We had a fantastic first week of school. I love our class! Your children were wonderful; they were excited and participated in all the activities. We are already establishing our classroom community as Team 4L. Our team is working towards our common goal of learning in a kind and respectful environment.
As always, the beginning of the year is the time to set expectations and procedures. Attached are several forms for you reference.
Early each week I will send a weekly fourth grade newsletter full of information for you, and post the same newsletter on the class website. It is my goal to send only one email every week to my families. If you would prefer not to be on the distribution list, please notify me so I can remove you. If you have an additional or alternative email address (es), I would be glad to add those. Each week I hide a "mystery word" in the newsletter for kids or parents to find. You'll know it when you find it! Students who bring me a post-it or scratch paper the next day with the word and their name written on it get a class reward!
Thank you for sending me such terrific children! I feel so lucky to be their teacher this year and I look forward to getting to know you, too!
Important Dates:
9/5 PTSA Ice Cream Social 5:30 pm
9/7 Bio-collages due
9/18 Curriculum Night for 4th grade at 6:30 pm
9/26 Individual Photos, Grade 3-5
Take Home Folders / Return to School every Tuesday (Wednesday this week):
Review and Keep at Home: 2018-19 Welcome and "Nuts and Bolts" packet, Insurance Information booklet
Sign and Return: student handbook, insurance form
Goal for the Week: keep my desk and binder organized.
Coming up this week in class:
Continuing math Topic 1: Multiplication and Division Meanings and Facts, learning classroom expectations, starting our first reading book - Porpoises in Peril, introducing research and informational writing, continuing our study of plant and animal structures in science, sharing bio collages, and practicing wax relief techniques with watercolor!
Homework: This year, your child will be keeping track of assignments and homework in a weekly tracker. At home, please check the weekly tracker (located in the front of the binder) to support your child’s homework habits. It is also posted on our classroom blog daily. (http://cves4.weebly.com/ms-larson )
Starting this week…..
Monday Take Home Folders and Reading Logs are due back the second day of every week (usually Tuesday; this week Wednesday): The mystery word is: product. Most corrected papers, signature requests, and important communication will be sent home in a green folder on Monday afternoons. Please look for a sign and return weekly tracker starting next week (providing student and/or teacherupdates on behavior and effort), as well as sign and return items such as tests or permission forms. Empty green take-home folders, signed reading logs, and signed trackers are due back every Tuesday (Wednesday this week). Getting parent signatures is a student responsibility. The children and I have been talking about how parents are very busy people, and it's the student's job to make sure papers get signed. This week the folders went home today and are due back tomorrow (Wednesday).
Math Facts: Fourth grade students must be fluent in all multiplication and related division facts up to 12. Please use our on line program REFLEX https://www.reflexmath.com/go (username: [email protected]) or visit the 4th grade blog to learn strategies and interactive ways to practice math facts at home.
Math: At Curriculum Night, you will receive a letter explaining the online resources and your student’s log in information for our EnVisions Math curriculum. It may be a new experience to have the electronic textbook, quizzes, and games available from a home computer. We are working through Topic 1: Multiplication and Division; meanings and facts.
At-home Reading: Students are expected to read 20 minutes a night, with a goal of 100 minutes each week. Your signature is required on their weekly minute totals every Monday evening. I will be checking for signatures every Tuesday morning. (Our September reading logs start today.)
Reading: Our reading lessons focus on:
- Using details and examples from the text as evidence to support comprehension
- Describing characters and setting
- Determining the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text
- Engaging in collaborative discussions
Writing: Students will be starting research and informational writing focused on stating a main idea (using a topic sentence) and providing supporting details.
Social Studies: Students will be learning about the United States government with an introduction to the branches and levels of government, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution.
Science: Our first "Scope" (unit) is Plant and Animal Parts. Students will be practicing supporting their ideas with information and observations, learning how plants and animals' structures function to help them survive, and using models to understand systems.
Bio-Collage: Last week your children came home with pieces of 9x9 construction paper. Their job is to create a collage about themselves and their interests. They can use photos, clip-art, words, drawings and magazines to create their collage. The collages are due Friday, September 7th.
Volunteer Opportunities: Thank you for your support. I will be emailing each volunteer with a specific time/day and then I will be uploading everything to an on-line volunteer management tool. I appreciate all the folks who volunteered for at-home correcting. Thanks, again, for all you do to support children, teachers and learning!
Please visit our 4th grade blog…. http://cves4.weebly.com/
Phew! The first few newsletters are always some of the longest! I’m hoping they will be more concise in the future! : )
In our partnership to ensure success for your child, good communication is critical. If you ever have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to e-mail me at larsone@svsd410.org. I’d love to hear from you and look forward to working with you this year.
With thanks,
Emily Larson
4th Grade, CVES
[email protected]
www.cves4.weebly.com