On Thursday the students are invited to wear Pajama’s to school for a school wide PJ Day. This was declared by our student principal for the day. The class will also exchange Valentine cards. No school on Friday so all the fun will happen Thursday, February 13.

Social Studies/Writing:  Students are writing daily entries from the point of view of a pioneer traveling on the Oregon Trial. After we discuss all the 20 landmarks students will pick which rough draft entries to edit and finalize. Be on the look out for rough draft entries to come home for editing!

Math: Keep practicing math facts!  We have wrapped up our unit on division. The class will have fun with multiples, factors and a Valentine Math Project  this week.

Literature/Reading: Our focus will be on the messages from the novel Wonder: Kindness and Acceptance. Students will engage in a variety of activities including  character trait clouds, answering open ended questions and creating kindness posters.

Religion: St Valentine

Thank you to all the parents who came in to discuss their vocations. The presentations were inspiring!

We appreciate the parent lead art this year. It has been fun and informative. The class learned all about the Aurora Borealis on Friday!

The class Art Project was a success. Thank you to the parents who took on that major job. The kids had a chance to see the beautiful piece and are so proud of it!

Parent involvement and support is so meaningful to our school, teachers and students. All you do at St John and at home to support your children is deeply appreciated. 

Let me know if you have any questions, comments or concerns.

 

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed the three day weekend and had time to reflect and discuss what this day truly means. We will continue the discussion in class this week.  We will also prepare our classroom for the all school Open House this Sunday. I hope to see you at mass this Sunday to kick off  Catholic Schools Week.

Academics this week:

Math: The class continues to study division. Homework will be sent home daily to practice this skill!

Social Studies: Our class is studying the Oregon Trail. We will be reading a non-fiction book for fact gathering.

Reading: Our study of Wonder is going strong. The class is also focusing on Achieve and working hard to increase lexile levels.

Writing: Students will write based on reading of the Oregon Trail book called: If You Traveled West in a Covered Wagon.

Religion: The 10 Commandments continue to be our area of study. The class is creating a flip book you will be able to see on Sunday during the Open House.

 

The new year brings new goals and new learning. Students will take on more responsibility for their continued growth. Fourth graders will be asked to keep up with assignments and ask the teacher if on Power School they notice something missing. The students are capable to follow through with new responsibility!

Students will create academic and personal goals to keep motivated. We are also working on a projects called “One Word”.  Ask your student about the project and what they will do with “One Word”!

Here is what we are working on in each subject:

Math: Division. We will find a variety of ways to divide.  This will include the traditional algorithm.

Writing: Paragraphs every week will be written and graded. I am looking for excellent word choice and correct punctuation.

Social Studies: We begin our study of the Oregon Trail!

Religion: The 10 Commandments is the focus. Students will create a flip book to be shared at the Open House.

Achieve: Students continue to read Achieve Articles. A score of 75% or better is the goal.

 

Welcome to our second week of Advent.  The class is practicing acts of kindness daily using our classroom “Kindness Advent Calendar”.  You will have the opportunity next week to practice acts of kindness as a family. Homework for next week will be to find ways to be kind daily. Look for the choice chart that will be sent home tomorrow.

Important Reminder:  Dress Uniform  tomorrow for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. The day we celebrate that Mary was conceived without sin!

Math: Using problem solving skills and creating gingerbread houses using multiplication equations.

Reading: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe novel study continues. We will finish the novel by Christmas break.

Religion: Comparing and contrasting the two birth narratives. Also practicing kindness.

Writing: Creating Christmas stories about Santa’s new Suit!

Science: A special maker space project with Ms Ocampo focused on Electricity this week!

 

Happy Holiday Season!  I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving break. We have three weeks to enjoy learning until Christmas break.

To celebrate Advent we will have daily morning prayer with all the classes in our department (grades 3-5)  If you are running late during Advent remind your student to come upstairs quietly and join in with the prayer.

Religion: This week we begin to prepare for the birth of Jesus. Our classroom Advent project will involve learning about and writing to Maria, from Costa Rica, our UNBOUND friend. Next week students will be asked to reach into their personal treasures and give some money to help Maria and her family with her education. More on this in the future.

Math: We will focus on problem solving over the next few weeks. Help your student work on learning multiplication and basic division facts daily. Minutes a day make a big difference!

Reading: The students will focus on specific skills with Achieve. I notice that many students are rushing through the articles and getting scores below 75%. Please encourage slow and careful work. If a student does not get 75% or higher the first try, they are asked to do another article/activity until a score of 75% on the first try happens.

Writing: Christmas writing will be fun and focus on self editing and word choice. We will tie in a lost of Christmas themed of grammar work.

Science: Our next unit is electricity. With the help of Mrs Ocampo, the fourth grade will make a trip to the makers space for an interesting project.

Important:  Report cards go home December 5. Please look for the report card this Thursday!

 

This week the students have the opportunity for a service project at school. Tuesday evening at 6:30 pm the students are invited to come to a PTA/Fourth Grade sponsored event to help the homeless. We will watch a short video and hear some excellent fourth grade speakers educating us on the needs of the homeless in our area. The students have made signs about the event and made short presentations to each classroom. I hope you can join us Tuesday evening!

Grandparent Special Friends Day is this Thursday 12:15- 1:00. Please send your child to school with a lunch for both themselves and their guest(s). Dessert, water and coffee are provided. The 3-5 grade class will each do singing performance at the event.

 

This week in class:

Reading: Continued novel study on The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. The students read the chapters in class and then answer comprehension questions. We will also be doing vocabulary work this week.

Social Studies: Reading, responding to comprehension questions, analyzing a timeline and finding text evidence are the goals for the week. The students will have an open book social studies test on Chapter 2.

Math: Multiplication in a variety of ways is our task this week. Next week the students will have a test on Chapter 3.  Please let me know if your student will miss Monday or Tuesday of school next week.

Science: Engineering and Technology continue to be the focus. The class had the opportunity to engage in a dynamic activity lead by Mrs Ocampo in the Makes Space Friday where they put engineering and creative planning into action.

Religion: The class will begin to learn and use the Prayer of Saint Francis. I don’t want them to worry about memorizing the prayer. I hope they can read and understand the meaning and find solace in the message.

 

 

I hope you had a wonderful long weekend. It is a busy time of year and a gift to have a few days to rest.  This week is a four day week filled with a lot of learning!

The class was wonderful at our first all school mass last week. The students received compliments on their great participation and singing.  Way to go!

 

Multiplication:  We have been focusing on learning various strategies to multiply multi-digit numbers by a single digit (6 x 4572).  The kids are doing great. Please work on basic facts for a few minutes daily at home. A stress free way for kids is to look at flash cards with the answer and say the fact aloud.  “8×9 is 72”  saying the facts out loud and seeing the answer will help with memorization! Try to keep it simple, stress free and consistent! Really 5 -10 minutes a day is perfect.

Conferences: If you have not yet signed up for conferences please do. I am looking forward to talking with you and your child. Your child participates in the conference so make sure your fourth grader is present.  Kids get worried about the conference. There is nothing to worry about!  We will focus on how to help the student. We discuss strategies so the student will be responsible for their own work and learning. We cover tips on how to ask for help, suggestions  to stretch learning with challenge by choice and using a growth mind set with persistence when things seems hard.

The Annual Fall Holiday Food Drive kicks off early this year, due to a greater need.  Students are asked to bring to classrooms, non-perishable items for our neighbors in need.

Tuesday, October 22 Individual Picture Day: This is a free “dressy” day; clothing should be appropriate for portraiture. Please refer to the parent handbook for any questions about dress code on free dress days

Monday, October 28 : School not in session:  Conferences for all students, PreK-8th, noon-8:00pm

Tuesday, October 29: School in session:  Late start for all grades, PreK-8th, 9:00am

Thursday, November 21st Grandparents’ & Friends’ Day:  This is a dress uniform day for the entire school.  No hot lunch will be served. Please find RSVP on school webpage.

 

The class is so fun to be with everyday!  Thank you for all you do to support their growth and learning!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.”       Lao-Tzu

 

This will be a week of many celebrations!

Tuesday, October 15: We will celebrate and reflect on Hispanic Heritage Month. The class will review the  accomplishments and lesson  from the Hispanic leaders, artists, activists and celebrities we studied. Students will also enjoy an extra recess as part of the day.

Wednesday , October 16: We have our first all School Mass of the year. Mass is at 9am. You are welcome to join us. Please be sure your child is in dress uniform.

Thursday, October 17: Progress reports go home. Celebrate your child’s learning and the goals your student will set for the rest of the trimester!

Friday, October 18: Jog-a-thon Celebration Day. We will have a student Assembly, cash grabbin’ gecko at lunch and free dress. In addition our class is invited to bring in a stuffy and a cozy item such as a blanket and/or pillow.

 

 

Students are growing and learning each and everyday.  They are a joy to work with! Their growth is a celebration!

 

This week we will focus on routines, expectations and empathy. Together we can do so much to help our classroom and greater community!

 Homework: Check in with your student and read through the homework sheet for the week.  Review the vocabulary/spelling words. The test will be on Thursday. Students are to complete one Achieve Article at home.  They must strive to get 75% or higher on the Article.

Reading: We continue to read Bunniclua. Students do comprehension work along with the reading in class.

Writing: Students will work on the final draft for the Narrative Project. In class we are not able to use computers to type stories at this time. The kids will write out the final drafts. Students who want to type are welcome to do that at home.

Math: Students created pictures/models to solve comparison problems today. An example of comparison problems was sent home for homework.

Religion: All School Mass is on October 16. Join us if you are able! It was fun to see two of our Fourth Graders serve at the 8:30am Mass! Thank you K ans M for doing a wonderful job!

Thank you for all you do to support your children at home.

Thank you for all you do to support our classroom and the school.

You are appreciated!