Dear Parents,
This week will be a busy but fun week for our fourth grade
class. In music, students are starting more intensive rehearsals for their
winter concert during the school day. They will have several rehearsals with the
whole grade together. On Tuesday, we have our class field trip to the MIM and
some shopping time at our school book fair. On Friday we have our all-school
literary and historic figure day.
Please make sure that your students bring their permission
slips with money to school tomorrow (Monday) or you can bring the slips and
money directly to the front office yourself. Students who do not have their
form and money in by the end of the school day tomorrow will NOT BE ALLOWED TO
ATTEND THE FIELD TRIP. Forms and money will not be accepted on Tuesday morning.
Students not attending will be left to shadow a third grade class for the day,
so please, get those forms in! When students hand in their forms, it must be accompanied
by the money. Forms without money will not be accepted.
Students are required to come to school in uniform on field
trip day. They must arrive at school on time in order to be part of the field
trip, and they must be picked up from school after the field trip.
As of this weekend, our 4B class coordinator, Dr. Karen
Beckwith, sent an email saying we are in need of two more chaperones for our
field trip. For the safety of our students, we do need those chaperones. Please
consider signing up to share this fun experience with your child!
Chaperones are asked to be at school by 8:00am so we can
meet with them in the MPR around 8:15 and get them familiar with their assigned
groups. They will, of course, travel with the students on the bus, accompany a
small group on the field trip and later accompany their group to a picnic lunch
at a near-by park.
Because lunch will be a picnic lunch at a park, all students
should bring a bag lunch on the field trip. We will not be at the cafeteria for
hot lunch. Chaperones would need to bring lunches as well.
If you are not able to chaperone, but you would still like
to be a part of our trip, you can meet us at the MIM at 9:30am. You would have
to pay the ordinary adult admission price to the museum. Your student would
still need to be dropped off at school, travel with the class on the bus, and
travel back from class on the bus. If you would like to join us, though, we
would love to have you.
As you probably read in our school newsletter, Friday is our
school’s literary and historic figure day. Students are encouraged, though not
required to dress up as a literary figure from one of the classic books in our
school curriculum or in our school library. More specific guidelines were sent
out through our school newsletter, but if you have any questions about appropriate
costumes, please feel free to contact any of the fourth grade teachers. Students
not wearing costumes are required to attend in their ordinary uniforms.
Congratulations to all the students who participated in our
annual read-a-thon fundraiser! Thank you to all the parents, relatives and
friends who supported our fundraiser! The students who completed the
read-a-thon have vouchers for money to use at our school book fair. They will
find them on their desks Monday morning. Students who did not participate in
the fundraiser may still bring money to use at the book fair. If they do bring
money, please advise them to be discreet. Teachers will not keep or be
responsible for money students bring to school, and because students share
lockers, they cannot lock their lockers.
The schedule for the book fair is as follows: On Monday from
1:30 to 1:45, all students will have the opportunity to browse the book fair,
but they will not be allowed to purchase anything. On Tuesday from 1:45-2:30,
directly after the field trip, students who have vouchers or cash to spend will
be allowed to shop at the book fair. On Wednesday from 9:00am to 10:00am,
parents will have the opportunity to shop at the book fair. On Thursday,
students who were unable to purchase books at the book fair on Tuesday will
still have the opportunity to do so during lunch recess or Lyceum.
As busy as the week is, it is also the week in which
deficiency notices will be sent out to parents whose students are averaging a
C- or lower in any class. While these notices can be disappointing to receive, they
are intended to open a conversation about how students can improve. Once the
scholar has brought their grade up, the notice has no further relevance to
their grade or academic record. Of course, we would all prefer to have students
keep their grades up and avoid deficiency notices. To help with this, I will be
sending emails tomorrow about assignments students are missing. Students who
get them and return them by Wednesday will be more likely to avoid
deficiencies. To help motivate students to get their missed assignments in
during this busy week, I am offering full credit to students on all missing
assignments turned in by Wednesday. (Normally, missing assignments only receive
half-credit.)
Regarding math classes: Students should be starting division in math
lab this week. A few students are still working on area and perimeter. In order
to have the best quality math labs and math classes possible, it is important
for students to be working on the same lesson. That way they have a shared
understanding of the material which they can discuss in class, and they are
strengthening their understanding of math topics by working on the same topics
in lab and class. For these reasons, students who are behind the class in math
lessons may be assigned more online homework than students who are on track
with their class. They will be held responsible for this homework as part of
their grade. It is not really extra homework; it is work they should have
already completed.
One final note: I was intending to
start the at-home geology project as part of homework this week. However, with
all the other things going on this week, I don’t want to put extra pressure on
parents and students. We will start the project as part of homework next
Monday. In case you have not bought the supplies for the project, they are: 1. A can of red play-dough 2. A can of yellow
play-dough 3. A can of orange play-dough 4. A can of black or brown
play-dough (one or the other; not both) 5. A can of blue play-dough 6. A
metal or metal-looking bead at least a ¼ inch in diameter (to be the earth’s
iron core) 7. A black Sharpie for writing labels 8. A green
Sharpie for drawing land masses
The project is going to be a model of the inside layers of
the earth. Students should keep the supplies at home because the project is homework.
I will send detailed instructions home each night next week on the steps
students are expected to complete on each night of the project.
These are the many notes I have for you this week. As
always, please feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, or
concerns, and I will be happy to help you.
Sincerely,
Rebecca Wycklendt
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