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October 28, 2015

10/28/2015

Static Electricity Halloween Science Lab

All Saint Mass this Thursday - students should wear their dress uniform to school because we have mass in the morning. They need to bring their PE uniform to school to change into. They should have a bag labeled with their name on it for the uniform so that it is not lost!

Halloween Carnival this Friday- students come to school in their Halloween costume and stay in it all day. Thank you so much to all volunteers that day!! We couldn't do it without you!

Keep in mind school dress code rules in regards to costumes: no blood, gore, weapons, violent or explicit messages, clothing that is too tight or revealing.

Students should also bring a bag for trick-or-treating at the nursing home. Thank you to my drivers: Lane Miller ,Lisa Ronco, Angie Sciarrino, Lisa Black, Stephanie Pena, Rhonda Quick and Lori Mendes

Math - I will be differentiating math lessons for this next chapter so that I can best support students' needs. Homework will be differentiated as well. If you have any questions regarding this, please do not hesitate to ask.

Book Reports- students should have checked out a classic novel for their next book report. We went over the directions for the report in class today. They are also posted on my website. This report is due on December 11th. I recommend that students finish their novels before September 1st so that they have plenty of time to do their report. This is an at home project. I advised students to take notes as they read and also to start the project as soon as they finish their novel. They can get the "newspaper" paper from me upon request.

The first trimester is ending in a few weeks. I have a huge stack of no-name papers and many students are missing several assignments. (Please see my late/make-up work policy). Please check gradelink with your child to make sure that they are all caught up. There should be no surprises when report cards come out.

Coming Up next week
Sister Eva is visiting next Wednesday!
Noon dismissal next Friday 11/6
Mid-chapter math quiz next Friday
Unit 1 Grammar test next Wednesday
Students can bring in a t-shirt for art on Friday- we will be working with clay.

Academic Areas of Focus this Week
Reading Genre: persuasive articles
Reading Skill: main idea and key details
Vocabulary Strategy: suffixes
Word Study: long i vowel sounds
Writing: legends
Math: multiplication
Science: Life Science
Social Studies: California Native Americans
Religion: God's Creation

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October 21, 2015

10/21/2015

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The Bishop is coming to Saint James next Wednesday 10/28. Students are expected to stay at school until they are dismissed from the church between 3:20 and 3:30. This is a very special opportunity for our school! Parents are welcomed and encouraged to join us.

Unity Day- today Saint James celebrates "Unity Day" by wearing orange and spreading the message of acceptance, inclusion, and kindness. This day is being celebrated by schools all over the country today.

Book Reports are expected to be completed by Friday. Your child will print their report at school but may be required to finish their "cover page" at home if it is not finished in class.

Music Test- students will be taking a music test on chorus lyrics of their Christmas Pageant song this Friday with Mrs. Oldham. They each have a copy of the lyrics and are expected to be able to write them.

Halloween Carnival Forms are due tomorrow. This is to pre-order tickets and Rita's. Both will also be available for sale at the carnival.

We still need more volunteers for the day of! Please sign up on the link above.

Students may wear appropriate costumes: no weapons, no excessive gore and blood, no wheels, and students must be able to see and sit comfortably in class. There is a Parade of Costumes immediately after the 8:00am bell.

All Saints Mass is next Thursday 10/29. Students should be dressed in their mass uniforms and bring PE clothes to change into.

We are headed to the Nursing Home next Friday 10/30 to Trick-or-Treat. Thank you to my parent drivers: Lane Miller, Lisa Ronco, Angie Sciarrino, Lisa Black, Stephanie Pena, Rhonda Quick and Lori Mendes.

Academic Areas of Focus this Week
Reading Genre: narrative nonfiction
Reading Skill: cause and effect
Vocabulary Strategy: context clues
Word Study: long E vowel sounds
Writing: book reports
Math: preparing for chapter 3 test
Science: Life Science
Social Studies: California Native Americans
Religion: God's Creation

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October 14, 2015

10/14/2015

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I have 3 parents signed up to assist with the Halloween Carnival - thank you Kat Vosberg, Rhonda Quick, and Jennay Gunderson. We need at least 10 more volunteers in order to run our booths. Please use the link above to sign up. Also, if anyone is willing to chair the carnival for the 4th grade please contact me so that I can give you the information for our booths.

Nursing Home Visit 10/30- the 4th grade will also be visiting the nursing home on the day of the carnival. We are trying to confirm the time with the coordinator there but our plan is to go from 10:30-11:30, come back eat lunch, and head straight out to the carnival. Students may wear their costumes to school all day that day. Keep in mind costumes need to be school appropriate and not too gory.

Homework Policy- just a reminder that homework is not optional. This includes reading 20 minutes per night. Please encourage your child to use the homework planner as a guide and to check it every single night. Homework that is turned in late will go down half a grade for each day that it is late - even if the student did the assignment and forgot it at home. Part of doing homework is learning responsibility.

Gradelink- please make it a habit to check gradelink weekly. Assignments that are over 2 weeks late will note be accepted. Students may re-take quizzes and tests that they scored below a 75% on. Students who wish to re-take tests must make an appointment with me and let me know at least a day in advance so that I can have a copy ready for them.

Oops Slips- students will receive an "oops slip" if they forget their iPad at home or if it is not charged (among other school-wide infractions). Two oops slips result in a parent e-mail or phone call, 3 slips results in a 30 minutes detention to be served that day after school. This is per trimester. Everybody forgets to charge their ipad once in a while, it is not the end of the world. But if it becomes a pattern, then the student will have to deal with the consequences. Thank you for your support.

Coming Up
Science Test this Friday - we used a supplemental text for unit 1 of science. We read and took notes on this information in class. If students would like a copy of that text to re-read have them talk to me after school. The study guide was sent home last week and is also on my website.

Chapter 3 Math test next Thursday. This chapter went very quickly, it is a lot of review!

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October 7, 2015

10/7/2015

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STEM Activity: parachute design and engineering

Volunteer Sign Up

Announcements:

Sunscreen- In an effort to encourage SPF among all students we are going to have a basket by the classroom door where students can put sunscreen sticks. The students have PE in the afternoon on both Mondays and Thursdays (On Thursdays they are out from lunch until 1:45) so it is very important that students are protecting their skin from the sun. I will remind students before going out to lunch to apply their SPF. If you would like your child to apply sunscreen at school please send in a sunscreen stick with their name on it in sharpie. Thanks!

Publishing Party- The class is just finishing up their first published writing pieces of the year. Each student wrote a personal narrative and went through the entire writing process. Brainstorming, prewriting, story mapping, drafting, revising, editing (on their own and with their peers) and finally publishing. To celebrate this we will have a publishing party this Friday after mass where each student will read their piece aloud in front of the class. Parents are welcomed to join us for this celebration. If anyone would like to bring in juice and/or cookies, let me know! :) I apologize for the short notice but it is difficult to plan in advance with writing as the students are all in different phases of the writing process.

Classroom Volunteers: I need 2 volunteers to help in the classroom with an art project next Friday 10/16 and the follow Friday 10/23 from 10:30-11:25. I am including the link to the classroom volunteer sign-up if you are interested and available :)

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0d4aafad29a57-volunteer

Halloween Carnival: On that same note, we also need volunteers to help out with the 4th grade booths at the Halloween carnival. I typically ask for 2 parents to work each booth for one hour shifts. Again, please use the link to sign up. Thank you!

*Keep in mind we are also going to the nursing home that day from 10:30-11:30. I SO appreciated all of my awesome volunteers!*

Pumpkin Project: A flier is going home for a fun family project: the annual pumpkin decorating contest! This is a tradition that I brought to Saint James because when I was in elementary school my family LOVED participating in this fun Halloween event each year. Please see flier in your students homework folder and start brainstorming :)

3rd Grade Buddies: I am happy to announce that the 4th grade is teaming up with 3rd grade to participate in friendship/community building activities for the next several weeks. Our focus is on promoting friendship, inclusion, and anti-bullying. As of now, we have partnered up each 4th grader with a new 3rd grade friend to sit with at lunch and get to know. The 4th graders act as beautiful role models and the 3rd graders are so excited to be spending time with their "older friends". More information on this to come! :)

Science Extra Credit due Friday. An extra credit STEM activity went home on Monday. If students complete the assignment they can earn up to 2 extra credit points on their science test next week.

Book Reports: students should be finishing up their book report novels by Friday. Please make sure your child is bringing this book with them to school on Friday and everyday for the next week. Thank you!

Attendance Shout Out: just wanted to give the class a compliment on how great attendance has been so far this year. We have had every student present almost every single day this year. Thank you for making that effort to be at school, on time, and prepared for learning each day. Keep up the good work!! :)

Coming Up
Chapter 2 math test Thursday
Prayer of Saint Francis test Friday (students must be able to write the prayer)
Unit 1 Science test next Friday on the Scientific Method - study guide will go home at the end of this week

Academic Areas of Focus this Week
Reading Genre: expository text
Reading Skill: compare and contrast
Vocabulary Strategy: multiple meaning words
Word Study: long E vowel sounds
Grammar: subjects and predicates
Writing: personal narratives
Math: addition and subtraction strategies
Science: The Scientific Method
Social Studies: California Keynote Presentation
Religion: Saint Francis

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Weekly News

October 28, 2015

Static Electricity Halloween Science Lab

October 21, 2015

October 14, 2015

October 7, 2015

STEM Activity: parachute design and engineering

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