4T News

Find out what's happening in the 4T classroom,

and around Hindley School!

HINDLEY SPIRITEERS End of the Year SPIRIT Days!

Monday 6/10- Hindley Spirit Day to start off our Spirit Week!

Tuesday 6/11- Team Color Day- wear your Field Day team colors!

Wednesday 6/12- Vacation/Camp Shirt T-shirt Day- Wear a t-shirt from a vacation/camp location!

Thursday 6/13- Sports Jersey Day- Hindley Staff Softball Game

Friday 6/14- Red, White and Blue Day (Flag Day!)

Monday 6/17- Beach Day (sunglasses & hats, tropical theme)- NO flip flops or bathing suits, please!

Tuesday 6/18- Last Day of school- Hindley Spirit Day- wear your Hindley gear!

What's Happening in the 4T Classroom? March 2019 Update

Reader's Workshop: We are finishing up our unit on "Reading History" using our knowledge of Westward Expansion as our focus. There has been an emphasis on synthesizing information across texts (hard copy, electronic, video, etc.), main idea, and summarization. We then move into preparing for debate by doing as much research as possible so that one can take a stance of their own. We end the unit by continuing our research including changing our focus and/or including different subtopics on a larger idea.

Writer's Workshop: "Bringing History to Life" is our informational writing unit. We started with the research we have collected in our Social Studies notebooks during Westward Expansion, we're thinking about what we know a lot about, and are creating information books based on our learning. We will rely on our knowledge of boxes and bullets that we used in opinion writing (Boxes and Bullets, and Literary Essay) to help us organize our thinking.

Mathematics: Fractions, fractions, fractions! We are continuing our work in Ready Common Core for our fractions unit. The unit focuses on fractions and decimals and will cover understanding equivalent fractions, comparing fractions, understanding addition and subtraction of fractions as well as adding and subtracting mixed numbers. From there, we have moved into multiplying fractions, fractions as tenths and hundredths, relating decimals and fractions, and comparing decimals. We have a lot of work ahead of us!

Indoor/Outdoor Recess: We will be going outdoors for lunchtime recess as much as possible. With the weather changing drastically from day to day, please make sure that your child is dressed appropriately for the weather. Thank you for your help!

Germs! Please be mindful if your child is not feeling well. We are doing our part in trying to keep germs to a minimum here in the 4T classroom. We love to share, but we need to keep our germs to ourselves!

READ ACROSS AMERICA WEEK- all students and staff are welcome to participate!

Monday 2/25- Fox in Socks: Wear your crazy Socks

Tuesday 2/26- Thing 1 and Thing 2 Day: Crazy Hair Day

Wednesday 2/27- Wacky Wednesday: Wear crazy or mismatched clothing

Thursday 2/28- Cat in the Hat Day: Wear red, black and/or white

Friday 3/1- Celebrate Reading Day: Dress like your favorite book character!

Valentine Exchange- Thursday, February 14th

We will be having a valentine exchange on Thursday, February 14th. If your child would like to bring in valentines, please provide one for all of our classmates. Thank you for your help!

Message from the Health Office:

As you are likely aware, flu season is upon us. Influenza is very contagious and is spread through tiny droplets spread when people infected with the flu cough, sneeze or talk. In an effort to keep all students and teachers healthy, we appreciate your cooperation in the following for all communicable illnesses:

Please keep your children home:

•When they have a temperature of 100.4 degrees F, or higher

•Until they are fever free (temperature 100.3 degrees F or lower) for 24 hours without receiving fever-reducing medication such as Acetaminophen (Tylenol) or Ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin)

•When they feel unwell and appear sick, even in the absence of fever

•When they have diarrhea, and until they are diarrhea -free for 24 hours

•When they are vomiting, and until they have stopped vomiting for a minimum of 24 hours

•When they have a severe cough that cannot be controlled/covered, or copious thick green/yellow mucous from the nose

•If they have been diagnosed with Strep Throat and it has not been at least 24 hours since the first dose of antibiotics

•If they are diagnosed with influenza and are taking Tamiflu

Further:

•Please remind your children to be vigilant about hand washing with warm water and soap

•Encourage covering coughs and avoiding anyone with a cold or stomach bug symptoms.

•At home, clean phones, keyboards, doorknobs and common areas/items to minimize the spread of germs and viruses at home.

•Replace toothbrushes after recovering from an illness.

Please follow this link to learn more about influenza signs/symptoms and treatment. Always seek the advice of your health care provider when you are concerned about your child's health.

Sincerely,

Alicia Casucci, APRN, CPNP, NCSN

Director of Nursing Services

HINDLEY SPIRITEERS 100TH DAY FOOD DRIVE: FEBRUARY 4TH – FEBRUARY 8TH

to benefit The P2P Food Pantry at Person-to-Person, Darien

The P2P Food Pantry is an emergency service that provides seven days of groceries to families from Stamford, Darien, and New Canaan who are in great need. How can Hindley School help? In honor of the 100th Day of School, we are asking Hindley families to help the P2P Food Pantry stock their shelves with 100 of each of the items listed below:

Kindergarten- Hearty Soups

1st Grade- Oatmeal & Cereal

2nd Grade- Pasta & Sauce

3rd Grade- Mac & Cheese

4th Grade- Cookies & Crackers

5th Grade- Peanut Butter & Jelly

All food donations should be placed into the crates located near Mrs. Turschmann’s classroom. No glass jars or bottles, please!

**To promote healthy eating habits, foods that are low sodium, low sugar and/or include whole grains are preferred.**

Fractions, Fractions, Fractions!

We have jumped out of our Investigations math program and into Ready Common Core for our fractions unit. The unit will focus on fractions and decimals, and will cover understanding equivalent fractions, comparing fractions, understanding addition and subtraction of fractions as well as adding and subtracting mixed numbers. From there, we will move into multiplying fractions, fractions as tenths and hundredths, relating decimals and fractions, and comparing decimals. Each lesson lasts 2-3 days, and there is a family letter that will be sent home to assist with what has been taught in class. We have a lot of work ahead of us!

What's for Lunch in January?

SORA: EBooks and Audiobooks

We spent some time in the Hindley Library this morning with Mrs. Heyde and learned how to use SORA. Students now have access to ebooks and audiobooks. One online book may be taken out at a time, and one book may be put on hold at a time.

Use the link to SORA to access your account. You may also download the app from the App Store (Apple) or Google Play.

Remember: to log on, type in your username and password that you use to log onto your Chromebook without the @darienps.org.

Holiday Spirit Week at Hindley!

12/17: Holiday Hat Monday: Wear your favorite holiday hat!

12/18: Sweater Tuesday: Holiday shirt or Ugly Sweater day (Red, green or blue count as a holiday color!)

12/19: Pajama Wednesday: Pajama Day

12/20: Dress Up Thursday: Dress for Success in your Holiday Best (This means pants with a button or zipper for the boys and possibly a skirt for the girls! Teachers... you too!)

12/21: Frosty Friday: Brrr! Wear your blue and white!

What's Happening in the 4T Classroom? December 2018 Update

Reader's Workshop: We will be working in book groups! As much as we focus our energies on reading deeply and closely, we will also be working on our interpersonal skills when working with others in book groups. Our focus will be on Interpretation-- not only are we learning about plot and characters, but we will also be looking at an author's focus which allows the reader to uncover deeper, central ideas about the texts that we are reading. The books used in this unit are chapter books and all are focused on more than one theme or idea. We will be working on recognizing themes and using evidence from the text to support our thinking.

Writer's Workshop: We are continuing our work in opinion writing with a "Literary Essay" unit. Students have read five short stories and will be writing about one of them. Students will work on reading closely and really understanding the story that they are reading. We will be focusing on the setting, word choice, characters, objects, and figurative language. Students will be using evidence from the story to support their thesis statement.

Mathematics: We are starting our "Landmarks and Large Numbers" unit in Math. In third grade, students focused on numbers up to 1,000. In fourth grade, we build upon that knowledge and work up to 10,000. We will work on adding and subtracting accurately and efficiently. We will use number lines, story problems, and the addition algorithm to add our three- and four-digit numbers. Toward the end of the unit, we will understand different types of subtraction problems and work with the subtraction algorithm. The parent math letter and activities are attached at the end of this post.

Social Studies: Westward Expansion! We spent our first Social Studies unit focused on the East and the development of our country moving as far westward as the Appalachian Mountains. Our current unit begins just after the American Revolution as our country begins to grow exponentially as the settlers move west to the Mississippi River and then toward the Rocky Mountains. Eventually, settlers make their way to the Pacific Ocean. We will focus our learning on the Midwest, modes of transportation that were used to move westward, and the Erie Canal. Lewis and Clark's expedition faced many challenges as they moved westward and we will talk about the interactions with the Native Americans. Our compelling question will remain in our focus, "How does where you live affect how you live?".

Outdoor Recess! We will be going outdoors for recess as much as the weather permits. Please make sure that students are dressed appropriately for the weather. Jackets, gloves/mittens, hats and long pants will help to stay warm while we are outside!

Hour of Code: 11/26-11/30

Hindley School is participating in the Hour of Code this week. This morning, we worked on coding using the Grinch activities. Later this week, we will work with our first grade buddies and help them navigate through an introduction to coding.

Hour of Code Activities

STEM Outreach with DHS Students

This morning, the 4th grade students had some special visitors in our classrooms! Students from the DHS STEM program came to visit and presented an inquiry where the 4th graders needed to plan, create, and test a wind resistant structure. In preparation for this inquiry, we had a read aloud on Friday, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba.

Here are a few pictures of our adventures this morning!

Veterans Day Share - Friday, November 9th

Our annual Veterans Day Share will take place in the Common Room on Friday, November 9th, 1:15-2:30pm. All 4th and 5th graders will be participating, and parents are welcome to attend!

POSTPONED DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER - Hindley's Second Annual Turkey Trot - Tuesday 11/13

We will be trotting for immediate hurricane relief! The proceeds from this year's Turkey Trot will go directly to the American Red Cross to help those devastated from the recent natural disasters.

Times: 10:00-10:30am (K & 1), 1:00-1:30pm (4 & 5), 1:45-2:15pm (2 & 3)

How can you participate?

1. Collect sponsors.
2. Run or walk in the Turkey Trot on 11/13.
3. Collect and return your sponsor sheet by 11/15.
4. All donations are online this year. Visit the event page at https://www.crowdrise.com/o/en/campaign/hindley-school-turkey-trot-2018

Photo Retake/Absentee Information- Thursday, November 15th

Who Should Go on Absentee/Retake Day:

~Any student not satisfied with original portrait - Return your complete package minus the class picture to the photographer on retake day.

~Any student who was absent on the original day whether you are purchasing a package or not.

~Any student who did not purchase on the original day and would like to purchase a package. Order forms are available in the school office approximately one week prior to retake day. Or online at mylifetouch.com -- picture day id: EJ218019Q1 (site is available for ordering approximately 2 weeks prior to retake day)

Any questions, please call Lifetouch at 203-735-5933.

10/23/18: What's Happening in the 4T Classroom?

Reader's Workshop: We are switching it up and moving from fiction to nonfiction reading. Our second Reader's Workshop unit is "Reading the Weather, Reading the World". We will spend some time examining text features (titles, subheadings, index, captions, sidebars, etc.) so that we change our style of reading to better fit nonfiction. The unit starts off with easier levels of nonfiction and as we build our skills, we will look at more difficult levels. Our nonfiction reading will focus on extreme weather and natural disasters which will tie into our first Science unit of the school year, "Processes that Shape our Earth".

Writer's Workshop: We are tackling a new genre of writing in this unit, "Boxes and Bullets". We will go through "essay boot camp" and really feel what it is like to write an entire essay. We will work on writing a thesis statement, supporting with 3 reasons, giving three pieces of evidence for each reason, and writing a conclusion.

Math: We are starting a new unit in Math, "Multiple Towers and Division Stories". In this unit, we will solve multiplication problems with 2-digit numbers, understand and use the relationship between multiplication and division to solved division problems, use our reasoning skills about numbers and factors, solve word problems, and write our own story problems for given equations. PLEASE make sure all students are practicing their multiplication facts up to 12x12. Knowing our facts automatically will help us as we move through the fourth grade math units. See attached for the Family Letters that correspond with Investigations Unit 3 (M15-M16 and M41-42).

Science: We are starting our 4th grade science unit, "Processes that Shape the Earth". Students develop understandings of the effects of weathering and the rate of erosion by water, ice, wind, or vegetation. Our work in this unit focuses on the essential question, "How can the Earth’s surface change?". In order to figure that out, we will spend time investigating:

• How can evidence of the effects of weathering or the rate of erosion by water, ice, wind, or vegetation be observed or measured?
• What do the shapes of landforms and rock formations tell us about the past?
• What can maps tell us about the features of the world?
• In what ways can the impacts of natural Earth processes on humans be reduced?

10/17/18: Hindley Book Fair!

The Hindley Book Fair takes place next week! 4T will be visiting the Book Fair on Wednesday 10/24, 11:55am-12:25pm.

Families are also invited to come in for "Bagels, Books, and Buddies" on Thursday 10/25, 7:15am-8:25am.

10/3/18: Food Allergies and Celebration Snacks

We do like to celebrate here at Hindley! Whether it be a child's birthday or a holiday celebration, we need to keep all of our students safe. With that in mind, please abide by the following guideline:

ALL CELEBRATION SNACKS: any food sent in to share with students must be pre-packaged and contain an ingredient label.

Thank you for your help!

9/24/18: DPS Elementary Math Newsletter- Fall 2018

Click here for the link to the DPS Elementary Math Newsletter: Fall 2018

9/20/18: 4T Student of the Week

Each student in 4T will have the opportunity to showcase him/herself during the school year. In order to do so, please “create” your showcase on a piece of oaktag/posterboard that measures approximately 36 inches high by 24 inches long. Your showcase will be displayed on a bulletin board in the 4T classroom during your assigned week.

What should you include in your showcase? Here are some ideas to get you started. Be as creative as you wish!

-Your name

-Your family members (don’t forget your pets!)

-What is important to you?

-What are your favorites? Colors, books, foods, subjects, stories, toys, sports, movies, TV shows, games, places to visit/travel, places to read, animals, hobbies, etc.

-Pictures of you (and your family/friends)

-Anything that makes you proud

-Anything that makes you feel warm and fuzzy

-Anything that you want to share with the 4T class

How you decide to design your showcase is completely up to you! You will also be given time to present your showcase to the class. Posters are due on Monday for the week you are assigned. We’re looking forward to seeing your showcase!

All students have a sheet in their homework folder with the information and the date that their poster is due.

9/7/18: Hindley School Picture Day

Warm up those smiles, get those pearly whites ready! Picture Day is Wednesday, 9/12.

9/6/18: What Happening in the 4T Classroom? September 2018

Reader's Workshop: We start off our school year with the unit, "Interpreting Characters". We will read just right books with comprehension and fluency, and rely on the strategies taught in class to strengthen our reading skills. We will spend time establishing a reading life, thinking deeply about characters, and building interpretations. We will build our endurance and stamina by reading for longer lengths of time. Ultimately, we are looking to become independent readers and reading closely within our books and really understanding what is taking place in our stories.

Writer's Workshop: Ideas for fiction stories are everywhere! Our first unit, "The Arc of the Story" will be realistic fiction writing as we write about what we know. Paying attention to small moments that occur in our lives can be a terrific starting point for a story! We will start off the unit collecting ideas and entries which we will develop into ideas, we will work on revision and editing as we move through the writing process, and then we will prepare our written pieces for our audience.

Mathematics: Our first unit will be Investigations Unit 1: Factors, Multiples, and Arrays. We will spend some time focusing on:

• Whole Number Operations
  • understanding and working with an array model of multiplication
  • reasoning about numbers and their factors
• Computational Fluency
  • fluency with multiplication combinations up to 12x12

Attached below are the parent letters for this math unit. These will not be sent home as paper copies but will be posted here on the 4T blog for review.

Social Studies/Science: We will start the school year focusing on Social Studies. Our first unit is “American Growth and Expansion”, focusing on the Northeast and the South. Our essential question threaded through all of our Social Studies units this year is, “How does where you live affect how you live?”. In October, we will flip from Social Studies to Science and our first unit will focus on “Processes that Shape the Earth”.

8/30/18: Hindley Open House - Thursday, September 6, 2018

Please come to meet your child’s teachers, visit the classroom, and learn about this year’s curriculum.

Kindergarten and 1st Grade Parents:

6:45 - 7:00pm Welcome from interim principal Julie Droller

7:10 – 7:30pm Kindergarten and 1st Grade Presentations

2nd and 3rd Grade Parents:

7:15 - 7:30pm Welcome from interim principal Julie Droller

7:40 – 8:00pm 2nd and 3rd Grade Presentations

4th and 5th Grade Parents:

7:45 - 8:00pm Welcome from interim principal Julie Droller

8:10 – 8:30pm 4th and 5th Grade Presentations

8:45pm Closing Bell

Special Area Teachers and Specialists will be in their classrooms throughout the evening. Please stop in to say hello and see their learning spaces.

Refreshments will be served in the Common Room and the main hallways.

Also, be sure to stop by the Farmer’s Market in the Common Room with bountiful produce from our Hindley Edible Garden.

8/28/18: August/September Lunch Menus

What's for lunch? Click here to find out!

8/24/18: Important Dates

Thursday, September 6th: Back to School Night-- more details to follow

Wednesday, September 12th: Hindley Picture Day-- practice those smiles!

8/24/18: Recess/Lunch and Snack

The 4th Grade will have recess/lunch every day from 11:00-11:40am. We will have a working snack each day in the afternoon. We do have food allergies in our classroom so please be mindful when packing snacks from home.

Reusable water bottles are permitted in the 4T classroom but the tops must be on securely when you are not drinking. We use technology often in our classroom and hope that we do not experience an "oops"!