Please read through the blog until the end, and thank you for allowing me to use this week's blog as an opportunity to bear my soul and give kuddos to the 4C team we have assembled! This will be the final blog post I will write, as this is the last week I will be working before I begin my maternity leave. Next week, Mrs. LaVell will be taking over the blog to discuss weekly assignments, testing dates, and any pertinent classroom information.
I am so pleased with the partnership Mrs. LaVell and myself have built over the past two years working together. She and I both came into assistant roles at Arete part-way through the 2018 school year in fifth grade classrooms, which allowed us to establish a strong foundation of what we wanted to have as a classroom dynamic when we became partners in 4C. From the beginning of our time as lead and assistant in fourth grade, it was important to us both that we built a strong rapport and open lines of respect and communication with one another, teachers, students, parents, and other faculty members. I am beyond blessed and grateful to have had a loving and competent comrade in my journey as a teacher. Her support to me and to all of our students has remained consistently exceptional, and I know she will continue the routines and high expectations for the students of 4C for the remainder of the school year. I am excited for her to step into this opportunity as lead teacher for your children in my absence, and am fully confident in her ability to finish out the school year strong, bearing the responsibility of state testing, field trips, class parties, and the daily grind that comes with the rich learning we do here at Great Hearts.
I am equally excited with the opportunity of Mrs. Chilson stepping in to fill the assistant role in our classroom, and fully confident that she will do her due diligence to uphold the expectations of our classroom that have been cultivated with care. Mrs. Chilson has known many of the students in our class since they were in kindergarten, and the experience she has both with the school and with these students as individuals has given me peace of mind in leaving for a few weeks to take care of my personal responsibility as a new mother.
To ease the transition of team LaVell-Chilson and to better support the students of 4C, I kindly ask that you continue to CC both of them on all email communications just as you have done with Mrs. LaVell and myself. I find that students are more strongly supported when both teachers, parents, and other faculty members are all in open lines of communication.
Beginning Friday after school, I will have an out-of-office reply to my email address and will not be available for communication on leave from Feb. 15-May 18. RLavell@archwayarete.org and VChilson@archwayarete.org will be your go-to resources for any questions or concerns you may have for the rest of the year.
Great Hearts Day:
A Day for Friendship - Friday, February 14th is Great Hearts Day! We have reserved this special day to focus on the virtue of friendship and celebrate the traits that make a great-hearted student. Teachers are planning interactive and fun activities centered around these topics. Archway Arete strives to cultivate a rich, academic environment rooted in the classical tradition. This many times requires popular culture to be left at the door. On that note, students will not be permitted to bring store-bought valentines, candy, or gifts to school. Thank you for partnering with us.
In the morning, we will have a Great Hearts Day assembly and be doing buddy reading with our first grade buddy class. We will also have a library visit. Students will then have a couple hours of regular instruction time before lunch, and then finish with out Great Hearts Day celebration following their afternoon special.
Lessons This Week:
Spalding: This week, students will study their next 29 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 29-word Spalding test on Friday.
Writing/Grammar: Students will continue their writing practice this week. On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, students will be practicing paragraph edits where they are to find errors in writing. On Thursday, they will do an expository writing assignment from start to finish, simulating what it will be like on AzMERIT writing day.
Math: This week, students will continue their study of decimals. They will learn about decimals by each place value, and learn how to round and compare the sizes of decimals.
History: Students will continue learning about the American Revolution.
Science: Students will continue their study of geology this week.
Literature: We will continue reading Carry On, Mr. Bowditch this week. Please send your copy of this book to school with your student in advance. 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 at the end of the quarter.
Greek and Latin Roots: On Wednesday, students will be learning their next three roots on roots #66-69. The review quiz will be over last week’s roots #63-65.
Poetry: Students will learn their next poem for recitation, “Paul Revere’s Ride” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Recitations for this poem will take place on Monday, March 2.
Important Dates: *assessment dates are subject to be pushed back if necessary
- Monday:
- Math Test: Hundredths
- Wednesday:
- Math Quiz: Week 6 Review
- Roots Quiz: #63-65
- Science Test: Geology Mid-Unit Exam
- Friday:
- Spalding Test: 29 words
- Science Quiz: Life Sciences Review
Class Information:
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.
--Mrs. Conforti
TMartin@ArchwayArete.org
--Mrs. LaVell
RLavell@ArchwayArete.org
--Mrs. Chilson
VChilson@archwayarete.org
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