Week 30

Dear Parents,

I hope you are well. This week should be an uneventful one as we continue our sprint toward summer. The only major difference this week is that Friday will be a half day for students. This will allow time for professional development meetings for faculty. Because the half day is not in honor of a holiday, the weekend will NOT be an R and R weekend. In other words students will have homework this weekend.

In math students are working on decimals, including rounding decimals, in RM. We will also begin studying decimals during our in-class math time this week. Decimals can be viewed from many perspectives mathematically speaking, and not all of them are covered in RM. Because we have the benefit of online and in-class math time we will have more time for students to explore decimals.

If your student is not already in the lesson “Comparing Decimals” on RM, they will be assigned some extra RM homework to help them catch up with their class. It is very important for them to complete this homework. In order to pass into fifth grade, students do need to complete the RM online curriculum. If you have any questions, please let me know.

As we enter fourth quarter, state standardized tests are approaching. In general we do not “teach to the test.” We strive to present our students with material that is true and good in itself, not merely material that is relevant to a test. At the same time, we feel it would be unfair to our students expect them to take a test that contains material with which they are completely unfamiliar. For this reason we will be spending some time in all classes studying material that will likely be on state tests even if some of that material is outside our usual curriculum.

On that note one of the upcoming topics we will study for state standards is global warming/climate change. This topic has been highly politicized and emotionally charged, so it can be a difficult topic to cover. I will do my best to present a fair and balanced view of this issue in science class.

On a different note the fourth grade team is changing its policy regarding homework. From now on late homework will only be accepted within one week of the original due date. For example if a worksheet is assigned on Wednesday a late copy of that homework will only be accepted through the next Wednesday. The exception, of course, would be students who are very ill. If this is the case please contact us so we can help your student make arrangements to complete their homework.

 I realize I did not send out my customary email last week to remind you all of my new blog post, and perhaps some of you missed reading it as a result. I have, therefore, republished a few of the most important notes from that post in this current post to make sure everyone is caught up.

These are all the notes I have for you this week. Please send me a message through your Jupiter Ed account with any questions, comments, or concerns you may have.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Wycklendt