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Spencer was our star of the week this week. I had no idea that he liked to cook and that pancakes were one of his favorite foods. I did know he loves baseball, but didn't know just how much. He had quite the card collection to share. What a great kid! Thanks for sharing with us Spencer!
Quarter One has come to a close. All grades are in and accounted for. Yay to everyone for getting their owed work in. Report cards will come home on Tuesday in the Tuesday folders. I am so proud of each and every student. They have all settled in and adjusted well to life in Ms. Erickson's room. I look forward to even more successes in quarter 2.
Part of the report card is academic and the other part is character and citizenship. Part of Arrowhead's mission is to create kids with great character from the inside out and the outside in. In our CC Meeting on Friday, I went over each point on the report card. We talked about what each behavior looks like as a level 4, 3, and 2. We also talked about how it is only quarter one and what is important is that they learn from their marks and make improvements for next quarter. Again, I am so proud of all kids and how far they have come already in the 4th grade.
Speaking of character, last week I sent home the character warrior shields and knights. Kids were told to find a special place in their room to hang it so they can continue to work on their goals. If your child has theirs hanging in their room, please write SHIELD in the planner for $50. It is just that important! :0)
This week we have parent-teacher conferences. Please make sure to let me know if your time no longer works. We can reschedule for another time if possible. During our 15 minutes, I will listen and answer to any questions or concerns you have. I will also share some data I have collected. Data is only one piece of a child. It is a snapshot of a human being. Where it is very important to help me help your child, there are many other pieces of the puzzle as well. Testing is data that I use to find out what your child already knows, what they need help on, and if they need more help than the general classroom has to offer. That is what I use it for. I work with your child every day. I know them more than data ever could. I know their personalities and their character. I also know their interests, how they prefer to learn, and how far I can challenge them. In my mind, testing data is a tool to help me be a better teacher. So, I tend to make sure that our conference time is spent discussing both data and the things you want to know about your child. Please feel free to ask me anything. I am a teacher, but I am also a parent of school age children myself. We are a team, and I have really enjoyed building that relationship with all of you. I am so looking forward to building that partnership even more this week.
Academically this week we will push on with our multiplication concepts. By the end of the week, your child should show mastery on two digit by one digit multiplication along with three digits by one digit. Please continue to practice those basic facts at home. We will be taking some timed tests on those this week as well.
In Lead 21we will continue to learn about how we can help our planet. This week, we will focus on two more alternative energy resources and begin our Inquiry research for this unit's project. We will be taking on a "going green" project to help improve Arrowhead Elementary. I will explain more as we unfold some data. Want a hint....styrofoam...bad.
On Monday, Mrs. Auch has invited us to join her class to listen to a miner. We will listen to the pros and cons of mining and how it effects our planet. I love when we get to connect our learning in class to the real world!
Spelling is back in the textbook again this week. Due to our half days, daily spelling assignments will come home for homework this week in addition to our DynaMath magazine work.
We finished up and shared our Halloween stories. For the first time writing, they were pretty darn good. I was able to create a list of some small mini lessons that I need to do. We will work on compound sentences with a comma/conjunction and run on sentences. Thanks again for all your help with the editing at home. Those discussions were worth a million mini lessons.
In SS we will start our journey across the United States. We will take a look at the Northeast Region first. With this, that means our first upcoming states and capitals test. We will make our flashcards this week. Students will need to be able to match the correct capital with the correct state. They will also have to be able to label the states on a map. (not the capitals). They will have a word bank, so spelling is not going to be an issue. Learning where states are is so important to real world living. Every day we hear the names of other states on the news, in newspapers, in magazines, or in sports shows. It is important that kids begin to understand where these states are and what makes their region unique in our great nation.
Well, I think that about covers it for this week. Enjoy or Halloween Dry Ice and cookie making slideshow. They sure had a ton of fun doing them, as did I.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Ms. Erickson
