Friday, October 9, 2009

Best Behavior Next Week Please!

Well, the week has come to a close. Next week is a busy one for me and for the kids. Monday and Tuesday I will be on tour with Rusty from schooltools.tv at a bunch of schools in the district. Therefore, the kids will have a sub. Hmmm....do I smell another popcorn party?? We will see! Go team Erickson!

On Monday, the kids go to the Nile. Mr. Ness will be there sub. Students need to bring their sack lunches on Monday. If your child ordered a sack lunch it will be ready to go. They will leave at 11 and arrive back at 2. Thank you to Jasa's mom for agreeing to chaperone the trip. You will need to be here at 10:45 to catch the bus. Students will need to eat lunch before they go, around 10:30ish. So, they may want to bring a snack for when they get back. Part of the Nile is outside or in barns so students need to dress for the weather. Students also will experience a Native jingle dancer and some fry bread before the trip on Monday. Oh my!

On Tuesday, Arielle's brother will be visiting the class. He has been overseas in the military and has agreed to share with the kids. I am so honored. I am going to try very hard to sneak here and see it too! The time has yet to be determined as he doesn't arrive back in the states until tomorrow. Very cool!

On Wednesday, Rusty will be at Bitterroot! The assembly will be at 10. Feel free to join us in the gym. It is also a half day on Wednesday. Kids need to be picked up at noon sharp. Lunch slips went home today if your child needs to order one.

Thursday and Friday the kids do not have school. Teachers will be attending the MEA conference and learning all sorts of new things, or if you are like me, teaching all sorts of things. Yay!!!

On a different note, this week we took our unit one language test. There were some areas of concern so we are going to review a couple of skills and rethink our answers next week. We also completed our review testing in spelling. Many students had demonstrated that they have added 60 new words to their vocabulary. Others have shown that they are memorizing how to spell words for a Friday test and then dumping the words out of their brains. These words are every day English words and need to be transferred to the long term memory. Science project packets went home yesterday. Students need to select two at home projects that are due Oct. 19th. Please, please discuss these with your child and make a plan to help them. They have learned so much about weather and they are dying to extend their knowledge with your help. So, sit down and watch the weather channel or discovery channel this weekend with some popcorn and a warm blanket and just talk weather with your kiddos! :0) In Social Studies, we are continuing to explore Montana and how it came to be. Next week will be the start of our Lewis and Clark journey. In the spring, students will travel to Pompey's Pillar for a day of fun. In math, we are still working on adding and subtracting. Can I just beg you to buy some flashcards and re-look at all the student's basic facts knowledge in addition, subtraction, and multiplication?

On another note, it came to my attention the other day that parents are not aware of some of the changes 4th graders are experiencing in their specialist classes. In the 4th grade, library is an hour long. Half of that time is used to find a book of their choice, and the other half is spent on an actual library lesson such as reference materials like dictionaries, encyclopedias, atlas, and computers. They have assignments and projects. Part of their grade is also based on book return each week and keeping a log of the books they check out. PE/Health has also changed. In third grade, students only had PE. Now they have an hour of health class as well. Again, there is actual note-taking, assignments, and projects in this class. Art is also new. They have never had an actual art class before. Now they have an hour. In art, they learn different techniques and many new vocabulary words. Finally, there is an hour of music. They are learning the history of music, different types of music, tons of new rhythms, and even take a district music test. So, when you see grades in these classes please know that they are to be taken just as seriously as reading or math.

Finally, grade sheets went home today. Please note that only the hi-lighted grades have been updated. Other teacher's will not update their grades until report card time. Overall, besides some missing assignments grades look pretty good for first quarter 4th graders.

Well, have a great weekend and stay warm!