Week of October 26th

untitledDear 4A Families,

Happy last week of October.

I am so proud of the hard work and focus the students have been putting into so many days of testing! We completed the IOWA tests last Friday. The CogAT tests begin Monday and will be completed on Wednesday. This test is less time consuming, with shorter sessions. Homework will be remain light.

The big day is this Friday, October 30th , for the All Saints Day Mass!

Students should come to school dressed as their saint—be sure to be right on time in the morning as we will head over to church just after 8:30 to set up.

You will find a “Reserved for Saint……..” in each pew. If you are able to come to the Mass, look for your child’s reserved sign and sit in the pew with them. Please do not take pictures before or during the service. We will remain in the church following the service for pictures. If it is not raining we will go outside for pictures on the steps. Also, please leave the “Reserved for” signs in the Church after Mass as we will need them on Sunday. You may take them home following the Sunday Mass. This is always such a wonderful service for everyone and special tradition for the 4th grade students. Thank you for your assistance at home practicing the Prayer of St. Francis and getting the costumes prepared.

If the saints would like to come up to the room a bit early—8:10 on Friday—that would be okay, especially if it is raining. Thank you for all your help in preparing your little saint.

untitledSunday, November 1st the Mass begins at 10:30. I believe that we turn our clocks back one hour this weekend—so be sure your time is correct. It is nice the students will get an extra hour of sleep after Halloween. The students (saints) will meet at the back of the church to march in as they did on Friday. Your reserved signs will be in the pews. There may be some changes of position from the Friday Mass as there will be several students from the Faith Formation classes joining us.

Please let me know if you have any questions about either of the Masses.
Friday is also a special day because we will be having our Halloween Party! Thank you to our room moms, Christina Kline animated_gif_halloween_433and Kristin Bentler for organizing the party. Here is a little message from them:  The Halloween party is taking place this Friday at 2 PM. We’re looking for two volunteers to help. You can contact Christina or myself. Also we have the moms night out on Sunday, November 1 at 7 PM at Mission.  Thank you!

 Veteran’s Day HW Project: Next Monday the 3rd the students will be bringing home a flag for a Veterans Day homework assignment. Each student will be asked to write about a Veteran (family member or friend) on this flag. You can be talking with your child a bit about this person in preparation for the activity. If you do not know a Veteran there are many sites online to learn about Veterans. Here is one you can explore. No need to worry about any writing until the directions and flag template come home next Monday.

Religion: On Monday the students in 4A will have their lesson on “Touching Safety” I previously described in the October 12th newsletter. Please talk to your child about what he/she learned and the “Touching Rules” we discussed. Each student will have a paper in his/her filer to show you. The 4th grade “saints” will be visiting the kindergarten and third grade classes to teach about their saints at some point following the Mass. Our religion studies will be focused on the Corporal Works of Mercy. As we move into the Season of Advent in just a few weeks, it is the perfect time to learn about the actions we are called to take throughout our lives to help those less fortunate and be Christ’s hands in the world! We will also be incorporating our Steps to Respect lessons into both our religion and language arts lessons for the weeks ahead.

Prayer of St. Francis: Many students have already recited the prayer.  All students need to recite the prayer either in front of the class or to me individually by this Wednesday, the 28th.

Math: We will be moving back into a more normal math routine with the conclusion of our standardized testing. We have a few lessons to complete our chapter on subtraction and addition. At home, students should continue to review multiplication—then division fact review.

Spelling: Because of the very busy week, which includes testing, All Saint’s Day Mass and Halloween there will be no spelling test again this week. The next list for next Friday, November 6th will be sent home on Friday.

Science: This week we will have a short week in Science to get ready for our All Saint’s Day mass on Friday. We will be analyzing our data from the tests we took on  Friday. We will be comparing this data with future tests we will conduct using heat lamps, and if possible the sun. A special thank you goes out to Ms. Simpson and Mrs. Richards who assisted with the test on Friday. I could not have done it without your help. The solar ovens will remain at school as we will be testing them further. The students did a great job and should be very proud of their accomplishments!

Social Studies: We are focusing on the Native People of Washington State, comparing and contrasting the Coastal Groups of Western Washington with the Plateau Groups of Western Washington. The students all received a study packet for the NE and SE state test, which will take place next Wednesday the 4th. Remember, the 4A website has several links to online state practice sites. These two sites let you practice by region: SITE ONE and SITE TWO.

Language Arts: The students will be completing their Saint Reports this week (several already have!) Once finished the students will be doing some creative Halloween writing.

aPumpkinBillyBear4KidsHOMEWORK:

  • Talk to your parents about the Touching Safety lesson
  • Review NE/SE states for November 4th test
  • Practice multiplication and/or division facts for speed recall
  • Read for 20 minutes
  • Practice recorder nightly

Have a wonderful week—thank you for all you do!

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