THE WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 13TH

WELCOME
Welcome to the 4th grade. I have been excited all summer about the plans we are making for this year. One of our focuses will be writing. We will be using two books different books to teach writing. They are called the Four Square Writing Method and Daily Paragraph Writing. I love the way they transition children into writing paragraphs with details so smoothly. Another area I love is Science. We will be doing lots of exploration as we learn throughout the year. 4th grade is such an exciting time.

OPEN HOUSE
It was fun to meet so many of you at our Open House last week. If you weren’t able to come last week, please stop by sometime before or after school to see our classroom.

MATH
We will be using EXCEL Math this year to supplement Investigations Math. As a part of EXCEL the students will have homework on Monday through Thursday. It will be on concepts I have already taught and should take no more than 15-20 minutes to finish. It is due back the next day. The homework will start today (September 13st). I am excited to watch how this additional program enriches the students’ understanding of math.

ORGANIZATION
I have given each child an agenda where they will keep track of assignments and homework. Thank you for putting your initials at the bottom to indicate that they have read their 20 minutes and finished their reading response paper. The Agenda is filled out each day to show the class assignments and also the homework. I write all the assignments on the board and the students copy them into their agenda. As we complete the work in class, the students check it off. They should take that agenda home with them nightly to share with you. I have also given each student a Home Folder to keep materials in that need to go home. Some of those things need to stay at home, some need to be signed and returned, and some are homework that needs to be completed and returned. Anything that is not finished in class needs to be completed at home and then returned to the correct file at school. Please check with your child nightly to see if they have homework to complete. Each Monday the students will take home their Weddle Folder with graded papers. They should keep the graded papers at home, and return the Weddle Folder back to school.

READING & SPELLING
This week we will be focusing on the words from the first Reading story, “A Visit With Grandpa.” The words are:
huge, few, usual, menu, shoot, fruit, bruise, excuse, nephew, pupil, cool, school, suit, cruise, confuse, curfew, fuel, mood, shampoo, and juice. The students pretest on Monday. They will bring the list home in their Home Folder. Spelling homework is always Tuesday night (due Wednesday morning). This week the homework is to write each word in a sentence. They should number the sentences and underline the spelling word. Please remind your child to review the words each night to be ready for the spelling test on Friday.

GRADING
We will be grading students with the following Numerical Scoring Scale:
6-Exemplary, 5-Advanced, 4 Proficient, 3 Developing, 2-Emergent, 1-Pre-Emergent, X-Not applicable at this time, INC-Incomplete Evidence Produced by Student. As I review papers each student has completed, I will score them with the numerical scale. As you can see, a 4 is considered Proficient and would be the expectation for your 4th grader. We have talked in class about this scale and the fact that they can redo papers to attain the 4 level. I will send more information to you about this Progress Report as the year progresses.

BOOK REPORTS
I have given each student a list of the type of books they need to read each month and a September Book Report form. Please read the form with them and discuss the type of book they need to read. Talk about a timeline for completing the project. Their Adventure reports are due September 30th.

AAI means “ALL ASSIGNMENTS IN.” Each Monday I will send home a sheet that will tell you if your child is missing any work in each subject area. When they complete the missing work, I will initial the form so you will know that it has been turned in. Please review the form with them Monday night, sign it, and have them return it to class on Tuesday. The following students are on AAI:
Sydney, Robert, Tristen, Eddie, Dawna, Tyler, Jazmin, Evert, Jeffery, Colton, Anthony, Jorgie, Juan, Jenne, Andrea, Grace, Trinity, Steve, Simone, Sydney, Layla, Carleigh
Nice job, kids!