Newsletter December 5

Dear 4B Families,

Advent-Candles-week2.jpg

Happy second week of Advent. I hope you all had a nice weekend. Will there be snow this week?

This Wednesday, Dec. 7th, the students will be receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation with Fr. Oakland. We will be reviewing and preparing for this Sacrament in class and you will find an examination of conscience in your child’s filer to help him or her prepare. Thank you for taking time to remind/assist your child in his or her preparations for this special sacrament.  Students can write down notes to bring with them into the confessional if they would like. Students should continue to practice the Act of Contrition. Each student will need to be able to recite this prayer during the Penance Service.

On Thursday, Dec. 9th, we celebrate the Mass of the Immaculate Conception at 8:45. Students need to come in perfect uniform. This includes a red sweatshirt, vest or sweater over a white collared shirt. Please join us if you are able.

untitledReport cards will come home this Friday. I am very proud of the progress the students are making. I will ask the students not to open their report card envelope until they get in their car or home. You can help by reinforcing this request as well. Grades are personal and should not be shared and compared with classmates or other families. The IOWA and CogAT test scores will also be in the report card envelope. Please let me know if you have any questions regarding your child’s grades and or progress during the first trimester. Please note; the overall spelling grade is a combination of spelling tests, spelling practice work and applied spelling (spelling in written work).

untitled

Thank you for supporting our all-school collections for Advent. Next Thursday the 15th, we will gather in the church to have the items collected blessed by Fr. Oakland and then distributed to the organizations.
untitled

Grade 4 is collecting the following:

  • untitledMonetary donations for St. Vincent de Paul

  • Warm items: Scarves, gloves, hats, socks, blankets, coats for St. Vincent de Paul (New or gently used)

  • Canned food for Holy Rosary        

                                       food bank  

Thank you all so much for your generosity with all of these service/outreach requests. We are truly doing Works of Mercy!

Reading/Language Arts: We will be finishing up Charlotte’s Web this week. Next week we will have some final tests and activities related to the story and vocabulary. Each student will have a copy of the list of vocabulary words we have been working on throughout the story in their filer on Monday. These words will be part of the final test next week. You can quiz your child on definitions and parts of speech. Don’t forget that the Quote Posters are due this Thursday the 8th.  Students can turn them in early if finished.

Spelling: Unit 9 lists were sent home last Friday. The test will take place this Friday the 9th.  There will not be a spelling test the week of December 12th.

zz3e544162Religion: Last week the students filled out two study sheets for their Liturgical Year test that will take place next Tuesday the 13th Hopefully the students have been taking time to study each night. Extra copies can be found in the “Liturgical Year” tab at the top of the page. This is a two-part test in which the students will answer questions about the liturgical year as well as fill in and correctly color a liturgical calendar. We will review in class this week as well. Ms. Simpson created an online practice site for the calendar portion of the test.  The site this test on is a great resource.  Families can sign up for their own accounts on this site and create their own review tests in any subject area.  I will show it to the students.  Check it out yourself as well with this link.

Math: Check your child’s filer for corrected math tests from last week.  We will try to get as much of the math homework completed at school this week as we can to give the students extra time to work on test preparations and quote posters.  Those students that have not mastered their math facts should be dedicating at least 5 minutes of focused practice nightly!

Social Studies: The Midwest/SE/NE test will take place this Friday. I have created an abbreviation quiz of these states that the students can use as part of their practice. In the links on the 4A page under Map Skills there are several sites the students can use to review their states.  As mentioned last week the Western and 50 state tests will take place after the break. Students are encouraged to visit the Map Skills over the break to practice states and abbreviations. They can also get a head start on the rivers and lakes test that will take place near the end of January with one of the links as well.

Science: This week we will be discussing light energy. The students will learn about reflection and refraction and how light travels. We will have a lab where the students will see prisms, magnifying glasses, and light waves reflecting. They will also gain a better understanding of how each color on the visible spectrum corresponds to a different wavelength.

zz79ede0f4Last week 4B students participated in the Hour of Code that is happening world-wide. Mr. Barker lead the students in this instruction.  It is a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify code and show that anybody can learn the basics.  I am always amazed at how quickly the students pick up coding. Many students are already familiar with coding, and they can always push themselves with more challenging tasks.

Homework:

Students should continue to pray for their faith family prayer partners and be sure to make their card and have it to school by next Wednesday the 14th

  • Quote Poster due on Thursday the 8th
  • NE/SW/Midwest State test on Friday the 9th
  • Spelling test for Unit 9 on the 9th
  • Liturgical Year test on Tuesday the 13th
  • Know words to songs for the Christmas program next Thursday
  • Math fact review if facts are not mastered
  • Charlotte’s Web vocabulary review    

We are still in need of small jam or jelly jars for our little Christmas project. We will need them by next Monday the 12th if possible. Thank you to all who have already donated.

untitledChristmas is most truly

Christmas when we celebrate it

by giving the light of love to

those who need it most.