Newsletter March 13

Dear 4B Families,

I hope you all had a nice weekend, despite the lost hour of sleep! The extra daylight hours are always nice, but the time change can throw off sleep schedules a bit.

We have a very special event this Thursday the 16th. The “Of Cedar and Salmon” program will be set up in the School Hall all day just for the 3rd and 4th grade students. This multi-media, multi-cultural, hands-on educational program is designed to teach students about the native art and culture of the Pacific Northwest Coast. This program supports and supplements the 3rd and 4th grade studies of Native People and cultures. Parents are welcome to come at any point during the day to check out the displays and program.

Friday is St. Patrick’s Day.  We do have Mass at 8:45, students may wear green in honor of the day, but they are asked not to wear face paint or hair dye.

Oral Biographies: Please let me know if you were not able to open the Google doc to sign up for oral biography presentation times in the email I sent out yesterday. This Wednesday (15th) the students in 4B will be able to work on their oral biography projects in class. Students can work on their notes, plan/practice any part of their presentation, ask questions, or get advice from their classmates or me. Every student needs to bring in their main book for the project, and any other sources of information they have. During library time on Wednesday, Mrs. Harris will be teaching the students about bibliographies and the students will practice with one or more of their actual sources of information. Even if they have already started or completed their bibliographies, they will write them again—which is good practice. This is a checklist that I will be going over in class with the students of things to strive for when presenting.  You should use this at home as well when your children are practicing.  They do not have to do all of the items on the list, but this should provide some good areas of focus.

All students need to come to school with a plan of what they will be working on during that class time—and the materials they will need to use their time well. This also gives me a chance to check in with the students and see if they need anything as they prepare to present.

Religion: The students will have their 10 Commandments test in their filers this week. We will finish this project off by watching a video on using the commandments in real world situations.

Spelling/LA words for lesson 8 were sent home last Thursday. The test will be this Friday as usual. The students have been working hard on their mini bio posters in class. They will get a chance to practice presenting in the style of the big biography project when they share their posters in the “voice” of the person they wrote their report on.

Math: We are nearing the end of our division chapter. We will be having a test this Friday the 17th. Thursday night’s homework will be a review/practice test. Even if the students do start their homework at school, I will be asking them to bring home their work for you to look over for accuracy and to make needed corrections.

Lenten Outreach: Don’t forget Brown Bag Fridays for St. Martin de Porres this Friday. The extra item you can bring in this week along with a fresh lunch are men’s gloves. Just a reminder about our 4th grade outreach projects as well. Because we have the Site Visit and Oral Biographies coming up, I would ask that you hold off bringing in your canned goods and donations for St. Vincent de Paul until the week of April 2nd, other than monetary donations for Uganda. Thank you!

Just a reminder that during the Site Visit next Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday students may not use free dress passes. Thank you!

Social Studies: The Lewis and Clark tests were sent home last Thursday and should be in your child’s filer. This week we begin a mini unit on the Oregon Trail that will include a fun simulation of the journey in small groups. We will begin with an overview of Westward Expansion, especially as related to Washington State, which includes the story of the Whitman Mission.

Science: This week we will be finishing our discussion on the effects of wind in our environment. We will also be introducing the vocabulary for our upcoming projects. One of the vocabulary words we will be referring to throughout our projects, the Beaufort Scale, is used to describe the speed, force, and effects of wind.

Report cards will be coming home this Friday. I have asked the students not to open their report cards until they are with a family member. Grades should be personal and there will also be additional inserts in the report card that I do not want to get misplaced. Thank you for supporting this at home as well. The students are making such good progress, and they all have much to celebrate. Please return the envelope with your signature next week.

Have a wonderful week and Happy St. Patrick’s Day on Friday!