News & Notes

september 5, 2025

This week we took our Fall MAP test for reading and math. This test is given 3x per year to track your child's growth. The fall test gives me information on your child's academic levels coming in so I can plan for instruction. It also sets an individualized growth goal for your child which we will use to make sure they are making adequate progress. I will discuss these test scores with you during fall conferences.

Here's what's coming up in the days/weeks ahead:

upcoming events

Sept. 11- Student Council Elections

Sept. 23- Art Prize Field Trip

Sept. 24- 2-hour Early Release

Oct. 2- Walkathon Donations Due

Oct. 3- Walkathon, 2:30-3:00

Oct. 9- Picture Day

specials

M- P.E.

T- Music

W- Art & Library

Th- P.E.

F- Art

birthdays

September 6- Lilly J.

pickle sale monday- $1

One of Mrs. Forman's favorite snacks is a giant dill pickle. So throughout the year, she hosts "pickle sales" to raise money for our building activities fund. Pickles are $1 and can be purcahsed a the end of the day. We will still have a morning snack time, so this will not take the place of your child's snack.

Homework

Just a reminder that your 4th grader will have a weekly homework packet that comes home each Friday and is due the following Friday. We will have spelling words starting September 8, so you will see a list in this week's packet. Click here to read the information letter about homework.

student council elections

Page Elementary has a student council and our class will be electing 2 students to represent us. If your child wants to run for Student Council, our class election will be Thursday, September 11. Click here for the flier that was sent home about Student Council.

Art Prize Field Trip

For our first field trip of the year, we will be visiting Art Prize in Grand Rapids. We need a LOT of chaperones for this trip, and it is the only trip we go on that has an unlimited capacity. We'd love to have as many parents as possible join us!

Chaperone sign-ups were due September 5th. Please let me know ASAP if a family member will be joining your child so I can finalize field trip groups.

Student payment is due September 22nd.

Click here for a digital copy of the Art Prize information that was sent home.

Walkathon- October 3

Save the date for this year's Walkathon on Friday, October 3 at the TKHS stadium. Parents are welcome to join us to walk with their child. 4th graders will walk from 2:30-3:00pm and then they may be signed out from the track to leave with their parents. Walkathon donations are due October 2. Please return the envelope even if donations were collected online. There is a spot on the back to track donations so PTO knows which prizes to award your child.

supply donations needed

Thank you to everyone who has already contributed supplies to our classroom! I could still use some more of the following items:

Post It notes- regular 3x3 name brand please! We use these to answer our "Question of the Day" and they need to stick to the wall. Other brands always fall off.

Pencil top erasers - Just basic ones like these You can often find them at the dollar store.

curriculum overview

math

We began Chapter 1: Place Value. Click here to see what is taught in this chapter and ways you can support your child's learning. This is a short 4 lesson chapter, so we will have our first math test very soon. In 4th grade, a practice test is taken in class first and sent home for students to study and prepare for the real test. The test date will be in your child's planner once it is set.

The best way to support your child in math this year is to work on their multiplication and division fact fluency. Fact fluency is the most essential skill your child can have to be successful in math this year. A student who has mastered their multiplication facts should be able to answer 28-35 facts per minute.

Language Arts

We continued learning how to be fluent readers this week by paying attention to the punctuation. I teach students to follow the "Fluency Stoplight" as a guide for reading the punctuation.

RED- (stop) . ? !

YELLOW- (pause) , ; : ... - ( )

GREEN - (keep going with expression) " " and words in bold, ALL CAPS, underlined or italics

science

Our science curriculum is called "Mystery Science." Each unit begins with an "anchor phenomenon"- a real-life science "mystery". Students spend time making observations, asking questions, and making predictions before we dive into solving the mystery!

In our first mystery, we learned about Ashfall Fossil Beds- a site in Nebraska where a huge amount of prehistoric fossils of animals such as rhinos, turtles, horses, and camels were found 50 years ago. Throughout the unit, we will search for answers to the following questions:

How did all of these animals die at the same time?
How did the animals' bones end up underground?
Why did it take so long to find them?
How did they eventually get exposed?

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