Summer!

Dear Parents,

Thank you for the lovely gifts for teacher appreciation week. From the beautiful baskets to the delicious treats to the gift cards for fun places, I truly felt your appreciation. It seemed like every time I turned around there was another student holding a gift and saying, “Here you go Miss Wycklendt!” I have enjoyed getting to know my students this year, and guiding their academic progress, but I am touched by this extra display of gratitude.

Since we had our math test last week the only test for my classes this week is a science test on Wednesday. I wrote a review sheet with the kinds of questions students will need to be able to answer for the test. In addition to the questions on that sheet, they will need to be able to draw the path of blood through the heart using arrows. They will need to identify where the path starts (that is, where blood from the body returns to the heart) where blood leaves the heart to go to the lungs, the path blood takes through the heart after it comes back through the lungs, and where it leaves the heart to return to the rest of the body. They will also need to be able to label the blood vessels and chambers of the heart. This may sound complex, but we have spent the last two weeks reviewing it, including drawing a heart freehand and labeling it. They should have their heart drawings in their notebook to help them study.

This will be my final blog post before summer, and there are a few things you should keep in mind for summer:

1.       If your student is leaving on any day before Thursday, please let us know. We need them to take all their final tests and also to clean out their lockers and desks.

2.       Your students’ RM accounts will still work until August 1. If you wish them to spend a little time reviewing math this summer, they can log in at any time and continue working.

3.       When your students finish the last lesson of the RM curriculum (Dividing a Decimal by a Decimal) the system will automatically send them back to redo lessons which they passed but on which they did fully understand all of the concepts presented. If your students says, “Mom, Dad, I DID finish the last lesson, but then it sent me back!” that’s probably why.  The review is beneficial but it is not part of the required curriculum. If you want to confirm that they finished, you can also contact me.

4.       Please, before your students leave on Thursday please make sure they return any books they may have borrowed either for class or for fun from our student libraries. Since all students had borrowed copies of “King Arthur” that book in particular would be one to look for. If a book is not returned or was returned in a damaged condition, the front office will be charging families for the books. In order to avoid those please return any books! If you have any questions about whether a book was returned, please feel free to contact any of the teachers.

5.       For next year please be sure to label all your students uniform clothes with their name, but especially their jackets and sweaters. Almost everyone has the same few jacket and sweater styles in the same few sizes, and without labels it is impossible to tell them apart. All a student has to do to lose their unlabeled jacket or sweater is to put it near another student’s unlabeled jacket or to leave  it in a public area like on a picnic table or lunch table, or in a specials classroom. Without a label, there’s no way to know whose it is when it inevitably gets left behind or picked up by the wrong child. I cannot tell you how many jackets and sweaters I have had to put in lost and found even when I was 100% sure they belonged to one of my students because no one claimed the jackets or sweaters and they had no labels. I know these uniform items are not cheap, so please, label them!

6.       Last but not least, have a great summer!

These are all the notes I have for you this year. If you do need anything, please contact me through my Jupiter Ed account before this Friday, May 26.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Wycklendt

Arts Week!

Dear Parents,


Thank you to the classroom coordinators and parent chaperones that made our field trip such a success!Thank you to Mrs. Copeland, Mrs. Cantu, and Mrs. McCloud, our 4A chaperones. From my classroom, 4B, I would like to extend a special thanks to our 4B chaperones:
Mrs. Neal, Ms. Andrews, and Dr. Beckwith. An extra thanks goes out to Dr. Beckwith for her hard work as 4B classroom coordinator for this field trip and throughout the year.

During our field trip 4A had the amazing opportunity to watch our Arizona house of representatives in session. We got to watch them call the session to order, give opening remarks, pass one law, and than discuss and amendment on the law they had passed. The students sat like scholars, silent and attentive. Afterward we went outside and the students discussed the insights they gained form what they had just seen. However, I was most proud of the students at the very beginning of the law-making session when we recited the Pledge of Allegiance. With no prompting from teachers all the students stood up, put their hands on their hearts, and said their Pledge of Allegiance loudly and clearly. All in all, we had an excellent time!

This week we have our annual arts week where we celebrate our students’ hard work throughout the year on visual and performing arts. On Wednesday, May 10, we have our drama club performance of “Fiddle on the Roof” in the MPR. The time is 6:00pm.

On Thursday, May 11 we have our fourth and fifth grade music concert at King of Kings church in Goodyear. Students should be at the church by 5:15 to practice. The concert starts at 6:00.

On Friday, May 12 we have our second annual art walk fundraiser! From 5:30-7:30, you can come and view your students’ masterpieces on our school’s walls during the art walk. You can give a donation to our fundraiser in order to take your student’s masterpiece home. You can bid at our silent auction on the excellent baskets donated for our fundraiser. (One of the baskets includes a Kindle tablet;  another includes a power board!)  There will be a dunk tank, a bouncy house, and craft projects. Snacks will be available to purchase from food trucks. All proceeds will go toward purchasing an American flag and flag pole for the school. Join us!

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


Sincerely,

Rebecca Wycklendt

Week 34 Notes

Dear Parents,

 

Hurray! Fourth grade has finally finished AZ Merit! We will not have any more full class testing sessions in fourth grade. Students who have missed one or more of the state tests will be taking them this Monday and Tuesday.

Unfortunately, other grades are still working on their state tests, so we will have some slight differences in our schedule. Mainly, we will not be getting little or no math lab time until Thursday because the other grades will still be working on their state tests in math lab. This makes it all the more important that students complete their RM homework in order to avoid falling behind their classmates.

On a happier note we have another field trip planned for fourth grade. On Thursday May 4, we will be going to the state capitol! This will fit in nicely with the study of Arizona state history that occurs at the end of the fourth grade history course. In order to go students must have their permission slips and bus fare in by Friday, April 28 (this Friday). We handed out permission slips in class today. Bus fare is the usual $10, and they do not need to pay admission to get into the capitol. Students should bring their bus fare in a sealed envelope attached to the permission slip with a staple. Otherwise, they risk losing it or having it mistaken for another student’s fare. They should turn in permission slips and bus fare to their teachers. Students who do not have permission slips and bus fare in by this Friday will become honorary third graders while the rest of the class in on the field trip.

We will also need chaperones for the field trip. We need three chaperones for 4A and three chaperones for 4B. 4B parents can contact Dr. Karen Beckwith, our classroom coordinator to volunteer. They can also contact me. 4A parents can contact Mr. Ohbayashi or the 4A classroom coordinator. The restrictions on capitol field trips require that we have only 4 chaperones, so we cannot guarantee all interested parents a spot, but we appreciate all of you who offer your support.

In math this week, students will be working on multiplying and dividing with decimals. In science we are beginning a new unit on heart and blood. Due to AZ Merit, little progress was made in math lab next week, but students who are not yet working on “Subtracting Decimals” in RM are far behind their class and should be doing extra RM in order to catch up.

These are all the notes I have for you this week. If you have any questions, please contact me through your Jupiter Ed account.

Sincerely,

Miss Wycklendt

Week 33 State Tests and Science Test

Dear Parents,

I hope you all had a happy Easter and enjoyed spending time with friends and family. This week at school we will have some schedule changes due to testing. For this reason my blog post this week will focus mainly on the schedule.

Monday and Tuesday are normal days; that is, students have no state tests on those days and will have their normal classes on those days. On Wednesday students have their first in-class science test of the quarter. This is not a state test, just a normal test that will count toward their fourth quarter science grade. I know I have sent some emails about this test, but as a reminder, the topics on this test will be weathering, erosion, deposition, resources, pollution, and the greenhouse effect. This sounds like a lot of topics, but each of those individual topics were relatively short, and we have been studying and reviewing this material for weeks.

Students should use their notebooks to study the topics mentioned above. I gave extra copies of the notes to students who were absent on note-taking days, so all the students should be well-equipped to study for this test. Additionally we worked on a practice test in class, and I am sending students home with copies of the practice test tonight. If they did not finish in class, they can finish as part of their test study time.

On Thursday and Friday we will have the last of our state tests. We will take the first halves of the AZ Merit Math and ELA tests on Thursday. We will take the second halves of the AZ Merit Math and ELA tests on Friday.

Please make sure that your students get plenty of sleep and eat a good breakfast before their state tests. Arizona’s standardized tests are unusually long and stressful compared to the tests most adults remember taking when they were children. Sleeping and eating properly, therefore, are even more crucial to students’ well-being on state tests days than on other days. Please take the time to make sure your students are prepared for these stressful days by having them go to bed early on Wednesday and Thursday and by having them eat a nutritious breakfast on Thursday and Friday. We will NOT be assigning homework on Wednesday and Thursday evenings in order to support students in getting plenty of relaxation and sleep before their state tests on Thursday and Friday.

On a different note please remember that students need to finish the RM curriculum in order to pass into fifth grade. We have missed some math lab time because of state tests, but we budgeted for this missed time at the beginning of the year, so the class as a whole is not behind. However, a few individuals are behind. Right now all students should be working on the lesson “Subtracting Decimals.” If they are not in this lesson, then they are behind. If your student is behind please have them spend a little extra time on the RM program in order to help them catch up. Even 10-15 extra minutes a night will be useful.

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

Sincerely,

Rebecca Wycklendt

Week 32 State Tests and Science Test

Dear Parents,

Thank you to all of you who got together and made our field day such a success! Unlike last year’s event, which was rained out in the afternoon, we enjoyed a sunny, warm afternoon with lots of planned water activities to cool us off. The favorite activities seemed to be the bouncy house obstacle course and the tug of war over the baby pool. We certainly had fun.

This week will begin our state standardized testing. We have not been discussing the dates of testing because we want our students’ focus to be on what they are learning not on how well they do on a test. We have worked hard to make sure they have the tools to be successful on state tests, even though we have not been making it a focus in our students’ minds. On the evenings right before testing days we will have minimal homework so that students can be sure to rest for the next day.

The first test fourth grade will be taking will be the writing portion of AZ Merit. They will take this on Tuesday. Given the intense focus on writing and typing they have had with Mr. Ohbayashi recently, they should be confident in their abilities for this exam.

This Wednesday fourth grade students will be taking their state science test. The topics we have studied in third quarter and in the early part of fourth quarter— such as the water cycle, resources, pollution, and global warming—are the topics most likely to come up on state tests. I planned this deliberately so that the important material would be fresh in students’ minds.

Next Tuesday we will also be having our first science test in class for the quarter. I intended to have it this Friday because many of the topics on this unit test will also be on the state science test. However, we have this Friday off, so we will have the test next Tuesday instead. It will be a comprehensive test, so I will be putting out a study guide this week, especially since I don’t expect them to study on Easter weekend.

These are all the notes I have for you this week. As always, please send me a message with any questions, comments, or concerns you may have.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Wycklendt

Week 31--Field Day

Dear Parents,

This week on Friday we have our schools annual field day! Students will spend a large part of their day participating in and celebrating physical activity. They will also have a chance to learn about nutrition form Coach Brinson. All students will have schedule changes for the day in order to accommodate field day activities. However, during the times when students are not on the field we will stick to our normal schedule as closely as possible.

A number of our fourth grade students have a brother or sister in fifth grade. Fifth graders will be having their field day at Trivium West. Fifth the grade students should be dropped off at Trivium West in the morning and picked up from Trivium East in the afternoon. Please keep this in mind when thinking about travel arrangements to school on Friday morning.

Of course, we don’t expect students to come in their ordinary uniforms for a day of physical activity. They can, of course, but they can also come in more casual athletic clothing. Please consult the family handbook for guidelines on how students may dress for field day. If students are not dressed according to the guidelines they may be sent back to change before they can participate in any activities. Also, please keep in mind that the usual ban on clothing with large brand names, large brand logos, and words or sayings of any kind still remains in effect. Students should bring hats, water bottles, and sunscreen as they will be out in the heat of the day for two or more hours at a time. Thank you.

In math students will continue their study of decimals. In RM they should be on “Adding Decimals” by this Monday evening. If they are not there, they are behind the rest of their class and they may be assigned extra homework to help them catch up. Please remember that students must finish the RM curriculum in order to pass into fifth grade. If they are behind, it is important that they spend a little extra time on RM in order to catch up.

In science we will continue our study of resources, pollution and global warming. We will continue to prepare for the state science exam. It is scheduled for two Wednesdays from now, on April 12.

These are all the notes I have for you this week. As always please contact me through your Jupiter Ed account with any questions, comments, or concerns you may have.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Wycklendt

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