Friday, May 21

We took advantage of warmer weather at the beginning of the week. 

Enjoying the space to jump rope!

RECESS HELP: Parents! We have been given clearance for parent support to return in our outdoor community spaces at Rose Park! At this time of year, our playground is overflowing with energy! Our soccer games are full tilt, gaga games kick up a dust storm and the energy level is HIGH....which is the exertion we want on our playground from our learners. They play hard for 30 minutes at noon recess and, now that we have allowance for parent helpers, we wondered if anyone is willing and able to add to the yellow vest group and help supervise our playful athletes who could benefit from extra eyes and ears each day from 12:00-12:30. If you are willing and able to help, please sign up using this link. Any questions? Feel free to email Miska at mrynsburger@hollandchristian.org

Field Trip: We are SO excited to have received approval to take our favorite 4th graders to the Grand Rapids Public Museum on Tuesday, June 1 (the day after Memorial Day)!  We will be leaving school RIGHT AWAY at 8:15 that morning, so please be prompt getting to school that day!Late arrivals will need to be transported to the museum in Grand Rapids by you.  We will also need a sack lunch that day, so please mark that on your calendar. Once at the museum, we will be exploring the permanent exhibits, viewing the temporary pollination exhibit, and enjoying a visit to the planetarium.  

4th/5th Field Day: Friday afternoon, May 28 (dress appropriately for physical activity and send water and sunscreen as needed)

May 14, 2021

On Wednesday, we were visited by Chloe, Amelia's bunny. Chloe helped us with our MAP testing and reading :)

Sunshine and warmer temps call for the great outdoors! We took our adventure/survival books outdoors and found places to read.

Then on Friday, we were visited by Lola, Evie's dog. Jared felt the need to take it home :).

The counter behind my desk is getting emptier and emptier as we are nearing the end of all the work we need to do in 4th grade!  Just about 2 1/2 weeks left.....trust me, the kids are counting down and don't let me forget!😂

ACADEMIC UPDATES - 

• Math and reading minutes will continue through Memorial Day.
• Word Work lists/tests will conclude on May 28 (2 more weeks).
• Continue to pack recorders for music on Thursdays.
• All library materials were due today.  If there are still some at your house, please return them as soon as possible.
• Reading - We are reading Adventure/Survival books as a whole class and in book clubs.  Occasionally, your child may have to finish up a small amount of required book club reading at home.  When that happens, please be sure the book is returned to school the next day.
• Writing - Students are preparing a nonfiction book about a topic they know well, complete with chapters in a variety of nonfiction text structures.  This is impressive work!
• Math - We are enjoying our geometry unit, a nice change of pace from all the calculations of fractions and decimals!
• Bible - We have followed the people of Judah into exile by the Babylonians, and now are studying one of the exiles: Daniel.  We marvel at his faith and trust, and desire to stay true to God in a foreign country among foreign gods.
• Science - We're finishing up our study of energy, and will soon learn about the states of matter from Ms. Snoeyink.

PLANT SALE DONATIONS - The students voted on sharing our profit from the plant and worm castings sale with two different organizations:  Love In Action (Grand Haven) and DeVos Children's Hospital.  We also paid back our loans, and shared with the high school life skills program who were so helpful and generous to us.  Thank you for all your support of this project!

ASSESSMENT SEASON - As the end of the year approaches, we are completing a lot of tests and assessments.  We're working through our series of three MAP tests, which is the standardized test we use to track progress over time in reading, language and math.  You will get reports of the results in with your child's report card on the last day of school.  We also took the Delta Math Screener, which helps us identify which students will need more practice with the grade level math concepts we learned this year.  I am also working through a reading assessment (we call them "running records") individually with each student to assess their current reading level.  We will also reassess the fourth grade high frequency word list, hoping to find that students have studied and mastered any and all of the words they missed on the test earlier in the year.

Additionally, we will be taking a science test and our final math unit test in our classroom this week.  The end is in sight!

We're Bringing Back the Book Fair to Support our Students' Reading AND our Media Center! 

Parents, you may click on this link to shop online throughout the entire week of May 17th thru May 22. The Book Fair will be set up outside for parents to shop on Thursday May 20th & Friday May 21st from 11:30 - 4:00. We hope to see you there! 

https://www.scholastic.com/bf/roseparkchristian

Whew....WHAT A WEEK! Our 4th graders participated and carried out quite the project over the past two weeks. Through the Project Based Learning teaching structure, the students were given the question "How do we market our plants and worm-castings?" and they had to figure it ALL out! From start to finish. Every detail was handled by the students. They have the lead on this project. They are stepping up to the challenge! and... We did it! The plant sale was a raging success! The students learned SO MUCH about planning and conducting a business endeavor. We're grateful for your support of the event. We had so much fun - and This kind of work is preparing these students for their future careers. The plant and worm castings sale was a great success and a fantastic learning event. But man, are we tired by the end of the day!☺️ 

Here is a peek into our past week. 

On Tuesday, we set up an assembly line and prepared all our products for Friday's sale. 

Wednesday was a fun day as we celebrated Cinco de Mayo as well as Tulip Time! 

Waiting by the pond at the high school for the "parade" to come by. 

There's the band! Dutch dancers too! 

Since we were already there, we took a peek inside the greenhouse at the high school where the Life Skills students have patiently been growing our plants for us for the past couple of months. 

We ended our afternoon by doing some Football Field Fraction Math. It is so mathematically convenient that a football field is divided up into hundredths and tenths......😉 A good teacher doesn't let an opportunity like that pass by! 

Thursday the plants arrived at our school! We got them all sorted and staged for the sale. 

Then we practiced and rehearsed our cashier and customer service skills in preparation for the big day! 

Then Friday came and we ROCKED the plant sale! We even ran out of plants, but a donor stopped by and delivered more.🥰 

Time to tally up our sales. 

After all the costs and loans were paid back, we have a profit of $1,231.00! The students are voting on charities to share the money with. All Glory Be to God! 

Personal Day: I will be taking a personal day on Monday. The students will continue their learning with Mrs. Bouws. She is a fantastic guest teacher and the kiddos are in good hands. 

BIBLE TEST: We just followed the people of Judah into exile by the Babylonians. A study sheet is in your child's backpack and we will test on this material on Monday. Thanks for your help! 

MATH TEST: We are finishing up our unit on decimals and fractions. The students will be spend the next two days studying and review the many different strategies and skills they learned since spring break. A practice test will come home on Monday. Our test will be on Tuesday. 

WORD WORK: Spelling words will come home on Monday! We are back on schedule with our weekly spelling list. The students will have a test on Friday. 

Library books - All library materials are due back by this coming Friday, May 14.  The librarian needs time to organize and inventory the library before the year is through.  Thanks so much!

BOOK FAIR: Parents, you may click on this link to shop online throughout the entire week of May 17th thru May 22. The Book Fair will be set up outside for parents to shop on Thursday May 20th & Friday May 21st from 11:30 - 4:00. We hope to see you there! https://www.scholastic.com/bf/roseparkchristian