We've Got a Party to Plan!

**I have been confused about that last week of school before break.  Despite what I have written in newsletters and on earlier versions of this post, the last full day is in fact Tuesday, December 18, and the half day is Wednesday, December 19.  Sorry for the confusion.  I am pretty excited though--I just got a day off that I didn't know about!  

We are down to a couple of weeks to plan our party celebrating the end of our first semester and our winter break.  I am aiming for the afternoon of our last full day, Tuesday, December 18, or the morning of the half day, December 19.  Do any of you have any ideas or suggestions for activities?  Please feel free to use the comments section of this post to share ideas.  I would love for each student to donate an item for the celebration so no one person has to spend a lot.  I am open to any ideas!

The students' last day, the 20th, is a half day.  I am looking at having a read-in that day.  Students can bring in blankets and pillows and plan on hanging out and reading.  It is a fun way to send everyone off into break. 

Finally, this will be in tomorrow's newsletter too, but I am offering a quick, one-week book order this week.  That way, I know we will get them shipped to us in time.  Any orders you have will need to be sent in or placed online by the end of the day Friday.  If you would like to browse or order online, visit https://orders.scholastic.com/HWFT6  There are many more books available online if you would like to check it out.  If you would like to make any purchases for gifts and need them kept a secret, please drop me a note to let me know.  When the books arrive, I'll contact you to arrange a pick-up.

Have a great week everyone!

Election Day

Tomorrow is election day 2012!  I hope you have all early voted or have plans to vote tomorrow.  The students at Shayne participated in a school-wide election today.  Our class even took turns working the polls.  They did a great job.  I hope they tell you about it tonight.

I did want to share a resource that we used in class last week.  In order to track the electoral votes tomorrow night, students can check out the site http://www.270towin.com/ and fill in the map as states are called for one candidate or the other.  It is a cool site, and I hope you enjoy watching the returns.  When our class next meets, we'll know the results!

For those of you coming in for a conference tomorrow, I'll see you then!

Guess Who!

The Hogwarts crew

Artemis

A vampire

 

Dread Pirate Roberts 

 Bat Girl

A snowwoman

Happy Halloween!

I apologize for the length of time between posts.  Things have been very busy lately and the blog is one thing that has been placed on the back burner.  No longer!  I will have a TIMES LINE update posted within a few days, as well as posts of students in their costumes from tomorrow night.  If you want your child to be included in that photo spread, please email me a photo and I'll get those up ASAP.

I was out of school yesterday for the first time.  The guest teacher had nothing but nice things to say about the class.  I am very proud of how well they represented themselves.  I know how capable they are, and now others are seeing it, too!  I hope to use the next few days to catch up on the grading from yesterday and will open up Gradespeed for this new nine weeks by Saturday. 

Thank you to 1 and 6's moms for donating extra water for us for the Fun Run on Friday, and also to 3's mom for letting us borrow a cooler.  Remember that pizza will be provided for lunch Friday, but students will need to bring in a drink and any other snacks.  If you would like to send in any other items for a Fall celebration, Friday is the time for that as well!

Look for notes to come home confirming conference times.  Hopefully you already received an e-mail.  Have a wonderful evening and be sure to check back in here very soon for updates!

Help Requested

Parents,

As I stated in my email, I need your help.  I would like to do a quick integrated unit using pumpkins following Fall Break.  If any of you are willing and able to donate a pumpkin, I would greatly appreciate it. We could use at least five. Any size will do.  We could also use any old newspapers to help keep things relatively clean.

If you will be able to send in a pumpkin or some newspaper following break, please leave a note in the comments sections of this post.  Thank you so much for your help.

Have a wonderful break.  I can't wait to hear about all that you do next week!  Take care, travel safely, and I'll see you on the 15th.

Water Cycle

We are learning about the water cycle in science.  After learning this song, the class will never forget about evaporation, condensation, and precipitation!  It's a fun way to learn some important information.  Hope you enjoy, too.

Open House -- See You There?

I hope you are planning on attending the 4th grade Open House Wednesday!  We will start out meeting in the classroom at 5:30.  You'll be able to see the room and your child's work.  We will then move inside to the library to meet as a grade level.  Hopefully we will be able to answer any questions you may have.  You will be free no later than 6:30.

As your newsletter today stated, I hope to send home an updated report of your child's beginning of the year assessments very soon.  This will include running records, DIBELS, DEA, word study, and our weekly fluency checks.  When those reports come home, please be sure to ask for any clarification on things that don't make sense.  Just like with the students, I want you to feel free to ask any questions you may have.  Until then, look for more student work to come home Thursday with the behavior cards.

Have a great week!

Good News -- Bad News

The bad news/good news you may have heard is that because of the large class sizes in our 4th grade, we will have another class starting tomorrow. That is good in that each class will have fewer students.  It is really bad in that we will give up four members of our family to the new classroom. I know the new class, taught by Miss Head, will have a great year.  The students will love her and have a lot of fun. It is just not going to be the same in our room without them. We told them that even though they are in a new class, they are still secretly part of ours!

 So, as you and your family enjoy this Labor Day holiday, I hope you get energized and come back tomorrow ready to pick up where we left off. It does mean our schedule will be changed. I will send home that information as soon as I get it. Enjoy today and I'll see you bright and early tomorrow. To the four of you headed inside to Miss Head's class, I know you'll do a great job and be the top four students in her room!  We'll miss seeing you and working with you every day.  

Skyler's Arm -- the REAL Story

Our friend Skyler hurt her arm over the weekend.  She had surgery this morning and we hope all is well.  We have heard that she made it through just fine and is on the road to recovery with some new hardware helping the bones to heal properly.  That brings us to what really happened to Skyler's arm. We're not sure if it was as simple as what she said actually happened.  Maybe we just wanted it to be an elaborate tale full of adventure and mayhem. Check out the comments section for some of the students' theories as to the real story behind Skyler's accident.

All joking aside, we miss you Skyler and hope you feel better and get back to school soon!

Shared App

On Friday, the class talked about the Curiosity rover that landed on Mars last week.  There is a free app available on iPad and possibly other tablet formats that allows users to take a close-up look at the vehicle.  The name of the app is Spacecraft 3D. You will be prompted to print out a source page in order to see the 3D images. This app is developed by NASA and allows you a 360 degree view of the rover.  It is fascinating.  Check it out!

First Day of School!

I hope everyone had a phenomenal first day of school.  Although August 1 sure is early, I am very excited to be back and working with a great group of students!  I want to wish my former students all the best as they enter middle school (and some of you are in high school now!  How old does that make me?!).  Do your best, work hard, and be proud of what you accomplish!  For my new group, get ready!  We're going to have a great year!