Good Friday! Well, we made it through an entire week of school! And the students are almost completed with their ITBS tests. They will take 2 more on Monday and then be finished with them for the year. I have been impressed by their hard work on the tests and hope it continues for one more day of testing. Please make sure that your son/daughter gets plenty of sleep on Sunday evening with a good breakfast on Monday morning. They can also bring snacks on Monday for the testing. Thanks for all the help you’ve given your student so far during the ITBS tests.
Report cards are in the your son/daughter’s Friday folder. I look forward to talking with each of you at Parent/Teacher Conferences in a couple of weeks. If you feel you need to speak with me before then please e-mail or call me at school.
Over the next couple of weeks your son/daughter may come home and tell you about subs being in the classroom. I wanted to give you some insight to my absences in the next couple of weeks. Today, I was actually not in the classroom because I had a sick child at my house. Next Tuesday afternoon I will be gone due to a doctor’s appointment. Then next Thursday and Friday I will also be gone to a Professional Development conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with Kris Bigler. I am very excited about the conference and look forward to bringing back several good teaching strategies to implement into the classroom. Finally, on Tuesday, February 9th, I will be absent for the Keystone Advisory Committee meeting in Elkader. I feel confident with the subs that are coming into the classroom and I put lots of time into the lesson plans that are there when I am gone.
Look for another letter next week that will update you on what we are doing in our subject areas. Enjoy the cold winter weather….I know that I am ready for spring and warmer weather!
Upcoming Events
February 2nd—Cereal Box Rough Drafts Due
February 5th—Cereal Box Final Copy Due
February 9th and 11th—Parent Teacher Conferences
February 12th and 15th—No School
February 19th—Swimming at the Cresco Fitness Center
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Parent Letter
WELCOME BACK TO SCHOOL!! Wow! What a January it has been for our students. I am hoping to be in school FULL TIME this week to accomplish some much-needed learning! We will continue working hard to start this third quarter off right for our 4th grade year!
One major event that is going to be happening is the ITBS TESTING! It is happening this week. We will start on Tuesday and continue through next Monday. Please make sure that your students are going to bed early and then getting up to have a healthy breakfast. The students are welcome to bring water bottles, (with only regular, no flavored waters please), to school to keep next to their desks. Also, HEALTHY snacks are also encouraged. It can be such things as fruit, un-buttered popcorn, crackers with cheese or peanut butter, granola bars, etc. If you have questions about the testing please e-mail or call me at school.
Reading book projects rough drafts are scheduled to be due on Tuesday, February 2nd. I hope all students are able to get their projects in by then, especially since the long break gave them some time to read. If they are having difficulty getting their book finished please have them come talk with me about their situation. The FINAL projects will not be due now until Friday, February 5th. Let me know via e-mail, phone, or assignment notebooks if you have questions.
Parent homework—I realize that it may seem a long time away until my maternity leave; however, we can never plan when babies arrive. I need to be prepared now so that if something happens, my sub will be prepared. Please turn in the parent homework sheets that I have sent home. Dual households need to make sure that they BOTH fill out the sheet. If you have questions, please let me know.
UPCOMING EVENTS
• ITBS Testing—Week of January 25, 2010-February 1st, 2010
• Teacher In-Service—Wednesday, February 3rd
• Immigration Unit Starting—February 9th
• Parent/Teacher Conferences—Tuesday, February 9th and Thursday, February 11th.
• No School—February 12th and February 15th
One major event that is going to be happening is the ITBS TESTING! It is happening this week. We will start on Tuesday and continue through next Monday. Please make sure that your students are going to bed early and then getting up to have a healthy breakfast. The students are welcome to bring water bottles, (with only regular, no flavored waters please), to school to keep next to their desks. Also, HEALTHY snacks are also encouraged. It can be such things as fruit, un-buttered popcorn, crackers with cheese or peanut butter, granola bars, etc. If you have questions about the testing please e-mail or call me at school.
Reading book projects rough drafts are scheduled to be due on Tuesday, February 2nd. I hope all students are able to get their projects in by then, especially since the long break gave them some time to read. If they are having difficulty getting their book finished please have them come talk with me about their situation. The FINAL projects will not be due now until Friday, February 5th. Let me know via e-mail, phone, or assignment notebooks if you have questions.
Parent homework—I realize that it may seem a long time away until my maternity leave; however, we can never plan when babies arrive. I need to be prepared now so that if something happens, my sub will be prepared. Please turn in the parent homework sheets that I have sent home. Dual households need to make sure that they BOTH fill out the sheet. If you have questions, please let me know.
UPCOMING EVENTS
• ITBS Testing—Week of January 25, 2010-February 1st, 2010
• Teacher In-Service—Wednesday, February 3rd
• Immigration Unit Starting—February 9th
• Parent/Teacher Conferences—Tuesday, February 9th and Thursday, February 11th.
• No School—February 12th and February 15th
Monday, January 18, 2010
Parent News 1-15-2010
Dear Parents,
A FULL WEEK OF SCHOOL! It was a long week for the students getting back into things, but I feel they did an overall great job of being on task. I look forward to more great weeks like we had this week! Thanks 4th graders!
Reading is going really well. The students and I have been talking about, modeling, and practicing important comprehension strategies. The strategies that we have talked about this week include: Do I remember what I just read? Make a picture in your head. Predict what will happen next. Back up and reread. Summarize the text. The students took the “Make a picture in your head” and did just that. They took a picture from their head (after they had done Read to Self) and drew it on paper. Then on the back they wrote about their picture. The strategy helps all readers better understand what they are reading by being able to see those pictures.
States, states, and more states. The students are becoming teachers. Each pod of students in our classroom is in charge of a different region. We are learning 5 different regions. I teach one to the class, and then they take what I have taught them and do the same for their region. Finally, they will teach the class what they have learned. It is a great way for the students to be involved with hands on activities in social studies.
Research has been the talk in science. Students have gotten information off the computer and also from books about an invertebrate animal. They are in the process of gathering all the information they can about their specific invertebrate. Then we will write a report and create a model of our invertebrate. Finally, we will move on to vertebrates and do the same process.
There is plenty going on in the 4th grade classroom! The students are keeping mighty busy here at school. The business will continue into 3rd and 4th quarter. I look forward to the time I have with the students to watch them grow and develop as students and individuals.
**Please return BLUE Student Information Surveys to Mrs. Wicklund as soon as you can.
**If your son/daughter doesn’t have an address to bring to school, write me a note so I can get them one.
Important Dates:
*Monday, January 18th—No School
*ITBS TESTING-January 25th-29th
*Friday, January 29th—Rough drafts due for Cereal Box Madness
*Tuesday, February 2nd—Cereal Box Madness projects due
*Wednesday, February 3rd—1:15 Dismissal Teacher In-Service
*Tuesday, February 9th and Thursday, February 11th—Parent Teacher Conferences
*Friday, February 12th—No School
Let me know if you have questions or concerns before conferences.
A FULL WEEK OF SCHOOL! It was a long week for the students getting back into things, but I feel they did an overall great job of being on task. I look forward to more great weeks like we had this week! Thanks 4th graders!
Reading is going really well. The students and I have been talking about, modeling, and practicing important comprehension strategies. The strategies that we have talked about this week include: Do I remember what I just read? Make a picture in your head. Predict what will happen next. Back up and reread. Summarize the text. The students took the “Make a picture in your head” and did just that. They took a picture from their head (after they had done Read to Self) and drew it on paper. Then on the back they wrote about their picture. The strategy helps all readers better understand what they are reading by being able to see those pictures.
States, states, and more states. The students are becoming teachers. Each pod of students in our classroom is in charge of a different region. We are learning 5 different regions. I teach one to the class, and then they take what I have taught them and do the same for their region. Finally, they will teach the class what they have learned. It is a great way for the students to be involved with hands on activities in social studies.
Research has been the talk in science. Students have gotten information off the computer and also from books about an invertebrate animal. They are in the process of gathering all the information they can about their specific invertebrate. Then we will write a report and create a model of our invertebrate. Finally, we will move on to vertebrates and do the same process.
There is plenty going on in the 4th grade classroom! The students are keeping mighty busy here at school. The business will continue into 3rd and 4th quarter. I look forward to the time I have with the students to watch them grow and develop as students and individuals.
**Please return BLUE Student Information Surveys to Mrs. Wicklund as soon as you can.
**If your son/daughter doesn’t have an address to bring to school, write me a note so I can get them one.
Important Dates:
*Monday, January 18th—No School
*ITBS TESTING-January 25th-29th
*Friday, January 29th—Rough drafts due for Cereal Box Madness
*Tuesday, February 2nd—Cereal Box Madness projects due
*Wednesday, February 3rd—1:15 Dismissal Teacher In-Service
*Tuesday, February 9th and Thursday, February 11th—Parent Teacher Conferences
*Friday, February 12th—No School
Let me know if you have questions or concerns before conferences.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)