Week of December 17th

 I can't believe we are already in the last week of school for this calendar year! It really snuck up on me!

ELA:

This week in ELA we are continuing our study on how countries around the world celebrate the holidays. We will not have any quizzes or tests this week.

Math:

This week in math we will be wrapping up all of the things we have learned so far this year and reviewing those concepts. Homework will be over any skill not mastered yet in Topics 1-5. Homework completed this week by the end of the day on Thursday will be counted as extra credit. Students can get up to 8 extra credit points for their homework. There will be no quizzes or tests this week. Students who did not get a 70% or higher on their Topic 5 Test, may retake that this week if they would like too. They just need to let me know when they have studied and are ready to retake it. 

Christmas Party: 

Our Christmas party will be on Wednesday, the 19th from 1:00-2:00. There are still a few countries left to choose from if you would like to send in food from that country. Please click HERE to sign up. 

Polar Express Day:

On Thursday the school is having a Polar Express day! Students are invited to wear pajamas (school dress code applies) for the day! We will also be watching the movie Polar Express in class that day and drinking hot chocolate. It will be a calm cozy day. :)

Week of December 11th

 ELA:

This week we are continuing our study on how countries around the world celebrate the holidays. It's been a lot of fun so far! This is the last week for our weekly quizzes so anyone who needs to retake any has that option next week which is the end of the quarter. 

Math:

We started our Topic 5 test on long division today. We didn't have a lot of class time because I also let them make corrections on their Math 4 Today test from last week. We will finish taking that test tomorrow. I will let them make any needed corrections on Wednesday and they will hopefully come home at the end of the day on Wednesday. That way if anyone needs to retake it, they can study over the weekend and retake it next week. 

Christmas Party:

Our Christmas Party will be on next Wednesday the 20th from 1:00-2:00. There are still items that need to be signed up for. You can find that by clicking HERE. Thank you so much to those of you who have already committed to sending in supplies and food, or coming in to help. 

End of Quarter 2/Semester 1:

The end of Quarter 2/Semester 1 is quickly approaching. Students have until the end of the day on Thursday the 21st to turn in any missing work. My students know how to log into the student portal for Infinite Campus and find those missing assignments, they have to show me a couple of times a week. They just need to be signed in to their school email to be able to do that easily. Almost every assignment has a printable document or link attached so that students can do missing work from home. 

Week of December 4th

 I am so excited for December! This is one of my favorite times of year to be a teacher. We have a lot of fun things planned for this month!

ELA:

One of the fun things we do in December is a whole unit on "Holidays Around the World". Each year I pick countries that I feel are meaningful to the group of students that I have. This year we will be studying 11 different countries, the holidays they celebrate this time of year, their traditions, and foods. We will pause Because of Winn-Dixie during this time. It isn't ideal, but it's just how it worked out this year. 

We will have our normal Morning Warm Up quiz and Spelling Test this week and next week. Next week will be the last week for that so students have the opportunity to retake anything that is needed the last week of the quarter. 

November Reading Calendars were due today. Remember an email from the parent telling me how many minutes your student read, works just as well! December Reading Calendars are in their Home Folders now. 

Math:

This week in math will be pretty typical. We are going to be finishing up our unit on long division at the end of this week or the beginning of next week. I would like to take that Topic 5 test next week so that we can start fresh in the new year with a new topic. 

Christmas Party:

Our Christmas party this year will be all about the countries that we are learning about. I am working with our Room Moms to coordinate that so be on the lookout for an email with a link to sign up to either make a cultural dish, send in supplies, or help out at the party! I already have my dad on board to help me make meatballs and sauce using the recipe that his grandparents brought when they immigrated here from Italy, it's going to be tasty!

End of Q2/S1:

We are quickly approaching the end of the Quarter. Students will have until the end of the day on Thursday, December 21st to get in any missing assignments or late work. I will be sending home Missing Assignment Reports at the end of each week so that students can work on those at home. Missing assignments will also keep them from going to Enrichment on Mondays. We only have 2 left for this session, so students will want to make sure they can go!

Week of November 27th

 Welcome back from Thanksgiving Break! I hope you all had a wonderful time with family and loved ones. We spent some time this morning talking about our breaks and what went well and what didn't go so well. I really missed my students and was excited to get back to school today!

ELA:

This week will be a typical week in ELA. We have all of our normal quizzes and activities. We are going to be really working hard on the first type of essay that we learn to write in 4th-grade, the informative or explanatory essay. We will hopefully have our rough draft done by the end of the week. :)

November Reading Calendars are due next Monday, December 4th. If your student has misplaced theirs it's no biggie! Just write it on another piece of paper or shoot me an email letting me know the total number of minutes your student read for the month. 

Starting next week we are going to be learning about how different countries around the world celebrate the holidays! I always enjoy this unit with my students. This year our Christmas Party will be trying out traditional foods from those countries so be on the lookout for that signup. :)

Math:

This week in math we are picking up where we left off with long division and moving on to 3-digit dividends. Keep practicing multiplication facts at home with your student, they really do need those!

Math homework this week will be on the assigned skills from Topic 5 and some other assigned skills that your student can locate in just the 4th-grade math section rather than the skill plans. 

Cold Weather Clothing:

As the weather is getting colder, please make sure your student is dressed for the weather. Coats, hats, and gloves are needed. Students go outside every day unless it is below 19*. I feel strongly that students need recess and that time outside so I try really hard not to keep them in during their recess. If your student needs a coat, hat, or gloves please let me know and I will make sure they have what they need! I know things can be tight this time of year, so please don't hesitate to reach out to me to get your student what they need! If I notice a student repeatedly coming to school without warm clothing, I will often send things home with them. Please know that this is not meant to be an insult to you, I just want to help out where I can. :)

Enrichment Clubs:

Just a reminder that every Monday from now until Christmas Break we will have Enrichment Clubs from 1:00-1:50. Students who have chronic missing assignments who aren't making every effort to get those assignments turned in, will have to miss out and spend that time working on missing work. 

Week of November 13th

 Welcome back to the last week before Thanksgiving Break! I can't believe how quickly this year is flying by!

ELA:

This week in ELA it will be a very typical week. We have our Morning Warm-Up Quiz and Spelling Test on List K this Thursday. We are also beginning our work on informative writing. 

Math:

This week in math we will continue working on long division. This is tricky and is even trickier if your student does not know their multiplication facts. We will have a Math 4 Today Quiz this Thursday.

The quiz we took last week stumped most of my students and they did not do well on it. We took time today to go over it in class and if students showed all of their work to correct their mistakes, they could raise their grade to 70%. If they were missing parts, it would have kept them from raising their grade to a passing grade. I really feel that what tripped them up was that they didn't slow down and read through the directions for each problem. This is an important skill in math in 4th grade. 

Parent Resources:

I wanted to remind you all about the Parent Resources portion of my virtual class. Please check there if you are struggling with anything school-related with your student. As a mom and teacher, I try to make school as accessible to my parents as it is to my students. :)

Extra Credit:

Your student will have the opportunity to get extra credit over Thanksgiving Break. If they complete 80 minutes of assigned skills for ELA and 80 minutes for assigned skills in math, they can get up to 8 extra credit points.

Enrichment:

Today was our first day of enrichment. I let all of my students go today so that they understood what it is since they have not gotten to do this yet. Next time (November 27th), students with missing assignments will not get to attend enrichment. It would be a good idea for students to work on missing assignments over break. If they open the assignment marked missing, it should have directions (and links if applicable) on what they need to do to complete the assignment. Remember, for math, they must show work for all problems. 

Wahooz Fit For Fun:

These are due back to Mrs. Nickels by Thursday the 30th. If your student lost their copy, they can click HERE to print a new one. 

Week of November 6th

 We have a really busy week planned this week! Please make every effort to have your student to school every day on time. We start learning as soon as the bell rings. It's so important that your student is here and ready to learn from the start.

ELA:

This week will be a typical week in ELA. We will have our spelling test on Thursday along with our Morning Warm Up quiz. Please help your student study spelling words at home. Your student will also be taking a comprehension test over chapters 6-10 in Because of Winn Dixie. They are allowed to use the book and their packet for the test, if they don't complete that work then it isn't much help to them. :)

October Reading Calendars were due last week. If your student hasn't turned theirs in yet, please help them get that in. You are also welcome to send me an email letting me know how many minutes your student read for the month. 

Math:

This week in math we will continue working on division. Please make sure you are practicing multiplication facts at home with your student to help them work through division easier. If your student failed the Topic 3&4 math test, they are welcome to study and retake it. I will allow retakes for this until next Thursday the 16th. 

Parent Resources:

I have been working really hard to get videos recorded for parents as well as making digital versions of our Math and ELA Interactive Journals. You can find those in the "Parent Resources" section of my virtual class. You can go to my virtual class by clicking on the bitmoji that is in the signature of all of my emails. 

It looks like this: 

I linked my virtual class to that image as well so you should be able to click on it to get to my virtual class. :)

Social Studies:

This week in Social Studies we will be learning about Veterans Day. We have a special guest speaker coming in on Thursday that your student won't want to miss! We have been creating an agamograph and will be writing about it as well. 

Week of October 30th

Thank you to all of you who came to conferences either in person, by phone, or email! I really enjoy being able to touch base with each of you. This class is full of truly great students and I love getting to share that with parents!

Pajama Day:

We will be having a school-wide pajama day on Wednesday, November 1st! This is to encourage attendance this week since it's the last big push that drives a lot of our funding. :) Please make sure your student is in school unless they are truly sick. 

ELA:

This week will be a typical week in ELA. We will have our normal quizzes on Thursday as well. Please help your student count up their total minutes read this month so that they can turn in their October Reading Calendar on Wednesday. 

Math:

We are taking our Topic 3&4 test today. Students will have the opportunity to make corrections tomorrow. Their homework for today and tomorrow should be working on any skills from Topic 3 or 4 that they haven't mastered yet. We will begin Topic 5 on Wednesday and this will be on division.

I am working on making a video for parents that explains the math strategies we are using and why we use them. I am hoping to have that up by the end of this week.

Book Celebration Party:

Our book party is tomorrow from 1:30-2:30. There are still items that need to be signed up for. If you haven't had a chance, please click HERE to see the sign-up sheet and sign up to send something in if you can. 

Students are invited to dress up tomorrow as long as it is a character from the book Alice in Wonderland. These do not have to be fancy costumes, have fun finding things that you already have around the house to make it work! Costumes should be dress code appropriate and no weapons. 

VCS Food Drive:

We are doing our annual food drive to help out Vision families during the holiday season! This will be going November 6-9 and the winning classes will get a juice and popcorn party!

VCS Holiday Bazaar

Each year our school puts on a Holiday Bazaar with booths from people in the community as well as teachers and students from our school! Please check out the flyer below for more information. 

Week of October 23rd

I hope you all had a lovely Fall Break! I spent most of it getting caught up at home after all of the crazy sickness and emergency surgery stuff that had been going on in the weeks leading up to it. Fingers crossed we are on track for some smoother waters. Thank you for your patience with me as I know I didn't respond to emails as quickly as I usually do. My youngest son had to have an appendectomy and it really rocked the boat a bit. It's like I told my class, I wish I could schedule these things instead of having them sprung on me! :)

ELA:

This week will be a normal week for ELA. We will continue working on our novel study as well as really working hard on some grammar rules in our Interactive Reading Journal. I am really proud of the progress my students have made so far!

This Thursday will be normal for quizzes and spelling tests. October Reading Calendars will be due next Wednesday, November 1st. Those can be turned in on the calendar or through an email from the parents letting me know how many minutes your student read in the month of October.

Math:

This week in math we will be finishing up our work on multiplication. Thursday we will spend time reviewing all of the concepts we have learned to be ready for our Topic 3&4 test that will be on Monday. Our next topic will begin working on division. Students will really struggle with this topic if they don't have a pretty firm grasp of their multiplication facts.

Parent/Teacher Conferences:

We will be doing conferences this Thursday from 3:30-7:00 (drop-in) and Friday from 8:00-12:00 (scheduled). I sent out invites to you through email for either one of those options depending on your student's progress. If you would like to schedule a time on Friday, but did not get that invite, please let me know! The drop-in time on Thursday will be student-led conferences and I will be here to help and answer any questions or concerns you may have. If you are coming on Friday, I am fine with you bringing your student with you to that as well. I really like to encourage students to start being a part of the team when it comes to learning at this age!

 Book Celebration Party:

Next Tuesday the 31st we will be having our Book Celebration party from 1:30-2:30! Students are invited to dress up as long as it is a character from our book Alice in Wonderland. Mrs. Blanchard and Mrs. DeForest have been working hard to plan our party and have put together a SignUp Genius for parents to sign up to help as well as send in supplies for the party. Please click HERE to sign up to help. I really appreciate all of the help with party planning!!

Week of October 9th

 Welcome to the 1st week of the 2nd Quarter! I feel like this year is flying by already. I am really starting to see some amazing growth in my students and I am excited about where we are headed! 

ELA:

This week in ELA we are going to be adding to our ReadWorks activities. We will continue doing the Article a Day each day, but we are going to be adding a non-fiction article on Mondays that has a vocabulary activity along with 5 multiple-choice comprehension questions. This really narrows in on those comprehension skills that students sometimes struggle with. After this quarter we will begin adding in short answer responses and then eventually paired texts.

This week we have our normal quizzes on Thursday. 

Math:

Last week we finished up with Topic 3 and are beginning Topic 4 this week. Topic 4 is a continuation of the skills we started in Topic 3. Instead of multiplying a 1-digit factor by a multi-digit factor, we will be multiplying 2 multi-digit factors. We will test all of those multiplication skills at the end of Topic 4. Please continue practicing multiplication facts with your student at home. I already have students who have passed their multiplication facts through 10s and have moved on to division! This is so exciting!

We will have all of our normal quizzes this week as well. 

Parent/Teacher Conferences:

For 4th-grade conferences, I will email you to schedule a time to meet on Friday the 27th from 8:00-12:00 if I have specific concerns I would like to address with you about your student. I will send out a different email inviting you to a drop-in time for you to bring your student in for a student-led conference on Thursday the 26th from 3:30-7:00. If you get the email for the drop-in student-led conference but you would prefer to schedule a time on Friday, please let me know and I will get you scheduled during that time if I have any available. Those emails will be going out this week.

Fall Break Extra Credit Opportunity:

Next week is Fall Break! I am offering extra credit for both ELA and math. Students can earn up to 10 points of extra credit in both subjects by working on assigned skills in those subjects on IXL. They will get 1 point per 10 minutes of work. This means there is no homework grade for math during Fall Break as those minutes completed will count towards extra credit.

**Please Note: If your student is not with me during one of those subjects, they will work on Recommended Skills on IXL for those subjects rather than the assigned skills. 

October Book Celebration:

4th Grade at Vision Charter School will be reading Alice in Wonderland for our classic book this month. We will have our book celebration party on Tuesday, October 31st from 1:30-2:30. Students are invited to dress up like a character from the book if they would like to on that day. Please don't feel like you need to go out and buy anything for this costume, let your student be creative and come up with their costume from things you already have at home!

Wahooz Fit for Fun:

I sent home a page last week for the Wahooz Fit for Fun program. If that page did not make it home or it got lost, you can click HERE to print a new one. These are due back to the school by Thursday, November 30th. 

Week of October 1st

 I am sorry that I did not post last week. I ended up being home sick all week. I am so thankful to be back this week! I missed my students so much!

End of Quarter 1:

This is the last week of the 1st quarter. That means that any missing assignments can be turned in until 3:15 this Thursday the 5th. After that, they cannot be turned in and will be part of the grade for this quarter. Grades for quarters 1 and 2 are averaged for the semester grade. 

ELA:

This week in ELA we will continue reading Because of Winn-Dixie. We did take our first comprehension test over chapters 1-5 today, but that will not go in the grade book until next week to allow for retakes if they are needed. There will NOT be a Morning Warm Up quiz or spelling test this week since it is the last week of the quarter. Students did take a pretest last week on List G and they will take that final test on October 12th (next week). 

Septemeber Reading Calendars were due today. If your student did not get theirs turned in, please help them fill it out tonight to get it turned in tomorrow. 

Math:

This week in math we will continue working on multiplication. We will also begin Topic 4 this week. I don't give a test on Topic 3 because we are continuing our work with multiplication in Topic 4, so they will take a test at the end of that topic. There will NOT be a Math 4 Today quiz this week because of the end of the quarter.

I talked to my students about math homework on IXL this week. I am going to start requiring them to work on the assigned math skills that correspond to the lesson we did in class that day. I will not count the time spent on other skills unless they have gotten an 80 Smart Score on the assigned skills and need more time. We talked about this in class so they are aware of it as well. The only exception to this is if your student doesn't stay with me for math, then they do the Recommended Skills for their total 80 minutes. 

Picture Retakes:

Picture retakes are this Thursday the 5th. If your student wasn't here or would like to retake their pictures, please plan for that day. If you purchased pictures and want your student to retake them, please send your student's picture packet back with them that day. 

October Book Celebration:

Here at Vision Charter we do a book celebration the month of October. We will be reading a book together here at school and then they are invited to dress up like a character from that book on Tuesday the 31st for our Book Celebration Party. In 4th-Grade we read Alice in Wonderland. We will also watch this performed as a ballet and may get to watch the movie as well.

Parent Volunteers:

I apologize for not getting the volunteer schedule out this week. I did not plan on being sick last week and it has set me back a little in my planning. If you have not emailed me about wanting to volunteer in the classroom weekly or bi-weekly or helping with class parties, please do that this week so I can get that set up. :)

Week of September 18th

 Welcome back to another week in 4th grade! We are well and truly on our way now. The end of Quarter 1 is quickly approaching on October 5th. Students have until the end of the quarter to submit any missing assignments. After the end of the quarter, they start over with a clean slate. :) Quarter grades are averaged into Semester grades for elementary which is slightly different from how middle school and high school do things. 

ELA:

This week in ELA we will begin our new novel study with the book Because of Winn-Dixie. I love this book and I always enjoy watching my students as they read the book. There are so many wonderful lessons to learn in this book as we continue to work on our reading comprehension as well as learning story elements, character development, and other skills. 

We will have our normal quizzes on Thursday of this week. Please help your student to study their spelling words at home. They may or may not have time to practice them here during their school day.

Your student should also be documenting their reading on their September reading calendar. That will be due Monday, October 2nd. Students need to read a total of 500 minutes a month for full credit. Please help them count up their minutes, that is what the parent signature represents on the calendar. 

Math: 

This week we will be taking our first Topic test in math. Students will have their first attempt on Monday. I will mark any that they missed with one line through the number. On Tuesday students will have an opportunity to correct any that they missed. Each problem is worth 2 points. They get one point for the correct answer and one point for showing their work. The back sides of the test are blank so that they can show their work there as well. As long as it is labeled clearly with the problem number, they get that point! Students may retake any test that is below a 70%, they just need to tell me when they are ready. They have until the end of the following week to do a retake. 

We will be starting Topic 3 on Wednesday. Topic 3 is all about multiplication. We will be learning different strategies to solve multi-digit multiplication strategies. The end goal is for students to be able to comfortably and accurately use the standard algorithm, but they are encouraged to use the strategy that works best for them. This supports their brain development where they are at. I know this can be frustrating for parents as you are not learning those strategies. Please feel free to show them the algorithm and tell them why it works best for you if you are helping them with a missing assignment or homework. 

It is about this time that students who do not have a grasp of their multiplication facts really start to struggle. We use the program Xtramath at school to help practice these every day. Students can access this at home as well to practice! 

Thirsty Thursday:

Thank you, Aidan, for the name suggestion! This used to be "Fun Friday" but since we don't go to school on Fridays very often it didn't make sense. Aidan suggested "Thirsty Thursday" because "we are thirsty for an extra recess"! I love it! At the end of the week, students can earn an extra recess if they have no missing assignments. 

Parent Volunteers:

I am working on getting our volunteer schedule set up to start in October. Please remember that younger siblings cannot come in with you for any of the volunteering opportunities including class parties. 

There a two ways you can volunteer. The first is coming into the class to help students with assignments, flashcards, etc. If you would like this option, please email me and let me know what days you are available and what times. I like this to be a weekly schedule but if you can't come in every week, please let me know that as well. 

The second opportunity is planning or donating to class parties. I need parents who are willing to plan and coordinate our October Book Celebration, Christmas Party, and Valentine's Party. I will give directions on times and expectations and will help out as well. You may choose to be a parent who comes in to help during the parties or just send in supplies/food. Please email me and let me know how you would like to help if this is something you are interested in and able to do. 

Week of Sept. 11th

 I am sorry that I did not get this out to you yesterday. I was home with a sick kiddo. If your student needed to do make-up tests from Thursday of last week, they will get those done today. 

ELA:

This week we will be introducing ReadWorks. It is a program that I use to work on reading comprehension specifically with non-fiction passages. We will also be finishing up our first novel study on Stone Fox. Students will have their normal weekly quizzes this week. 

Math:

This week we are finishing up with Topic 2. On Thursday we will be doing a review of Topic 2 and will be taking our first math test on those skills on Monday. I do the big tests in math differently than the quizzes. Students will take the test on Monday, then I will mark the ones they missed with a line through that number, and then students will have a chance to make corrections on Tuesday and that will be the grade that they get. They get 1 point per correct answer and one point for showing their work. 

Having them really focus on any IXL skills from Topic 2 that they haven't mastered would be a great way to help them study over the weekend.

Interim ISATs:

We are taking the Interim ISATs this week. They are a shortened version of the ISAT that gives us a good idea of where students are at. The state requires us to do this, but I use them to sit down with each student individually and set learning goals. We will talk about what they did well on and what they need to focus on since they struggled. I also talked to my class about how ISATs can seem scary and the format can be intimidating so doing the interim ones help us to be more familiar with them and ease some of that testing anxiety when it comes to the final one in the spring. :)

Week of Sept. 4th

 I hope you all had a wonderful long weekend! I really enjoyed my time with my family. We celebrated my son's 8th birthday and went camping in the rain. :) Please remember that we DO have school this Friday since we did not have school on Monday.

ELA:

This week will be a typical week in ELA. Please help your student study their spelling words for their test on Friday. We will also continue reading Stone Fox and working on our Interactive Reading Journal. 

Our September Reading Calendar is in effect this week! Students need to read a total of 500 minutes for the month to get full credit. Please have your student keep this calendar in their Home Folder so that they can write down any time that they read at school. The "Parent Signature" line at the bottom means that you have checked the total number of minutes read with your student before they turn it in, not that you read with them. 

Math:

This week is a pretty typical week in math. We have started working on our multiplication facts as well. I cannot stress enough how important it is for your student to memorize their multiplication facts. It is something we will use all year as well as in 5th grade and beyond. These are especially important when we get to fractions! Please help your student work on these at home as well. 

The math homework grade that I gave out this week was reflective of the minutes they completed of their homework. Remember this is not something that can be made up later. Students need 80 minutes of homework for math each week for full credit. 

Missing Assignments:

Assignments that are marked missing in the grade book are marked that way so that students can check for them in their Student Portal (Infinite Campus) when they are working on Must Dos. They also can find these at home and work on them. Our math assignments and ReadWorks (when we start those) can be accessed from home and students are highly encouraged to do that! 

Character Counts:

Each month we have a character trait that we focus on. This month the focus is on trustworthiness. We talk about what that looks like and why it may be important. Our school counselor, Mr. Lamintina came in today to talk to us about it and I was impressed with my students' insights and thoughtfulness in the discussion. Be sure to ask your student about it today!

Class Party:

Our class is super close to earning our first class party! Please encourage them to be on their best behavior and give their best every day so that we can PARTY!

Week of August 28th

 I am so excited for this week because it will be our first week of having our normal routine of a four-day week (that isn't the first week of school). :) The first week of school is always a little extra crazy and not much routine. This week we will really be working on cementing those expectations of how our class works. 

ELA:

This week in ELA (English Language Arts) we are going to be working on our novel study on Stone Fox. We will also be practicing different grammar rules and starting our Interactive Reading Journal. 

We will have a Morning Warm Up quiz and spelling test (List B) on Thursday. These happen on the last day of every week. 

Math:

This week in math we will be starting off with Lesson 1-3. I had originally planned to get to that on Friday of last week, but my students needed extra time on other things so I adjusted that. :) I try really hard to plan a week in advance, but I also am flexible when students are working hard but need extra time on a skill or lesson. 

We will have our Math 4 Today quiz on Thursday of this week. These also happen on the last day of every week. 

Test Retakes:

It is part of our policy at Vision Charter to allow students to study and retake any test that they score below a 70% on. I allow my class to retake any quizzes that they score below a 70% on as well. If your student scores below a 70% I will put a stamp at the top that says "You may student and retake this! Let me know when you are ready. :)" It is your student's responsibility to let me know that they have studied and want to retake a test or quiz. Students have one week to do that. So any test or quiz that was failed last week, can be taken any time this week. But after Thursday of this week, they don't have that option anymore. Because of this, I try REALLY hard to grade those and send them home on Thursday so that they have the weekend to study what they did wrong to be able to retake it. 

Please note that as per the policy, the highest score that a student can get on a retake is 85%. So even if they get higher than that, it will only go in the grade book as an 85%. 

I also want to reassure you that it is really common for students to not do well the first several weeks on these quizzes. Most often that is because they are making simple errors or aren't paying attention to all of the directions. For the first couple of months, I read them to my class as a whole group to really point out certain things to pay attention to. After those first few weeks, students can raise their hand if they need help reading a question, but I usually let them try on their own first. 

IXL Math Homework:

I told my class last week and I am pretty sure I mentioned to parents as well that homework for last week will be given full credit if I see that students have attempted to do it since we were still learning how to get to the correct place. I may do that for this week as well, I will watch and see how students are doing. :)

Students are required to do 80 minutes a week. That goes in my grade book as a possible 8 points. So if a student does 76 minutes, it will go in my grade book as 7.6. I base that time on what is marked as active minutes on IXL which I discussed in the video I sent out last week. I am going to link that video to my virtual class and blog so that you can refer back to it if you need to. :)

Week of August 21st

 Welcome to the second week of 4th grade! This week is our only five-day week this year so we DO have school on Friday. 

A note from the principal about dress code:

DRESS CODE--

Our dress code must be strictly enforced for students in all grades. Here are the most important pieces of the dress code that are applicable to elementary students:

•  All pants, shorts, skirts, etc. must be worn at the waist to cover one’s undergarments
• Shorts and skirts must be worn at the waist and reach to at least the mid-thigh. 
• Jeans may be worn as long as they are worn at the waist and do not display holes that are above the mid-thigh. *Mid-thigh is the minimum length allowed and is MIDWAY between the hip and the top of the knee.   Leggings must be covered to the mid-thigh by a long shirt, shorts, or skirt.
• Sleeveless shirts will be allowed as long as they have a minimum of four finger width of fabric covering from neck to shoulder.   

Please review this and help your kiddos choose clothing for school mornings that meets these criteria. We don't like having to talk to the littles about dress code, they get easily embarrassed and we don't want to make them feel bad! However, we do have to follow policy so we appreciate your support with this!!!!

ELA:

This week in ELA we are beginning our first novel, Stone Fox. We will be working on vocabulary and comprehension with this novel. Please have your student practice their spelling words at home this week. We will have our first spelling test on Thursday. 

Math:

This week in math we are going to be working on number forms, rounding, and place value. I did not have a chance to show the kids how to do their homework today, so we will spend some time on that tomorrow. 

Picture Day:

Picture day is this Wednesday. I sent home picture packets last week. You can send those in with a check or cash or you can order online. 

End of 1st Week Updates!

 Wow! What a great first week! Give your kiddo an extra high five and hug for doing such a great job this week. I am really proud of them! We worked this week on getting all of our procedures and transitions down so that our year will be smooth and efficient. We also started working on getting all of our beginning-of-the-year assessments done. They aren't fun, I know that, but they help guide my instruction and it's really fun to see how much they have grown when we do them again at the end of the year!

One of the things we talked about a lot is our class motto. Our class motto is "It's ok to make mistakes!" We are all human and we all make mistakes, including Mrs. Martindale. Mistakes are proof that we are trying and that is how we learn. I want them to try hard things and be ok with it if they make mistakes along the way!

Infinite Campus Grades: 

If you do not have your Parent Portal for Infinite Campus set up yet, please email Mrs. Bowers at amybowers@visioncsd.org to get that set up. There is a free app that you can download on your phone. I have this set up for my own kids and I love that I get notifications as teachers are inputting grades into their grade book. It's a great tool so that you know if your student is struggling or falling behind. 

I also teach my students how to check their grades and missing assignments on their Chromebooks. As long as they are logged into their school email, they can do this at home as well!

Missing Assignments:

I mark any assignment that is not turned in on the due date as "missing" in my grade book. That way students can look in their Student Portal to see what they need to work on. The school policy is that they are supposed to be docked 25% of their grade for each day that an assignment is late. Because 4th grade is really the first time they have the opportunity to track it themselves, I use this year as a teaching year on the importance of getting their work done. I also don't assign anything that isn't important for their learning. I want them to do the assignments so that they learn the content and don't fall behind.

That being said, students in my class have until the end of the quarter to get their missing assignments turned in. I will occasionally send home missing assignment reports but I don't do that often since students know how to look them up and parents can track it on their phones. Please don't wait for me to tell you that your student has missing assignments, no news does not necessarily mean good news in this situation. :)

Snacks and Headphones:

Every day we do a Snack and Track that allows kids to go run a lap, eat a snack, and play. Please send your student with a HEALTHY snack option that is going to help their brains and bodies throughout the day. Candy is not a snack and I won't let kids eat it at Snack and Track time. :)

We use our Chromebooks a lot in 4th grade. Students often find that having headphones makes this a lot easier since they have to mute them if they don't have headphones. I have some that kids can use, but they are old and aren't the most comfortable. Your student is welcome and encouraged to bring some from home. They don't have to be anything fancy, just something that fits in their desks.

Picture Day:

We have picture day next week on Wednesday the 23rd. I sent home picture packets yesterday. If you want to send in your money and order form before Wednesday, I don't mind holding on to it and giving it to your student on Wednesday. Or you can order them online and not worry about that at all. :) 

Welcome to Mrs. Martindale's 4th Grade Class!

 I am so excited to have your student in my class this year! 4th Grade is full of new learning and lots of growth. Thank you for entrusting me with your precious child. As a mom, I know that it takes a lot to trust someone else with the care of your child. It is not a privilege that I take lightly. Please know that I am here for the success of your child. 

Communication:

I try very hard to communicate with you the parents/guardians as much as possible. I will post here on the blog weekly to update you on what we will be learning in class or other important information. I will send an email out each week that says "Please click HERE." and you can click on the "HERE" to be taken to the new blog post. Please read those each week so that you stay informed on what is going on here with your student.

If you need to contact me, email is best. I will do my best to respond within one school day. I do not check my email in the evenings or on the weekends because I am a mom too and try really hard to be present with my family when I am not at school. :)

Transportation Changes:

If your child needs to go home a different way than usual, please email amybowers@visioncsd.org to let her know. Mrs. Bowers will send a note to class to let your student know. It's ok if you include me in the email, but make sure Mrs. Bowers gets it. There have been times when I am home with a sick kiddo and didn't get the email and the office didn't know. 

Please know that I will NEVER take your child's word for a transportation change. It is not because I don't trust your student, it is policy and ensures your child's safety which is our top priority.

If you or the person picking up your child from school is new, please have your ID ready to show the office or the personnel out front. We take safety very seriously and will not let your child go unless proper ID is shown. :)

Home Folders:

Your student will get a folder from me that is meant to go back and forth each day from home to school and school to home. There is a sheet protector in it that will be for their monthly reading calendars and their weekly spelling lists. Please keep those things in there so that your student has access to them at school as well.

Must Do/May Do:

Part of our day each day will be what we call Must Do/May Do time. Students must do the Must Dos in the order they are listed. When those are complete and they have checked them off with me, they may choose an activity from the May Do list. These things are still academic, but more fun. The first three Must Dos are unfinished/late work, IXL math homework, and reading 20 minutes. Those things are homework if they are not finished in class. Please encourage your student to take advantage of the opportunity to get homework done in class so that they don't have to worry about it at home.