Week of October 12th

untitledDear 4A Families,

I hope you all had a nice weekend. Thank you all so much for your wonderful support of the Magazine Sale! We will find out this Friday if we made our school goal and the winning classes. From the Magazine Chairs: Is it over? Not really! Keep selling! We’re still taking orders on APMAGS.com and our school still gets the fundraising dollars! (code:rosary)

This Wednesday we have Mass at 8:45.  Students should be in perfect uniform.  Please join us if you are able.

untitledStandardized Testing

The 4th grade testing window this year will be October 15-27th . Homework will be lighter during testing weeks. There will be a spelling test this week, but not the following two weeks. Students should continue work on math fact mastery, nightly reading and recorder practice (see message from Ms. Mudge below). Be sure students get plenty of sleep, eat a good protein packed breakfast, and come with a healthy snack (protein encouraged). We will take plenty of “brain breaks” so the students will be able to do their best on the tests!

Along with the IOWA tests, students in grade 4 and 7 take the CogAT or Cognitive Ability Tests. This three-session test will be administered after our completion of the IOWA tests. The CogAT measures reasoning and problem-solving skills in three different areas: verbal, quantitative, and nonverbal. Reasoning skills develop gradually throughout a person’s lifetime and at different rates for different individuals. Reasoning abilities can be good predictors of success in school. CogAT does not measure such factors as effort, attention, motivation, and work habits, which also contribute importantly to school achievement.

Touching Safety Program: Holy Rosary School, along with all the schools in the Archdiocese, will be teaching a sexual abuse prevention program called Touching Safety. This program is provided to us by the Archdiocese of Seattle and is part of our ongoing effort to help create and maintain a safe environment for children and protect all children from sexual abuse. We will be teaching two lessons a year for three years. The first will be this month (October), the second in March. For more information I am including this linked detailed program overview.

untitledMusic/Recorders: Students are to be practicing exercises on Page 4, giving special attention to the measures where they “rests” occur (these are silent beats).  The required practice time should be 3 minutes per night (but—they can go longer).  This practice should happen each night that students would normally do homework.  I suggest they set a timer!   Weekend practice is optional! Thank you, Ms. Mudge.

Social Studies: The NE state test will take place this Wednesday. We will review in class, but be sure to quiz your child with the study sheet they have in their filer. Thank you. Just a reminder, students need to know both the locations and correct postal abbreviations of the states. We will be wrapping up this portion of our latitude and longitude studies this week, but we will continue to reinforce the use of latitude and longitude throughout the year. The students will be doing some final activities and assessments related to our class work.

untitledScience: This week we will be discussing our findings from our experiment last week and applying them to our solar oven designs. We will also be looking at the environmental impacts of the materials we have chosen to use. The following week will be a busy one as we will begin to build and test our solar ovens. Please be praying for sunshine!

Math: Look for some math homework most nights this week. Thank you for your continued support checking over your child’s work for accuracy. Just a reminder when answering story problems; Students should always properly label answers to story problems. For instance, if a problem asks, “How many more children liked Skittles than M&M’s?” their answer could be worded: 354 more children liked Skittles. When answers to story problems are correctly labeled it shows they truly understand the question and what they are computing. Students are encouraged to read aloud story problems and underline important information.

untitledReading/Spelling: We are enjoying getting to know the characters in Charlotte’s Web.   The students have written their own Postcards from the Barn which they will share with you at their conference. On Monday the students will take a comprehension/vocabulary test on chapters 1-4. The spelling words this week come from the book. The students will need to be able to both spell and show they know the meanings of the words.

Religion: On Tuesday or Wednesday the parts and readers for the All Saint’s Day Mass will be selected. Thank you for turning in the pink sheet that was sent home last week by Tuesday the 13th. Even though all students will not have individual speaking or singing parts, they will each play an integral part in the Mass as a representative of their Saint. In the past I have had students ask me if I will be making their saint costumes! If only I were so talented—and had that much time! Yes—that means the costume making it is up to you all. The costumes do not need to be elaborate. In the past students have used sheets, bathrobes, Halloween capes, etc. It is amazing what a bit of material can do! Past students are also great resources. I have posted some pictures of past saints for ideas. The students are off to a great start on their Saint Reports. Your child will show you his or her report during their conference. The students are doing well with their memorization of The Prayer of St. Francis. All students need to recite the prayer from memorization by October 28 at the latest. Thank you for continuing to practice the prayer at home regularly.

untitledHave a great week everyone. During these fall days when the weather is unpredictable, students should always bring a raincoat (preferably with a hood) for recess. We do live in Seattle and drizzle happens! Also, if you have not done so already, all sweatshirts and coats should be labeled with the your child’s name. Thank you!

~Ms. Simpson