First full week, check! Students have done very well adjusting to our routines and procedures. This will be our 2nd full week of all 4th grade curriculum. PLEASE check your student's planner each night to make sure they have completed all work. Any work not finished in class is considered homework. Thank you for your help with this!

In order to keep the drop off and pick up running smoothly, please always pull all the way forward in the drive, and do not get out of your car. Have your children ready to get out of the car in the morning so everyone has an opportunity to pull through the drive before the 8 AM bell rings. Students may not get out of the car until you have pulled on to the cement during drop off, and for safety reasons, parents must walk children from the event parking lot on to campus.

In Reading, we will be started our first official novel study of the year, 'Shiloh'. In Math, we will be finishing our first chapter on place value (already!). We will be reviewing in class, and a practice test/study guide will be going home starting on Monday, and their test is on Thursday. Students are also working on Timed tests for fact fluency, see more notes on that below. We will be finishing up our first Roots packet, and students will be tested on these words and their definitions on Friday. There is a Quizlet link below that students can use to study at home. Social studies will be very geography heavy this week, and in Science, students will be exploring the classifications of living things. In Bible, we will be wrapping up our unit on how the Bible was written. Students will be tested on this unit on Monday, August 31st. A study guide will be sent home on Thursday. This will be a heavier week for students. Please pray that they have patience in trials, perseverance, and a positive outlook. I know they are capable of amazing things!

*Wear tennis shoes on Tuesday and Thursday for PE 

*Bring binders to and from school each day

*Early Out on Wednesday, 1:30 Release

This week, please have students show you their binder and planner each day! This will help them get into the habit of checking it themselves daily throughout the year. Spelling will begin this week.

In 4th Grade, spelling will be done in 2 week units. The words are longer, and we study their meaning, Every 2 weeks, students will have a spelling and vocabulary test on the set of words. There is also a Quizlet link that they can use at home to study, linked here (You can create a free account on Quizlet to access all of the flashcards).  This is a test week!

This year, we are really focusing on making sure that students know their math facts well, so we will be taking a timed test each day in class. Each day will focus on a different operation. Each quarter, the kids have a goal of how many facts they should be able to complete in 1 minute. For quarter 1, that goal is 35 problems in a minute. This goal will change each quarter. If your child reaches the goal, the next week they will move on to the next fact. 

Here is how the students will be graded for Quarter 1:

1. A grade will be put in the grade book for each timed test they do. This grade will be out of 10 points. 

10/10- Students who get 45 or more questions correct in 1 minute.

9/10- Students who get 36-44 questions correct in 1 minute.

8/10- Students who reach their goal and get 35 questions correct.

7/10- Students who get 30- 34 questions correct.

6/10- Students who get less than 30 questions correct. 

2. Students who do not reach the goal will have to retake this timed test on Friday or the next week until they pass this fact. Students who feel they could improve their score may also retest these days to improve their grade. After a student retests, their grade will be updated in FACTS.

If you notice a low grade in one of their time tests, please practice with your child at home! We made flash cards in class. Multiplication.com is also a great resource that has timed tests in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division that are easy to practice with. Please let me know if you have any questions about this grading system.