Quarter 1 Week 9: September 30 - October 4

Families of 4C,

There will be no tutoring this week: Thursday, October 3 or Friday, October 4. Please arrange for your student to be picked up at the normal dismissal time of 3:05.

There will be an end-quarter celebration on the last day of the quarter, Friday, October 4. The celebration will begin in the afternoon.

All late/absent work is due no later than Wednesday, October 2.

Please copy Mrs. LaVell on all email communications. Her email is RLavell@archwayarete.org.

All students need to bring in a pair of headphones to keep at school. Students are expected to use headphones whenever they do activities on the computer, such as Khan Academy and TypingQuest. They will also need to have them each time they take a standardized test. I have room in the classroom for students to keep headphones at school. Thanks!

Lessons This Week:

Spalding: This week, students will continue learning the Rules pages inside their notebooks, and will study their next 20 words. For nightly Spalding homework, students should have the words dictated to them by someone at home and should write them one time each in syllables. Any words that are misspelled should be written again for additional practice. We will take our 20-word Spalding test on Friday.

Writing/Grammar: This week, students will be writing their first independent essay, which will be a personal narrative. All of the essay is to be completed in class.

Math: This week, students will be reviewing the four operations of whole numbers and learning how to bar model word problems. They will take their test on multiplication and division on Tuesday. On Wednesday, they have their final weekly quiz of the quarter. On Friday, students will be taking their test on multiplication by a 2-digit number.

History: Students will continue their study through the Middle Ages. This week they will be learning about women’s roles in the Middle Ages. They will be taking their next unit test on Tuesday. All tests and quizzes for history are open-note. 
Since students have now been assigned their country for the Europe Project, they should be working on this independently at home. The Europe Project details are outlined in the packet they were given, and should reflect the student’s own best work. When we return from fall break, students will have specific presentation dates assigned.

Science: Students will continue their study of Life Sciences by learning about the parts of a flower and the reproductive cycle of flowers. I pushed back last week’s quiz to be this Tuesday. They will also have a quiz on plants on Thursday of this week.

Literature: This week we will be finishing The Princess and the Goblin. For nightly homework, students will read a book of their choosing for 25 minutes every night, unless otherwise specified. Students will keep their quarterly reading log in their yellow take-home folder. All reading logs are due at the end of the quarter on Wednesday, October 2.

Greek and Latin Roots: Students have now learned their first 25 roots. They will be taking the cumulative multiple choice test on roots #1-25 this Wednesday.

Poetry: Students will learn their next poem for recitation this week. Recitations for this poem will take place this Thursday, October 3.

Important Dates: *assessment dates are subject to be pushed back if necessary

• Tuesday:
• Math Test: Operations of Whole Numbers Multiplication and Division
• Science Quiz: Plants
• History: Unit Test chapters 1-10
• Wednesday:
• Roots test #1-25 
• Week 9 Math Quiz: Review
• Thursday:
• Science Quiz: Plants
• History Quiz: Life During the Middle Ages
• Friday: 
• Spalding Test: 20 words
• Math Test: Multiplication by a 2-Digit Number

Class Information:

Khan Academy Logins:
If you would like your child to practice Khan Academy math at home with their school account, click the following link: khanacademy.org
Click “Login” in the top right corner of the homepage. Students use the username and password pasted on the last page of their math notebooks to login. From there, they should be able to continue with their progress.

I hope you all have a great week!

--Mrs. Conforti
TMartin@ArchwayArete.org

--Mrs. LaVell
RLavell@ArchwayArete.org

Quarter 1 Week 8: September 23-27

Families of 4C,

Our classroom is in need of some disinfectant wipes. If you are willing and able to contribute, you may send some into school with your child. Thanks!

There will be no tutoring on the final week of the quarter: Thursday, October 3 or Friday, October 4. Please arrange for your student to be picked up at the normal dismissal time of 3:05.

There will be an end-quarter celebration on the last day of the quarter, Friday, October 4.

All late/absent work is due no later than Wednesday, October 2.

Lessons This Week:

Spalding: This week, students will continue learning the Rules pages inside their notebooks, and will study their next 20 words. For nightly Spalding homework, students should have the words dictated to them by someone at home and should write them one time each in syllables. Any words that are misspelled should be written again for additional practice. We will take our 20-word Spalding test on Friday.

Writing/Grammar: On Monday, students will take their grammar test on pronouns and prepositions. This week, students will continue their study of Writing by learning about the three types of writing they will practice this year: Narrative Essays, Persuasive Essays, and Expository Essays.

Math: This week, students will be reviewing the four operations of whole numbers and learning how to bar model word problems. On Tuesday, they will take their test over addition and subtraction. Next week, they will be taking their test on multiplication and division.
Parents should review math homework with their students and have them re-work any incorrect problems. If your student is unable to figure out how to solve a problem, they should circle it and ask the teacher at school the next morning.

History: Students will continue their study through the Middle Ages. They will learn about serfs, knights, heraldry, and city life in the Middle Ages. They will be taking their next unit test next week. All tests and quizzes for history are open-note. 
Since students have now been assigned their country for the Europe Project, they should be working on this independently at home. The Europe Project details are outlined in the packet they were given, and should reflect the student’s own best work.

Science: Students will continue their study of Life Sciences by learning about the taxonomy of living organisms, the parts of a flower, and how plants make their own food (photosynthesis), and the difference between vascular and nonvascular plants. They will have a quiz on plants on Thursday of this week.

Literature: The first book of the year is The Princess and the Goblin. Please have your child bring his/her copy of the book if they have not already done so. This week, students will read chapters 26-29. For nightly homework, students will read a book of their choosing for 25 minutes every night, unless otherwise specified. Students will keep their quarterly reading log in their yellow take-home folder. All reading logs are due at the end of the quarter on Wednesday, October 2.

Greek and Latin Roots: On Wednesday, students will learn the next Greek and Latin roots in the set. They will have a review quiz on roots 20-22 on Wednesday as well.

Poetry: Students will learn their next poem for recitation this week. Recitations for this poem will take place on Thursday, October 3.

Important Dates: *assessment dates are subject to be pushed back if necessary

• Monday:
• Grammar Test
• Tuesday:
• Math Test: Operations of Whole Numbers Addition and Subtraction
• Wednesday:
• Roots quiz #20-22 
• Week 8 Math Quiz: Review
• Thursday:
• Science Quiz: Plants
• Friday: 
• Spalding Test: 20 words

Class Information:

Khan Academy Logins:
If you would like your child to practice Khan Academy math at home with their school account, click the following link: khanacademy.org
Click “Login” in the top right corner of the homepage. Students use the username and password pasted on the last page of their math notebooks to login. From there, they should be able to continue with their progress.

I hope you all have a great week!

--Mrs. Conforti
TMartin@ArchwayArete.org

Quarter 1 Week 7: September 17-20

Families of 4C,

There will be no school on Monday, September 16.

There will be no tutoring on Thursday, September 19 due to me having a doctor’s appointment in the afternoon. Please arrange for your student to be picked up at the normal dismissal time of 3:05. Friday tutoring will resume as normal. Thank you for your understanding!

Lessons This Week:

Spalding: This week, students will continue learning the Rules pages inside their notebooks, and will study their next 10 words. For nightly Spalding homework, students should have the words dictated to them by someone at home and should write them one time each in syllables. Any words that are misspelled should be written again for additional practice. We will take our 10-word Spalding test on Friday. There are fewer words this week due to the shortened week.

Writing/Grammar: This week, students will continue their study of Grammar by learning about Possessive Pronoun Adjectives, Possessive Noun Adjectives, and singular vs. plural possessive nouns. On Friday, students will be completing a cumulative review to prepare for their next Grammar test on Monday of next week (Week 8).

Math: This week, students will be reviewing everything they have learned so far this year, and will take a unit review test on Thursday. This test will cover place value, rounding and approximation, order of operations, and negative numbers. Parents should review math homework with their students and have them re-work any incorrect problems. If your student is unable to figure out how to solve a problem, they should circle it and ask the teacher at school the next morning.

History: Students will continue their study through the Middle Ages. They will learn about feudalism, castles, knights, and serfs. All tests and quizzes for history are open-note.  Since students have now been assigned their country for the Europe Project, they should be working on this independently at home. The Europe Project details are outlined in the packet they were given, and should reflect the student’s own best work.

Science: Students will begin their study of Life Sciences by learning about the six characteristics that all living things share.

Literature:  The first book of the year is The Princess and the Goblin. Please have your child bring his/her copy of the book if they have not already done so. This week, students will read chapters 23-26. For nightly homework, students will read a book of their choosing for 25 minutes every night, unless otherwise specified. Students will keep their quarterly reading log in their yellow take-home folder. All reading logs are due at the end of the quarter.

Greek and Latin Roots: On Wednesday, students will learn the next Greek and Latin roots in the set. They will have a review quiz on roots 17-19 on Wednesday as well.

Poetry: Students will learn their next poem for recitation this week, which is "Dreams" by LAngston Hughes.

Important Dates: *assessment dates are subject to be pushed back if necessary

• Wednesday:
• Roots quiz #17-19 
• Week 7 Math Quiz: Review
• Thursday:
• Math Test: Cumulative Review Unit 1
• Friday: 
• Spalding Test: 10 words

Class Information:

Khan Academy Logins:
If you would like your child to practice Khan Academy math at home with their school account, click the following link: khanacademy.org
Click “Login” in the top right corner of the homepage. Students use the username and password pasted on the last page of their math notebooks to login. From there, they should be able to continue with their progress.

I hope you all have an enjoyable long weekend!

--Mrs. Conforti
TMartin@ArchwayArete.org

Quarter 1 Week 6: September 9-13

Families of 4C,

There will be no tutoring on Thursday, September 12 or Thursday, September 19 due to me having doctor’s appointments in the afternoons. Please arrange for your student to be picked up at the normal dismissal time of 3:05. Friday tutoring will resume as normal the next two weeks. Thank you for your understanding!

On Wednesday, September 11th from 6:00-7:00 pm, K-5 parents are invited to a Curriculum Q&A Workshop in their children's classrooms. This will be an informal opportunity for teachers to answer your real-time questions regarding homework, curriculum, classroom routines, and more. Come and go as you are able, there is no formal agenda for this event. (Please note, teachers will be speaking to classroom specifics. To view our school-wide policies, please visit our Family Handbook.) To allow for efficient flow of conversation, we kindly recognize this as a parent-only event.

Lessons This Week:

Spalding: This week, students will continue learning the Rules pages inside their notebooks, and will study their next 20 words. For nightly Spalding homework, students should have the words dictated to them by someone at home and should write them one time each in syllables. Any words that are misspelled should be written again for additional practice. We will take our 20-word Spalding test on Friday.

Writing/Grammar: This week, students will continue their study of Grammar by learning about pronouns, prepositions, and the understood subject pronoun.

Math: This week, students will learn about negative numbers and will take the test on negative numbers on Friday. Parents should review math homework with their students and have them re-work any incorrect problems. If your student is unable to figure out how to solve a problem, they should circle it and ask the teacher at school the next morning.

History: Students will continue their study through the Middle Ages, and will take their unit test on the Byzantine Empire on Tuesday. On Wednesday, students will take a test placing the European countries where they belong on a map. All tests and quizzes for history are open-note.  Throughout the rest of the week, students will learn about Feudalism in the Middle Ages.

Science: Students will continue learning about electricity by learning about electromagnets. There will be a quiz on Tuesday this week to review the information they have learned. Students will take the Unit 2 Test on Electricity on Thursday. On Friday, students will begin their study of Life Sciences.

Literature: The first book of the year is The Princess and the Goblin. Please have your child bring his/her copy of the book if they have not already done so. This week, students will read chapters 20-23. For nightly homework, students will read a book of their choosing for 25 minutes every night, unless otherwise specified. Students will keep their quarterly reading log in their yellow take-home folder. All reading logs are due at the end of the quarter.

Greek and Latin Roots: On Wednesday, students will learn the next Greek and Latin roots in the set. They will have a review quiz on roots 14-16 on Wednesday as well.

Poetry: Recitations for the poem, “Afternoon on a Hill” by Edna St. Vincent Millay will be this Friday, September 13.

Important Dates: *assessment dates are subject to be pushed back if necessary

• Tuesday:
• History Test: Byzantine Empire (open-note)
• Science Quiz: Electricity
• Wednesday:
• Roots quiz #14-16 
• History Test: Europe Map
• Week 6 Math Quiz: Review
• Thursday:
• Science Test: Electricity Unit 2
• Friday: 
• Spalding Test: 20 words
• Math Test: Negative Numbers
• Poetry Recitation: “Afternoon on a Hill” by Edna St. Vincent Millay

Class Information:

Khan Academy Logins:
If you would like your child to practice Khan Academy math at home with their school account, click the following link: khanacademy.org
Click “Login” in the top right corner of the homepage. Students use the username and password pasted on the last page of their math notebooks to login. From there, they should be able to continue with their progress.

I hope you all had a good weekend!

--Mrs. Conforti
TMartin@ArchwayArete.org

Quarter 1 Week 5: September 3-6

Families of 4C,

There will be no school Monday, September 2, in observance of Labor Day.

Hearing and Vision Screenings for new students will be on Friday, September 6.

On Wednesday, September 11th from 6:00-7:00 pm, K-5 parents are invited to a Curriculum Q&A Workshop in their children's classrooms. This will be an informal opportunity for teachers to answer your real-time questions regarding homework, curriculum, classroom routines, and more. Come and go as you are able, there is no formal agenda for this event. (Please note, teachers will be speaking to classroom specifics. To view our school-wide policies, please visit our Family Handbook.) To allow for efficient flow of conversation, we kindly recognize this as a parent-only event.

Lessons This Week:

Spalding: This week, students will continue learning the Rules pages inside their notebooks, and will study their next 10 words. For nightly Spalding homework, students should have the words dictated to them by someone at home and should write them one time each in syllables. Any words that are misspelled should be written again for additional practice. We will take our 10-word Spalding test on Friday. Please note that there are fewer words this week due to the shortened week.

Writing/Grammar: This week, students will continue learning about the Six Traits of Writing, focusing on Voice, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency, and Conventions.

Math: This week, students will learn about order of operations and will take the test on the order of operations on Friday. Parents should review math homework with their students and have them re-work any incorrect problems. If your student is unable to figure out how to solve a problem, they should circle it and ask the teacher at school the next morning.

History: Students will continue their study through the Middle Ages.

Science: Students will continue learning about electricity by learning about the difference between a series circuit and a parallel circuit. There will be two quizzes this week to review the information they have learned. Later in the week, students will learn about electromagnets.

Literature: The first book of the year is The Princess and the Goblin. Please have your child bring his/her copy of the book if they have not already done so. This week, students will read chapters 16-20. For nightly homework, students will read a book of their choosing for 25 minutes every night, unless otherwise specified. Students will keep their quarterly reading log in their yellow take-home folder. All reading logs are due at the end of the quarter.

Greek and Latin Roots: On Wednesday, students will learn the next Greek and Latin roots in the set. They will have a review quiz on roots 1-13 on Wednesday as well.

Poetry: This week, students will read the poem “the drum” by Nikki Giovanni. They will also continue to memorize their next poem for recitation, “Afternoon on a Hill” by Edna St. Vincent Millay. Recitations for this poem will be on Friday, September 13.

Important Dates: *assessment dates are subject to be pushed back if necessary

• Wednesday:
• Roots quiz #1-13 (multiple choice)
• Science Quiz: Electricity and Circuits
• Week 5 Math Quiz: Review
• Friday: 
• Spalding Test: 10 words
• Math Test: Order of Operations
• Science Quiz: Circuits

Class Information:

Birthday Celebrations:
Celebrating birthdays is a good way to show the kids in our school that they are special and loved.  There are many different ways to mark the occasion, but we want to be careful about the kids eating too many sugary, processed snacks.  If each child brought in cake or donuts for their birthday, that would mean 30 unhealthy lunchtime deserts every year.  Some parents would rather their child not eat this type of food and the effects of these sugary snacks can disrupt the learning environment.  In fact, we strongly suggest a non-food item if parents wish to mark the occasion.  Pencils, books, or other souvenirs can be just as special, don't require clean-up, and won't affect whatever diet parents wish for their children.  Some teachers may allow a healthy snack for their classes as an exception, but please reach out to the lead teacher for details. If your child’s birthday falls on a weekend, I’d like to celebrate it on a weekday that is close to their actual birthday.

Khan Academy Logins:
If you would like your child to practice Khan Academy math at home with their school account, click the following link: khanacademy.org
Click “Login” in the top right corner of the homepage. Students use the username and password pasted on the last page of their math notebooks to login. From there, they should be able to continue with their progress.

I hope you all had a restful long weekend!

--Mrs. Conforti
TMartin@ArchwayArete.org