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!