There is a full day of school on Monday, and Tuesday and Wednesday will both be half days with a dismissal time of 12:05. On Wednesday, we will be cleaning our classroom in the morning and we will begin our winter celebration after morning recess.
Please send your child to school with a sturdy bag on Wednesday to store their desk contents in over the break. I recommend either a tote bag or sturdy shopping bag, and I will have a few extra bags to give any student that does not have one, or if their bag breaks.
Please be advised that the last day for students to turn in any absent work or missing assignments is on Tuesday, December 17. After Tuesday, no late work will be accepted.
Lessons This Week:
Spalding: There is no Spalding this week.
Writing/Grammar: There is no writing/grammar this week.
Math: This week, students will be reviewing what we have learned in the semester so far. For any students that have completed all four levels of rocket math, they will have a celebration with Mr. Naaktgeboren on Tuesday and will be grandfathered in to the rocket math celebration at the end of the school year!
History: There is no history this week.
Science: Students will continue learning about the process of the scientific method on Monday. On Monday and Tuesday, they will be taking review quizzes over the first units we learned: chemistry, electricity, and life sciences.
Literature: We will continue reading The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. Please send your copy to school with your student. For nightly homework, students will read a book of their choosing for 20 minutes every night, unless otherwise specified. Students will keep their quarterly reading log in their yellow take-home folder. All reading logs are due on Tuesday, December 17.
Greek and Latin Roots: On Tuesday, students will be taking their cumulative roots review test over all roots learned this year, #1-50.
Poetry: Students will continue their memorization of the poem, “The Flag Goes By” by Henry Holcomb Bennett. Recitations for this poem will be on Monday, December 16.
Important Dates: *assessment dates are subject to be pushed back if necessary
- Monday (12/16):
- Poetry Recitations: “The Flag Goes By” by Henry Holcomb Bennett
- Science Review Quizzes
- Chemistry
- Electricity
- Tuesday (12/17):
- Roots Test: #1-50
- Science Review Quiz
- Life Sciences
Class Information:
Winter Review Packet:
There will be an extra credit packet sent home over the winter break. This packet is completely optional, but highly recommended to keep students’ brain warmed up over the long break. Complete pages from the packet will be taken for extra credit in the third quarter. Any students who complete the ENTIRE packet will receive a pizza party with Mrs. Conforti when we get back from break (date TBD).
Typing:
The skill of typing is an important one for all of our students to be able to learn and perform effectively. While I do not expect any fourth grader to be a typing professional, I would like to get them as comfortable as possible using a keyboard. Not only do we type essays in class, but students will be expected to type their essays for the AzMERIT Writing test in the Spring. For this reason, it is imperative that students feel comfortable enough to perform this skill.
I highly encourage you to allow your student to practice typing on a computer keyboard as often as possible at home. Many students are wizzes when it comes to navigating a tablet, phone, or other touch screen device, but many of them do not have proper exposure to regular computers. It would be beneficial if you and your student found something on a computer that they enjoy, that would also help them practice typing on a regular computer keyboard. I will be periodically updating the blog with any examples I find, and if you have any ideas, feel free to email us and share them! Thanks!
Xtra Math:
Any student who passes multiplication, addition, subtraction, and division on XtraMath will earn a special secret prize from Mr. Gillingham! Please encourage your students to work on this at home whenever you have spare time. Each practice session of XtraMath only takes about 5 minutes to complete.
Headphones:
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!
I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season and enjoy your time with loved ones! I look forward to a strong start to 2020 for all. See you in the new year!
--Mrs. Conforti
TMartin@ArchwayArete.org
--Mrs. LaVell
RLavell@ArchwayArete.org
