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