Hi there. Well, I said it would be a busy week and it has surely started that way. We packed it in today!
We had to cut math short today, so some kids are coming home with some homework in that area. In spelling students are figuring out what type of sentence they are reading and completing some skill work. Remember, exclamatory sentences show strong emotion and end in an !. Declarative sentences state general facts or information. Imperative sentences tell you to do something, and interrogative sentences ask you a question. They are getting better at this, but some still need some practice.
Tomorrow we will be doing take 2 of the 800 run in PE. Students need to wear their tennis shoes for this. They may bring their Ipods or other devices to listen to. Students may once again buy in for $500 to listen to them all day long as well. They need to watch their money though.
We started studying our NE states and capitals today. We learned Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Ask your child these. If they get at least one right, write the correct capital in their planner for a $10 bonus tomorrow. I strongly suggested that they make some flash cards tonight and begin to really study these. Blank maps will go home soon to help study where they are.
Starting tomorrow, your child will have writing homework every night M-Th. This is ALL children! I will staple in a passage that has some spelling and grammar mistakes in them. They will need to edit them correctly and then rewrite the entire passage below in their nightly writing notebooks. We will do the first edit together tomorrow in class, but they will need to write it over tomorrow night. I expect, and I know that you do as well, all students to write like a 4th grader. This means that they use one line, put a space between words, and use up the entire line before dropping to the next one. We will grade these together in class (the edit parts) but I will also look at their handwriting as well. If it does not look like their very best, they will be told to redo it. Please help out, by checking it at home. There is no reason I shouldn't be able to read each and every child's work in this class. If you want them to work on cursive please talk with them about using that. For me, I want them to use the writing style they feel they do their best in. I know as an adult, I often write half cursive and half print. As long as it is nice and neat, it will meet my expectations. Thanks! (So Rhys...you don't have to do this tonight!!!)
Lastly, we had our first NO strike day today!!! Wow!! On a Monday too! We had great behavior today. All kids are really starting to figure out just how the 4th grade works. The expectations have been set high, and they are rising to the challenges. So proud of all of them.
