Week Four Rising!

Good morning and happy Monday, 4A families!

Here's what we'll be learning in class this week:

History: Will will continue our study of the countries of Europe and the early Middle Ages. Topics will include the split of the Catholic Church and its effects; the lives and contributions of medieval monks, scholars, and saints; and ways that knowledge was recorded in the period. The week's unit will conclude with a study of Charlemagne. 

Science:  A unit on electricity will follow our introduction to chemistry. Their prior knowledge of atoms will be employed in discussion of charges and static electricity. The week will conclude with a lab that will help them consider what makes something a conductor or insulator.

Language Arts: Spalding phonics continues. In grammar, students will master the noun and verb, and begin classifying and diagramming sentences. In Literature, they go deeper into the mines with Curdie and Princess Irene. This week, students discuss characterization. 

  

Math: Students will close the unit on multiples and factors. WE will then begin a four week multiplication unit, focused on 2, 3, and 4 digit multiplication, number order, and mastery of the multiplication tables. There will be nightly homework, and much work dedicated to the multiplication tables. 

Eclipse of Week 2...Introducing Week 3!

Next week in Class:

History: We are wrapping up our introductory survey of maps and will proceed next week to our first major unit, on Medieval Europe! By next Friday, students will have traced the fall of the Roman Empire and plunged headlong into the Dark Ages, as they're often known. (But how dark were they, really...?) 

Science:  Our chemistry unit continues apace. Having been introduced to the period table, students will next consider what happens when different elements mix. We'll take a quiz as well as a final unit test this upcoming week, and students will be encouraged to review their notes starting on Monday.

Language Arts:  Next week will follow a normal Spalding phonics schedule, with approximately ten words introduced per day (Monday-Wednesday only) and a spelling test on Friday. In grammar, students will master nouns and verbs and begin classifying and diagramming sentences. In Literature, we'll descend into the mines with Curdie and Princess Irene as we discuss point of view and characterization. 

Math: Students will begin a unit on multiples and factors. There will be nightly homework and some drilling in the multiplication tables.

End of Week 1!

Congratulations: we MADE IT through the first week!

This week, we focused on learning procedures, organizing materials, and setting expectations. Next week the real work begins. There will be a full load of subject matter and a full load of homework. The grace period will end for late work and work turned in without a name. This sounds serious, and it is, but I will be there every step of the way to guide and support your children. My goal is always to promote rigor and order in my classroom so that the children have the freedom to wonder and to learn. 

CURRICULUM NIGHT

Please mark your calendars for Curriculum Night on the evening of Wednesday, August 30th. Please look for future notification on the exact time. On this night I will share a wealth of information about the class, the curriculum, and my expectations for fourth grade. This evening is for parents only.

DROP OFF and PICK UP

Thank you for your continued efforts and your patience with our pickup process! Mr. Posner tells me that we are already beating last year's wait times. Next week should go even more quickly as after-school tutoring and prep athletics begin, and the following week should proceed still more rapidly as clubs and after-school activities go into full swing. We will remain committed to ensuring a maximally safe and efficient pickup process. 

CLUBS

After-school club begins next week! Stay tuned for more information.

AGENDA and YELLOW FOLDER

These come home every night. Their agenda should list all nightly homework assignments, copied out by the student. I require the children to write down exactly what I write on the board, and either Mrs. Klopack or I checks each notebook daily for accurate completion. This is meant to give them, and you, full information and accountability for each assignment every evening. The yellow folder will include parts of homework assignments as well as fliers containing important information. Both should be checked nightly.

I'm deeply proud of how hard your children worked this week. Please get some rest this weekend, and we'll see you back on Monday!

Miss Kelly

Day 2 + some notes on supplies

Hello, parents! Your scholars had a full day today. We all enjoyed watching everyone present the autobiographical items in their "brown" bags, and we're nearly finished establishing our basic classroom procedures and organizing supplies. We also have made good progress in our first units in literature, science, and history.

Please note: your child should have the following personal items available in his or her desk for regular use:

• 1 yellow spiral notebook
• 1 yellow folder
• 1 blue spiral notebook
• 1 blue folder
• 1 green spiral notebook
• 1 green folder
• 1 red spiral notebook
• 1 red folder
• 1 black notebook
• 1 black folder
• 1 purple folder
• 1 spiral agenda*
• 1 notecard case
• 1 set of earbuds for occasional computer use
• the literature book we are currently reading -- for now, The Princess and the Goblin
• 1 math textbook & 1 math workbook (these were issued by the school today)
• 1 Spalding composition notebook (these will be issued tomorrow)

If your child says that he or she is missing any of these items, please let me know so that we can find a solution as soon as possible. Additionally, all items should be labeled with the child's name. I will remind them to make sure items are labeled tomorrow as part of their morning work.

I told the students to take home these items only as needed, so their backpack weight will vary by day. However, the YELLOW folder (the "Take Home" folder) and the agenda should ALWAYS go home (and return to school the following day).

*A note on the agendas: The school spiral agendas are dated beginning in late August, so I gave the kids a few calendar planner sheets stapled together to use as their "agenda" until we catch up to the real one. It's a thin, light blue packet with an "August" header on the front. If your child does not have one of those, please let me know. 

Thank you so much for your cooperation! As always, please reach out with any questions or concerns.

Miss Kelly

WELCOME TO MISS KELLY'S FOURTH GRADE CLASS!

This is the first blog post of the 2017-2018 school year.

Welcome to fourth grade! It was a delight to begin to get to know your children today, and I'm pleased to start an exciting year of learning together.  

"Arete" means "excellence;" and excellence is what we will strive for this year. Your children will be encouraged to develop good habits of organization, study skills, depth of understanding, and virtues such as responsibility, perseverance, and humility. 

We began today with discussions of some of our classroom procedures, which are crucial for ensuring a safe, orderly, and academically successful environment. The students learned to sit in a scholarly way, transition to other rooms quietly and efficiently, and observe proper classroom etiquette in listening to others and offering their own thoughts. Other procedures will be introduced as they become useful to us. If you have any questions about any of our procedures, please don't hesitate to ask!

The following is important information: please read all the way through.

Snacks- I ask that you bring in healthy snacks for your child. In addition, I ask that these snacks be "dry" snacks. By this, I mean snacks that, if spilled, would not create a mess on the carpet, i.e. no yogurt, fruit cups, pudding, jello, juice, etc.

Volunteers - I am pleased to have so many parents offer to volunteer their time and services!

As grateful as I am for our wonderful parent volunteers, I will wait until the first week of September before inviting you into our classroom. This delay assists us in establishing our procedures and building our classroom culture.

Please also remember that volunteers are required to have fingerprint clearance here at Archway Classical Academy. This policy is strictly monitored and applies to *all* volunteer positions and duties, including field trip chaperones. If you are interested in volunteering but have not yet obtained the necessary clearance, please see the Archway website for more information, or ask at the front office.

Supplies  - We did a great deal of supply sorting today! If any of your child's personal supplies have not been labeled with his or her name, I ask that you do so as soon as possible. Children will have the opportunity to label supplies with Sharpie markers tomorrow morning. 

Your child should have the following supplies for his or her personal use (not including books):

• 5 spiral notebooks: blue, black, yellow, red, & green

• 1 composition book for Spalding

• 5 pocket folders: blue, black, yellow, red, & green

• 1 agenda

The yellow folder will be your child's "take-home" folder and should be brought home every evening and returned to school in the morning. Other notebooks and books will be sent home as needed. 

Toys and Tools - I ask that everything in your child's desk be a tool for learning, not a toy for fun and potential distraction. I told the children today that if I glimpse a toy, or a tool that is being used as a toy, I may confiscate the item for the rest of the day. Toys brought to school for after-school activities should remain in your child's backpack for the entire day. 

Our studies this week

History: Today we began our first history unit on maps. Goals for this unit include learning basic map reading skills and understanding why and when maps are used. This unit serves as a foundation our entire History/Geography curriculum, which will incorporate maps in many ways as we proceed to discuss Medieval Europe, Revolutionary War America, and many other places and times.

Science:  As in history, the unit with which we begin this week will provide the building blocks for later studies in chemistry and earth science. Students will learn about inference, data collection, and the scientific method. 

Language Arts: Spalding phonics commences this week, beginning with our first phonogram review tomorrow (Tuesday). In grammar, we will discuss the elements of a good sentence, and students will learn basic rules of discussion. Literature starts with a reading of The Princess and the Goblin.

Math:  Our Singapore Math curriculum will take off this week with an introduction to whole numbers, number sense, ordering, place value, and the modeling system we use for word problems.

I appreciate all your communications and input, and I look forward to a wonderful week! Please never hesitate to reach out with questions or concerns.

Best,

Miss Kelly