Newsletter November 13

Dear 4B Parents,

I hope you all enjoyed the Veterans Day Weekend.  Our class prayer service on Wednesday honoring the veterans the students wrote about on their flags was very special.  Thank you for assisting your child with this project.  The flags will be proudly displayed in the classroom this week and during conferences.  Some families like to bring their flags home to give to the veteran it honors.  You are welcome to bring home your flag after Thanksgiving if you would like.  Otherwise I will add them to your child’s portfolio.  Our trip to Pike Place Market last Thursday was wonderful.  The students learned a lot about the Market and had a great time.  Thank you to all of our parent chaperones and for all of your donations to the Pike Market Food Bank.  They emailed to thank us for donating 190 pounds of food!

Conferences: We are very busy finishing up projects to prepare for our conferences next week. Your child will be making introductions at the door, leading us in prayer, sharing their goals and some of their work.   I look forward to meeting with you all as we discuss your child’s progress and goals. Last week I sent home a goldenrod “Conference Survey” for you to fill out prior to conferences. Please turn in these sheets by this Wednesday. Thank you!

Religion: The students will be taking a test on our chapter related to the Saints in class this week.  We will review and discuss in class.  This will be an open book text evidence test. The topics we will cover until the Christmas break in religion will focus on the Corporal Works of Mercy and the Liturgical Year.   The students need to be able to write each Work of Mercy from memory with correct punctuation (capitals and periods). The order does not have to be exact. Students will earn extra credit in spelling if they correctly spell all of the words.

Second Step:  Our lessons this week will focus on listening with attention.  Students will learn and practice techniques that improve their ability to focus and listen well.  Listening with attention is a skill necessary for effective communication with others and academic success.  Our overarching theme of empathy is also closely related to listening skills.  The students will be brining home a follow-up activity related to listening on Tuesday.  Please return the completed task with your child by Friday.  Thank you.

Spelling:  Study sheets for Unit 9, vowel diphthongs, were sent home last Thursday.  The test will take place this Friday.

Reading:  The Charlotte’s Web vocabulary sentence assignment that was sent home last Monday is due this Wednesday the 15th.  On Tuesday the students will bring home a large paper and directions for the Charlotte’s Web Quote Poster project. Quote Posters are due on or before Dec. 8th. As we’ve read Charlotte’s Web, we’ve practiced selecting and writing down various quotes. The students are learning to choose quotes that have significant meaning or provide insight into the characters. As they work through this project at home, they can use books we will send home. The children have been given older, used books, but nonetheless, we’d like them returned once the project is finished. Also, students may use their Charlotte’s Web folders to reference quotes that they recorded earlier. We can send these folders home on weekends, but need them here each day in class.

Math: Look for math homework most nights this week. Our focus will be on multiplication and division for the coming weeks which will include an understanding of factors, prime numbers, and problem solving with multiple steps. I am so proud of the effort the students have been putting into learning their math facts. Until facts are mastered for accurate recall, nightly focused practice is expected. On Tuesday I will be giving the students an oral multiplication quick recall test. For this test I will orally read a multiplication fact and show it on the smart board, giving three seconds to answer—then moving to the next fact. The students will be instructed to fill in all answers they are able to recall quickly or put an X in the box if it was a fact they cannot recall quickly. I will be sending home this test, along with a highlighted page of the facts they were not able to answer. I would like the students to create flash cards of these facts for extra practice.  Thank you for your support of regular fact practice at home. I would like students to continue with XtraMath on a regular basis along with the flash cards.

Science: This week the students will finish testing and improving their windmills/wind turbines. They will see if their blades will catch the wind and turn the drive shaft. This will raise a cup that is attached with a string on the drive shaft. They will also see if they can add weight to their cup and still have it lifted by their windmill/wind turbine blades. If their blades did not catch the wind students are able to make improvements and then retest. Finally the students will continue to explore their Scholastic Super Science magazines. This is a great resource I will share with the students throughout the year. They also have access online, click on this link Super Science. Login as a student and our classroom password is gators4142 Enjoy!