Week of 3/22

I hope you enjoyed our 4th grade program last night! I thought the kids were fantastic! They worked so hard preparing for it. We will be glad to get back in our routine though! :)


Here is what's ahead for the week after Spring Break:


Reading - We will continue with our dog theme. The kids have been reading great 4th and 5th grade level books like Shiloh, Because of Winn Dixie, and News for Dogs. They've been passing AR tests like crazy! They are currently working with a partner creating a poster advertising one of these books. We will finish these posters when we get back from Spring Break. We will also read a nonfiction dog book and do a nonfiction book report. The skill we will focus on this week is inference.


Spelling - List 24 on spellingcity.com (spellings of /shun/)


English - We will choose a dog breed to research and create a dog book.


Math - Relating fractions to decimals on a number line, adding and subtracting decimals

We will be testing 3 weeks after Spring Break. There are so many objectives the children are tested on, that we have to move pretty fast. By the time testing gets here, we will have covered most all of our Oklahoma PASS objectives. There are a few concepts, however, that I feel we need to go more in depth on. When testing is behind us, we will be revisiting some concepts to review and some to dive further into.


Science - Geology - crystal experiment, weathering and erosion


Social Studies - Make your way through the USA! This 9 weeks will be spent traipsing through the USA gathering basic information about each state. The goal is to learn about each state. This is somewhat of a race to the finish with the first kids to get all 50 states having 1st pick of a state to do special projects on. We will be working in the computer lab on this project on Thursdays, but the kids may work on this at home as well. A good source online is worldbookonline.com. The password and username both are glenwood. The info sheets for this project are accessible to your child at school. Some of the children have already picked up some sheets and are already on it!!


Today, I sent home a sheet with your child's information in regards to Accelerated Reader. It gives a website that you can access from home to see how your child is doing with AR. It's pretty awesome! You can also set it up, so that you can receive email results each time your child takes an AR test. Be sure to check this out!



The week we get back from Spring Break, will be conference time. I do conferences a little different than most. I do student-led conferences. Please look for the link about this type of conferencing on the right. I will be sending the following note home on Monday, March 22. If, however, you already know a time and would like to email me, please feel free to do so.


Dear Parents,
For the last several years, I have held student-led conferences. This is a type of conference where your child gets to be in charge. Your child will greet you with a letter. He/She will go over his/her strengths and weaknesses, as well as his/her report card. He/She will then take you on an adventure in our classroom. You will get to have a chance to take a peek at a typical day in our classroom. I have had wonderful response from both my students and parents using this type of conferencing. It seems to give the children ownership of the choices they make, as well as a chance to analyze themselves on what they are good at and what they struggle at. It gives them focus too. As for parents, it helps you to see your child in a different light. You may walk away having learned something about your child that you didn’t know before. The time during conferencing is a good connecting time. Please cut off and fill out the form and return it to me. If after these student-led conferences, you would like to talk to me personally, please let me know and we can schedule a time to meet.
Respectfully,
Child’s Name_______________
Thursday, 3-25 Friday, 3-26
3:15-3:45_____ 8:30-9:00_____
3:45-4:15_____ 9:00-9:30_____
4:15-4:45_____ 9:30-10:00____
4:45-5:15_____ 10:00-10:30____
5:15-5:45_____
5:45-6:15_____
6:15-6:45_____
6:45-7:15_____

Thanks for all your support this year and for sharing your beautiful children with me. They are truly precious. Hope you have a wonderful Spring Break!