October 12, 2009
This is a big week!
Thursday both Room 4 and Room 4A have their Walk Through California
presentations in the hall. I strongly recommend you stop by, if possible.
It is a wonderful, interactive, learning experience!
Tomorrow night is a parent workshop opportunity for 4th grade parents.
Below I have pasted the information I was given.
SISTER GRETCHEN HAILER speaks on
KIDS AND THE INTERNET – A guide to Safety and Values
7:00 PM in Quinn Hall on Wednesday, October 14
Gretchen Hailer, RSHM has been a leader in media literacy education for over thirty years, presenting and teaching to young audiences, college-level students, and adults. Sister Gretchen received an MA in religious education from the University of San Francisco. She has published books, produced a film, consulted with Catholic publishers, and has served as vice president of Multimedia International, based in Rome. She has presented at religious education conferences in more than eighty dioceses.
BOOKS
Her new book is coming out January, 1210:
OUR MEDIA WORLD – TEACHING KIDS K-8 ABOUT FAITH AND MEDIA
MEDIA MINDFULNESS - Media Literacy Education in the context of faith. (2007)
BELIEVING IN A MEDIA CULTURE
The media--television, movies, music, magazines, and computer technologies--are pervasive and increasingly influential among all age-groups in our culture. Young people in particular must learn to interact with these media in healthful ways. Christian parents and educators are rightly concerned that such "media literacy" be grounded in Gospel values.
Free Dress for K to 4 on October 15: All parents are welcome to attend, but free dress is for students of K to 4th Grade whose parents attend this session since the upper grades had their free dress last week.
Parent-Teacher Conference Sign-Ups: Bring your Calendar so you can sign up for November Parent – Teacher Conferences
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September 29, 2009
Notes about the homework:
Tonight's homework is different than normal.
1. Read 20 minutes. x_____
2. Eat something that's green, yellow, or red. (Healthy!) x_____
3. Book orders due Oct. 8.
4. Get a good night's sleep. x____
5. Book Report Due Wed., 10/7/09.
6. Fundraiser ends tomorrow.
x_____ indicates a parent should initial in the assignment book to indicate that assignment was done. We have been talking about being healthy. That is the inspiration for #2 and 4 above. We talked about eating fruits and vegetables. The students should look something that is healthy and one of those colors to eat. Tomorrow they will share what they ate, and we will compare notes.
Mrs. Patel indicated that ten-year-olds should get nine hours of sleep per night.
Several students indicated that they do not get anywhere near that much sleep.
We have talked about and will continue to talk about the book report. The
students will be able to do some work in class.
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September 28, 2009
P.E. and parent helpers for Art:
Due to ITBS testing, 4th grade has a special P.E. period tomorrow, Tuesday.
It is from 1:00-1:45. This means that the card art lesson has been postponed;
parent helpers will not be needed on Tuesday due to this change.
The adjusted schedule is below.
Tues., 9/29/09
1:00-1:45 P.E. (not art)
Wed., 9/30/09
1:45-2:30 Art with pastels (no change in time--Parent helpers welcome.
Please e-mail Mrs. Poe and/or Mrs. Smith if you are intending to come help.)
****The art will be available as cards through the Art for Education Program.****
Thurs., 10/1/09
1:45-2:30 Art with pastels (new day/time--Parent helpers welcome.
Please e-mail Mrs. Poe and/or Mrs. Smith if you are intending to come help.)
****The art will be available as cards through the Art for Education Program.****
ITBS Testing:
This week we have ITBS testing. All testing is done prior to lunch. We were
blessed with cooler weather on this first day of testing. Please pray that the
weather continues to cooperate.
Homework/Tests/Quizzes during ITBS Testing:
No tests or quizzes are scheduled this week due to ITBS testing.
Homework is much lighter than most days. In fact, the students did not have
to write homework down today. They were told to give you their book order forms
(see below), read 20 minutes, and do something fun tonight.
Book Reports:
Today we discussed the cover of the book report. Students will have the
opportunity to work on their covers in class tomorrow. We will continue to
discuss the parts of the book report. Students will be able to work on parts
in class.
Scholastic Book Orders:
Book order forms went out today. With the forms is a letter regarding ordering
books online. This is the preferred method. It makes things much faster. To order
online:
- Look over the book order forms that were sent home. Choose books/items you would like to order.
- Go to www.scholastic.com/bookclubs
- Indicate that you are a parent, then click on "continue"
- Enter in the User Name: MissSassone
- Enter in the Password: bookorders
- Click on "sign in"
- Click on the order form you would like to order from. Follow the directions.
- If you want to find an author or series not on the order form, search for it by clicking on Club Shop. Follow the directions.
- Please pay via your credit card if you are shopping online. Scholastic will let me know what you ordered.
If your child wants to order one or two books using his/her own money, then I will accept cash. I prefer that orders are done online, however.
Responsibility Folders:
Responsibility Folders did not go home today. They will go home tomorrow.
Religion (4 and 4A):
We will be praying the Rosary in class during the month of October. Students
are invited to bring in Rosaries to use in class. We will also be remembering
in our prayers all of our loved ones who have died. The children are welcome
to bring in a picture of a loved one they want us to especially remember this
month.
Handwashing and Germs:
Both fourth grade classes had a special lesson on handwashing today. Mrs. Patel
shared handwashing strategies with the students. She also used a special powder
and lotion that lights up under UV light to let the students see how effectively
they are washing their hands and cleaning their desktops.
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September 22, 2009
Religion and Art/Beatitudes:
We have been studying about the Beatitudes in religion class; they are the focus
of chapter 2 in our books. We have been discussing using the Beatitudes to help
us grow closer to God.
One of the Beatitudes is the focus of a contest sponsored by Catholic Charities
of Orange County and the Diocese of Orange Catholic Schools. This contest is
intended for students in primary, intermediate, junior high school, and high school.
We are taking part in this contest as well. Three St. Hedwig School finalists'
posters will be sent on to the next level at Catholic Charities.
Science/Terrarium
We now have a terrarium complete with crickets and an earthworm. The
students were very excited to see it put together! Some students have brought
friends from other classes in to see the terrarium after school.
Social Studies/Walk Through California
The students got their Walk Through California information sheet and Expert
words yesterday. It was part of their homework to give it to you. The students
should memorize their definitions and research to find the answers to their
Expert word questions. We will also play review games in the classroom to make
it easier to remember their information while in front of their peers.
Parents are very welcome to join us for our "Walk Through California" program.
It is a day full of learning and the students showing what they have learned in
an entertaining manner.
We have been learning about latitude and longitude.
English
The students have begun their narrative essays. They are writing personal narratives
about a favorite summer memory.
We have been studying and comparing sentences and sentence fragments. Some students
are struggling with understanding what is or is not a sentence. I suggest playing
this game with your child to reinforce his/her understanding of sentences.
Sentence Game
Purpose: Reinforce understanding of sentences and parts of sentences
Number of People: 2 or more people turns building a sentence; the example below assumes two people
Time required: 30 seconds to 5 minutes
- The first person should say a noun. (Example: dog)
- The second person should say a verb. (Example: ran)
- The first person should take that noun and verb and use them to create a simple sentence. (Example: The dog ran.)
- You can continue back and forth with each person adding details to the sentence.
(Examples: The large dog ran.
The large dog ran after the ball.
The large dog ran after the tennis ball.
The large dog ran after the yellow, tennis ball.
The large dog quickly ran after the yellow, tennis ball.)
5. Continue in this manner for as long as seems appropriate. You can indicate which type of detail to add next (Example: adjective or adverb) or leave it up to each individual.
Art
We continue to explore the concepts of foreground, midground, background, and
grounding.
Reading
We are reading The Great Brain by John D. Fitzgerald together in class.
Mr. Fitzgerald wrote about his childhood growing up in Utah in the late 1800's and
early 1900's. This book gives the children an idea of what life was like in the
United States at that time, and it does so in a memorable, entertaining manner.
I remembered my third grade teacher reading The Great Brain to my class.
Several of my former students, including a college student I saw over the summer,
have indicated that they enjoyed and remembered this book.
Today we talked about and worked together on predicting outcomes of a story.
We worked on using complete sentences while stating our ideas. The students
have been told to take the end part of the question to begin their answers.
(Example:
Question: Why does Julie want the racers to balance fruit on
their heads?
Answer beginning: Julie wants the racers to balance fruit on their heads so
that ...)
Handwriting
The students are still easing into handwriting. At this point the students
should be doing all of their writing in pen. (Math, art, spelling tests, and
some special projects may still use pencil.) We have started our handwriting
books and are working on basic handwriting concepts, such as slant, legibility,
and letter formation.
Spelling
The students continue to work on learning new words and applying spelling to
written work.
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September 14, 2009
Mr. Zahn:
Mr. Zahn's funeral is on Friday at 10 A.M.. The scheduled 9:30 A.M. school
Mass on Friday has been canceled. Some older classes will go to the
funeral, but the younger students will not. I believe Mr. Zahn taught more
than one thousand students while at St. Hedwig; I anticipate that the funeral
Mass will be very crowded.
Although the 4th graders did not have Mr. Zahn as a teacher, they did see him
on campus. They saw him playing the piano and directing during Girls' Choir
performances, at recess duty, and after school duty as well as in the halls
and around the school. Some students have mentioned how he taught their
older brothers, sister, or cousins. Some students said that he taught their
parents. Your child may want to talk about what is happening with you.
Please remember Mr. Zahn's intentions, his family, and all those grieving for
him in your prayers. Even with faith that he has gone to heaven, he will be
missed and those left behind are in pain.
Reading Quiz:
Thank you for being so prompt about returning the reading quiz scantrons. We
went over the quizzes on Friday. The students have notes in their notebooks
indicating what they didn't understand.
Please remember that a quiz is worth the same amount as a normal graded
assignment.
Religion Quiz (4 and 4A):
The students should show you their religion quiz scantrons tonight; these
scantrons should be signed and returned tomorrow. We will go over the
quizzes in class and take notes in the notebooks over missed questions.
Please remember that a quiz is worth the same amount as a normal graded
assignment.
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September 8, 2009
Today is the Blessed Virgin Mary's birthday! Both Room 4 and Room 4A
students sang her "Happy Birthday!" during religion class.
Tomorrow, Sept. 9, is our Parent Orientation night. It will be from 7:50-
8:35 P.M. in Room 4. I told the students that they will stay home and send
their parents to school.
I look forward to seeing you tomorrow!
Go with God,
Miss Sassone
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August 31, 2009
Dear Fourth Grade Parents and Students,
Welcome back to school!
It was good to meet so many of you today! I look forward to a wonderful year
full of learning and growing together.
Go with God,
Miss Sassone