Fall Update

Posted on October 23, 2016 by Mrs. Q

Here’s What’s Going On!

First and Very Important:

Study today/tonight for our economics test tomorrow! Lots of vocabulary terms to know and explain.

Halloween Party is October 31, from 2:20 – 3:20 pm.

Costumes can be brought to school in a bag. We will dismiss for recess that day at 2 pm so students may go out for recess and/or get their costumes on for the party. Parents are welcome to set up for the party at that time. Please, no weapons, clowns, or ultra scarey costumes should be worn at school. Thanks!

Curriculum Update:

Math: Unit 1 test is done. Data binders should have come home for parents to peruse. The goal behind these binders is to help your student self-monitor their growth through the year and feel proud of their accomplishments. We are on to Unit 2, which is multiplication. Watch for parent explanation sheets of methods to come home. Hopefully, we may get a few student explanations filmed for the blog too!

Reading: Q is the level your student is considered proficient at this time of year. Be sure your student is exercising their reading muscles nightly for at least 20-25 minutes!

Writing: We have turned in a published personal narrative and now we are on to our favorite! Writing realistic fiction! Students are off and running, developing characters and believable plots for their stories.

Science: After our econ test, we start our science unit off with the study of matter! We’ve got lots of great hands on experiments coming up!

Finally:

Just want our parents to know what a great group of kids we are! We have been getting “Outstanding” Awards from Mrs. Reagan and other teachers, and lots of compliments too! Everywhere we go, we want to show that we are “Gentle Giants” – leaders who make good choices without needing a lot of reminders.

Have a great few weeks!

Happy January!

Posted on January 21, 2016 by Mrs. Q

Hope everyone is enjoying the winter wonderland we live in! I haven’t posted in a while, so I thought I’d better catch up!

We have been hard at work writing personal essays and now we are learning to write “literary” essays. This is a skill that can be challenging for fourth graders! They are learning to determine the “big idea” of a piece of literature, and then to defend their thinking by providing “evidence” from within the writing. Everyone is doing a great job and soon they will be turning in their final essay.

In math, we are now moving on to a unit of story problems involving all operations. These are important because they involve everyday, “real-world” math situations, in which they have to determine the math operations (often more than one!) to use to solve the problem. Again, as with their writing, this involves a lot of critical thinking skills! The students are learning to talk about how they are thinking with each other. This inspires each thinker to see things in ways they might not have seen before!

Tuesday, January 26th is the date set for the science test on matter! Students will be coming home with flashcards today to practice. Watch for a review sheet tomorrow (Friday, Jan. 22) to start working with your student studying for the test. Next week, students will be switching classrooms for their next science unit! Students love getting to know the other fourth grade teachers and WE love getting to know them!

Two last dates to know are the next spelling quiz is on January 29th, and our Valentine’s Party will be February 12th at 2:30 pm. Students will be making their own valentine’s boxes for a contest if they choose (completely optional to be a part of the contest!!!!). Otherwise, I will provide a bag for them to decorate and put their valentines in. So start searching online for that cute valentine’s box to make if you choose!

Stay warm!!! -Love, Mrs. Q

Just an Update!

Posted on October 22, 2014 by Mrs. Q

Hi Students and Families!
A few things are coming up on the radar for our 4th Graders here at Georgetown. First just an announcement about our Halloween party. The party will be held on Thursday, Oct. 30th from 2:30-3:30 pm. I want to remind all students that at Georgetown, we have a policy of not bringing any play weapons of any type that go with our costumes to school. I also want to remind 4th Graders not to choose costumes that are overly scary looking. We have younger children that we are bus buddies with and others in the building, and we do not want to make them afraid. So please keep that in mind when choosing a costume for school that day. Finally, students will just bring their costume to school, and we will dress up for the party during our last recess of the day.

Report cards for the first trimester will be coming home that following Monday, November 3. We will also begin parent/teacher conferences that week. I look forward to meeting with all of you wonderful parents about your children. We have such a great group of kids! Georgetown will also be hosting a book fair that week. It will be open during the evening when parents may stop in to shop for books as well.

Lots of fun things to look forward to! Hope everyone has a great rest of their week!
-Mrs. Q

Happy Memorial Day!

Posted on May 24, 2013 by Mrs. Q

Hi Parents!

It seems it’s been a while since I have posted and I apologize for that! So much is going on for us here at Georgetown! Wow! It seems like we are speeding down a steep hill to the end of this year! First, I want to say a big “thank you” to those moms who came faithfully every week to help our class do Reading Counts! Without you, it would have been even harder to get all of our students in for their quizzes on a daily basis. Thank you also to the moms who planned and volunteered for our parties! The kids love it when you get involved! Thank you to all of you parents who provide such a beautiful “Teacher Appreciation Week”. I sure feel pampered during that week! And most of all, thank you for sending me the best kids in the world! I am going to miss them so much next year!!

Two Important Items: Next week Thursday, 5/30, we are making a swap in our Second Grade Countdown. Instead of Dessert Day, we are making it Donut Day! So if you are a mom who volunteered to donate donuts, could you please send them next Thursday, 5/30? I will send you an email as a reminder! We will save our trip to “What’s the Scoop” until the second to the last day of school.

Also, your student will need a paper grocery sack with their name on it for the second to the last day of school. You can send these in any time and I will save them up until that day.

Don’t forget! Tonight is the School Carnival if you can make it!

And June 6th, all families are invited to have a lunch picnic outdoors with us from 12:00 to 1:00 on the last day.

Have a great Memorial weekend!! Love, Mrs. Q

2 Q Update!

Posted on December 9, 2012 by Mrs. Q

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

2 Q Update! 10/12/12

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Mrs. Q

Hi Everyone!

Wow! We are off to a great start! The kids are doing a great job of learning every day! I have a few things to mention:

Limo Ride and Pizza Party! This will be this Thursday, Oct. 18th! The limo will arrive at school around 11:10 a.m.! Parents are welcome to come and snap a picture or two of us getting in the limo! We will also post some pictures on the blog too!! Please have your child dress up a little for this experience as we want to feel special for our limo ride!! We will be going to Pizza Ranch and having our lunch and then returning back to school. I will have a special movie for fun that day too! It’s going to be a fantastic day!!

Reading Counts- We are off to a strong start! Students are reading every night and taking quizzes! Great job! We also have volunteers coming in to help guide the students with their quizzes and make sure that they are getting new books. Remember, we only have small snatches of time during the day to get our books and if we can’t get down there, your student can always read a book from home, bring it in, take a quiz, and then bring the book back home.

Math- This next week will be taking our Unit 1 Assessment over story problems. If you notice your student has been coming home with 1’s or 2’s on their morning math sheets, it would be great if you could go over story problems with them. I have some great math sites here on the blog that your student can go to and also get additional practice. Just get them to the site (like IXL math), find the addition/subtraction story problem section, and have them practice.

Reading Levels-You may have noticed that your student has come home with Reading Counts books that seem to be at an easy level for your student. This is because their level for Reading Counts was set at their last level in first grade. This is to insure success as these kiddos get used to taking Reading Counts quizzes. This next week, I will be beginning to individually test each student to see how much new progress they have made. Their new level will be boosted for Reading Counts right after we finish testing!

Have a great week!

2 G Summary for 10/16/11

Posted on October 16, 2011 by Mrs. Q

Hi Everyone! Just a few updates for this week! First, we will be having our Halloween Party on Oct. 31, from 2-3 p.m. If you signed up to help, our lead mom will be calling you soon to let you know what to bring! Thank you, parents, (ahead of time!) for the wonderful planning you put in to our party!

Our math testing is done. This week your student will be moving to Mrs. Greenlund’s class, if they need the extra support, or Mrs. Kuieck’s class, if they need the extra challenge! Otherwise, your student will stay with me for on grade level math. Notes with email addresses for contacting your child’s math teacher (should that not be me), will be coming home this week. We second grade teachers work together pretty tightly as a team, so we will be sharing about your student’s progress on a weekly basis. Feel free to email me if you have any concerns. I am proud to let you know that EVERY student in our class passed their Unit 1 test with flying colors!!!

Our Christmas Concert will be on Dec. 1 this year at Fair Haven Church. More information on that will be forth coming soon.

No school this Friday for students. We use this day to get all of our office work done as teachers in order to prepare for conferences and report cards.

Tidbit of the Week – I have such a caring bunch of students this year! I am so proud of how many students really reach out to help their fellow classmates. When someone drops a pencil box, several kids pitch in to help pick it up! When someone gets their feelings hurt, several friends surround that person with lots of encouragement. I am really grateful that I get to come to school with such wonderful people every day. I have the best job in the world!!

Mrs. Q’s Update! 5/23/11

Posted on May 22, 2011 by Mrs. Q

Wow Everyone! Time is really going to go fast now! I can hardly believe that we are down to the final 3 weeks of school. What a phenomenal year! Your children have grown so much! I have mixed emotions. I am sad that we are getting to the end. I also feel so happy that we have really learned a lot of things that will help us on this journey we call life. Next year everyone will only be across the hall from me, so I can still get hugs and check in with how each and every one of my students is doing.:)

A few final details:

This week is our last week for library. Please hunt and dig for all of our school library books and send them in. While you are looking, if you would check for my classroom books too, I would greatly appreciate that! All of my books have my name in the front cover, so that’s how you will know if it is from our classroom.

This week is our last homework packet! I know this will bring tears to everyone’s eyes, but yes, it has to be done. NO MORE HOMEWORK PACKETS AFTER THIS WEEK! So get this last one done as soon as you can and then you are free!!! 🙂

Please, please, please continue to read over the summer!! Every student has made significant gains in their reading ability. However, we do have data that proves that our reading skills go down over the summer if students do not read. So please, parents, get your students involved in a summer reading program or offer an incentive yourself! My own kids would earn their money to spend at the Hudsonville Fair by the number of books they read all summer long. Just keep an easy chart to fill out on the fridge and have the kids keep track! The more they read, the more they got to do at the fair!

Finally, for the last 11 days of school, beginning this Wednesday 5/25, we are going to celebrate the end of Second Grade by spelling out every letter of SECOND GRADE with an activity that corresponds to each letter. Watch for a note coming home tomorrow 5/23, because we will need a few donations to help with that!

As always, I thank you for sending me the best kids in the world! I just love all of you so, so much!

Mrs. Q

Mrs. Q’s Update 5/8/11

Posted on May 8, 2011 by Mrs. Q

Happy Mother’s Day to all of our Moms! Hope you have a wonderful day today!

It’s hard to believe that we are in May already! Only 4 and a half weeks to go! Things are going to pick up and fly by with record speed from now until June 9!

Some dates to note:
Just Write Celebration – May 17th from 9:00-9:40 a.m.
Memorial Day – May 30th, No School
Field Day – June 8th
Doughnut Day & Dress Like an Athlete Day – June 8th

Last Day – June 9th, Dismissal at 1:00

We have several academic goals to reach before our last day. We will be doing a unit on MEAP test taking, learning strategies for reading and taking the test. In science, we will finish up our plant unit and follow that with a final social studies unit on Hudsonville. In computers, we will have a two week keyboarding session in which Mrs. Ploeg will be teaching us proper positioning for our fingers. Readers’ and Writers’ Workshops will continue and we will be polishing up our final work in both of those areas.

Parents, if any of you are interested in providing tutoring for your student over the summer months, please just send me a note and I will email you names and phone numbers of available tutors.

It is such an honor and a privilege to work with your students! This will be a great finish to a really wonderful school year!

Love, Mrs. Q

Mrs. Q’s Update 2/25/11

Posted on February 25, 2011 by Mrs. Q

Hi Parents!

Sure looking forward to seeing all of you next week and sharing progress about your student! Wow! We have grown leaps and bounds! This is my favorite time of year because we see so much growth both socially and academically.

Just a few general notes: when sending in a snack of any sort for birthdays or otherwise, it would be very helpful if you would send in the original bag that the treat came in so that we may get the nutritional information off of the bag. We have one student in which we need to know the carbs in every item before he can consume the treat. So thank you in advance for doing that for us!

Also, I would like to say a big THANKS for all of the things everyone sent in for the “Dog Lover’s Basket”!! Our basket looks phenomenal!! I just want to put in a plug for bidding on the baskets during conferences. All profits from the baskets go back directly to your child’s teacher. Thank you for your support!! Raffle tickets cost $1 each and will be on sale during lunches at school and during conferences.

Miss Shima, our student teacher from Hope college, will be starting to teach more and more. She is doing a fantastic job and has such a good connection with the kids! For 3-4 weeks, she will be in charge of the main instruction and I will function as her consultant. I will also be working with the kids in small groups and one on one. It’s a wonderful opportunity for the kids to be exposed to her fresh new ideas and insight!

Last of all I think I blew it and forgot to post last week’s BLOG BUSTER. It’s been a busy week! Just skip it for now and I’ll have a new one posted for next week!

Thanks and see you next week! Love – Mrs. Q

Mrs. Q’s Update 2/11/11

Posted on February 11, 2011 by Mrs. Q

Hi Everyone! It sure has been a busy few weeks and I have a lot to report on today! So here goes!

First, HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY to all!! Monday will be our party from 1:00 – 2:00. Most students have brought in their valentines to pass out to each other. If you haven’t, that’s ok! Just bring them in Monday morning! AND we have a PIZZA PARTY that day!! So don’t worry about packing a lunch for your second grader!

Also, February 17, will be the last day to contribute to our classroom basket raffle for conferences! Our theme is “Dog Lovers“. Thank you to the parents who have made contributions already! You are so gracious! All money made goes back into our classrooms and we teachers REALLY appreciate it!

Parents just a reminder to send a nutritious snack with your growing second grader. Lately, we have had many students who tell me they have forgotten to put a snack in their bag. The office does have snacks for emergency purposes; the occasional student who forgets. But lately I have had students who forget their snack every day and then want to go down to the office. So please encourage your second grader to pack their own snack the night before and that way no one forgets in the rush of the morning!

An email was sent out this week to let you know about our conference schedule coming up for February 28, March 1 & 2. If you did not receive the email or could not open the document (sorry I forgot to make it a PDF!), please email me and let me know and I can send you the time and date. We are using the same day/time from fall conferences.

Last of all, there is a Math Information Night for Parents being held this coming week on Feb. 17 from 7:00 – 8:00 in the High School Auditorium. This is on our new Math Expressions math program. It will explain the program and offer you some practical resources to assist your child.

Ok! Phew! That’s all for now! Have a great weekend and I’ll see most of you on Monday at the party!

Love – Mrs. Q 🙂

Mrs. Quigley's Fourth Grade Friends

"We Get By With a Little Help From Our Friends!"

Tag Archives: update