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Miss C. Schenk
4th Grade« October 2009 | Main | December 2009 »
November 20, 2009
Dear Parents,
Thanksgiving is almost here! At school we have done several Thanksgiving writing assignments one of which is posted in our classroom. Didn’t our class do a great job at School Family today? They worked really hard! To celebrate our successful School Family and to wrap up our last novel, we watched Charlotte’s Web today.
Next week is a very short week. We will only be in school on Tuesday for a full day and Wednesday for a half day. I hope all of you will be here, but if your child will not be at school please make up the following work.
Science: Read p. 144-147, do the questions p. 147
Math: Lesson 42-all problems
Our language test will be on Tuesday. Please study for it with your child. Also on Tuesday, we will be having our Thanksgiving party. It will be between recess and lunch, 10:15-12:15. There is a flyer in your Friday folder asking you to bring one item for our feast. If you are not planning to be here, please email me telling me what item you were assigned. During the party we will be making crafts and eating our feast.
The day you get back from Thanksgiving break, November 30th, is our next books of the Bible test. This test is on the New Testament books of 1 Timothy-Revelation. Please study for that. The last books of the Bible test is on Monday, December 7th. For that test students will be writing all 66 books of the Bible from Genesis through Revelation.
Tuesday, December 1st is our trip across campus to see the Glory of Christmas. Only students are invited. Sorry parents! Please make sure your child is wearing full Friday uniform.
Don’t forget to work on your mission reports. They are due on Thursday, December 3rd. Please make sure they are typed. Remember, parents can type them, but you need to type what your child wrote not what YOU think sounds good.
Friday, December 4th is the end of the grading period for progress reports. This time only students getting a C or lower in a subject will receive a progress report. The progress reports will be mailed on Thursday, December 10th.
God bless,
Miss Schenk
November 13, 2009
Dear Parents,
Yesterday I passed back the mission report rough drafts. I met with each student to discuss the changes or additions are needed for the final draft. Please see the notes I wrote. If you have questions, please let me know. The item that was overlooked the most was the bibliography. That is crucial! I need to see where your students got their information. Remember that you need to use three TYPES of sources. For example you can use a book, internet site, and an encyclopedia. Three internet sites still count as one type of source. I could tell that on some of the reports that there was plagiarism and on others that parents “helped” a little too much. I know how each student writes, and I would like the report to reflect their voice. Sometimes less help is better than too much help. The final drafts are due on Thursday, December 3rd. Please make sure you have a report cover, title page, introduction, body, conclusion, bibliography, floor plan, and pictures. Refer to your mission report packet for more specific details. Remember that the final draft needs to be typed. You can type what your child has written, but please don’t “fix” it for them.
Monday is the next books of the Bible test. Your child should already know the entire Old Testament. If they don’t, please keep working on it. The test will be on Monday, November 16th. Students need to be able to write Matthew-2 Thessalonians from memory. Remember that spelling doesn’t count, but the books need to be in order.
Next week’s spelling test on list 12 will be on Thursday as usual.
Our School Family performance on punctuality is next Friday, November 20th. Please keep that on your calendar. Please also demonstrate that characteristic by coming on time (wink, wink). We’ve been working hard to make it a success. If you child hasn’t memorize their lines yet, please help them do that over the weekend. They should each have a script with their parts. Please arrive by 8:00 a.m. on that Friday. I will pick students up on the playground at 8, bring them to the classroom to drop off their stuff, and walk them to the theater. If you come after we’ve left, please walk your child into the theater.
Our Christmas program is coming up in a few weeks. It’s on Monday, December 14 at 7:00 p.m. Attendance is mandatory and it is part of your child’s music grade.
Starting this week, I am going to be sending home your child’s math homework for correction if they miss 5 or more. It will be stapled inside their assignment book. I will also write “math” on their assignment book page so you would know it was there even if they tear it off. Please help your child redo those problems. I want to see the work, not just an answer. This is to help you be aware of how your child is doing. I’m starting to see a little bit of a dip in the math grades as we are moving from review into new concepts. Our next math test, which covers lessons 36-40, will be next Wednesday, November 18th.
The next history test (on chapter 4) will be next Thursday, November 19th. The chapter review on pages 100-101 is due on Monday. Students must do all parts except “Summing up the Chapter.” Please help your child review for the test. I would suggest that you plan to study at least 10 minutes a day from now until the test.
Keep in mind the upcoming dates. Monday, November 23rd is a non-student day. Tuesday, November 24th is a regular day. Wednesday, November 25th is a minimum day. We have Thursday and Friday, November 26th-27th off for Thanksgiving.
The day we come back from Thanksgiving vacation, Monday, November 30th, we will have another books of the Bible test. At that time students should know 1 Timothy-Revelation.
During the holiday season I know there are many requests on your time and finances. I want to encourage you to participate in some of our school mission projects. We are currently collection shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child. They are due next Friday, November 20th. Our class is also sponsoring a little girl named Margaret who lives in Kenya. Remember to bring in your coins during the year to support her. We have a large class piggy bank to collect our chore money. Several students have already brought in baggies of money. Thanks!
I hope that your child is getting better at studying for tests, especially in history and science. Here is another strategy to try. This is from http://www.teachersandfamilies.com/open/parent/homework4.cfm
• Help your child learn effective reading techniques such as SQ3R, where the reader:
• Surveys: Looks over the material before beginning to read to obtain a general orientation.
• Questions: Writes down questions about the material before beginning to read.
• Reads through the material in the normal way.
• Recites and Writes: Writes down or gives the answers to another person.
• Reviews: Goes over the material several times before being tested.
God bless,
Miss Schenk
November 05, 2009
Dear Parents,
We’re into November now! Your report cards should be coming home soon. If you have any questions or would like to schedule a conference, please let me know.
This week was full of tests so expect to find many returned in your Friday folders. If your child got less than 70% on a test, you will find a space for your signature on the test. Please sign and return the tests within two days of receiving them. I have this procedure in order for you to be aware of your child’s progress and catch any problems before it is too late. Starting with this week’s tests, your child will lose 5 minutes of recess for every day it is late. This means that the first day it’s late they will sit out for 5 minutes. The next day if they still don’t have it, they will sit out for 10 minutes and so on. I am starting this policy for the second quarter because so many tests did not come back in the first quarter.
Next Monday, November 9th, is the next science test on chapter 4. Please help your child study. The class is doing well overall on multiple choice and matching questions. They will need the most help with critical thinking questions. One of the questions on this upcoming test is, “Why do large herbivores such as bison and elephants live in grasslands rather than in tropical rain forests?” Please help your child come up with answers to this question. There are four other questions that will require the same strategies to answer. Help your child put pieces of information together in order to arrive at a conclusion.
Don’t forget that next Wednesday, November 11th, there is no school. Enjoy Veteran’s Day!
Next week’s spelling test is on list 11. I accidentally put list 9 for this week when it was list 10. We tend to stick the review lists such as list 9. Sorry for any confusion. This week’s test on list 11 will be on Friday, November 13th due to the day off on Wednesday.
We have started working on our School Family on punctuality. Please plan to join us on Friday, November 20th. We have five groups of three people each who are writing skits to teach others about being on time. It’s going to be great!
The penny battle is on! Don’t forget to bring pennies to put in our class tub and silver coins to bomb other classes with.
If you are ordering wreaths or Christmas baskets the orders are due Monday, November 9th.
God bless,
Miss Schenk
P.S. My glory table night is Saturday, December 5th, if you want to sign up to help.
