Sept. 6, 2016

Hello Parents,

     We had a short busy week but it was filled with good practice of routines and new learning.  This is not to mention how glad we all were to see one another.   Our room is newly painted for those of you. who did not make the Meet Your Teacher Night.  Additionally, there is no fountain in our room anymore so please send a water bottle to school.  We are using a different model from last year and both Miss Willis and Mrs. Siegler should be emailed or contacted since Miss Willis rotates between both third grade and our class.

     Lots of H.O.C. money has been collected!  The amount of coins is a bit overwhelming so it would be great if someone would volunteer to help Mrs. Lackley with adding it all up.  Please keep collecting and we will hope to see the cans again at the end of September.  WE STILL NEED A FATHER(OR TWO) TO CHAPERONE OUR H.O.C. TRIP ON OCT.12-14TH.

     Tonight Book Talk forms for September will be coming home.  The Fourth Grade reading homework expectation is for 20-30 minutes of reading a night.  A Book Talk will be expected each month on one of the books that your child has read.  Please don't let them wait until Sept. 29th to write it.  Pacing is a skill that needs to be taught!

     We started a Geology Study last week, where we shared our own rocks, sorted others and learned that there are three types of rocks.  We will continue with small cooperative group activities as we learn about minerals this week.  We have a field trip to the ECHO Science Center in Burlington on Friday, Sept. 30th from 8:00-3:30.  We need two chaperones to join us as we learn about the geology of Lake Champlain.

      4th Grade math is off to a great start. We began with math stations last week to give students the opportunity to refresh their math brain and get back into the swing of working with their classmates. They worked incredibly hard and we were very impressed to see how well they worked together and how much they enjoyed playing math games and doing surveys with each other. This week we are beginning our first math unit “Multiple Towers and Division Stories”. Students will begin by exploring the different strategies we use to multiply and divide and creating stories to go along with equations. It is especially important in this unit for students to know their multiplication facts in order to be efficient and confident in their strategies. We will be sending home flash-cards to work on fluency at home. Thank you for helping to keep these facts fresh!

Best,
Cindy & Kelley