Dear 4B Families,
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. What an excellent first week of school with my wonderful new 4th grade students. It is clear to see that this will be an amazing year—with such a bright, kind, creative and fun group of children. Remember, if you have questions, suggestions, concerns, please contact me! We are partners in your child’s learning.
Just a reminder to fill out and return the iPad user agreements (goldenrod) and the Parent/Student information sheet (pink) that came home with last week’s newsletter. The iPad user agreement was due on the 9th, and the Parent/Student Information sheet is due by this Friday the 16th.
If you have not yet sent me the email addresses that you would like included on the class email distribution list, please do so right away. We hope to have our lists completed this week.
Magazine Drive
Our annual Magazine Drive is kicking off this week. All students received a flyer with “First Steps” on Friday. Those that complete the registration process by Tuesday the 13th (no need to sell anything) will receive a special prize. HRS just happens to be the TOP SELLING school in the nation and we want to continue our reign. We raised over $125,000 last year!!! Thank you in advance for your support of this important fundraiser!
Spelling: Each week, we will introduce a new set of spelling words. Students will generally receive the new list of words on Fridays. The first spelling words are number words. This list will support our upcoming math lessons and objectives. On Fridays, all students will take a written spelling test. The first is this Friday the 16th.
Reading: Last week Ms. Corrigan administered a beginning of the year oral reading assessment to the students. This week, we will begin our regular reading routine starting with a wonderful tall tale in our anthology called “Stormalong”. We will focus on understanding characters and the figurative language concepts of hyperbole, simile and metaphor. Just a reminder, students are expected to always have a chapter book they are reading at home and in class. Students will have library time this year to be able to check out books. In addition, our classroom library is open for borrowing.
Language Arts: Along with spelling the students will be completing a beginning of the year writing sample this week. They will also start to review cursive forms and review editing and grammar skills. All students will receive a “Quick Word Handbook” that contains high frequency words to assist with spelling when writing. This will be stored in the spelling section of the filer. Students are encouraged to use this resource at home as a homework helper, as well as at school. The Quick Word Handbook should be kept in the filer so students can use them at home and at school.
Math: Last week, students took a baseline math assessment. This information will assist us in planning our math lessons based on the needs of the students. We will be doing daily review of skills as well as following along with the MyMath Curriculum. This week, students will dive into their My Math workbook, starting with Chapter One: Place Value. Get ready to read, write, and say numbers into the millions! Expect to see daily math homework that mirrors our class lessons.
Science: The science lesson this week will focus on learning about the six steps of the scientific inquiry. The students will receive a small box with a variety of items inside to observe, problem solve, and make a hypothesis.
Social Studies: We will begin our year with a review the continents and oceans. All students will be expected to memorize a “Continent Poem” and be able to name and label the seven continents and five oceans. All students will be given study sheets for the poem and map test. The test will take place on Thursday, September 29th. Continent poems need to be recited no later than September 30th. Along with the continents and oceans, the students will be learning about latitude and longitude and how to locate places on maps with coordinates.
Religion: Our religion lessons this week will focus on our Steps to Respect lessons and social skills. We begin our lessons with the concept of empathy. When our class norms clearly support SAFE, RESPECTFUL & RESPONSIBLE behavior, unkind/bullying behaviors are less likely to happen. These lessons will help reinforce norms by connecting words and actions to class rules and expectations for social and learning behavior.
Thank you all for your patience, support and encouragement.
Have a great week!