Hello 4A Families,
Happy Memorial Day! I hope you all had a great field day and long weekend. I enjoyed seeing the videos and pictures that were sent. We are entering into the last three weeks of school, and the momentum may be waning. I want you to know that I’m 100% ready to end the year strong–with both great learning and fun activities! Keep pumping up your kids for all of the ways they are going to grow academically and be ready to enter 5th grade with confidence!
In Loving Memory:
I know many of the families know and remember wonderful Mrs. Harris, our former librarian. She passed away on Saturday morning after a brave battle with cancer. I considered her not only a valued co-worker, but a close friend for over 30 years. We will keep her family in our prayers during this difficult time. I know Mrs. Harris would say, “Keep reading!”
All School Mass Streaming Wednesday at 9:30:
I have moved the Wednesday Math Zoom to 10:30 so that we can watch the Mass at 9:30. I encourage all students to take part in the Mass. Thank you! You can watch the videos on HR Facebook or Vimeo.You do not need to have accounts to watch. I do not have facebook, but I am able to watch the live stream.
Changes to Whole Class Zoom Meetings:
In addition to our regularly scheduled whole class zooms, we will begin additional required Zoom Math Meetings on Tuesday, Wednesday (10:30 due to Mass) Thursday and Friday this week at 9:30. Students will not submit their homework to Seesaw. Instead, they will complete their homework and the next morning we will go over it together during the meeting. This gives students the chance to ask questions about the new concepts in real time. If your child cannot make the 9:30 meetings, please let me know, and we will make arrangements. During the Tuesday meeting this week the students will not have HW to go over, we will have a general math review. We will have our regular whole class meetings on Tuesday and Thursday at 1:00. The half-class meetings have been cancelled for the remainder of the year.
This Friday at 12:00 pm. Ms. Mudge will lead a recorder lesson with the students. All students should attend this meeting with their recorder and books. If they do not have them (I noticed some were left at school) students will still participate.
Individual Zoom Meetings: Please feel free to sign your child up for an individual Zoom meeting with me. The meeting schedule has been updated, for the next two weeks. The meetings can serve any purpose…including a simple hello and check in! If your child needs help with something academic, and it will take longer than 15 minutes, just contact me, and I’ll set up a separate meeting. You can sign up here.
Looking ahead: On Friday, June 5th at 1:00 we will have another 4A Zoom Talent Show. I would love everyone to do a little something, even if it is to just tell a joke. They should be thinking about–and practicing. This is just for fun—no judgement. If students want to film something and send it to me instead, we can show them during the Zoom as well. The talents should be less than a minute in length.
Reading: This week, students will continue our novel unit by reading Chapters 7 & 8 in From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. For each chapter, we will continue to follow the same structure that’s been in place throughout the unit: review vocabulary, read each chapter silently, re-read and discuss the story together via our video lessons, complete a written summary worksheet, take the quiz, post a fluency recording. Quizzes for these chapters will continue to be posted in google classroom. It’s important that students keep up with the daily video lessons with Ms. Corrigan and try not to fall behind. As a general rule, students should plan to spend about an hour a day on reading lessons/assignments, and prioritize this along with their math assignments. Overall, the students are doing very well and continue to impress us with high quality work. Please email Ms. Corrigan directly if you are having difficulty in any way mcorrigan@holyrosaryws.org.
Spelling: Students are still working on the spelling words: Plurals Activities should be completed in Spelling City by Friday, May 29th. 4A also needs to complete the assigned plural noun activity on Spelling City. The spelling and vocabulary tests should be completed by Friday, May 29th at 3:00. Thank you.
Language Arts: We are looking forward to sharing the Running Away stories this week in breakout rooms on Zoom. Written final drafts need to be submitted by 3:00 on Tuesday, May 26th. We are offering two optional language arts activities for the students to complete if they choose. The first is a picture journal activity in Seesaw. We will show the students this activity in a Zoom meeting. The second is a type of service project to write a letter to a resident at The Mount Nursing Facility. We have a list of residents that are feeling quite isolated and would love cards and letters. If your child is interested in making a special card, please let us know and we will give you the name(s) of the resident.
Science: On Tuesday, all students will have another science-themed zoom meeting to dive into the final science project: Preventing Brain Injuries. Students will create a 2-3 minute podcast or video to raise awareness about brain injuries and concussions. This is the last assignment for science for the year. Have fun with it!
Social Studies: Last Thursday a video and quiz on Mother Joseph was posted. Please have these completed by Wednesday. The final video on the Early Years of Seattle will come out this Thursday. The students should complete this video and quiz by June 2nd. I will be meeting with both classes on Zoom for our final lesson on the Great Seattle Fire on Tuesday, June 2nd. Continue to practice for the WA Feature Map Test on June 5th.
Math: TEST CLARIFICATION: There are two sets of math tests in the folders. There are a series of 4 tests labeled Test 1, Test 2, Test 3 and Test 4. These tests are end-of-year reviews to make sure students are ready for 5th grade. They will be asked to complete Test 3 this week and Test 4 next week. The other set of tests are the chapter tests. The short Chapter 10 Test will take place on Friday, and the short Chapter 13 Test will take place on Wednesday, June 3rd.
Here’s to a great week ahead. As always, let us know if you have any questions or need support.
Mary