Dear 4B Families,
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. The weather has definitely moved to fall. During these fall days when the
weather is unpredictable, students should always bring a raincoat (preferably with a hood) for recess. We do live in Seattle and drizzle happens! Also, if you have not done so already, all sweatshirts and coats should be labeled with your child’s name. Now that the weather is cooler, all students need to wear a red Holy Rosary sweatshirt, sweater or vest every Wednesday for Mass. Thank you!
As a head’s up, the mid-trimester report will be going home on Friday, October 18th!
Pike Place Market: 4B will be taking a field trip to Pike Place Market on Thursday, December 5th. Permission slips were sent home on gold paper last week. If you have not done so already, please sign and return by Tuesday, October 15th. We are looking for parents to chaperone and help us transport students to the market. Thank you in advance to all families who are able and willing to help. We couldn’t do it without you!
The fall MAP testing will continue this week with language arts. I am proud of the hard work and attention the students gave to the math portion of the test last week.
We will have the final Magazine Assembly to announce the results of the sale on Thursday, October 10th! Thank you all again for your generous support of this important fundraiser.
Social Studies: The students had practice looking up locations using latitude and longitude coordinates for locations in the United States. This week we will also find locations on a world map using coordinates. Looking ahead, we will have a test on latitude, longitude and map skills on Thursday, October 17th. A good portion of the test cannot be reviewed at home as we will use maps at school, but all of the students will have study sheets for the specific vocabulary and concepts they need to know for the test in their filers next Tuesday. We will also be starting our review of the locations of the 50 states with the NE region. All students will have a study sheet in their filer next Tuesday. The NE States test will take place on October 24th.
Math: We are wrapping up our chapter on addition and subtraction of large numbers. The homework this week should be checked over with parents to assure accurate computation. We are working towards Striving for Accuracy with math computation, which means reading questions carefully, and double-checking work as needed. Most of the errors on classwork have been with basic computation. Students should always properly label and write sentences for answers to story problems. For instance, if a problem asks, “How many more children liked Skittles than Starbursts?”, their answer should look like: 354 more children liked Skittles. When answers to story problems are correctly labeled it shows that the problem is clearly understood. Students are encouraged to underline important information in story problems to focus their reading. Wednesday math homework will be an assessment review. This review will be very similar to the chapter test the students will take at school this Thursday. Please take time to go over the worksheet with your children. We will also be doing a full test review at school. Thank you for your assistance.
Habits: Striving for Accuracy This week, we are focusing on the habit of striving for accuracy. Just like classwork, I’ve noticed some patterns in students’ completed homework. Several students are not checking over their math work, which causes small mistakes, like a simple addition error, to turn into the entire sum being incorrect. As another reminder, when there is a question, students are expected to answer with a complete sentence. A focus on striving for accuracy will allow students to be more successful on their assignments and feel proud of their work!
Reading: This week the students will be working through a creative writing assignment based on a scene from
Charlotte’s Web. The students will use E.B. White’s detailed descriptions as a model for their own writing in describing the barn using their senses, and interesting word choice to describe an event from the chapter. Do you want to be impressed?! Ask your child to talk about these vocabulary words from chapters 1-4: blissful, runt, injustice, manure, enchanted, perspiration, reconsider, stealthily, and dejected.
Religion/L.A.:The students got a good start on their rough drafts of their saint reports last week. We will be working on these special reports for the next several weeks. Your child will show you his or her completed report during their conference in November. Mrs. Helling will be working on special saint portraits with the students in upcoming art classes that will become a part of the November bulletin board in the main hallway of the school. It is a good time to start thinking about the saint costume your child will wear for the All Saint’s Day Mass on November 1st. The costumes do not have to be fancy. In the past students have used sheets, bathrobes, Halloween capes, graduation gowns, etc. It is amazing what a bit of material can do! Past students are also great resources for costumes. I have posted some past pictures of the students in costumes for you to get ideas. If you have any questions please let me know! Thank you for continuing to practice the Prayer of St. Francis at home regularly.
Science: This week in science, we will start Leif’s story to guide us into the world of mechanical engineering! Our journey will bring us to an analysis of different machines. Students will study the machines (an egg beater and can opener, to name a few) to determine where the energy must be put into the machine (the cause) and the work that is a result of that energy (the effect). All of this is in preparation for becoming mechanical engineers and building our own machines: windmills!
Spelling: The spelling list for this week is Short and Long O. The test will be on Thursday this week since we do not have school on Friday.
Journals: I have been enjoying reading novels with your children! Now that our schedules are being followed more consistently, I can more confidently give you up-to-date information about journals. All students are expected to write in their journal at least one time per week. Throughout the week, there are times where students have the choice to work on their journals or practice other language arts skills. Most weeks, the class time will be enough to complete a journal and practice for LA skills. If, for some reason, a student has not completed his or her journal by their given day of the week, it will then be homework. You will know this because it will be written in the student’s planner. Below is a list of students with their assigned day. So far, students have been using their time responsibly, and journals have been turned in on time and with high quality. If you have any questions, please let me know!
|
Monday |
Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday |
| Alex
Austin Jude Izzy Seamus Emalyn Arlo |
Delaney
Dominic Aria Laila Luke Jacob |
Reilly
Regan Lucy Cruz Audrey Jake |
Quincy Ella Giselle Madeline Phoebe George |
- Math practice Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday (Assessment Review)
- The spelling test on Thursday
- Continue to practice the Prayer of St. Francis.
- Read!
- Talk about what I learned.
Have a great week everyone.
Remember, there is no school on Friday due to a teacher in-service. Enjoy the extended weekend!
Ms. Benson