Parent Letter 11-20-09

Book Projects

The skeleton book projects for oct. & nov. went very well. We are going to do another project before christmas. you will find the project outlined in either your students homework folder or yellow book project folder. if you have questions about the project or the adventure genre that your students are doing for the next month please contact me with questions.

Homework

Homework has become an issue for some students. please look in your son/daughert's assignment noebook to make sure that all homework is being done. Also, I assign homework to be done at home and not on the bus. Messy assignments have been handed in and difficult to correct because of being done on the bus.

Shai Shay

Shai shay t-shirt order forms are due on november 30th. Please make checks payable to the Shai Shay benefit.

Scholastic Book Fair

The Scholastic book fair will be on vip day from 9-1. Come check out the book fair for both your child or our classroom. There are lots of great books to choose from!

Language Class

In language class students are working hard on writing different paragraphs. We learned the new genre of narrative writing. The students learned that it is a genre where they tell about themselves, others, or make-believe events. They use words that tell how the events happened in order.

Parent News 11-12-09

Shai Shay Benefit Basket
We have received many donations this week. However, the due date on these items for our baby basket is on Monday, November 16th. Here is a list of what we have so far: Fleece blanket, Cabbage Patch Kid, Teething Ring, Burp Rags, Lots of Links, a baby bib, small t-shirt, pajamas, rubber ducky, baby towel, baby blanket, keepsake pillow, and Dice, Dice Baby toy. Remember, nothing has to be too expensive since it is all going into one basket. If you want, you can also donate money and I will be going shopping with that money to fill the rest of the basket with items. We encourage each child to bring in one thing for our basket. Please help our class!

Skeleton Book Projects
The skeleton book projects are due on Tuesday, November 17th. I encourage you to check with your son/daughter to see if they have completed or are working on their skeletons. This is a long weekend for them to work on the book projects. We will be doing one more project before Christmas!

Parent/Teacher Conferences
I enjoyed meeting with some of the parents last Thursday and look forward to talking with some parents tonight. Your support at home and ideas and questions that you bring to me help me teach your child to the best that I am able to teach them. Please remember that if you have any questions that you can ask anytime.

Upcoming Events
• VIP Day—Wednesday, November 25th
• Early Dismissal: 2:15 or take your son/daughter home after VIP Day—Wednesday, November 25th
• No School—Thursday and Friday, November 26th and 27th.

Parent News 10-30-09

Conferences
Conferences are next Thursday, October 5th and also Thursday, October 12th. If you’re scheduled time doesn’t work please contact Lynn Sickles as soon as possible.
Shai Shay “Baby Basket”
We have two items thus far for our basket. We have “Dice, Dice Baby” and a “Yellow Rubber Duck”. Please start bringing in baby items for our 4th grade basket. If you have questions about this fundraiser or benefit contact Mrs. Heier or Mrs. Sickles. I will keep you updated on what comes in so that we don’t double things up. Remember, if you want to send money we can also purchase items for you.

Illness
The 4th grade class is experiencing illness. There have been kids with cough, colds, flu like symptoms and various other symptoms. The school, on the advice of Iowa Public Health, is asking parents to keep their child home 24 hours after the fever or other illness symptoms are gone and without the child taking any medicine such as Tylenol or ibuprofen. If your child waits to come to school after the 24 hours, then it will help prevent the spread of illness in our classroom. I am doing all I can to help, including washing hands several times throughout the day and keeping our desks clean. I am just asking for more help with this prevention of illness because of my personal circumstances of expecting a new child.

Also, there is a birthday party this weekend and two of the participants were sick the week of the 26th-30th. Please check your child on Sunday several times for a fever or any symptoms that might show up as an illness. If they have a fever, cough, sore throat, chills, vomiting, or diarrhea on Sunday, they should not come to school on Monday! Call Andrea Homstad at school with questions.

Bookfair
There will be a Scholastic Bookfair at North Winn during VIP Day. There will not be a book order coming home with your child this month as the school is trying to raise money. You can however, buy books for our class at the fair. Please look for more information coming home with your child.

Book Project
Your child should be reading a mystery genre book. In class we have spoken about the skeleton and also about the different parts of a mystery that go along with the skeleton. I have all the skeleton parts cut out for the students. When the student is finished reading their mystery books they can get their skeleton from me to complete. The skeletons are due on Tuesday, November 17th.

I look forward to seeing each of you at parent/teacher conferences in the next couple of weeks. If you have questions about anything prior to that please let me know. Also, be looking for your child’s report card to be sent home on Wednesday, November 4th in their homework folders.

4th grade news

Shai Shay Benefit
Please see the yellow letter in your son/daughter’s Friday folder about 6th grade student Shai Shay. Each class is going to be participating in the benefit, see how you can help on the yellow letter.

New Arrivals
As I am sure all of you have heard I am expecting a new little bundle of joy! The students found out on Wednesday after I heard the heartbeat! They were very surprised! I will be having the baby in April but will keep you updated on when I will be leaving and the sub that will be in my classroom.

Halloween Party
We will be having our Halloween Party next Friday, on our early dismissal day. These are the students that signed up to help out with the party, Garrett, Chase, and Cole (Dad) signed up for treats. Tristan signed up for drinks and Davon signed up for cups and napkins. If you have questions about the party call or e-mail me.

Northeast Iowa Passport for Fitness
Please read the letter that was send home about the program that was started in 3rd grade. Please help your student write a story about the outdoor activities that they did outside this summer.

End of Quarter
The end of the first quarter is fast approaching, next Friday! If you have questions before the end of the quarter please make sure that you call or e-mail me.

Halloween Pumpkin Decorating Contest
Grades PreK-5
Choose a round pumpkin or a
crazy-shaped pumpkin
and use your creative imagination to decorate it wild, crazy, funny,
silly, or scary!!
Bring to school from Oct. 19-28
Prizes will be awarded!

Mr. Twedt
Mr. Twedt had his final day in our classroom. We really enjoyed having him here and look forward to seeing him in the hallways as he works with Mrs. Bigler for 2nd quarter.

Miss Haug
We have had Miss Haug in our classroom for the past 3 weeks. She has been working on her teaching of music to 4th grade students. She will be with us until mid-November. The students enjoy seeing her on Thursday mornings.

Important Dates
• Friday, October 30th—End of 1st quarter and Halloween Party
• Thursday, November 5th—Parent/Teacher Conferences
• Thursday, November 12th—Parent/Teacher Conferences
• Friday, November 13th—No School
• Tuesday, November 17th—“Spooky” Book Project Skeletons DUE!

Charlotte's Web Fair

Friday Letter 10-9-09

Reading

Charlotte’s Web is over and the students worked hard on their test and projects that were brought in for the 4th Grade Fair. Students were also excited to watch the movie of Charlotte’s Web in the afternoon and eat eachothers baked goods.

Science

WOW! Excitement in the air! Students are so thrilled about the stories that they are creating with their scientific research teams on spiders. They have gathered realistic facts and also fictional facts about spiders. When we are finished with the stories, students will be asked to design and bring in items to create a spider. We will be making or spiders the week of October 26th-30th. Look for more information on bringing in spider model items.

Mrs. Dambek/Drama

Mrs. Dambek comes into our room on Wednesday and Friday mornings to work with us on choral readings, drama, and how to become better actors and actresses. The students are working right now on picking out picture books and then using those picture books to create a reader’s theatre based on their book. She is really incorporating reading and writing into one. The kids love her coming into our room!

Character Counts

Character Counts week is fast approaching! The week of October 18th-24th is when students will be participating in activities related to being a good person of character. Please look for a letter about dress up days to come home soon! It will be an exciting week!

Important Dates

**Tuesday, October 20th—NICC Dairy Center for Iowa’s Dairy Story
**Friday, October 23rd—Last day Mr. Twedt is in our classroom.
**Friday, October 30th—End of Quarter, 1:15 Dismissal; Halloween Party


Halloween Pumpkin
Decorating Contest
Grades PreK-5
Choose a round pumpkin or a
crazy-shaped pumpkin
and use your creative imagination to decorate it wild, crazy, funny,
silly, or scary!!
Bring to school from Oct. 19-28
Prizes will be awarded!

Building a Character Counts Tree

The 1st graders and 4th graders met up for a Character Counts lesson during the normal Buddies time on Tuesday afternoons. The 1st and 4th graders brainstormed together how we can "Fall Into Good Character" this next semester. Our tree is displayed in the school cafeteria to motivate other classes to have great character!

Deanna and Maria working hard on their sentences!

Davon and James show Mrs. Wicklund and Mrs. Morken their greats leaves (hands).

Rye and Jackson coloring their leaves.

Mr. Twedt checking in on Garrett, Steven, and Kylie.

Avery helping out her 4th grade friend Chase to trace his hand. Jack and Parker color their hands next to the 4th graders.

Emily and Ashley working hard on their leaves!

A New School Year Begins (Student Teacher Letter below)

A new school year is an exciting time for children. It means making friends, taking part in activities, and learning new skills. But the beginning of school can also be an unsettling time. Children wonder whether they’ll like their teacher and be accepted by their classmates. It’s a time for establishing a new place in the world. I am excited to have each of these students in my room and look forward to helping them adjust to 4th grade.

Together, you and I have a common goal—to help your child be a happy, well-adjusted learner. As a parent, you know the most about your child’s likes, dislikes, and unique learning styles. Sharing any information about your child’s reading tastes and favorite activities allows me to extend their learning in interesting ways. We can share information in a number of ways—Parent’s Night (Monday, August 31st at 6:30), telephone conversations, notes from you to me, e-mail or face to face meetings.

Home is where learning starts. As a role model, you are a very important part of your child’s education. If your child sees your enthusiasm for learning, he or she will also be enthusiastic. I encourage you to take part in activities that reinforce what your child is learning in school.

Encourage your child to talk about school experiences. Many kids will tell you what they’re thinking, and feeling. Listen carefully, not only to the words but the gestures, the emphases, and the emotions. If questions arise that you need more information about or possible answers, please feel free to contact me and I will help you in any way that I can.

I am looking forward to working with your child this year during 4th grade.

Melissa A. Wicklund

IMPORTANT NOTES:

**No flip flops at all at school!
**Parent’s Night—August 31st, 6:30 p.m,
**Cannons and Redcoats Field Trip—September 18th
**MAPS occurring in the first couple weeks of school. Please look for more information.



Greetings from a student teacher

Dear 4th grade parents,

Greetings! My name is Gabriel Twedt and I will be student teaching in Mrs. Wicklund’s room for the first eight weeks of the school year. Since I will be working in the classroom with your students, Mrs. Wicklund and I thought it would be a good idea to send this letter to you all so you can get the chance to know me before we get too far into the school year.
I was born and raised on a small sheep farm north of Decorah and I graduated from Decorah High School in 2006. After three years of college classes, I am currently a senior at Luther College where I am pursuing a degree in Elementary Education. I am lucky enough to come from an immediate family of educators including three elementary teachers, one music teacher, one math teacher, two physical education teachers, and one Agriscience teacher. I plan on graduating this spring and will possibly seek employment around the area.
I truly appreciate having the opportunity to spend some of my time student teaching with your students and with Mrs. Wicklund. I hope to meet many of you at the upcoming Parent Night on Monday or at the Parent/Teacher meetings later this fall. I truly appreciate your student’s presence in the classroom and am excited to learn from them as well.
Thank you for you time and I hope all is well for you.


Sincerely,
Gabriel Twedt

3 Students Attend Writing Conference

Three North Winn 4th grade students attended a writing conference sponsored by Keystone AEA. The students were Meretta Peterson, Shane Sexton, and Elizabeth Smith. They were put to work by two enthusiastic individuals from Poetry Alive! Poetry Alive is a Poetry Company. The Poetry Alive actors have memorized hundreds of poems, from the classics to the popular to the contemporary. Those poems, presented in engaging and memorable ways, become the connection to enhanced reading and writing skills. During the day the students listened to poems performed, wrote their own poetry, and also looked at a poem and made it into a skit with other students. It was an amazing day for the students and they truly enjoyed their time there. Check out the website http://www.poetryalive.com/ for more information.

Meretta, Liz, and Shane with the Poetry Alive! actors.

Moon Phases

Luther Students, Jill, Erik and Gabe, came to teach a short unit on the moon phases. Students looked at models of the Earth, Sun, and Moon to show how they rotate and revolve. The 4th graders also drew the moon phases and described how they are different. At the end of the time here with us they had the students make the moon phases with Oreo Cookies. The students enjoyed the "new" teachers and also the science unit put together by the Luther Education Students. We will have 3 new teachers in our room to teach us about the planets and more about the solar system.Erik helping Courtney with her moon phases.

Deirdre having fun with her Oreo moon phases.

Erik and Jill both helping Phoebe with her moon phases.

Gabe helping Natalie with her moon phases.

Shane's completed moon phases, made with Oreos!

Immigrant Immersion Projects on Display

Immigrant Immersion Projects Open House
4th Grade students have been working hard on learning how the immgrants of the late 1800's and early 1900's lived, worked, and came to their new country. To bring this experience to a close the students are asked to put together a project about all that they have learned and discovered. These incredible projects will be on display in the NW cafeteria the night of the Spring Concert. The Open House will begin at 6:15 and continue after the concert as well. Please come see their projects! If you miss it at the school you can see them at the Vesterheim Norwegian American Museum the week of May 11th-17th from 1-5pm daily. We will have a Student/Parent Open House at the Museum on Thursday, May 14th from 4:30-6:30 pm.

Parent Letter 4-17-09

Hello! Well, the spring weather is finally here. We are enjoying it at school and look forward to even more warm weather to come our way. Please continue to remind your students about the choices they are making to wear to school. Our classroom is actually cooler than what it is outside, my recommendation is to dress in layers.

HOMEWORK: Homework is becoming more of an issue with the warm weather coming. Students are still required to get their homework finished and handed in during the morning hours. If they have difficulty please send them to school to ask me right away in the morning.

IMMIGRANT PROJECTS: Student projects are due on Monday. Students need both their immigrant project explanation and also their project on Monday. We will have them set up on Thursday evening before the concert at 6:15pm. Please bring family and friends to see the work your son/daughter has put into their immigrant projects.

GROCERY BAG WINNERS: Your son/daughter participated in the annual grocery bag contest. Each drew a picture about how important soil is to us. They drew these on a reusable grocery bag. These are being displayed at the Fareway store in Decorah. We had four winners in the 4th grade. Congratulations to Shane, Katey, Meretta, and Liz. They will be attending an awards breakfast with me on April 29th.

MAPS TESTING: The annual MAPS testing is coming right up. The students will be taking the MAPS testing on the computer during the week of April 27th. During this week please make sure your students are getting the sleep they need. Also, send a snack for them to have to feed their brain.

SCIENCE: Luther students have joined our classroom once again. There are currently three teachers in our room teaching us about the Solar System. We will have 3 more teachers in a couple weeks, followed by 3 more in early May. Ask your child what they are learning in Math. These teachers are amazing and are doing a fantastic job to keep the kids going and learning.

We only have 28 days of school left and plenty to do in 4th grade. Please remind students to try their best and work hard. The end of the year is difficult because of the warm weather but we do have lots of important things to cover. Please help your student remember that the end of the year is just as important as the middle of the year. Keep them on track. If you have any questions or concerns let me know.

Parent Letter 4-3-09

Wow! Another week of school flying by, I find that as the year goes on the weeks seem shorter because time seems to go by quickly when you have items you want to cover before school gets out. To add to the weeks going by quickly there are is a lot going on over the next two months both in our classroom and also within the school. Just to mention a few:

*Early out Thursday, April 9th
*No School—Friday, April 10th and Monday, April 13th
*Vesterheim Trip—Tuesday, April 14th
*Old Creamery Theater—Monday, April 20th
*Vesterheim Projects Due—Monday, April 20th
*Vesterheim Trip—Tuesday, April 21st
*Spring Concert—Thursday, April 23rd
*Colin O’Brien Concert—Friday, April 24th
*MAPS Testing—Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday of the last week in April

As you can see we have a busy month and the month of May is just as busy. Please keep looking at your son/daughter’s assignment notebooks as class time is precious and homework may be coming home. I need students to keep up on work or they will be staying in for recess and with the beautiful spring weather (hopefully soon to come) the students won’t want to be inside doing homework but outside playing. I would appreciate your support with the last two months of school.

OCEAN ANIMAL MUSEUM to be open on Wednesday, April 8th at 8:30-9:30 and again on Thursday, April 9th from 12:45-2:00. Please join us to see our Ocean Animals and hear us talk about the ocean animals we have been studying. We will start at 9:30/12:45 with a class and run a new session every 15 minutes. Please join us for one of the sessions! If you have questions please e-mail or call me at school.


Thanks for the continued support of the students in 4th grade. I couldn’t be as good of a teacher without the help of the parents that stand behind their students.

Vesterheim Visits

The students have started to visit the Vesterheim Museum. We have learned about the ship ride over to the United States, what they pack in their trunk and also how to travel when you get to the United States. The students in 4th grade have become immigrants and have started to keep a journal of their immigrants journey from their home country to the United States. These journals and the student's at home projects will be seen at the Elementary Spring Concert. We look forward to sharing these amazing projects!!

3rd Quarter News

An Ocean Museum at North Winneshiek School? Is it possible? Of course it is when you are in 4th grade! The 4th grade class is studying about several vertebrate ocean animals including whales, dolphins, manatees, turtles, and stingrays. The students are gathering important information about their animal writing a research paper and then presenting a few facts. The presentations will be done to classes in the lower and upper elementary. The classes come to the 4th grade classroom where there will be models of each animal. Then the 4th grade students will give a short speech about their animal. It will be an exciting time for the students in 4th grade and at North Winn to learn new information on ocean animals! The 4th graders will also gain more knowledge on various writing skills. The ocean in our classroom is an ocean of learners!

Realistic fiction, humor, adventure, and fantasy are the talk of the 4th grade reading groups. The students are reading books from each of these genres. During discussions in groups we talk about why the book fits into that particular genre, the characters, personalities, and also the problems or conflicts that the characters face. The students are involved with their comprehension on an individual level and also a group level. They are answering questions together and with their group, learning to communicate their answers, as well as, writing them down with details on paper. We will continue to develop these skills in reading.

In Reading, we also started a new reading block time. It is the Daily 5. Students have learned right along with me about this amazing program and have flourished as readers. They are now taking a more active role in picking out books, learning about retelling and how to read to someone effectively. If you want to see what we have been doing in our classroom with this new reading block time, log onto my blog at http://www.northwinn4thgrade.blogspot.com/ , there is a lot of information about this exciting new reading block time in our classroom!

There may be only one quarter remaining but there are lots of new ideas and adventures to undertake. The 4th grade students will be involved in their learning, create their learning, and develop their skills as the end of their 4th grade year draws near.

Character Counts Lesson on Fairness

Each group got a bag of marshmallows and toothpicks. They had to build with them. Look to see what the students have created and how they worked together!

Parent Letter

Can you believe that there is one more day in the month of February? I can’t believe that this school year has flown by so quickly. I am positive that the rest of the school year will go even more quickly than we think that it will go. We also have a lot of things to fit into the end of the year. The students are doing well keeping up with the new challenges that are placed in front of them. We do need to remind them that homework is important and the responsibility of doing it is beneficial.

The Vesterheim Immigrant Immersion program has started for the 4th graders. I have never seen a class so excited about getting started with their immigrant journals and getting started with their at home projects. Be sure to discuss the immigrant identity sheet with your child over the weekend and return it by Tuesday. Be checking your child’s folders for more information with the immigration unit, we will need your help with some of the things your child will be doing.

Imagine the 4th grade classroom quiet for 20 minutes…it is happening. The new program that I have started for our reading program is working. The students have been working on their STAMINA during Read to Self time. They made it up to 20 minutes for a week now and we have been staying there to make sure they we can actually do the 20 minutes. It is amazing!! We will continue to work on our STAMINA and build even further. If you have questions about the new strategies that I am using with the students feel free to ask.

Ocean reports are coming along nicely. Some of the 4th grade students have started their report. In the next week we will be measuring out our ocean animals and then starting to create them in art class. It is a process that we will continue working hard on until our Ocean Animal Museum.

Remember to keep up to date with the 4th grade class and also all the resources that are available to the 4th graders at my blogspot. http://northwinn4thgrade.blogspot.com/ The students have been on my blogspot and are currently using the resources for their ocean report and also their new state reports.

Dates to remember:
• March 1st-24th—Boating with Books Down the Mississippi
• March 17th—Luther Play "Diavolo"
• March 20th—End of 3rd Quarter—Out Early
• March 10th, 17th, 24th, and 31st —Field Trips to Vesterheim


Thanks for your continued support of your son or daughter.

These are pictures of the students swimming last week at the Cresco Fitness Center. The students had to read their goal number of minutes to go on this trip.


Shane and Weston floating!

Meretta

Weston having fun!

Mr. D and Mrs. Sand playing a little pool basketball!

The 5th grade girls hanging together!

The 4th grade girls having fun together in the pool!