Dear 4A Families,
Happy last week of September! What a special treat it was to have West Fest return over the weekend. I enjoyed seeing quite a few students and parents when I attended on Friday. A huge thank you to all of the volunteers that worked so hard to make this event possible! The Bible Blessing at Mass last week was a wonderful experience. The students will be labeling the Four Gospels in their Bibles as we start to learn to navigate our Bibles and look up readings.
Just a reminder to check your child’s filer several times a week. The first section, School/Home, is where students will place graded papers, HW for the night, notes and other important information. Please remove notes and graded papers. On Monday you should find corrected spelling, math, reading assessments (2) and a reading worksheet. We also encourage you to have your child read what they have written in their assignment book to you. This is a great way to keep up on daily work and upcoming assessments. If you notice your child’s planner is not neat, or does not seem complete, please let me know. We write in the planners Monday-Thursday. Thank you!
Holy Rosary Picture Day is scheduled for Tuesday, September 27
Yuen Lui Studio will photograph individual portraits of students
- Families can save on shipping and preorder photos here:
2022-23 Holy Rosary School Picture Day 9/27
- Print preorders will be shipped to the school and distributed to students at school within three weeks after the picture day
- Digital preorders will be sent via email from no-reply@imagequix.com within three weeks after the picture day (use “no-reply@imagequix.com “ to search your inbox/spam folders if you don’t see the email come through)
- Photos will be available to view after the bulk order is placed (about a week after picture day) — families can view and order photos using their student’s school ID number — these print orders are shipped directly to students’ homes (+ a shipping fee) within 10-14 business days after the order is placed; digital images will be sent via email from no-reply@imagequix.com to the address provided within 10-14 business days after the order is placed
- Retake day is scheduled for November 3 and Class Group photos are scheduled for April 25
- For questions, please contact customerservice@yuenluischools.com
I love this time of year, and the students will be busy with some fun projects, especially their upcoming saint reports. The bulk of the report will be created at school, but we will be asking for some important parent homework assistance the week of October 3rd, to help your child learn about his/her saint. Please read below.
The Saints Are Coming!
Next Monday, October 3rd, each student will be assigned the saint that they will write their report on as well as portray at the All Saints Day Mass. The 4th grade teachers have collected a wonderful assortment of amazing saints, with kid friendly information that they can use to write their reports. I will randomly pass out a saint to each student, as well as give them the opportunity to trade or look at extras to exchange. This process works very well. I do try to give students saints with their names if we have them. If your family has a request for a particular saint that holds special meaning to your family, please email me no later than this Thursday the 29th. We will do our best to accommodate your request. Some saints have very little information, which makes it difficult to write a report.
Looking Ahead: All of the work for the saint report will take place at school except for one homework assignment that the students will work on with you next week. Detailed directions for this homework assignment will be in your child’s filer on Monday, October 3rd, and will also be available on the website in PDF form. The students will be fully prepped on how to tackle this homework assignment after taking part in a detailed example we complete at school. It is very important that parents also take time to carefully read through the directions of this assignment. We give the students three nights for this work to provide ample time to thoughtfully work on the assignment each night. Your assistance in helping your child read the materials and understand their saint is so helpful! Please be sure the list of facts and all highlighted materials come back to school on Thursday, October 6th when we will begin the rough drafts of the report.
Religion Our religion this week will focus on some introductory lessons on both our newly blessed Bibles and the Saints. Students will learn that the Saints are models of faith and virtue, and that following their example helps us grow in holiness.
All students will have two copies of the Prayer of St. Francis in their filers on Monday. Students should practice the prayer daily at home for memorization. We encourage the students to keep a copy of this prayer by their bed and say it before they go to sleep each night. What a beautiful prayer to end the day with! We will also say the prayer daily at school. The students should have the prayer memorized no later than October 26th.
Math: Our MAP testing this week is in the area of math on Wednesday and Thursday Our class work will focus on finishing up Chapter One and reviewing for the chapter test. On Monday night the students will have HW that is a test review. Please take time to talk to your child about the review sheet and assist as needed. In class Tuesday the 27th, we will go over the HW and take the Chapter One test.
Thank you for signing up for Xtramath. XtraMath helps students transition from counting or calculating the basic math facts to recalling them. Quickly recalling math facts, instead of calculating them, frees up mental resources for higher-level operations. Success with fact mastery requires regular, focused practice. Thank you for encouraging your child in this area.
Spelling: Spelling lists for next week’s test were passed out last Friday. The test will be this Friday as usual. This week’s words all contain the long “a” sound.
Reading: Students continue to practice identifying different examples of figurative language in tall tales: simile, metaphor, idiom, hyperbole, personification, alliteration and onomatopoeia.
Fourth graders illustrate with paint and crayon resist various examples of hyperbole found in the texts.
Throughout the school year, students will frequently refer to their interactive reading notebook and use charts like this as a reference when reading about or writing with figurative language.
This week will begin our unit of study on E.B. White’s masterpiece, Charlotte’s Web. Even if your child has read this book before, we will delve into themes and vocabulary that will both inspire and challenge the students. Charlotte’s Web is a beautiful expression of true friendship. The story is also masterfully written to reinforce and build advanced vocabulary and comprehension skills. The book lends itself perfectly to our reading standards and target skills—and never ceases to enchant! (You can probably tell the 4th grade teachers love this book!)
Science: This week the students will be investigating how the differences in lava types explain the differences in the shape and eruption patterns among volcanoes. We will be doing a fun Bubble Trouble hands on activity comparing thin and thick lava. They will use this information to figure out why volcanoes have different shapes and how the type of lava explains why some volcanoes explode!
Social Studies: The Continent and Ocean test will take place Thursday, September 27th. The students will have a word bank for the test. All students need to have the continent poem memorized by September 30th. We have been learning about latitude and longitude and reading maps in Social Studies. The students will apply this knowledge as they locate places using latitude/longitude coordinates, as well as read different types of maps including precipitation, population and elevation.
Thank you for your continued support of the magazine sale.
Have an excellent week everyone!
Ms. Simpson