Monday, May 13, 2019

I hope everyone enjoyed their Mother yesterday, and mothers enjoyed their special day ( ;

Field Day t-shirt order forms went home Friday. These orders are DUE MAY 17th. Each grade level wears a certain color on field day. If students do not order a shirt, they should wear the appropriate color t-shirt for field day (June 4th).

I also sent home a letter from Mrs. McClure regarding grade 4 puberty education video. This is scheduled for Friday, May 24th. 

There are only 3 more spelling tests this year!  Friday the 17, 24, and 31st.

Looking ahead …

*End of year reading celebration picnic – 5/20 from 5:00-7:00 p.m.

*Book Fair – Look 5/20, Buy 5/22.

*Recycling field trip – 5/23, sack lunches needed.

*Memorial Day program – 5/24 @ 9:30.  Fourth grade should wear white shirts!

*Puberty education video – 5/24.

*NO SCHOOL (Memorial Day) – 5/27.

*Field day – 6/4 (tennis shoes, sunscreen, & sack lunch).

*LAST DAY OF SCHOOL/Alward Olympics – 6/7 (tennis shoes, sunscreen, water bottle).

Friday, May 3, 2019

We made it through our first week of M-Step ELA testing. Whew! I think the weather made it an extra difficult week, because the students were tired of sitting and being inside. We tried to make the most of it by moving around with a movement/exercise party to keep our blood flowing to our brains (lots of giggles).

May brings our next field trip on Thursday, May 23. This trip is to the Kent County recycling center and the dump. This is very educational and eye opening. Our fourth graders lead the school to be a Green School with recycling, so it’s great to see what happens after our students sort the recycling. We are not taking parent chaperones on this trip due to space and busing issues, sorry. More on this field trip coming soon.

Next week:

M-Step Math next Tuesday and Wednesday. Please avoid appointment those days. Remember a good breakfast. It is a long morning, so please provide water and a snack too.

Also in math, unit 8 (geometry) test on Thursday. Partner tests came home today, and the individual test review will come home corrected next Monday for studying. We are also starting our measuring unit in math next week which will be our last unit for the year. Wow! Counting down already.

Writing – we will write our final literary essay next week. We have learned a lot about finding evidence in texts to support our lesson learned.

Reading – I will begin testing again for the year end. We are reading aloud “Hatchet”, a realistic story of survival. We have already had some good discussions.

The final day to hand in April reading logs from home will be Monday. Please have your student remember and contribute to the class goal. Continue filling out May!

The students met the reading goal for March and voted to have a “mini market day” (45 minutes) for their reading celebration. This occurred yesterday at the end of the day. Their first grade buddies were invited in with 2 tickets each to spend (and they thought it was the greatest ever!).  A few teachers also stopped in to enjoy the fun. This “event” was solely decided by the students’ creative minds and was suppose to involve no parents. These entrepreneurs had so much fun.

Have a nice weekend.

 

 

 

 

 

Friday, April 26, 2019

We had a great week. Our class trip to the Frauenthal in Muskegon was exciting. Very difficult to take pictures, but here are a few.

Videos:

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Math – Unit 7 (fractions and decimals) final tests going home today. Some of the best scores of the year. Way to go students! Finalizing Unit 8 (angles and quadrilaterals) with the test review later next week.

Reading/Writing – M-step practice of reading carefully and using RACE to answer questions, citing evidence from the text. Ask your student what “RACE” stands for — can he/she tell you?

M-Step next week! Remember a good night’s sleep and breakfast. Tuesday and Wednesday mornings primarily.

Have a nice weekend.

 

 

Monday reminders and pics

Field trip on Wednesday to the Frauenthal Theater in Muskegon.  Afterwards, we will stop at a park to eat our lunch and run around. Remember a sack lunch and drink, AND wear an Alward t-shirt!

Tomorrow:  Unit 7 final test on fractions and decimals. A practice test came home Friday to study, and the test review will come home tonight for reviewing. Students who take the time and review their previous tests, of course, do so much better on the final. Please remind your student to take the time to review it tonight.

For Earth Day today, we met with our first grade buddies and looked at all the bulbs we planted last Fall and picked up trash around the courtyards. We also drew pictures of Spring and how to take care of our Earth.

Have a great week!

 

 

Thursday, April 18, 2019

Math – We are finishing up our math unit on fractions and decimals. Yesterday they took a practice test with an assigned math partner, and we corrected it today. This is a good study guide for the test review tomorrow. The final test for grading will occur next week Tuesday.

Reading – practicing reading strategies for answering detailed questions and looking for evidence for our answers.

Writing – learning to form effective literary essays using evidence from the text to support our lesson learned in a story.

Reminders:

Next Wednesday, April 24 = Link-up music field trip (sack lunch needed and drink!).

*M-Step dates = April 30, May 1, 7, & 8 (No appointments, please).

Monday, April 8, 2019

Welcome back! Great to see the students again. I hope everyone had an enjoyable and restful time with family and friends.

This week:

Math – Comparing fractions and decimals.  Also, geometry and measuring angles.

Reading – Preparing for M-step, focusing on elements of fiction. March reading logs due by tomorrow!

Writing – Celebrating our nonfiction writing today. Great work students!

Friday, April 12 = Early dismissal AND the ALWARD CARNIVAL. Our class basket theme is “crafts”. If you can donate anything to add, that would be appreciated.

*Wednesday, April 24 = Link-up music field trip (sack lunch needed).

*M-Step dates = April 30, May 1, 7, & 8 (No appointments, please).

Here we go working hard til June!

March 22, 2019

What a great time we had at the Grand Rapids Public Museum and Planetarium — so much to learn and see. Thank you chaperones for taking good care of our students!

Math – Unit 6 test on fractions will come home next week. More fractions next week and beginning geometry too (double math time).

Reading – Wrapping up historical fiction book clubs and our read aloud book. We have had some great discussions about Number the Stars. Ask your student about it. March reading logs due next week.

Writing – We are typing up our informational papers with appropriate text features we have learned about and will finish those next week.

Movie on “Our School Book”, Charlottes Web, on Thursday afternoon. Thank you parents for reading with your child and modeling the importance of reading together.

Have a restful and enjoyable Spring Break with your family! I am hopeful we will all enjoy some Spring weather!

Happy weekend!

Thank you to all parents who attended conferences. It is always helpful for your child to work together for the best education, and I enjoy the insights you provide me as well.

The math practice test completed with partners, and the Test Review came home for studying. Please have your student review what he/she needs to learn before the test on Tuesday.  I will be meeting with small groups and one-on-one tomorrow to answer any specific questions before the test on Tuesday. The next unit in math is more on fractions.

Reading – Reading aloud Number the Stars, and historical fiction book clubs.

Writing – Informational papers on Michigan animals.

No science or social studies, but double math in preparation for the M-Step in May.

Remember Thursday’s class trip: wear the Alward Champion t-shirt and pack a sack lunch and drink for the museum. It’s always a fun day. Thank you chaperones for volunteering.

Class Trip Reminders

Please have your student wear the Alward Champion t-shirt for the class trip!  We want to represent our school well (and it is so much easier for all to keep track of our precious children).

Last call for ordering field trip sack lunches for Thursday, March 21.  I must submit orders today, so unless I hear from you, I will assume you will be sending a disposable sack lunch with your child.

I will let all of our chaperone volunteers know tomorrow whether or not your name was drawn.  Thank you so much to all parents who volunteered.  I wish we could bring all of you!

Also, please get field trip money in as soon as possible so that we can ensure all students are paid for.  Thank you so much!

 

March 8, 2019

The second trimester has concluded despite the snow days! Report cards will come home Monday. I hope to see you all at conferences next week.  Congratulations to Charlotte Hower for being our classroom “Caring” champion of the month.

Math – Fractions continue. Test practice and review next week.

Reading – Beginning historical fiction and reading a loud Number The Stars. Historical fiction reading groups.

Writing – Informational writing process.

Class trip March 21. Please look for the return slip and chaperone forms if you are interested.

We finished our science unit on internal and external structures for survival. Students created their own super animals describing the internal and external structures. Enjoy the pictures (click the thumbnail to enlarge):