Fourth Grade News

We’re nearing the end of the first 9 weeks and the students have been working very hard. We have gotten some updated information on the Spring TCAP tests and we have a website that you might find helpful.  Going to this website can give you some practice questions and a sampler of the questions that our students will see this spring.  Hope you find this website helpful.  We hope to see you for Open House on Oct. 6 and for Parent Teacher Conferences on Oct. 12.

Here’s the website address:

http://www.state.tn.us/education/assessment/ach_samplers.shtml

Fall is a busy time for everyone.  Just wanted to let you know about some upcoming events.  Progress reports will go out on 9/23.  Our Famly reading night will be at 5 p.m. on Thursday, 9/24.  The Book Fair begins on 9/28 and continues until 10/2.  There are always a great selection of books at very reasonable prices.  Open House will be on Tuesday, 10/6 and Fall Break will begin on 10/9.  Parent Teacher conferences will be held on 10/12 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.  We will send scheduling information closer to the event.  School pictures will be on 10/16, report cards will go out on 10/21, and Family Math and Science Night will be 10/29.

Our classes are going very well and we are so proud of the children.  They are really working hard and having a lot of fun.

We are working to set up our trip to Nashville in October. As soon as we have all the details worked out, we will send home the information.  We hope to have it settled by next week.  It should be a great trip and a wonderful learning experience for the children.

Have a safe and relaxing Labor Day!

The Science assignment for Monday, August 31st: Lesson Outline for Physical Change is not due until Thursday. The lesson is too long for one night so I always give the students three nights to finish. The afternoon science class enjoyed the physical science lesson taught by Kanecia on Monday. She did an excellent job leading us in an origami ,the Japanese art of paper folding, lesson. It was an outstanding example of a physical change in matter. Congratulations to all our students for an outstanding performance on TCAP last spring. The school is having a well deserved party on Friday afternoon. Way to go! Hi Five to Chloe for her outstanding engineering design! Chloe designed a container that kept ice from melting for over 6 hours!! Chloe did a great job insulating her ice cube and when we left at the end of the day we could still see ice!! We are having fun and learning, Mrs. K Johnson

Today, August 26th, the students wrote in their agendas that we will have a math quiz on Friday. The pages that they wrote in the agenda are for studying only. They do not need to do the problems. We have already covered these in class. I’m sorry for the confusion. I had the students write down the pages as a reference and guide for what type of problems will be on the quiz.  The test will cover the material on pages 6-7 and pages 542-543. The concepts on the quiz will be place value to hundred thousands, expanded form of numbers, and decimals in the tenths and in the hundredths place. Sorry for the confusion.

Thank you for coming to the parent meeting yesterday. Mrs. Poteete and I were so pleased to see all of you. Thank you for sharing your children with us.

Mrs. K. Johnson

Welcome to a new school year!!  We are so excited about the upcoming year.  We will be experimenting, working on projects, and learning so many new things.  This blog is posted for Mrs. K. Johnson, 4-01, and Mrs. V. Poteete, 4-02.  Please check back often for updates.  We will try to update weekly and let you know about interesting things we are doing in the classroom.  We will also include links to interesting and informative websites that you can access at home.  We will try to include pictures (as soon as Mrs. Smith teaches us how to do that ).  

This year our school year will be divided into 9 week sessions instead of 6 week sessions.  That means deficiencies will come out at the 4 1/2 week mark.  We will continue to send home Tuesday folders and on the front cover you will see a grading sheet.  This will help you keep up with your child’s grades on a weekly basis.  

With your help, this year will be great!!!!!

Our school year has resumed and we’re off to a great start.  Everyone returned rested from the holidays and ready to work.  Our story this week is The Houdini Box and the students have shown a real interest in magic.  They are checking out the books I have on Houdini’s life and how to do simple magic tricks.  If any family member out there has any knowledge of magic, please let me know.  You can call and leave a message at 416-8400.

The students are also studying graphs this week and we are working on the first 13 colonies.  We are very busy and having fun while we learn.

A few reminders about some upcoming events:

January 12–Optional Open House 9-11 and 4-6

January 14–Report Cards go home

January 16–Honors Program-9:45

January 19–Martin Luther King, Jr. Day–No School

January 26–Progress reports go home

Beginning next week I will post the name of our reading story, vocabulary, and spelling words on the blog for anyone who needs them.

Thanks for visiting and come back often!

The holiday season is upon us and before you know it, we’ll be in a new year.  Our last day of school is Thursday, December 18, 2008.  We will have our Christmas party beginning at 1:30.  Please help us have a great party by sending treats to share with the class.  Please keep our treats healthy.  Some suggestions are fruit juice, cheese cubes, graham crackers, low fat pudding, fresh fruit, vegetables with dip, pizza with low fat toppings (cheese is always good), popcorn or baked chips.

We will return to school on Monday, January 5, 2009 (can you believe this year is going by so fast?!?).

We hope everyone has a safe and restful holiday season.  We’ll see everyone next year.

On November 4, the Fourth grade classes will host a school-wide election. We will be using computer programs to help tally the votes. All students will be able to vote from 9am to 2pm. The children are excited about the upcoming elections and are happy to get the chance to vote. Watch our blog to find out the election results!!

Events to Plan For

PLEASE NOTE DATE CHANGES!

School and Student Exhibition: 11/13

Math, Science & Technology Night: 11/13

Pizza Dinner at 5:00–please prepay using the bright orange form sent home or picked up from the school office. PIE members receive a discount. Pizza dinner payment is due by November 7th.

Meal purchase is not required to participate in Math, Science, and Technology Night activities

2nd Six Weeks Report Cards: 11/12

Honors Programs: 11/14

Thanksgiving Break: 11/26-11/28