Week of October 31st

zz4f41be34animated-spider-gif-25Dear 4A Families,

Happy Halloween!! I was so proud of the wonderful job the 4th grade saints did at the Sunday Mass.  Tuesday, November 1st, we will honor the Saints again at the 8:45 am Mass for the whole school.  The students should come to school dressed as their saint—be sure to be right on time at 8:15—on Tuesday,  as we will head over to church just after 8:30 to set up.  Thank you all for the time and preparation you have put into the costumes.

Following the Mass the students will be visiting kindergarten and third grade students in their costumes to teach about their saints.

The students will enjoy a fun Halloween party at the end of the day on Monday.  Thank you to all that are helping out, and special thanks to our room mom, Joeanna Purdie for organizing the event.

It will be good to move back to a more normal routine now that the IOWA and CogAT tests are completed and the Masses are just about complete.  Only three weeks until conferences begin.  If you have not yet signed up for a conference time please visit this site to select your day and time.  I look forward to meeting with you.

zz36f84ecfPike Place Market: Next Tuesday the 8th we will be heading off to wonderful Pike Place Market.  If you have signed up to drive/chaperone, I will be sending out some information later this week via email.

zz343d6332Pike Market Food Drive:  

Our collections bins are ready to collect donations for the Pike Market Food Bank. The students will be coming home with little shopping lists.  Thank you so much your your support of this worthy cause.  We will collect donations right up until the 8th.

The list to the right is not comprehensive.  Any nonperishable food items are welcome.

On Tuesday I will send home the directions and materials for the Veterans Day Flag project I mentioned last week.  I will go over the project in detail in class so that the students know what to do. The project is due no later than Wednesday the 9th.  Next Thursday, the 10th, we will have a classroom prayer service to honor the Veterans using these flags.  If you do not have a family member or friend that is a veteran here is one site you can explore to find a Veteran to write about and honor.

untitledA Message About Recorder Homework from Ms. Mudge:

Students should be practicing notes, reviewing information, exercises and songs included on all pages up to page 5.  Special attention should be placed on how to properly hold the recorder (left hand is closest to the the mouth), and softly blow or “tongue” the notes.  Students should take extra care not to overblow the notes. We are learning how to correctly finger the B, A, and G notes on the recorder and identify these notes on the treble clef staff.  Students may always work ahead!  The students need to have both their recorder and book at school on Wednesdays and Thursdays for music class.  Thank you!

Social Studies: Our lessons this week will focus on some of the activities that Scott Davies left  for us when he visited the class.  The students should all be studying for their NE and SE state test, which will take place this Friday 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.  These two sites are good for practicing the abbreviations: Abb 1 and Abb 2.

Science: We are finishing up our unit on solar ovens. We will be ready to test them whenever Mother Nature decides to cooperate. Then we will move on to look at other forms of energy

Religion:  Our religion lessons will focus on the Works of Mercy.  This topic is a perfect follow up to our study of Saints as their lives model for us many ways to follow the Works of Mercy.

Math: Our essential question in math is; How are multiplication and division are related? The multiplication properties and division rules will be explored.  Students will learn about factors, multiples, prime and composite numbers.  As mentioned, mastery of multiplication and division facts for speed recall is necessary as it a skill that is used in most math objectives.  Thank you for your diligence at home setting aside regular focused time for your child to practice.

Reading: As we read and discuss each chapter the students are not only building comprehension and vocabulary skills, but they are also building an understanding of the various themes in the story.  We ask the students to look at the characters and events in ways that connect to their own lives and the world beyond the book.  To further build and practice vocabulary, the students will be bringing home a Charlotte’s Web vocabulary assignment later in the week. We will start the assignment at school, so the students will be able to continue the assignment at home on their own.  The completed assignment next Thursday the 10th.

Spelling: Lists for spelling lesson 23 on homophones were sent home last Friday. Students need to know both the spelling and correct use of each homophone.

Homework Overview

Enjoy your week everyone.  Have a safe Halloween.  Thank you for all you do!

have-fun-on-halloween