Howdy partners!!!! YeeHaw! As you can see, from the pictures above, we did some good ole country square dancing today. We have been reading about different types of dances from many different countries in our reading book. Dance is a part of heritage, and it is a very fun part!!! What a hoot.
Next we will see how art ties into the concept of heritage. Soon, we will begin our first Inquiry research project. Students will be researching a specific Montana Tribe to discover and share what their heritage holds. Yay!!! I bet you already know that I will be communicating all of my expectations and requirements on that one when the time comes. Yeppers!!!
Coewyn was our first star of the week. He brought in a very cool helicopter to share. We learned that airplanes and helicopters are a passion of Coewyn's. He was able to fly it all around our classroom using an app on his iphone. So, so cool! Thanks for sharing Coewyn! Up this week, is Haylee. I can't wait to learn more about her too!
The picture outside is from today. The whole crew is on the fun playground equipment. What a great group of kiddos! I am so proud to be their teacher, and am impressed daily by all of them. They are really growing and maturing quickly!
Upcoming events:
September 19th-Picture Day and Open House
September 20th-Ice Cream Social
September 26th-Early Release
September 30th-Saturday Live
Today at CC meeting we talked about what a 4th grade EQ looks like. EQ is not the same as IQ. EQ helps people get along in society and social situations. Here is what we feel a typical 4th grader's EQ should entail so far...
1. They know that homework is NOT optional. (I had 8 kiddos with unfinished work this morning :0()
2. They use nice, neat and appropriate sized handwriting always!
3. They spell words correctly if they can be found on or in the assignment. There is no excuse to spell a word wrong when it is in a word box, a spelling word, or in the reading material they are using to complete the assignment.
4. They know not to turn work in unless it is 100% finished. If they need more time, that is fine. I don't dock points for late work. There is the standard fine of $20 and then time is granted, no questions asked. If they need help before turning it in, then they need to ask me for help. Kids sometimes think that adults are mind readers. I was born on Halloween, but I don't possess any magical mind reading powers. :0) They need to let me know, and they need to let me know BEFORE a quiz or test begins. I ALWAYS try to catch kids after quizzes/test/assignments are graded if they did not do well. I try to pull them or have a volunteer pull them to reteach. Five minutes one on one is an amazing thing. Once a paper is turned in however kids are saying to me that they finished it, seeked help if needed, and that they did their best. That grade will be recorded. If kids turn in incomplete work, I do not hand it back and allow them to finish it. They receive the grade they earn. On occasion, I will notice that many students are not doing well. Then, that is my fault. I obviously did a poor job at covering the concept. I, of course, would then reteach the concept and re-assess.
5. They know to write their name, date and the word BELIEVE on every paper, but only BELIEVE if they really mean it. If a child doesn't write BELIEVE then I know they need to conference with me and are not feeling good about the material.
6. They keep a clean and organized work area. We have a couple of kids that need three desks already. Being in pods, it is distracting when one student's work area is all over the entire groups desk tops and floor. Kids need to arrange to come in early before school to clean out desks if need be. They have specific places for all their materials in their desks, their book shelf, and their art tubs. There is no reason to have things sticking out of desks, piled on top of desks, or on the floor. It is also not safe when walking around and/or during emergency drills.
7. They need to apply a lot of effort. 4th graders need to try. They are doing such higher level work than they are used too. They need to look back in stories, support answers with evidence, write in complete sentences, take organized notes, draw more than a stick figure and so on. It is different, and they need to adjust to raising that bar for themselves.
8. They know to only turn in their very best work. Today, I shared two examples of this. The students were to place words into a paragraph using context clues to help them. I had paragraphs that made absolutely no sense when reading them. The students obviously didn't go back and check or just selected any old word and threw it in. When calling them up. they both looked at me weird when I asked them if that made sense. They knew that it was wrong and that they need to check their work BEFORE turning it in to make sure it is their best work.
9. They TRY before asking for help. I am here to help. That is my job. Part of helping though is guiding them to strategies so they can help themselves. Today, I told them that Ms. Erickson is not going to follow them to college or the work force. They will eventually have to stop asking how to do something and start discovering for themselves how to do things. Part of my job is to teach your children concepts, and I will. Another part is to teach them HOW to learn. How to google. How to read. How to follow the written and spoked directions. I absolutely will help your child, but today we talked about appropriate and inappropriate times to ask for help. After I say go, is not going to work very well for them. When going over the directions and when I ask if there are questions is a great time to ask for help. While doing an assignment and they get stuck, as long as they have TRIED to do it, I will absolutely help them. Usually, my first question to them is What have you already tried to do? Did you read the directions? What did Ms. Erickson say to do? Did you look at the example problems? Did you look in your notes if we took any? Teaching them HOW to learn. Please, please, please know that I will help your child. I just ask that you trust the system and methods to get the help they need.
That is the ones that we talked about today. I want all of you to be on the same page as school. It is soooo helpful when the kids know that you know what I expect of them. If their planners come home, and they are sloppy, please make them recopy it. I don't always have time to catch it all. If papers come home messy, please have them redo them on a piece of paper. The only way to break bad habits is to correct them. I absolutely will do my part here! If you have read the above and understand them, please write EQ in the planner for $50 tomorrow. This is just that important. If you want to talk about any of the items above, please call me or email me. These are pretty standard expectations, but I may be missing something. We can talk more about these at open house too!
Tuesday folders came home today. A HUGE thank you to Max's mom for stuffing those for us! All papers inside can be kept at home. Just the signed folder needs to be returned tomorrow.
Thank you to all of you that sent in Saturday Live donations already. Those that sent in money, that is awesome too. The basket crew will enjoy spending that for you! :0)
Thank you to all of you that sent in the $4 for the Fallen Rock book, and for all the grateful notes for doing this with the kids. Warmed my heart! If you have yet to send it in, no worries. Do it when you can. Thanks.
Homework tonight is an interactive math sheet with you. Kids need to sit next to ya and read off each of the numbers. They will quiz on this starting tomorrow. If the number is 4,356,210 then they should say to you...4 million, three hundred fifty six thousand, two hundred ten. Your signature on the bottom tells me this was done. Thanks!
I think that is about it. Enjoy your evening. It seems to be cooling off a bit!
Respectfully,
Ms. Erickson
