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. :)

Week of September 2nd

 I hope you all had a lovely long weekend! I spent time camping with my family and celebrating birthdays! I am excited to get back to school this week because now we have most of the kinks worked out and things will really take off from here. 

I know Infinite Campus had some updates and all things technology can be counted on to change regularly, if your student is struggling to access something for school, please let me know and I will help you troubleshoot. Eventually the kiddos will have it all figured out and things will be really smooth. Thank you for your patience as we are all learning together in the beginning. :)

Grade Checks:

Part of our Thursday morning routines is to do a grade check and write down any missing assignments. We do this in the "Friday" part of our agenda. Your student should have crossed off "Friday" and written "Grade Check" underneath. They should include the letter grade as well as percentage for each subject. Underneath that they should write down any missing assignments if they have any. Right now they should only have grades in Math and ELA. I will include a picture of what my model agenda looked like from our grade check last Thursday below. 

Math: 

This week in math we are continuing to work on understanding place value. We will also be taking the Interim Math ISAT this week. This helps guide my instruction as well as help my students set goals for their learning this year. 

Keep helping them work on their multiplication facts at home. I have already seen so much growth with my students and it is AMAZING!! One of the things we do in class each day is sing the Multiplication Mash Up. Someone took fun catchy songs and put them to the multiples. It is an excellent way to make it fun and help them remember their math facts. You can find that by clicking on the numbers above the white board in my virtual class. You can also click HERE to find it. 

ELA:

English Language Arts is the broad term we use to cover grammar, reading, writing, morphemes, etc. There is only one ELA grade in Infinite Campus so students will only have one grade to write down for their Grade Check, but they will write missing assignments in the appropriate square. 

This week we are taking the practice ELA ISAT as well. We are also going to begin our work on morphemes. Morphemes are the smallest word chunk that have meaning. They are also the reason that the English language "doesn't make sense". :) For example plumber has a 'b' because it is made up of two morphemes plumb+er. "Plumb" is a Latin root that cannot stand on it's own and means "lead"; "-er" is a suffix we add to words to create a noun. So it literally means "a person who leads or works with leads". 

We do not do spelling lists in 4th grades because our focus is on the morphemes. Once students know the morphemes it will help improve their spelling, but also help improve their vocabulary acquisition and reading comprehension. 

House App and House Wednesdays:

Your student should be bringing 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. :)