The Last Week of August

We made it through our few days of school and now we're on our way to our first full week! I enjoyed meeting all the kids and I look forward to a great year with them. Just from being with them a short time, I can tell we have a fun-loving, creative group! Thank you to all the parents who made it out to Parent Night last Thursday!!! As I said that night, I know schedules are hectic this time of year and I appreciate you taking the time to learn about our classroom. I will be using this blog in place of a traditional weekly newsletter. Be sure to check back each week for a preview of what is to come. Here's a look at our week ahead:

We will be starting our Treasures reading program on Friday. The days before that will be spent taking pieces of the Benchmark Test which will give me an idea of the strengths or areas for improvement of your child. We will also be reviewing the different genres in reading, how to "buzz" about a book, and how to make a quality reader response.

Spelling and grammar components of the classroom will begin next week.

The children will bring home a Weekly Reading Log tomorrow. This log will allow your child to document the number of minutes read each day, as well as the books he/she has been busy reading. It is a 4th grade expectation that children read 20 minutes, 5 times a week. A new reading log will be sent home the first day of each school week and is due back the following Monday. This log will be graded in terms of completeness and will count towards the independent reading portion of your child's reading grade.

A parent letter went home to all families who have children in my math class. Our first unit deals with naming and constructing geometric figures. We will spend time getting to know our student reference books on Monday and getting back into the routine of doing math journal pages and math boxes. Tuesday through Friday will be spent covering material such as points, line segments, lines, and rays. We will also practice naming angles. The children will create picture dictionaries and charts to help them compare/contrast polygon shapes such as triangles, quadrangles, and parallelograms. The children will have homework every day of the week BUT Friday. Homework is used for practice purposes only so please encourage your child to "show what you know" and we will correct the homework and go over any questions the kids may have the next day! A sheet with your child's new login and password for the Everyday Math website will also come home this week with directions on how to access the site from home. The website is also one of the links on our classroom blog below!

We will begin writing this week with the WEX (Writer's Express) program. The children will work to get back into the routine of writing about one focused subject. The mantra for the writing session is "1 page, 1 topic, 12 minutes". We will be reviewing how to get into a writer's mindset and how to respond to each other's writing.

Our Chinese instructors will come into the classroom to observe the children and introduce themselves, however, actual instruction will not begin for a few weeks. During our Chinese time, we will be doing team building activities as well as some fun quizzes to get to know our learning styles better.

In science the students will have a chance to reflect on their science experiences so far in school and make goals for what they would like to learn and accomplish this year. We will begin our dynamic earth unit by thinking about being scientists. We will also be learning about the different layers of the earth.

Scholastic books catalogs will come home later this week and will be due next Friday, September 10th. If you would like to order, you can do so online (our classroom gets a FREE book for this) or you can send in the order form with a check made out to Scholastic Book Clubs.

If you have any questions or concerns as the week goes on, please don't hesitate to contact me. Have a great start to the week!