Simons' Fourth Grade
Newsletter
Emailed and Posted Here Every Monday - (Or Beginning of the school week)
Hello!
I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend! I spent some time celebrating Ella's 18th birthday on Saturday, and worked on my classroom on Sunday. There is no better bribe than a Mother's Day bribe! I was happy to have my little family's help.
Here is what we are up to these final days.
5/16: Field Day - Yearbook signing
5/17: Board Game Day - Students can bring in board games to play together and wear their PJ's or comfortable clothes. In the afternoon we will watch a movie.
5/20: Presentation Day - Students will be presenting their fossil project for 1/2 of the day. We will have a fun craft the second half of the day.
5/21: Beach Day - We will enjoy some tropical type drinks with some fun Beach Crafts!
5:22: Sports Day - We will play games outside with other 4th grade classes. In the afternoon we will watch a movie and enjoy popcorn.
5/23: Last Day
We will not have spelling. We have completed the Benchmark spelling program. Thank you for your support with it this year!
iReady: I will be keeping our four lesson requirement for this final week. iReady has really helped us grow, and although it will remain active until 6/27, I want to encourage students to complete as many adaptive lessons as possible. They will be due Friday.
Reading: We will conclude our Benchmark reading unit, focusing on where scientific discoveries lead us. I look forward to having students complete their final assessment on Friday. This test will have a writing portion, and the kiddos know what to expect. We will preview the questions to deepen our understanding and prepare our mindset.
Writing: Last week we worked hard on our Conundrum about pizza. This week we will look at more conundrums, hopefully using more of our voice and background knowledge and experience to enrich our writing. Make sure you check out Dojo Story to watch the video, as they always bring on some great conversation at home. Conundrums never have a right or wrong answer, so students really flourish in their writing, explanation and confidence. Last week we were a little formal, and this week, as mentioned I hope to bring out their amazing voice! They have grown so much this year in writing!
PBL: We are working on the creation part of our Earth Science project, and students may be resourcing items from home. While cleaning out my classroom I did find a couple of presentation boards, and plan on using as much craft supplies as we can (I prefer not to take them with me). These projects should be a creative showcase of their understanding and connection, and I look forward to using as much as we need to make them awesome!
Math: We have been working so closely with EdPuzzle this semester, and it shows! Math books will be coming home soon, and you will see some gaps in completion due to our involvement with EdPuzzle. This is actually a huge win for students, as families can work on them over summer to prepare math skills for next year. Although some students will toss them, I will encourage as many as I can to bring it home to practice. We are so grateful to Ms. Taylor and her EdPuzzle crew, as our math scores were awesome this year! Yay! We will continue our work with EdPuzzle until the conclusion of the year.
Report cards will be released on 5/24. I am so proud of everyone's growth and accomplishments this year. Please remember, iReady is only one peice of the puzzle. Not all students test well, and computer based, standardized testing models do not work for everyone. Some years, growth can plateau, and other years can skyrocket. Please be mindful of the year's dynamics, your amazing kiddo's resiliency and the many ways we learn, grow and show our knowledge. I am proud to work for your families this year, and hope I get the opportunity to again.
Raffles: We started End-of-Year raffles today! I originally planned to do them all the last week of school, however we decided to stretch them out, doing a few a day. This will allow vacationers and movers to be present. Remember, you kiddo does not need to be present to win. I am happy to drop them off on your porch if you will not be in town or have summer plans. Check in with your kiddo to see what they are trying to win! about 1/4 of these raffles were purchased with Fun Run money and I thank you for your support with that event in the fall.
I will not be stocking any more mints, hot cocoa or snacks the remainder of the year. We still have many items, but are completely out of classroom snacks. Please make sure you send in individual snacks for your kiddos this week and the days of next. I still have Cafe items and will "sell" them until they run out.
Have a great week!
Betsy Simons
Fourth Grade
Sage Canyon Elementary