign up for a session and plan ahead! :)

Week of September 8th

 We made it through all of our Beginning of the Year assessments! Woohoo!! This week we will really be pushing to follow our daily routine and get everything we have scheduled done  each day. Your student is going to really have to push themselves to work quickly and efficiently, but I know they can do it! 

Math:

This week in math we are starting Topic 2. This is all about being able to add and subtract multi-digit numbers. We will be completing  a couple pages in our Interactive Math Notebooks along with our regular assignments. 

Please keep working with your students on mastering their multiplication facts. When they have mastered them, I will send home a certificate and it will no longer be homework for them! 

English Language Arts:

This week in ELA we will be learning about parts of speech. We will be doing a pretty intense page in our Interactive Reading Notebooks. The notebooks help us learn the information, but then become a resource my students can use to find the information on their own. 

We also completed our first page in our Morpheme Lexicon last week! These are so powerful and I love watching my students grow when they are able to use these!

House App and House Wednesdays:

Your student should have brought home a letter that has a specific code for you to link to them in the RCA House App. You will get notified when your student earns a house point as well as be able to track their house progress in the competitions! I am hoping to get those out today or tomorrow. 

Your student is encouraged to wear their house color on Wednesdays! I love the sense of community and belonging that happens when students see other students in their house colors!

Fall Festival:

Our school Fall Festival is coming up! You won't want to miss out on the fun! I am including the flyer below that has all the details! I would encourage you to follow the Vision Charter School Social Media pages on Instagram and Facebook if you have them, there is a lot of information posted there. :)

A Day in the Life of a 4th Grader:

Last year I started something that ended up being amazing. Instead of doing regular conferences at the end of 1st quarter, I invited parents to sign up for a session where they come with their student and we do a mini day and you participate as a student. This allows you to see how our classroom functions and we will arrange ahead of time where students will volunteer to "get in trouble" so that you can see what that looks like in class as well. I will run 3 sessions that will last about 45 minutes to allow time at the end for questions. 

I am letting you know about this ahead of time so that hopefully everyone will be able to be there! Quarter 1 conferences are on Tuesday, October 7th from 4:00-7:00. Sessions will start on the hour. There will also be conference time the next afternoon or throughout that week and if I have specific concerns about your student being successful this year, I will reach out to you to schedule a time to meet. I would love it if you still were able to come to the "Day in the Life" session as well. :)