Welcome Back! I hope everyone had a wonderful February break week, and your children are ready to engage in lots for learning over the next two months! Here are some updates and reminders for this week:
* The STAR writing assessment will be administered to ALL Dilworth fourth graders tomorrow (March 1). The students have worked very hard to prepare for this assessment - we have worked on essays or summaries for all three genres of writing: response to literature, summary, or narrative. Tomorrow, students will write an essay on ONE of those genres. Our school does not get the essays back from the state after they have been scored - your child's assessment score will appear on the STAR assessment report sent to you next August.
* Report cards will come home for the second trimester on Friday, March 18. Please be sure to discuss the report card with your child - ask them which areas they feel they are meeting their goals, and which areas need additional work. Please be sure to sign the report card envelope and return it to school. You may keep the actual report card.
* Students did a great job in their science notebooks for the "Magnetism and Electricity" science unit. The notebooks will be sent home this Friday. Please keep these in a safe place, as they can also be used next year to prepare for the STAR science test administered in fifth grade, which covers concepts taught in both 4th and 5th grade.
* We have started our Gold Rush unit, which will include a simulation of the Gold Rush which students will complete in "mining groups". This unit will culminate in our Gold Rush luncheon to be held on Weds., April 13.
* We will start on our class novel "The Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson" now that we have finished preparation for the STAR writing test. Students will work in small literature circles to discuss the assigned readings and help each other with comprehension skills.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Updates for Week of February 14!
As we move into the last week before our February President's Break, here are some updates:
* Great Schools Week is here!! You should have found the "golden ticket" for discounts galore in your child's Friday folder last week. Please bring this "ticket" with you when you go shopping so that CUSD can be credited for all the funds that area businesses are giving back to the district. This is a great opportunity to help your childrens' schools while going out for dinner, shopping for groceries, or any of your other shopping needs! If you need more information, or another "golden ticket", please go to www.ceefcares.com
* We are finishing up our fictional narratives that were started last week. Students will receive a grade on these narratives based on the rubric supplied on the California "Star" writing test site. During our week long break, please have your child continue to write using prompts that will be sent home. Our STAR writing test will take place on Tuesday, March 1 with the make-up test on Weds., March. 2.
* We are having our class group pictures taken on Tuesday, Feb. 15! If you would like to get a picture of your child taken with our classmates, please send the picture envelope back with a check by Tuesday morning.
* If your child is interested in getting a copy of "Wrush", the book that was featured in last week's assembly, please send the form from their Friday folders back with a check for $10 NO LATER than Tuesday. Any late orders will be returned to you.
* Great Schools Week is here!! You should have found the "golden ticket" for discounts galore in your child's Friday folder last week. Please bring this "ticket" with you when you go shopping so that CUSD can be credited for all the funds that area businesses are giving back to the district. This is a great opportunity to help your childrens' schools while going out for dinner, shopping for groceries, or any of your other shopping needs! If you need more information, or another "golden ticket", please go to www.ceefcares.com
* We are finishing up our fictional narratives that were started last week. Students will receive a grade on these narratives based on the rubric supplied on the California "Star" writing test site. During our week long break, please have your child continue to write using prompts that will be sent home. Our STAR writing test will take place on Tuesday, March 1 with the make-up test on Weds., March. 2.
* We are having our class group pictures taken on Tuesday, Feb. 15! If you would like to get a picture of your child taken with our classmates, please send the picture envelope back with a check by Tuesday morning.
* If your child is interested in getting a copy of "Wrush", the book that was featured in last week's assembly, please send the form from their Friday folders back with a check for $10 NO LATER than Tuesday. Any late orders will be returned to you.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Update for Week of Feb. 8
Here is the latest news for Room 17:
* Great ready for our district-wide fundraiser next week (Feb. 14-18) - "Great Schools" Week, sponsored by CEEF/TFIN, will feature over 50 community businesses who have offered to donate a portion of all of their proceeds for the week to CUSD schools. We are encouraging all CUSD families to shop at these area businesses and help our schools continue to maintain the high standards of education we have always provided. Check out this web link for the list of businesses which are participating, and look for your "golden ticket" in your child's Friday folder this week!
www.ceefcares.com
* Room 17 will have a Valentine's Day party next Monday, Feb. 14 from 2:00 to 3:00 PM. A flyer was sent home last week with a list of all students' names in the class. A sign-up list will be posted tomorrow for donations of food/drinks/paper products. We will also need a few parent volunteers!
* Many parents have asked for assistance in helping to prepare their child for the upcoming STAR writing test on March 1 - here is a link to the site at the CA. Dept. of Education that contains information about the assessment as well as previous years' tests. Scroll down to "California Writing Test Resources" on this page.
http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/sr/resources.asp
* In math, we have started learning fractions - this unit will continue after the President's Week break. Fractions can be a challenging concept for many children - we will place greater emphasis on equivalent fractions, adding/subtracting fractions, mixed numbers, and improper fractions.
* In Language Arts, we continue to practice for the STAR Writing test - students are also learning about word roots, suffixes, and prefixes. We are creating "vocabulary trees" finding root words in combination with other prefixes/ suffixes.
* We will finish Unit 2 of Social Studies and take our test on Thursday - Unit 3 will begin our study of the California Gold Rush and statehood. Our "Gold Rush Day" will take place on April 13 for all fourth grade students.
* Next week we will complete our science unit, "Electricity and Magnetism" - our final test will be on Thursday, Feb. 17. Students have enjoyed many interesting hands-on experiments and "sparked" their curiosity through the study of circuits, magnets, and motors.
* Great ready for our district-wide fundraiser next week (Feb. 14-18) - "Great Schools" Week, sponsored by CEEF/TFIN, will feature over 50 community businesses who have offered to donate a portion of all of their proceeds for the week to CUSD schools. We are encouraging all CUSD families to shop at these area businesses and help our schools continue to maintain the high standards of education we have always provided. Check out this web link for the list of businesses which are participating, and look for your "golden ticket" in your child's Friday folder this week!
www.ceefcares.com
* Room 17 will have a Valentine's Day party next Monday, Feb. 14 from 2:00 to 3:00 PM. A flyer was sent home last week with a list of all students' names in the class. A sign-up list will be posted tomorrow for donations of food/drinks/paper products. We will also need a few parent volunteers!
* Many parents have asked for assistance in helping to prepare their child for the upcoming STAR writing test on March 1 - here is a link to the site at the CA. Dept. of Education that contains information about the assessment as well as previous years' tests. Scroll down to "California Writing Test Resources" on this page.
http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/sr/resources.asp
* In math, we have started learning fractions - this unit will continue after the President's Week break. Fractions can be a challenging concept for many children - we will place greater emphasis on equivalent fractions, adding/subtracting fractions, mixed numbers, and improper fractions.
* In Language Arts, we continue to practice for the STAR Writing test - students are also learning about word roots, suffixes, and prefixes. We are creating "vocabulary trees" finding root words in combination with other prefixes/ suffixes.
* We will finish Unit 2 of Social Studies and take our test on Thursday - Unit 3 will begin our study of the California Gold Rush and statehood. Our "Gold Rush Day" will take place on April 13 for all fourth grade students.
* Next week we will complete our science unit, "Electricity and Magnetism" - our final test will be on Thursday, Feb. 17. Students have enjoyed many interesting hands-on experiments and "sparked" their curiosity through the study of circuits, magnets, and motors.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)