Joy Crowder

The Final Stretch!!

Dear Parents,   

Testing is over and the children seemed focused and dedicated to doing their best. Let me thank you all for your support in getting the children to school each day and on time. A special note of thanks to Mrs. Tiffany who thoughtfully brought cupcakes and juice pouches to celebrate the end of testing. I also appreciate the return of Mrs. Boyle's forms as she completes her Guidance curriculum with a lesson on "Child Lures."  Our congratulations goes out to our own Ms. Mansfied as she will be the new principal of Teasley Elementary. Our loss will be their gain most definitely. Hope that my wonderful parent volunteers were able to attend the Volunteer Brunch this past Friday. it is such a small token of my sincere thanks for all you have done for me and the classroom throughout the year.  

 READING 

     Although the covers of her books appear as if they are written for younger readers, the children have come to realize that Gail Gibbons provides a great deal of information about each topic. This past week we have used the elements of nonfiction to chart what we have learned about Nature's Green Umbrella, the Rain Forest. In the process we began to see how the author views this area as necessary to the survival of many plants and animals   With her book, Sunken Treasure  we will review the strategy of cause and effect this week and continue to analyze nonfiction elements. With her book, The Honeymakers, the children will review the strategy of questioning before, during, and after to ensure that they understand the text they have read. The children are currently working on a biography book report in which they will "dress" a paper character and complete a written component as well. It is due May 16th.

  
WRITER'S WORKSHOP

 For this last nine weeks, the children are required to write a persuasive essay that will engage the reader, make a "thesis" statement about what they believe, and provide relevant evidence to support their three reasons. As we begin to analyze the standards for this paper, the children will quickly see that many of the same requirements are necessary. This week we will finish our final drafts of our informational essay on colonial life and then look closely at organization of this final writing assignment. We will begin to analyze how to develop evidence to support our arguments. In order to integrate this with our health curriculum, we will begin to study the effects of smoking physically and socially.  

  
MATH

Multiplication and division have been our focus of late. We will practice and review these facts as we begin to work with these operations with decimals. Using arrays, calculators, and standard algorithms, the children have colored in, displayed, and computed these problems. Knowing how and why the decimal point moves was a huge part of the concept. Next up! Geometry and solid figures! This week we will review the vocabulary of faces, edges, vertices, parallel, perpendicular, and intersecting. The children will make models of solid figures and use the "nets" of these figures to determine the relationship of their faces.

SCIENCE

 Mrs. Gagnon will complete this year with the Life Science concepts of ecosystems and factors that affect animal survival and extinction. I hope that the children shared their visit into the traveling Star Lab this past week. Mrs. Jackson did a fabulous job of pointing out the various constellations in our night sky. I was so impressed with their prior knowledge and their respectful behavior and relevant questions.

HEALTH

These next few weeks the students will use their health book and other resources to recognize the relationship between health behavior and disease prevention and the use of tobacco products. A persuasive essay has to be based on evidence to support their opinions and this unit of study will help them do just that. Be looking for some assignments coming home in health.  

Dates to remember: 
May 4 Stargazing 

 May 10th Terrific Kids  

 May 11th PTA Board

May 12 Nurse Appreciation Day!

May 13 Field Day, 2011

May 16-18 Book Swap (Details coming)

May 23 Laughing Matters

May 24 5th Grade Awards and BBQ

May 24th and 25th (1/2 days) Last Day of School  

                     

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO... 
NOAH MAY 1ST

TONY MAY 10TH

JOVAN MAY 11TH

MACKENZIE MAY 25TH

JENNIFER W. JULY 7TH

  

Just To let You Know!

 
Dear Parents,

 This afternoon, Ms. Shue announced to the staff that I would be retiring at the close of this year. I felt it was important to make that announcement to the class earlier today. I shared my thoughts regarding this decision as some may have shared with you tonight. It is my hope that this is not an end of a career that I have deeply loved, but the beginning of a new phase in my life. I shared that it is my wish to volunteer in various ways at Nicholson, a place that I have sincerely felt as a second home for many years. As I look back over these years to the present, I feel unbelievably blessed to have touched and been touched by so many special young students. I will never forget the words of support and appreciation that parents and children have expressed in so many ways. Please know that I leave with mixed emotions, but intend to end this career with the intensity and belief in your children that I began with so many years before.  

With grateful thoughts, I remain dedicated to children and their success,

Love,

Mrs. Joy Crowder 

Welcome to April!

Dear Parents,

I trust that it has been a spectacular Spring Break for you and the family. As we return to school my thoughts quickly turn to the upcoming CRCT tests. Testing seems to be coming an integral part of education these days. This Tuesday we will begin with Reading, then move on to Language Arts on Wednesday.  Math concepts will be assessed on Thursday and Science knowledge tested on Friday. The battery will continue on Monday of next week with Social Studies. It is so important to postively start each day with a good breakfast after a sound night's rest. We will begin the testing first thing each morning so a prompt attendance will be necessary in order to maintain an undisturbed testing atmosphere. It is vital to maintain so many testing accomodations that we ask, if at all possible, tardies and absences be kept to a minimum, if at all.   

  
READING

Nonfiction will continue, once testing is over, with the focus on an outstanding author, Gail Gibbons. With 100 different books on such topics as Deserts, Sunken Treasure, Dragons, and Rain Forests, the children will find something for every interest. We will use her books to learn more about her as an author and a person, but also to practice the strategies of cause and effect, summarizing, and "sketching-to-stretch," which is visualizing. Our Reader's Notebooks will become a practical resource as we continue to fill them with graphic organizers. Our next book report will be Biographies. Look forward to seeing a written requirement and a poster figure to dress with a due date of mid-May.

    
        WRITING 
 
When we return after the break, it will my be my personal goal to begin to actively develop the rough drafts of our Informational papers on Life in Colonial Times. We will collect information which answers the three questions the children have asked. Those notes will be rewritten as sentences and fill main idea towers. These towers will become the three subtopic paragraphs. Spending time evaluating engaging beginnings and takeaway endings of other students will assist them as they compose theirs. Conferencing with students demands that they work independently and use their time wisely. Next up??? The final weeks has the children working on Persuasive writing.  

MATH  
We will spend some time earlier in the week reviewing for the math segment of the CRCT. Next week we will begin this 4th nine weeks math study. It is so important that the children continue to drill their multiplication and division math facts. The first several elements of these standards is the multiplication and divison of decimals. We will begin with area models and move into arrays as we did with multiplication of whole numbers. Although multiplication of decimals reviews mulitplication of whole numbers, the children will need to understand the movement of that decimal point and its effect on the value of the product. Please monitor nightly practice at home.

SOCIAL STUDIES

It is necessary to use this week to go over the content of the CRCT, reviewing the Revolutionary War, the Constitution, the branches of government, Westward Expansion and quickly touch on Women's Suffrage. With online assessment practice the children will have a grasp of the format of questions they will need to answer.

 
 SCIENCE 
Mrs. Gagnon will review the few areas that will be tested on Friday's CRCT in regards to animal adaptations and the phases of the moon.  With the schedule changed this week due to testing, the exchange for Social Studies and Science will also need to be flexible.    

  
DATES TO REMEMBER

APRIL 11TH TO APRIL 18TH/ CRCT TESTING 8:00-10:30)

SCHEDULE CHANGES:

LUNCH (11:17 TO 11:47) /  SPECIALS  (1:40 TO 2:10)

APRIL 13TH PTA BOARD AND GENERAL MEETING

APRIL 16TH GREAT NICHOLSON CLEAN UP

APRIL 26TH TERRIFIC KIDS CEREMONY 7:30

APRIL 29TH "THANK YOU" VOLUNTEER BRUNCH  (8:00-10:00)

                     TERRIFIC KID 

CONGRATS TO ALANI W.  

THANK YOU!

  
Dear Parents,

Please excuse this general note of sincere thanks for your thoughts and tokens of appreciation this week. Mrs. Dawkins walked in today with a beautiful bouquet of flowers and another Pandora charm for my rapidly-filling beautiful bracelet. This one is titled "Spring" and the color is a perfect addition. Thank you all for your understanding and generously supportive participation of our classroom and its teacher. What a terrific memory to take me into the years to come. You are all VERY special in my thoughts and I hope for an amazing successful life for your child.  

Spring is Here!

Dear Parents,  
With just two weeks until our Spring Break, we are really working on reviewing the concepts and curriculum covered so far this year. We are also encouraging the children to use the online teacher designated tests to practice these skills and the format of the CRCT tests. Mrs. Shue and Ms. Mansfield have challenged the children to complete 15 tests in order to participate in a "celebration of motivation and effort" at the end of March.  I have sent home several copies of their login instructions. If there is any problem, do not hesitate to call the school.

READING

 Informational text continues to be our focus. The children have been presenting their informational book reports. Having the opportunity to fill out an evaluation of each poster or book jacket has proven to be engaging and informative for all. We are working on an historical fiction novel called The Lion To Guard Us and are daily completing the journals that practice the skills of connection, visualization, and fact and opinion. This week the children will complete this novel and take a test of their comprehension of the elements of this story.  We are increasing our vocabulary by looking and learning how prefixes can change the meaning of words. Homophones, homonyms, and homographs will  also become a part of our vocabulary and working with them has added other pages to our Reader's Notebook. Suffixes can change the meaning and use of words, as well, and this week we will be working with them and entering those into our notebooks.  
   

WRITING

 We are spending time in Writer's Workshop developing  our three topic questions of what life was like in Colonial Times. Using graphic organizers, the children will be using three sources to gather information. This week, I will model creating specific topic questions which will become the basis of their notetaking from three reference sources. Graphic organizers will help them take notes and develop these into main idea and supporting detail paragraphs. Using some models of previous years, I will help the children analyze theirs for engagement, extraneous details, and structure. Please remind the children to use this independent writing time wisely.  

 

ENGLISH

Three beautiful, purple flowers and we are finishing our study of those parts of speech that make our writing specific and colorful- adjectives. What are they and how can we use them to compare things? Using -er and -est is just one way, but when do we use more or most? What about predicate adjectives? Let's not count out those suffixes that magically make a verb, such as adjust to an adjective such as adjustable. We have enjoyed the Smart Board activities to practice and review. The test is coming soon. Please look at the agendas to see what the children should be doing.  

  
 MATH

Fractions, decimals, weight---Oh My! Many concepts have been covered in the final days of these nine weeks. As we investigate the differences in metric and standard weight measurements, the students need to be able to convert ounces to pounds to tons. They will also need to be able to work with  grams, and kilograms, too. Before we test on the 23rd of March, the students have also worked with statistics and need to be able to determine the mean, mode, and range of a given set of numbers. Hard to believe, but the pretest for the fourth and final nine week period was given. Be looking for some review of geometry and fractions to be coming home as we prepare for the CRCT tests. 

  
SOCIAL STUDIES

Friends and maps has been the order for the few weeks as the students work in pairs to use their geographical skills to compare the settling of the Middle, New England, and Southern Colonies. Land and climate affected why and how their economies grew as they did. They have been filling up their Interactive Notebooks with lots of information about the people and places that formed our Thirteen Colonies. The test is coming this week. Be looking for a study guide and an Interactive Notebook rubric coming home tomorrow. They will be moving into Science to begin their study of animal adaptation and the phases of the moon.   

March 23rd Third Math Benchmark test

March 24th Report Cards coming home 
March 25th Spirit Day and Chick-Fil-A

March 30th Kindergarten Registration

                               End of the CRCT Challenge

        April 1st Arts Enrichment

April 4th - 8th Spring Break         

Marching Into Spring!!!

Dear Parents, 
Let me begin this blog with a note of appreciation for all of your support these past few weeks. Our "Penny Wars" was a total success and earned some much needed financial support for our school. The students teamed up to put on a terrific PE show, as you all will agree. What made it so special is that you were all there to enjoy it. Be sure to check the video on the pages side of this blog. The firemen wanted us to pass along their thanks for the bags of groceries collected, many of which came from our classroom. Valentine's Day gave us an opportunity to celebrate our 2010-2011 classroom family and I wanted to thank you for sending in treats to share.

  READING 

 Eating a carrot takes time, is not as easy to swallow, and certainly is not as sweet. The children quickly realized that it could be compared to reading an nonfictional text. An ice cream sandwich, however, has many flavorable characteristics and can be easily digested just like fiction books. It is with this difference in mind that the students have tackled books of information and are analyzing their text and graphic features and the purpose behind them. For the next several weeks, we will continue to add main ideas and supporting details, cause and effect, and fact and opinion to our Reader's Notebook. Continue to remind the children to read at least 20 minutes each night and log these on their Six Flags 600 minutes list. Lots of opportunities to earn a free ticket to Six Flags and charms for their bookbag chains by earning AR points. The children should have brought home a chosen topic and informational book home last week to create either a poster or a book jacket. Ask them to show you the instructions for completion of this project.

  

     Writing

 Informational writing, or research, always starts with a question. So for the rest of these nine weeks, the children will be answering the question, "What is it like to live in Colonial times?"  They will look at the various aspects of this time in history and choose three topics that they are interested in learning more about. These will be the focus of their paper. Add an engaging beginning, a strategic ending, text and graphic features, and they will complete the standard writing requirements for these nine weeks. Encourage the children to use time wisely as we begin to build background knowledge, ask questions, take notes, develop main ideas, and personally write supporting factual details to "rough draft" this five paragraph paper. 

  

ENGLISH

Three beautiful, purple flowers and we will begin our study of those parts of speech that make our writing specific and colorful- adjectives. What are they and how can we use them to compare things? Using -er and -est is just one way, but when do we use more or most? What about predicate adjectives? Let's not count out those suffixes that magically make a verb, such as adjust to an adjective such as adjustable.  After a quick review of strategies to combine sentences making them compound, we will move onto to adjectives.

Spelling

Sort 8 has the children working with an "r' controlled /a/ in accented syllables. I will continue to asign book pages and activities from Spelling City to help them practice and sort these words. Love to see them used in their everyday vocabulary. Encourage your child to also visit Spelling City to play the games provided.  
   

MATH

Fractions and decimals have a definite relationship as the children are quickly learning. There are equivalent fractions, such as 1/2 and  2/4, and 0.3 does equal 0.30. They can be compared and ordered, added and subtracted, and even placed on number lines.  All of these concepts are what you should be seeing coming home each evening. With our third IMI test approaching we will also be working with measures of weight. Once again, we need your help in helping many of your children learn our basic facts. Each Friday at Nicholson brings with it another chance at making our 100 and 100+ Clubs. Be sure to ask your child about their Constructed Response Notebook and the Singapore Math approach to problem solving.  

  SOCIAL STUDIES

The Explorer Booklets will be presented this week by mrs. Gagnon's class and it appears that each of the students have created some artistic and factual booklets. As they are presented, the children will be entering notes on graphic organizers. The upcoming test will be taken from those notes and I will continue to encourage the students to organize this information by adding it to a growing Interactive Notebook. My homeroom students will stay iin Mrs. Gagnon's science class finish their study of light and sound. 

Upcoming dates to remember...

 March 2  PTA Board Mtg. (7:30-8:00)

                                 PTA General Mtg. (8:00-9:00)

March 2 and 3 Fifth Grade Writing Assessment

March 4 Bake Sale for benefit of Relay for Life

March  7th-11th Book Fair

March 8 Terrific Kid (7:30)

March 11th Foundation Bingo Night (6:30-8:30)

March 14th Book Report is due!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ...

SAM  B. March 3rd

 

 

CONGRATS TO OUR A.R. READING CHAMPIONS:

104 (Branson)    (49-30) Lydia, Jennifer & Camila

50 (Luke)           (20-29) Noah & Ryan

              (10-19) Anna, Jordan, Mackenzie, & Joanna

OUR TERRIFIC KID FOR FEBRUARY IS ... BRANSON C.

A NOTE FROM OUR PRINCIPAL: WILL YOU HELP????

 

February 25, 2011 
 

Dear Nicholson Family,

We need YOU!  Here at Nicholson, we have been very fortunate to have a core group of volunteers who lead or assist in all of the events and activities we have.  This core group is really in need of help in order to continue providing the many opportunities for our Nicholson Stars.  In reflecting on this, I am urging you to make a commitment to Nicholson Elementary School and also a commitment to your child’s education this year if you have not already done so.   In order for a school to be successful, it takes EVERYONE working together in partnership.  Nicholson needs YOU….each and every one of YOU!!!  Often times we are hesitant to commit because we think it is going to require a lot of our time.  We have many opportunities that will only take a few minutes of your time.  In the January/February Stargazer, we asked every family to commit a total of two hours of time to the school between now and the end of the year.   The time can be all at once or split into 30-minute increments of time, whatever works best for you and your family.

Beginning on February 28, 2011 we will post a Volunteer Log in the front lobby where you will have an opportunity to log your volunteer hours to help us reach our goal of 500 hours by Friday, May 20^th.  You will also find a large thermometer located in the lobby which will be used to keep track of how we are doing each week in meeting our goal of 500 hours.  Will you please log at least two volunteer hours and help us reach our goal?

If you are wondering about the volunteer opportunities available between now and the end of the year, please see the list of possibilities on the reverse side of this letter.  If you have questions about how or where you can serve, please call the school or contact your child’s teacher.  I encourage you to volunteer as you can and I will look forward to seeing you around campus.  Your children will be thrilled to see you, too!!

Sincerely, 

Wanda A. Shue 

Volunteer Opportunities	Date(s)		Contact
Chick Fil A Biscuit Sales	March 25, April 22		Cathy Gentilello Catherine.gentilello@cobbk12.org 770-928-5573
Foundation Bingo Night	March 11		Mari Argeulles arguelles.mari@gmail.com
Book Fair	March 7-11		Lisa Messinger   lisa.messinger@cobbk12.org 770-928-5573
Relay for Life Bake Sale	March 4		Amanda Savage Amanda.savage@cobbk12.org 770-928-5573
Relay for Life Hat Day	March 17		Ruth Martin Ruth.martin@cobbk12.org 770-928-5573
Teacher Appreciation Luncheon	March 23		Sharon Renaud sklrenaud@hotmail.com 770-928-3709
Kindergarten Registration 8-11am	March 30		Jean Allen Jean.allen@cobbk12.org 770-928-5573
Art Enrichment Day	April 1		Cindy Snarr Cindy.snarr@cobbk12.org 770-928-5573
Great Nicholson Clean up 8-12	April 16 Rain Date – April 30		Cheryl Ashley-Serafine Cheryl.ashley-serafine@cobbk12.org 770-928-5573
Relay for Life Eggstravaganza	April 21-22		Ruth Martin Ruth.martin@cobbk12.org 770-928-5573
Stargazing (Incoming K students)	May 4		Cathy Gentilello Catherine.gentilello@cobbk12.org 770-928-5573
Student Council Pancake Breakfast	May 13		Wanda Shue     Wanda.shue@cobbk12.org  770-928-5573
Field Day	May 13		Mr. Dougherty   Michael.dougherty@cobbk12.org 770-928-5573
Student Council Book Swap	May 16-18		Wanda Shue     Wanda.shue@cobbk12.org     770-928-5573
5th Grade BBQ	May 24		Janni George  jannibenson@springmail.com 770-971-9951
5th Grade Reception	May 25		Sharon Renaud sklrenaud@hotmail.com    770-928-3709
Yearbook			Janni George  jannibenson@springmail.com 770-971-9951
PTA Officer			Mirla Bigda    bigdafamily@comcast.net      770-926-1388
Foundation			Dianne Dawkins      Gdn3@att.net
Daily Volunteer Opportunities		Contact
Front Lobby Greeter		Jean Allen         jean.allen@ cobbk12.org
MOD Squad – MEN ON DUTY		Cathy Gentilello  Catherine.gentilello@cobbk12.org
Classroom Reader		Individual Teachers
Assist students with math or reading		Individual Teachers
Media Center		Lisa Messinger    lisa.messinger@cobbk12.org
Physical Education		Mike Dougherty    Michael.dougherty@cobbk12.org
Art Master		Julie Hughie Momand2monsters@yahoo.com 770-926-0793
Make copies for teachers		Individual Teachers
Cafeteria Monitor/Lunch with classes		Cafeteria – Barry Crocker
Car Rider Greeter		See you on the curb 7:15-7:50

Welcome To February!

Dear Parents,

Thank you for returning our Youth Museum forms and support of our field trip. We are looking forward to so much this week. Tomorrow, Monday January 31st, we will introduce the children to our study of Colonial America. The children will be taking an active role by dressing up and going back in time. Performing in skits, they will personally simulate such events as the Boston Tea Party, the critical battles of the Revolutionary War, and the ratification of the Constitution. Later this week, we will use our athletic skills and make you proud in our 2010-2011 PE program.

  
READING 

 Eating a carrot takes time, is not as easy to swallow, and certainly is not as sweet. The children will quickly realize that it could be compared to reading an nonfictional text. An ice cream sandwich, however, has many flavorable characteristics and can be easily digested just like fiction books. It is with this difference in mind that the students will tackle books of information and analyze their text and graphic features and the purpose behind them. For the next several weeks, we will continue to add main ideas and supporting details, cause and effect, and fact and opinion to our Reader's Notebook.

    
  Writing

 Informational writing, or research, always starts with a question. So for these nine weeks, the children will be answering the question, "What is it like to live in Colonial times?"  They will look at the various aspects of this time in history and choose three topics that they are interested in learning more about. These will be the focus of their paper. Add an engaging beginning, a strategic ending, text and graphic features, and they will complete the standard writing requirements for these nine weeks. Encourage the children to use time wisely as we begin to take notes, develop main ideas, and personally write supporting factual details to "rough draft" this five paragraph paper. 

SPELLING  
 Ambiguous vowels continue as we work with Sort 7 and the /au/, /aw/, and the /al/ vowel sounds in accentuated syllables. Encourage the children to visit the "Spelling City" link and play the games provided. Using some of the activities, I will have the children practice their cursive letter formation and develop vocabulary.

 MATH
The children enjoyed the Bingo games and were able to easily change the improper fractions to mixed numbers and reverse that process. This week, they will be continuing to add and subtract fractions and mixed numbers. At this level, they will need to regroup, or borrow, and simplify when necessary. The second part of this nine weeks will see us working with decimal fractions.  

                     ENGLISH

   Complete and simple subjects and predicates were the focus for the past two weeks. Creating sentences and punctuating them correctly is also critical. Using scenarios provided, class teams will develop a script with each student taking on a specific sentence type. Look for assignments and a test on these four types of sentences: imperative, exclamatory, declarative, and interrogative. Next up? Adjectives! 

  SOCIAL STUDIES   

 This past week, the students had the opportunity to choose an explorer that they felt had an important influence in the exploration and claim to land in North America. Their assigment is to complete a booklet that will provide 10 interesting facts of obstacles and accomplishments, a timeline of important events, the flag of the country for which this explorer sailed, and a cover that illustrates the purpose behind this exploration. Class time and information will be provided, but the children will need to work at home as well. As each explorer is presented, the students will need to note this information. Be looking at the agenda for a test date early next week.  

  
January 31 Youth Museum 11:00-2:00

Feb. 2nd Groundhog Day No Early Release

Feb. 3 (6:45) P.E. Program 4th grade

Terrific Kids Feb. 8th (7:30 AM)

 

                   Stevi B's Night

Feb. 11th Academic Alerts go home

Feb. 17th Lifetouch Pictures (Classroom and individual)

CONGRATULATIONS !!

100+ CLUB WINNERS

Jovan B.     Ivan P.

Jordan B.     Ryan T.

Branson C.        Joanna T.

Anna C.            Jennifer W.

Noah D.           Luke H.

Lydia G.

100 CLUB

Mackenzie C.

Sam B.

Leonardo J.

  OUR TERRIFIC KID for January is ... 

ANNA CURRENT

 

 

Brr!!! Welcome to January, 2011

 
 Dear Parents,

 
Allow me to generally thank you all for the support of our "Holiday Party" by personally coming and sending in all of that delicious food. A special note of appreciation to Ms. Tiffany, Mrs. Dawkins, and Mrs. Hughes for the arrangement and planning of this memorable celebration. A big "Thank You" goes out to Mrs. da Silva, Mrs. Williams, Mrs. Barker and Mrs. Converse for manning the stations. My bracelet continues to grow with charms and wonderful memories. I cannot truly express my deep appreciation for this special gift that you have all supported. The teachers loved their holiday luncheon and I need to thank those who have sent dishes in to make that a special day for us all, as well. As we move along through this year I notice that the students' supplies of colored pencils, glue sticks, crayons, pens and pencils, and kleenex are pretty well depleted. If at all possible, could you send in some replenishments so that we can continue to illustrate our many projects and activities and make them the best ones ever?

Please Note: Calendar changes due to inclement weather

  PARENTS......PLEASE mark your calendars.......SNOW DAY MAKE-UPS

As posted on the CCSD website, text messages sent out by the county, and call outs home from NES & CCSD, please be aware that the following dates have changed for your child.

February 2   FULL DAY of school....NOT an Early Release as originally scheduled

March 18 SCHOOL DAY...NOT a Teacher Workday as originally scheduled
 

READING

We are bringing our Traditional Literature unit to an end by applying all of the skills learned to complete a culmination "Response to Literature" writing piece on one of two books, Yeh-Shen, or Murfaro's Beautiful Daughters.  Independent reading, story mapping, and summary writing will be a part of this project. Please check agendas nightly as reading logs are assigned. As we begin our Informational Reading unit for this third quarter, be aware that they will be working with the Time For Kids magazines that practice the use of nonfiction text features and become a more common nightly assignment. It is my plan to correlate reading with social studies and spend a week using our reading strategies to complete our own journal using the historical fiction novel, Pedro's Journal. Be looking for assignments coming home this week.     

      
WRITING

These many weeks of learning about the parts of a book review are coming together. The various ways to judge a book are important at this level. The children have learned the differences between analytic, evaluative, reflective, and interpretative judgments. After reading their chosen story, they will be required to write an engaging beginning, summarize the story read, make a judgment with supportive evidence, and bring this review to a satisfying conclusion. Please look for copies of this writing piece to come home soon. For the third quarter, our standards have us using our nonfiction reading skills and strategies to write a five paragraph research report on colonial life.   

SPELLING AND ENGLISH

This week's spelling sort will have us work with ambiguous vowels, such as words with oy,oi,ou, and ow. Spelling City has these words ready for the children to practice. The test will be announced whenn we get back from this unexpected snow break. After the units of nouns and verbs, the children should be able to recognize the simple and complete subjects and predicates in a sentence. Work will continue on this concept and a short review of types of sentences, "run-ons," and fragments will help them apply these skills in writing. 

MATH  

   The first part of this nine weeks will be having us work with fractions. A Frayer Map helped us to organize our thoughts as we began to review previous knowledge and  vocabulary. Writing, reading, and visual representations of fractional parts of a whole and a set will be a foundation as we quickly move to equivalent fractions. They will also need to be able to  add and subtract fractions and mixed numbers with like denominators The fourth grade team works diligently and cooperatively to make certain that your child is working at their perfect pace. Following the county standards and guidelines, we plan together to support, enrich, and engage each and every child. Just a quick reminder- our 100 and 100+ Clubs Celebration (January 25th) is right around the corner. Facts are with us for life and we will be continue to practice and test these operations over the next several weeks.

SCIENCE

Mrs. Gagnon is finishing up her weather unit this week. She was pleased with most of the weather projects and test scores. Be looking for those grade sheets to be coming home with this week's graded papers.

SOCIAL STUDIES

Mrs. Gagnon's class  is working furiously to complete their booklets and presentations on their Native American Indian groups. We will try to bring this unit to a close within the next several days. The next course of study is the Explorers and their affect on these Native tribes as well as the effect on the colonization of the Americas.

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER!!

JAN. 5 PTA EXEC. BOARD MEETS

JAN. 7 REPORT CARDS SENT HOME/{PLEASE RETURN SIGNATURE CARDS AND ENVELOPES}

JAN. 18 AFTER SCHOOL TUTORING RESUMES 

JAN. 19 ART MASTER (MRS. CONVERSE)

JAN. 21st is the rescheduled date for

TERRIFIC KID CELEBRATION (7:30 AM)

           CHORUS TRYOUTS 3RD, 4TH, AND 5TH (2:30-3:30)  

Happy Birthday to....

RYAN T. 16TH

LEONARDO J. 18TH

 

 

        AWARDS GO OUT TO.. 

      SPELLING BEE REPRESENTATIVES:

NOAH D., BRANSON C., AND CAMILA da S.   

    CHORUS MEMBERS:

JORDAN B.       CAMILA da S.

ANNA C.           JENNIFER W.    

LYDIA G.

      OUR TERRIFIC KID FOR NOVEMBER

RYAN T.

       OUR TERRIFIC KID FOR DECEMBER

JOANNA T.

DECEMBER IS JUST ABOUT HERE!

  
Dear Parents,

Welcome back! I hope that this well-deserved rest was one filled with family, fun, and feasting. Thank you all for honoring another milestone in my life with a treasured bracelet that will serve to remind me of a special class and year. Mrs. Hughes additionally made it a special day for all of us by supplying the class  with some delicious brownies. Mrs. Tiffany brought a balloon and flowers that beautifully decorated the room before the holiday and allowed me to maintain that beauty throughout the week at home. I continue to feel thankful and blessed to have such wonderful families within the classroom.

                    READING

   When you can summarize a story well, you have proof that you understand what you have read. This week, we will continue to chart elements of stories and using a matrix and story maps will write engaging summaries of various pieces of traditional literature.  Using several versions of the age-old story of "The Three Little Pigs," the children will compare and contrast these stories, focusing especially on point of view. Please encourage the children to read nightly and use time available to earn those Accelerated Reader points. A December book report has been assigned and the requirements were given the week before the holiday. The due date is December 13th. They will need to put into a box five things that their main character would like to receive in relation to the story. If another copy of the directions is needed, do not hesitate to jot me a note. 

  
Writing

 We are steadily working toward the development of our own Response to Literature. Using the book, The Rough Faced Girl, the children will need to write group summaries and eventually use the shared-pen technique to write four judgments of this book. Each will be typed and put into their Writer's Notebook for a quick reference when they go on to write one on their own book of choice. Making connections to these stories and supporting their opinions with evidence is a requirement on this benchmark writing piece. Adding a satisfying ending and working with figurative language, including prefixed and suffixed words, is our goal before the winter break.

 SPELLING

On Tuesday of this week, the students will be tested on the vowel pairs of /ai/, /ee/, and /ea/ in accented syllables. Coming up soon, Sort 6 will  have the children identify, sort, and spell two syllble words with the ambiguous vowel patterns of  /oy/, /oi/, /ou/, and /ow/. Just a quick note! The 4th graders will have the opportunity to win a place in the Nicholson Spelling Bee. Whole class eliminations and point accumulations will help us find our three representatives and one alternate.  

    GRAMMAR

 
With nouns and verbs in our minds, we will begin to recognize them as subjects and predicates, both simple and complete, in sentences. Classwork and homework will provide needed practice in these concepts. The children use colors to analyze a sentence and code its various parts. There is also plans to do a quick review of types of sentences, so be looking for practice with this concept coming home, as well.   

    
MATH 

We are really showing progress and skills in our geometry unit. We began with learning how to name and label the basic lines, line segments, etc. Two rays share a vertex and can be labeled and typed as acute, right, obtuse, and straight. Before the holiday week, we learned how to measure angles with a protractor. This week we will catergorize different types of triangles according to their sides and angles. Quadrilaterals and coordinate points will just about bring this unit to its end before the break. Look for homework practice in all these concepts. With January and the 100 and 100+ Club celebration, I cannot encourage you more to practice facts with your child.

 
SOCIAL STUDIES

I will welcome back Mrs. Gagnon's  class back next week. The children will be working in their unit of Native American study. Using their Interactive Notebook, they will use the standards to develop a booklet on one of the six specific Native American cultures. Classwork this week will have them research the location, food, homes, clothing, and traditions of these tribes. As experts in the Seminole, Nez Perce, Inuit, Kwakitul, Hopi, and Pawnee, they will present their findings and complete a graphic organizer that compares and contrasts these groups. I will encourage them to use time wisely to take notes needed and to complete for homework if that is not possible. My homeroom will be continuing to present these booklets this week and testing on Thursday. Have them use their study guide and notes taken to get ready for this unit evaluation.

  WHAT IS COMING IN DECEMBER 

November 30th Chick-Fil-A Family Night

December 1st PTA Board Meeting and General Board Mtg. 

               8th Mod Squad Board Mtg. 7:30 AM and STAR Tree deadline

               9th PTA Chorus Holiday Concert

                13th Relay for Life Candy Cane Gram Sale

                        Art Master (Thanks Mrs. Converse)

                        Book Reports Due

                 14th Spelling Bee and Terrific Kids 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO.... 

  IVAN P. Nov. 19th

  BRANSON C. Nov. 21st

  ANNA C. AND JOANNA T. Dec. 12th

                   LUKE H.  Dec. 20th 

               

Welcome to November

 
  
Dear Parents,

Another teacher once told me that it is now time to put away the Halloween costumes and pull out the turkeys, and that time is here! Thanks so much to Mrs. Tiffany, Mrs.Dawkins, Mrs. Converse. Mrs. Current,  Mrs. Willams, and Mrs. McKnight (Alani's mom) for providing the snacks that we shared during the watching of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. It was a terrific way to celebrate the spirit of the season and it correlated with our study of Traditional Literature. The children seemed to really enjoy the Popcorn Estimation Stations and worked well together as they measured, counted, weighed, and made educated guesses about many aspects of popped  popcorn and kernels. Be sure to ask them about the Grebigols that they silently constructed as a team. It was a fun learning day for us all!

  
READING

These next few weeks will be spent comparing and contrasting the features and traits of traditional literature. Folktales are stories passed down through generations, generally teach us a lesson, and yet have the same story elements that we have come to analyze in personal and fictional narratives. After reading several, the students will be able to note the differences they see in fables, fairytales, and tall tales. Please share some of the special stories you remember. 

 
WRITING, ENGLISH, AND SPELLING

                  WRITING 

This nine weeks has the students developing a response to literature.  After spending a week helping the children  really understand each of the 6+1 Writing Traits, they will be more prepared and confident in using them in this benchmark writing. Once again, we will work on the organization of such a response by writing an engaging beginning and summarizing the story they read. This response, however, also requires them to include a judgement and end their paper with a satisying closure. They are up to the challenge.

  
ENGLISH

Tenses of verbs allow us to set our sentences in the past, present, and future. Sometimes you need to just add an

"-ed" to make an action happen in the past. Inserting a "will" or "shall" in front of an action verb makes it happen in the future. This week we will work with irregular verbs that do not follow these rules. Be looking for practice with these verbs coming home.  

                  SPELLING

                    Sort 4 has the children working with the long vowel sounds in the first syllable. The sort appears to be easier as we catergorize the words into three sounds; /oa/,/ow/ , and /oo/. The children are currently working on the handwriting and word meaning packet that is due on Wednesday of this coming week. I will also be collecting the pages assigned for this sort from their workbook.     

 MATH
Division has caused us some moments of anxiety, I suspect. It is so important that the children practice their facts in order to follow the long division process. This week we will work with two digit divisors and look at several ways to practice this concept. Looking at patterns of division and their relationship with multiplication will be the initial concept and then the children will move to double digit divisors and three and four digit dividends. i will encourage the student to check each porblem using the multiplication algorithm. Problem solving is critical at every level and we will be working with the strategy of Making An Organized List. Happy to have Mr. G. work with some of the students! Please have the children work on a quick and accurate recall of multiplication and division facts.  

SOCIAL STUDIES

I am happy to have my homeroom back for the next few weeks. The children will be working in their unit of Native American study. Using their Interactive Notebook, they will use the standards to develop a booklet on one of the six specific Native American cultures. Classwork will have them research the location, food, homes, clothing, and traditions of these tribes. As experts in the Seminole, Nez Perce, Inuit, Kwakitul, Hopi, and Pawnee, they will present their findings and complete a graphic organizer that compares and contrasts these groups. This week, however, be looking for our WOW's to center around the ancient Indian cultures. 

THINGS TO REMEMBER

 

 
NOVEMBER 2 NO SCHOOL ELECTION DAY

NOVEMBER 3 SPANISH CLASS FOR OUR PARENTS (5:00-6:30)

PARENT WORKSHOP FOR STUDY SKILLS

NOVEMBER 5 RELAY FOR LIFE KICKBALL GAME

NOVEMBER 8 ART MASTER (THANKS MRS. CONVERSE)

    VOLUNTEER LUNCH WITH A FRIEND

 NOVEMBER 9 TERRIFIC KIDS (SEE BELOW)/ PIZZA NIGHT {STEVI B'S }

NOVEMBER 10 MOD SQUAD BOARD

NOVEMBER 11 VETERAN'S DAY (THANK YOU, 3RD GRADE)

NOVEMBER 11 FOOD DRIVE FOR THANSKGIVING ENDS

COMING SOON : BOOK FAIR( FAMILY NIGHT ON 16TH),

VIP LUNCHEON (4TH GRADE ON NOVEMBER 17TH AT 12:30 TABLES 3 &4)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Jordan Nov. 8th 

 

Lydia Nov. 11th

Alani Nov. 14th

Ivan Nov. 19th

Branson Nov. 21st

TERRIFIC KID FOR OCTOBER!!!!

LYDIA G.