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Miss C. Schenk
4th Grade« September 2009 | Main | November 2009 »
October 29, 2009
Dear Parents,
We had a great spiritual emphasis week! Ask your child about our special Wednesday School Family, the Rob Biagi concert, and our chocolate cake object lesson. Thank you for turning in your Sacramento deposits. Remember that the rest of your payments should be sent directly to Travel Teens by the dates outlined in your payment plan.
The end of the first quarter of school was today. I will not be accepting anymore late work. Please help your child start off the next quarter on a good note completing all of their homework each day. It’s a fresh start, so take advantage of it.
Monday is the next books of the Bible test. Students should know the whole Old Testament, Genesis through Malachi. Remember that they need to memorize them in order, but no points will be deducted for spelling errors as long as I can tell what word your child was trying to write.
Tuesday we will be taking a test on Charlotte’s Web. We finished reading the book yesterday, and we celebrated Spider Day today. Tuesday’s test will ask students to recall the different characters in our book as well as important events.
The book fair starts on Monday. Our class will be visiting the book fair as a class on Wednesday. If you want your child to buy things then, you may send them with money. See your book fair flyer for more information. The next math test on lessons 31-35 is also on Wednesday.
The spelling test on list 9 will be on Thursday. That is also the day that report cards will be mailed.
Mission report rough drafts are due on Friday, November 6th. You have one more week! I hope you’ve already done the majority of your research and are already working on your written report. Remember that even though it’s a rough draft, it should be the best your student can do on their own. They should check spelling, punctuation, etc. before they turn it into me the first time.
Wednesday, November 11th is a non-student day in observance of Veteran’s Day.
Our first School Family of the year will be on Friday November 20th. Mark your calendars and plan to join us on that day. Our character trait is punctuality. We will begin writing and rehearsing our skits next week.
God bless,
Miss Schenk
October 22, 2009
Dear Parents,
Can you believe we are already nearing the end of October? In this week’s Friday folder you will find a flyer about Spider Day. It contains information and an item to bring for the party. There are a few changes that need to be made from the flyer. Please disregard the part about wearing full uniforms on Spider Day. We do not have School Family that day. In addition to the item(s) I assigned you to bring, please also bring in one apple. Please email me with additional questions.
Next week is spiritual emphasis week. We will be having a special chapel on Wednesday at our normal School Family time of 8:45 a.m. We will have a special Rob Biagi concert in the gym on Thursday from 9:00-9:45. Friday, there will be no chapel, but we will have an activity to go along with spiritual emphasis week in our classroom.
You will be receiving your child’s first science test back. The test was out of 50 possible points. You will see the 50 crossed out and replaced with a 46. By subtracting four points from the possible total, I eliminated four questions from counting against your child which made each grade go up. There were several students that got over 100%. Nice work! For anyone that is worried about their grade, there will be an extra credit opportunity to be assigned next week. This is the first test, which usually means it is the hardest. That does not mean their score doesn’t matter, but it hopefully means that next time the score will be higher.
We have a history test on chapter three next Wednesday, October 29th. Please begin studying for that test in advance.
Next Friday is the end of the 1st quarter. Any missing work must be turned in by Friday in order for me to have time to grade it. I will not accept late work after Friday.
Remember that your mission report rough draft is due on November 6th. You received instructions about what to do in last week’s Friday folder. If you have questions or concerns please see me. If possible, please choose a mission other than San Juan Capistrano in order to expand your knowledge base about missions. Taking a trip to the mission that you choose provides valuable information for your child. Please help your child research information, but emphasize that the report needs to be done in their own words. I can usually tell if the work comes from a parent or source other than the child.
Important dates:
Monday, November 2nd: Books of the Bible test Genesis-Malachi (all of the Old Testament)
Thursday, November 5th: Report cards are mailed
Wednesday, November 11th: No School-Veteran’s Day observed
God bless,
Miss Schenk
October 16, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
Dear Parents,
This week started with our trip to Mission San Juan Capistrano. Thank you all for making sure that you dropped off and picked up your children on time. The whole trip went very smoothly. I hope your child enjoyed it. Thank you again for all of the parents who came along as chaperones. Your help was greatly appreciated.
Next week is Red Ribbon Week. Don’t forget that Monday is 50’s day. You can dress in a 50’s outfit or your regular uniform. This is NOT a free dress day. We will have an assembly with Retro Bill on Monday morning from 9:30-10:15. All week long, you can decorate your uniform with red accessories. Show your support!
Don’t forget that your Sacramento deposits are due Monday, October 26th. It is $50 a person. Please make checks out to Travel Teens and bring them to school. I hope that many of you are planning to join us on this trip.
Upcoming Dates:
Monday October 19th: Science Test Chapter 3
Thursday October 22nd: Spelling Test AND Math test lessons 26-30
Friday October 23rd: Miss Schenk will be absent, you’ll have a substitute
Thursday October 29th: History Chapter 3 Test
Monday November 2nd: Books of the Bible test-All of the Old Testament (Genesis- Malachi)
Friday November 6th: Mission Report Rough Draft due
God bless,
Miss Schenk
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(tear off and return by Monday, October 19th)
Sacramento Trip
______ My child will be attending the field trip on March 4th AND I will turn in
the $50 deposit by October 26th.
______ My child will not be attending the trip.
______ I will be attending the trip with my child and turn in my $50 deposit in
addition to my child’s $50 deposit.
October 08, 2009
Our first field trip of the year is to mission San Juan Capistrano. We are going on Monday October 12h.We will be receiving a guided tour of the mission and taking a Mission Matters class in which students will make rope.
Students need to be in their uniforms for this trip. We are not requiring students to wear the full Friday uniform, however, uniforms are mandatory. If it is cold that day, make sure your child has a school jacket or sweater. We will be outside most of the day. If time permits, we will be visiting the gift shop. Please send no more than $10 with your child.
We will be traveling by train to the mission. We will meet at the Anaheim train station at 8:30 am on Monday October 12th. The station is about 5-10 minutes from school. The address is 2150 E. Katella Ave. in Anaheim. Parents are responsible for picking up and dropping off students on time at the station. If you are unable to take your child, please arrange for another parent to carpool. If you are doing that, you need to send us a note by Thursday, October 8th. We need to have written permission for that.
Our train leaves promptly at 9:09 and if you miss it you will not be able to travel with us which is why we are asking you to be there by 8:30. We will be taking the 566 train out of the Anaheim station. We will arrive at San Juan Capistrano at 9:48 and need to walk quickly across the street to the mission for our tour.
Students need to bring sack lunches that day. We will eat lunch after our mission tour and Mission Matters class. If you think you might get hungry before lunch, please bring a snack to eat during the train ride. All lunches and snacks must be disposable. (Use a paper or plastic bag rather than a lunch box.) Our train coming back will be the 579 train that leaves San Juan at 2:47. We will arrive back at the Anaheim station at 3:23. Please plan to arrive at 3:15 in order to be there to greet your child.
Thank you for allowing your child to join us on this special trip.
Don’t forget that there is no school tomorrow, Friday October 9th. Also don’t forget that Monday we will not see you at school. We will be meeting at the Anaheim train station in order to go to San Juan Capistrano. You can refer to your flyer for more information, but here are some important reminders. Be at the train station to drop off your child at 8:30 am and be there to pick them up by 3:15 pm. Students need to wear regular school uniforms and bring a sack lunch. Please don’t send more than $10 for the gift shop. It’s going to be a fun day! See you at the train station!
Progress reports should be mailed today. Every student is getting a report to show their current grades. If you child is receiving a C or below in a subject, they will also have a detailed report of that subject attached to their progress report. Please write a note in your child’s assignment book letting me know that you received the progress report. There is still time for grades to be improved before the 1st quarter report cards. If you child has a 0 on an assignment, it can be made up for half credit. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Next week, the spelling test will be on Friday due to the field trip on Monday. Your child to welcome to do their 3x each on the weekend if it will help them stay caught up during the week.
We also have our next Bible test coming up on Wednesday, October 14th. Every time we finish a unit, which can be as short as a week and a half, we will have a test. This unit is all based on highlights of the Bible from Creation-Joshua. Students will need to know characters such as Rachel, Abraham, Esau, Eve, Miriam, Adam, Hagar, Joshua, Moses, Sarai, Laban, and Pharaoh. I will be sending home a study guide for this unit. Please also read some of the stories again in your Bible.
Also on Wednesday we will be taking a language test. This test covers units 2 and 3 which are about different types of correspondence (friendly letter, business letter, postcard, addressing envelopes) and how to use an encyclopedia. Students need to be able to label the five parts of a friendly letter, write a thank you note, and determine which volume of an encyclopedia set to use to find a specific topic.
The Scholastic deadline for the October catalogues is on Monday. Remember that you can order online. The information came home in a previous Friday folder. If you have questions please let me know. You can also turn your order in to me. Please make sure to make the check payable to Scholastic. You cannot turn in cash.
Red Ribbon Week is coming u soon. It is the week of October 19th-23rd. Monday the 19th is 50’s day. You can dress in 50’s attire. If you choose not to wear 50’s attire, you need to wear your regular school uniform. This is NOT a free dress day. The rest of the week you can decorate your uniform with red. That Monday we will also have a special assembly in which we will be visited by Retro Bill.
Our class has earned 40 class points and has decided to redeem them for a game period on Tuesday, October 12th. The game period will be 11:30-12:15, just before lunch. You may bring LABELED board games as well as video games. If it is a video game, it needs to be rated E. No games other than E games will be allowed. Ipods are not allowed nor are cell phones. Remember that it is your responsibility to take care of your game. Our room will always be locked when we are not in it, but it is not anyone else’s job to take care of things you bring to school. Games may only be played during that period, not at recess, lunch, or daycare.
Don’t forget that your Sacramento deposit of $50 per person is due to me by Monday, October 26th. Please send in a check made out to Travel Teens.
Spider Day is on Friday, October 30th. It is a culmination event for our first novel, Charlotte’s Web. We will be learning about spiders and playing spider games. On this day students are also allowed to dress up as spiders. You can sew plastic spiders on shirts, decorate clothing with spider webs, etc. I will give you more information in the upcoming weeks. There will also be PIP opportunities coming soon both decorating for Spider Day as well as helping with activities in class that day.
God bless,
Miss Schenk
October 02, 2009
Dear Parents,
This week started off with our edible California maps. Our California cookies turned out great! We first labeled the four regions with different types of candy. The Oreos were the desert, the chocolate chips were the mountains, the sour strips were the Central Valley, and the blue gel was the Pacific Coast. The cookie maps looked great, and I hope they tasted great too!
You will be getting several tests coming home this week in the Friday folders. The math and spelling tests looked great. The Bible and history tests seemed to be harder for the students. It seemed like the hardest part of the history test was the thinking skills section. I curved the test by four points to account for the fact that some of the questions in that section were not very clear. The new scores are boxed. The Bible test was where most people struggled. The test scores were very high or very low with few in the middle. I will give students an opportunity to retake the test and I will average the two tests together for the final score. The retest will be on Monday. It will contain the same information in a different order. Anyone may retake the test, but it will mainly benefit those whose scores were 70% or less. For example, if you got 20/32 and then got 32/32. Your final score would be 52/64 which is a B- instead of a D-.
Progress reports will be sent home next week. Remember that everyone will get a progress report the first time. I will be sending home a report with your child’s grade for each subject. If your child has a 70% of lower, I will also send home a report for that specific subject. If you need help understanding the reports please let me know.
Monday is the first books of the Bible test. Your child needs to be able to write down the books from Genesis to Esther in order. Spelling does not count.
We are starting a new history unit on the Native Americans of California. We flew through the first two chapters quickly in order to be able to go more in-depth with some of the upcoming chapters. You will see that our history reading this month with be fewer pages each day than last month. Please use the extra time to begin studying for the test.
The biography poster assignment is due this Thursday, October 8th. Your child is hopefully done or nearly done reading their approved book. Take some time to finish up the poster. Please make sure you have worked neatly and checked your spelling and grammar.
Thursday is the list 5 spelling test.
Next Friday, October 9th, is a non-student day.
God bless,
Miss Schenk
