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appleWow!  What a great start to the school year!!

First, a big shout out of “THANKS” to our parents for sending in all the great school supplies!  You really make a difference!  Thanks for the support.

Next, what a FANTASTIC bunch of fourth graders I have!  Thank you for sending me such neat kids. Already I can tell these guys are great thinkers filled with great ideas!  It is going to be a fun year of learning and growing together.

Homework and Math

This week, we begin full throttle into our fourth grade curriculum.  Your student should be bringing home a nightly folder that has daily mail in it.  This year we are going to try something new for homework.  On Monday, a sheet will come home for the week that’s entitled “Weekly Homework Sheet“.  On this sheet, you will see each day of the week on a grid.  Under each day will be 3 math problems.  These will be problems that relate to the current day’s math lesson.  It will be important for your student to practice what we’ve learned at home.  Please have a daily conversation with your student to see if they understand the math for the day and check over their problems with them.  Sometimes, hearing a concept explained to them by more than one person, can help them learn the skill at a deeper level.  Thanks in advance, for helping me out with this.  If your child is struggling with a concept, jot a note on the grid and we will tackle it in the classroom again one on one. Another resource you can use to help your child understand a concept are some of the videos I have posted by math operation under “Classroom Tutoring” at the bottom of the blog. These may be helpful in explaining a concept that is hard to get.  You can also email me if you have questions or need further explanations.

Homework and Reading

On the Weekly Homework Sheet mentioned above, there is also a square on the grid to have your student write the title of the book they are reading at home and the number of minutes that they have read per night.  This will count as their Reading Log.  Fourth graders are expected to read at least 20-30 minutes per night in a chapter book at their guided reading level. Research has proven that children become better readers when reading at least 90 minutes per day. We are working on increasing our reading minutes here at school, as well as, reading nightly at home.

Homework and MobyMax

Finally, there will be one last square on the grid to check off for fluency math practice on MobyMax.  Your 4th grader will be expected to be fluent in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts.  One great way to practice this is online with MobyMax.  Your student will have a log in and password and should be practicing at least 5 minutes nightly.

So altogether, your student should really only have 30-40 minutes of homework a night.  He or she should be keeping track of it him/herself as we are promoting responsibility and independence strongly in 4th grade. I hope this explanation helps to know what’s expected and let me know if you have any questions!  Thanks!

-Mrs. Q

Thanks for Coming Parents!

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Turkey ClipartThanks a lot for coming to conferences, parents! It was great to see all of you and to meet about your student. I truly believe that one of the elements for student success is the parent/teacher relationship. Once again, please feel free to email me with questions and/or suggestions that will help us continue to make this a great year!

Three things to note for this week:

*Friday is comfy/cozy dress for your upper el student!

*Paper math homework due tomorrow (11/5) and Monday (11/9).

*Spelling quiz this Friday (11/6)!

 

Odds and Ends!

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walkathon

Hi Fourth Graders and Families,

We are off to a great start! I have lots to talk to you about in this post, and let me begin by thanking you, parents! Thank you for sending me the nicest, kindest, most loving learners in the world! Also, thank you for sending in all of those fabulous supplies that will last in our classroom the year through. I KNOW without a doubt that this will be a terrific year!

Walkathon!

Our ONE school fundraiser will be held this coming Thursday, Sept. 24th. Your fourth grader came home with a packet for raising donations. Our goal this year is for each student to contribute $25! Get out there, Mrs. Q’s class, and let’s see if we can win the limo ride!! Be sure to wear comfy clothes (ninja eagles, right guys?!) and tennis shoes on Thursday and bring a water bottle for the walkathon.

Pictures on Monday 9/21

Put your best shirt on and do your hair for your fourth grade picture! We will have them taken sometime in the morning this coming Monday.

Homework

Your fourth grader will be coming home with math homework MOST Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. It is always due the next day. Reading for 30 minutes, five nights a week is a must as well. Check the twitter feed on the left side of this page for homework assignments. Students should be writing down their reading times at night on sticky notes to bring to school, so they can write their times on their book logs here at school.

I think that is everything for right now! Have a great weekend! -Mrs. Q

Great First Week!

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IMG_0262Wow!  What a great start to the school year!!  First, a big shout out of “THANKS” to you parents for sending in all the great school supplies!  You really make a difference!  Thanks for the support.

Next, I want to say what a FANTASTIC bunch of fourth graders I have!  Thank you for sending me such neat kids. Already I can tell these guys are great thinkers filled with great ideas!  It is going to be a fun year of learning and growing together.

This week we begin into the full throttle of our fourth grade curriculum.  Homework will be coming home in math towards the end of the week.  Your student should be bringing home a blue or black folder that has daily work and homework in it.  Please have a daily conversation with your student to see if they have homework and check over their papers with them that they have completed in class.  Occasionally, I will write a note at the top of a paper to you, parents, if I think your child may need extra reinforcement of a concept at home.  Sometimes, hearing a concept explained to them by more than one person can help them learn the idea at a deeper level.  Thanks in advance, for helping me out with this.

Our library day is Wednesday.  Your child is being asked to read every night for a minimum of 20-30 minutes.  We know that children should be reading at least 90 minutes of every day to continue to grow at becoming a good reader.  We are trying to get in 60 minutes of reading here at school (of course, we will building up to this every day).  So if you could encourage your reader to get in the habit of reading nightly, this will help us reach the goal of 90 minutes per day.  Your child will be bringing a reading log back and forth to school to help track these minutes in their reading folders.  Please help your child to remember that it should be brought back to school every day.

Ok!  I guess that’s enough info to digest for now!  Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great week!

-Mrs. Q

IMG_0231IMG_0230IMG_0242

No Spelling – Happy Thanksgiving!!

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turkeyHi Parents and Students!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!  As a little breather over the next 2 weeks, we will not have spelling words to study for!  You will also notice that our homework packet is a little lighter for this week, and NO homework for next week!!  Woot-Woot!!

We will be celebrating “Diversity Day” on next week Tuesday (Nov. 26)!  This is a day where we give thanks for our ancestors and where our families came from!  You will see an explanation attached to the homework packet this week.  Families, we are asking that if you have any interesting pictures, foods, clothing, or etc. to send in that shows some of your family history, we would greatly appreciate it!  This is an opportunity to let your student shine, as they will be presenting in front of the class your history, family traditions, and etc.!  If you could please sent these things in by Monday, Nov. 25th, we promise we will take good care of everything and get them back to you by the end of Tuesday.  Food can be sent in the morning of.  Thanks so much for helping your second grader learn and share about their family histories.

Have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving everyone!  -Love, Mrs. Q and Miss D

2 G Summary! 2/4/13

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Hi Everyone!  Due to no homework packet this week, I thought I better post a quick update!  Yes, it’s true!  No homework packet in honor of Winter Break this weekend!  I thought everyone would love the reprieve!  🙂  We are, however, having spelling words.  The test will be on Thursday instead of Friday this week.  No spelling next week though (the week of the 11th).

Tomorrow, Feb. 5th, we are having stuffed animal day.  🙂

Market Day is this Thursday at 9:45 or so.  It will be a lot of fun!  I will try to get pictures on the blog so you can see all of the students’ hard work!!

Valentines Party is on Feb. 14th from 12:40 – 1:45!  You can send in valentines any time this week or next!

Stay warm and Happy Winter Break!!

 

2 Q Update!

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Hi Everyone!

It will be a wonderful 2 weeks here before Christmas break!  We have a few exciting things coming up!  Everything from snow cones to Diversity Day, another writing celebration and holiday party!!  I love this time of year!  The children’s energy is charged with anticipation.

Just a couple of things to be aware of:

1.  Many students are complaining that their gym shoes are too small and don’t want to wear them to gym.  Unfortunately, this poses a safety issue for the gym teachers, as once the floor has lots of mud and dirt on it, it becomes very unsafe to run around on and students slip, fall down, and get hurt.  We would like to ask you to please replace their tennis shoes with larger ones that they may keep in their lockers.  If your family is struggling with financial hardship right now, please let us know and we will find a way to provide shoes for your child.  Thank you!

Your student is writing an “All About” book right now and may ask to bring something in for our next Writing Celebration on Dec. 20th.  We are putting on a “All About Museum” for the first graders and they may want something for their exhibit.  The students will mainly be teaching the first graders from their books and this is purely “optional” to have something to go along with their books.  All live animals would have to be checked out with me, and possibly accompanied by an adult.  🙂  Please remember this is purely optional!  A stuffed animal is perfect too!!  lol

Unit 3 in math is all about measuring.  If you need a centimeter ruler at home, let us know, we do have some paper ones to send home.  We are learning the difference between centimeters and inches.  🙂

This week we are on Unit 11 for spelling.  Remember all words can be found here on the blog under the spelling tab.  Next week (Dec. 17th), we will not have spelling words, we will just review all words we’ve had thus far.  We will not have a homework packet next week either.  My gift to you!!

And last of all, our Holiday Party will be Friday, Dec. 21st at 12:40 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.  Let me know if anyone needs help with Christmas stocking items.  I will surely be glad to help!

I am so grateful for these beautiful children you entrust in my care every week!  I wish everyone a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!   Love, Mrs. Q