Dear 4A Families,
We seem to have dodged the full brunt of the windstorm over the weekend. I had family visiting from California and Montana, and they did enjoy seeing the huge waves on Beach Drive. Thank you all so much for your support of the Magazine Sale! Congratulations to all of the students, and 4A’s top seller Ruben Smith!
Enjoy a nice meal and ice cream and support Holy Rosary: Dine out this Wednesday, October 19th at Shelby’s Bistro (Junction) and 10% of proceeds will be donated to HRS. Here’s the menu.
IOWA Testing: The students too one short test last Thursday to get the ball rolling. Testing will continue all this week. As mentioned last week, homework will be very light. Be sure your child gets plenty of rest, eats a healthy, protein rich breakfast, brings a healthy snack and water bottle.
Mid-trimester Reports will come home this Friday. This report will not have letter/percentage grades. The 4-3-2-1 standards-based scoring system will be used. At this point in the trimester do not expect to see 4’s except perhaps for spelling tests and certain social and work skills. We are early in the year. A “4” means the student is going above and beyond–exceeding expectations. At this point in the year it is not appropriate to give a “4” in most subject areas as we have not had the opportunity to delve deep enough into the content to warrant this exceptional score. 4-3-2-1 scores do not equate to A-B-C-D grades. Please refer to the explanation of each numerical score when looking at your child’s report. The students are off to a great start this year and should be very proud of their progress. Thank you, and please let me know if you have any questions.
Saints! The reading parts for the All Saint’s Day Mass will be assigned this week. Those students with parts will have a copy in their filer to practice at home. Ms. Mudge has been working with the students on the litany during music class. All students should continue to review the Prayer of St. Francis. Several students have already recited the prayer from memory. The students will be finishing up their saint reports this week. I am so proud of the effort and attention they are putting into this project.
On Tuesday afternoon we will have a fun and educational visit from the Pike Place Market Education Coordinator, Scott Davies. He will give the students an overview and history of the Market in preparation for our filed trip next month.
Reading: Ms. Corrigan and I will be completing running records for each of the students this week. Running records allow us to monitor the students oral reading comprehension, accuracy and fluency (WPM). Look for corrected vocabulary and comprehension tests on the first four chapters of Charlotte’s Web in your child’s filer this week. We will move forward with the story, focusing on character traits, vocabulary and sequencing of events.
Religion/LA: Our focus this week will be finishing up our Saint Reports, the Saint Mass and an introduction to the Beatitudes, which tie in perfectly with our study of the Saints. There will not be a spelling test this week.
Science: This week we will be installing the insulation to our solar ovens. Last week we analyzed the data based on temperature loss. We also made our reflector flaps, attached our clear plastic to view the inside of our ovens without causing heat loss, and attached the holders for our rulers which control our reflector flaps. We will also use environmental factors to help us make our final insulation decisions.
Social Studies: Look for corrected NE State map tests in your child’s filer. The students did well overall. We will be heading south this week with the SE States. A new study sheet will be in your child’s filer and on the website in the Map Skills tab. The students will be tested on this new set of states in a combination NE/SE test on Friday, November 4th. Corrected latitude and longitude tests will be coming home by Wednesday.
Be sure to check your child’s filer regularly for corrected tests and remove them from the filers. Thank you!
- Get a good night’s sleep each night
- No spelling test
- Review for NE/SE State test (on November 4th)
- Read nightly in a book of choice. Include some oral reading
- Review multiplication and/or division facts for speed recall
- Recorder practice
- Prayer of St. Francis