Week Of Sept 26 - 30

Busy exciting week coming up with Picture Day, Energy Day Assembly, Hot Lunch, Terry Fox Run & Orange shirt day and making our Enrichment choices! 


Remember, all week we are collecting Toonies for Terry in support of the Terry Fox Run.  Thank you!

Curriculum:

• Math - We will be finishing graphing this week. 
• L.A.
• Spelling - Continuing Lesson 1.  There will be a spelling dictation assessment on Thursday.  How to help at home: have your child sort their words and explain the rule.  Challenge them to spell some of the words.
• Writing - Finishing up Small Moment Life Maps this week.  We will start a suspense writing unit later in the week.
• Science - We are continuing to talk about how light travels (i.e. reflection and refraction).
• Social - We will be learning about dinosaurs and completing the introduction to Alberta.  We are eagerly awaiting our trip to the first region of Alberta: the Rocky Mountain Region.

Do you wish you would hear more than a quick "good" when you ask your child "How was school today?"  Children actually love to talk about their day and what they are doing, but sometimes it takes a little bit of prompting.  Here are some fun open-ended questions that typically encourage children to share the most about their day.  I will continue to share 4 or 5 every week.

1. What was your favourite part about school today?
2. What activity did you like the most today?  And the least?
3. What did you think of the first assignment you had to do today?
4. If you could do any moment at school over today, what would it look like?
5. What was the funniest thing that happened in your class today?

This Week's Schedule:
Monday:

• Energy Day Assembly 12:30 p.m.
• Friday letters due

Tuesday:

• Hot lunch day
• Library books are due

Wednesday:


Thursday

• Picture day - remember to wear your smile!!

Friday:

• Frolicking Friday

Week of Sept. 19-23

Sorry for the late post!!


Our routines are becoming set, and the classroom is feeling more and more like home.  These kids are doing a great job adapting to grade 4.  I'm sure some days they feel like we're running a hundred kilometres an hour but they don't complain!  Things will get easier as they become even more familiar with our schedule.

Notes:

• The Terry Fox run is happening next week and we are going to start collecting "Toonies for Terry."  If you'd like to make a donation, please send it in to our classroom.
• Letters went home today about Reading Rewards - a fun way for students to track their reading and get rewarded for it.  This is meant to be fun for the kids and hopefully encourage reading.  

Curriculum:

• Math: We have started our graphing unit.  Ways to help at home: look for graphs in books, online, in the newspaper (if you still get it!), etc.  Talk about how we share information.
• L.A.
• Spelling: The first list went out today.  Students took home a letter and a set of words to practice.
• Writing: We are working away at our "Small Moments" unit that will turn into a Life Map.  Today we wrote about our earliest memories.  
• Science: Our experiments this week will look at how light is reflected.  There will be a quick quiz on Thursday.  How you can help at home: go on a light scavenger hunt!  Which objects make the best reflectors?
• Social: This week we will be turning back time to look at how Alberta began.  How can you help at home?  Ask your child to tell you the two different versions of Alberta's creation.

This Week's Schedule:

Monday:

• Friday Letters due

Tuesday:

• Tone It Up Tuesday - be sure to have a water bottle!
• Hot lunch orders due online via schoolcashonline.com by 10:00 p.m.
• Library books due

Wednesday:

• Bus evacuation practice

Thursday:

Friday:

• Frolicking Friday - have proper footwear for running outside

Week of Sept 12 - 16

Week 2 and it is a super busy week!  I have to say that I'm really enjoying getting to know your kids.  What a nice bunch of young people!  For the blog this week I am posting in the format that you can come to expect.  I will list any notes or reminders; the curriculum we're working on (usually just the four core subjects); and finally a schedule for the week.

Notes:

• Welcome Back BBQ and Meet the Teacher is happening already!  I really hope you can all come because I love putting parents together with students and meeting their families.  Plus, we have lots to show and share!

• THANK YOU to parents who wrote back to their kids in their Friday Letters!  A new one will be coming home Friday, this time written by your child and not as a class.
• Don't forget to follow our class on Twitter!  @nelsonclassgr4
• Don't forget to sign up for REMIND.  This is a great communication tool. If you are looking for the number and directions, please email me. 

Curriculum:

• Math: We are looking at whole numbers up to 10 000.  How you can help at home: talk about numbers!  Where do you see them?  How do you use them in everyday life?
• L.A:
• Spelling: We are doing the Schonell assessment to determine what levels of spelling everyone is at so I can best help them this year.
• Writing: September's project for writing is a Life Map.  How you can help at home: Talk about your child's favourite memories, look at old photos.
• Science: To gear up for science we are learning about the scientific method and how to be good scientists.
• Social: The social curriculum for Grade Four is "Our Alberta" and we are getting acquainted with our province this week.

This Week's Schedule:
Monday:

• Friday letters are due back with a letter written back from you to your child.

Tuesday:

• Tone it Up Tuesday, please bring a water bottle and dress to workout.

Wednesday:

• 5:00-6:00 p.m. - Welcome Back BBQ
• 6:00-7:00 p.m. - Meet the Teacher

Thursday:

• Palm-sized rock due for health

Friday:

• Frolicking Friday - dress to walk and run outside!
• Watch for a new Friday Letter

Sept. 6, 2016

Welcome!  Thank you for stopping by!  If you’re here, it means your child showed you their agenda and you followed the link - well done!  I’m really looking forward to getting to know you and your child this year.

 

A few things to get us started:

• Please check this blog every Monday for the latest update.  It will include curriculum information and events for the week.  If it helps, you can get email reminders by clicking the link and signing up to be notified when there is a new post. If there is an extra post in a week, there will be a note about it in the agenda.  Please take a minute to explore the blog to find out the tools and resources I have available. 
• Speaking of the agenda, this is another very important tool.  Your child will write to you every day with reminders and notes.  Please read and sign the agenda every single day and encourage your child to be responsible for having it at school every morning.  
• Please sign up for Remind.  A letter went home today about this excellent communication tool.  It will allow us to communicate quickly and efficiently.  The letter also includes other ways to communicate with me.
• Your child has homework!  Sorry, I know that's just cruel handing out homework on the very first day, but this is cool!  Every student gets to have a leadership role in our classroom by being part of a team.  The homework is to read the information about the teams and fill out the application form.  These forms are due on Friday so that we can get going right away with our routines.
• We have a Welcome Back assembly on Friday at 8:40.  Parents are always very welcome to join us for these occasions.
• Another date to put into your calendars right away is Sept. 14 - our Welcome Back BBQ and Meet the Teacher Night.  I can't wait to give you some more information about Grade 4 including homework expectations, home reading, incentives, field trips and more.
• Follow us on Twitter @nelsonclassgr4.

I think that's probably enough information for now!  If you have any questions or would just like to introduce yourself, please send me a Remind message, email me at kristy.nelson@lethsd.ab.ca or phone me at the school at 403-327-3653.