May - State Testing

May 13th - May 16th: ELA STATE TESTING

May 20th - May 23rd: MATH STATE TESTING

5/6 - 5/10: HELUS Teacher and Staff Appreciation

6/10: Last Day of School

Hello everyone,

Here are some announcements for next week (5/6 - 5/10):

• We will not have spelling tests nor spelling pages this week and will be focusing on grammar concepts, practice book pages, and test prep. Students will be doing 2 grammar pages per day. Concepts for these grammar pages include negatives, prepositions, prepositional phrases, quotations, and commas with phrases.

• Thursday and Friday, during ELA instruction time, will be centered about standardized practice tests.

• Students took their Chapter 13 math test, and did a good job. We will be finishing Chapter 14 and the study guide will be sent home on Friday. The test will be on Monday May 13th. 

• We will be doing week 21 in history which talks about "Gold is Discovered in California". As a whole class, we will be filling out the study guide on Wednesday (5-8) and the test will be on Friday (5-10). 

• We will continue to work through our science unit and complete pages in our workbooks. 

• Don't forget to remind your student to turn in April Reading Bingo on Monday (5-6). This will be the last day to turn it in for a prize. May Reading Bingo will go home on Monday as well. 

• We finished putting together our class book and it was mailed off today. I am really hoping that the finished product will arrive before the end of the school year. If not, I will personally ship or deliver the books myself. I am so proud of how hard the students have worked to become published authors.

• May 13th - May 16th will be ELA State Testing 

• May 20th - May 23rd will be MATH State Testing.

  • I will confirm the times of the testing and send out another email as soon as I know. 

If there are any questions, please let me know. Have a fantastic weekend. 

Hello families, 

I want to give a huge thank you to those that came to Open House. I loved seeing the students show off their work. They continue to work hard, and I hope they can finish out the school year strong! I truly believe in them! I can't believe that we only have 7 more weeks of school.

Here are some important announcements for next week (4/29 - 5/3)

• Students took their Unit 5 tests and worked/finished their expository letters. There were a handful of students that had to take their letters home to finish. I expect that they will be returned completed on Monday. 

• We will not have spelling tests nor spelling pages this week and will be focusing on grammar concepts. Students will be doing 2 grammar pages per day. Concepts for these grammar pages include appositives, adjectives, adverbs, comparing more and most, comparing good and bad, comparing adverbs, comparing irregular adverbs, negatives, and negatives with helping verbs. 

• We will be doing some Anthology reading (for reading comprehension) and practice book pages (to focus on unlearned concepts).  

• We are nearing the state test for ELA, therefore students will be doing some CAASPP practice tests online on Thursday and Friday. These practice tests are heavy on reading comprehension and various of different topics that they have learned throughout 4th grade. These practice tests will be done in the morning during normal ELA instruction time.

• Students took their Chapter 12 math tests and started to work on Chapter 13 which is about area and perimeter. Chapter 13 is only 5 lessons long; therefore, we will be ending the chapter next week. The students have very easily and quickly grabbed the concept of area and perimeter.

  • I will send home a study guide on Monday and the chapter 13 math test will be on Wednesday 5-1.

• In history, we finished our unit in Mexican California and the students took their history tests. Those will be graded over the weekend and returned to students on Tuesday, at the latest. We will be taking a break from history next week, then we will be focusing on the Gold Rush the following week. 

• By skipping history, it will allow us to focus on our science unit. Students will be continuing to learn about fossils and sedimentary rock formation. Students will be completing a few pages in their science workbooks as well. 

• April Reading Bingo is due on Friday 5-3. 

• We will be putting the finishing touches on our class book as well. I am so impressed by the student's creativity to create these fictional stories. Thank you to those that have purchased a class book. If you have not had the chance to purchase one, I highly encourage you to do so. 

If there are any questions, please let me know. Have a great weekend. 

Hello 4th grade families,

This last week has been great. Students worked really well, and the behaviors were good. I am so proud to see the progress they've made on everything. 

Here are some announcements for next week (4/22 - 4/26)

• We have ended unit 5 in ELA which means that we will not have spelling tests, spelling/grammar pages, and practice book pages. Students will take Unit 5 tests on Monday and Tuesday; Wednesday through Friday, we will be doing expository letter writing.

• Instead of doing an essay, students will be writing an expository letter. They will be using their chromebooks to do brief research to find an invention they would like to write about. The purpose is to write an informative text. Prompt: Write an expository letter about an invention that solves a problem. 

  • Paragraph 1: Introduction/ What are some new inventions you have heard or read about?

  • Paragraph 2: What problems did these inventions solve or may not have solved?

  • Paragraph 3: Who or what could benefit by using these inventions.

• • Students will be graded on the features of an expository letter. 

    • Includes the parts of a formal letter.

    • Introduces a topic and shares information about it..

    • Uses paragraphs to explain the topic with facts, definitions, quotations, and/or details. 

    • Maintains a formal style

    • Has a greeting, closing, and signature

    • Spelling, capitalization, grammar

• Chapter 12 in math was short, therefore we will be finishing the chapter. I will send home the study guide on Monday and the test will be on Wednesday. This chapter has been easier to understand for the student than the last chapter. 

  • We will start Chapter 13 on Thursday which is about Area and Perimeter. 

• Students will be studying week 20 newspaper in history which talks about "The Mexican-American War and the Bear Flag Revolt." As always, students will fill out the study guide on Wednesday and the test will be on Friday. 

• Thursday is a minimum day due to Open House which will be from 5:00pm - 6:00pm. 

• Earth Day is Monday so we will be doing a craft. We will also be finishing up some other projects for Open House. 

• Thank you to those who have pre-purchased our class book. I am so excited to finalize the finishing touches this week with the students. If you have not done so already, please purchase a book by Friday April 26th. I need the white envelope along the order form to return to me whether you purchased a book or not. This is the only way that the book can be published. 

Hello, hello!

Report cards went home yesterday; I am very proud of each student and how far they've come in 4th grade. Please keep all of the papers inside, sign the empty envelope, and return back to school with your student. 

Here are some announcements for next week (4/15-4/19)

• We will have a spelling pretest on Monday (4/15) and a graded spelling test on Friday (4/19). Students will be learning about words that have consonant + le syllables.

  • 1. pebble 

  • 2. humble 

  • 3. double 

  • 4. gamble 

  • 5. trouble 

  • 6. uncle 

  • 7. needle 

  • 8. fiddle

  • 9. cuddle 

  • 10. cradle 

  • 11. jungle 

  • 12. single 

  • 13. marble 

  • 14. ramble 

  • 15. tackle 

  • 16. ankle 

  • 17. freckle 

  • 18. buckle 

  • 19. hustle 

  • 20. tangle

• We will have a weekly reading test on Friday. The concepts that will be covered on the test are text structure, sequencing, finding text evidence, figurative language, proverbs and adages, and point of view.

• Students will be finishing up chapter 11 in math and take the chapter test on Wednesday (4/17). A study guide will go home on Monday (4/15). On Thursday, we will start chapter 12 which is all about metric measurements. Chapter 12 is short so we will vary doing 1 or 2 lessons a day along with writing in our math notebooks. 

• Students will be studying week 19 newspaper in history which talks about "Early Settlers in California".Students will complete the study guide on Wednesday (4/17), play Jeopardy on Thursday, and the test will be on Friday (4/19). 

• Students took the unit 2 test in Science. Therefore, we will start unit 3 which is about Earth's features.

  • We have received workbooks for unit 3 so that means students will have all the in-class worksheets together in one workbook. 

• On Tuesday, students will do some writing on their chromebooks based on our ELA topic of the week which is "Digging up the Past".

  • Prompt: If you were an archaeologist, where in the world would you dig? Why? What would you expect to find when digging? (Total of at least 2 paragraphs.)

Hello 4th grade families,

Today was the end of the 3rd quarter; we are finally in the home stretch for the rest of the school year. Students took their STAR 360 tests this week; the results will be sent home with report cards. Report cards will go home Friday, April 12th.

Here are some announcements for next week (4/8-4/12)

• We will have a spelling pretest on Monday (4-8) and a graded spelling test on Friday (4-12). Students are going to be learning about words that have r-controlled vowel syllables.

  • 1. grocer

  • 2. pepper

  • 3. barber

  • 4. grader

  • 5. polar

  • 6. tanker

  • 7. singer

  • 8. enter

  • 9. odor

  • 10. collar

  • 11. zipper

  • 12. powder

  • 13. danger

  • 14. cheddar

  • 15. popular

  • 16. harbor

  • 17. anchor

  • 18. elevator

  • 19. daughter

  • 20. victor

• We will not have a weekly reading test this week. 

• Students took their chapter 10 math test today; they did a really good job! We will be starting chapter 11 on Monday which is all about customary measurements. 

  • We are going to be doing two lessons a day since the lessons go hand in hand with learning the measurements and converting. 

    • The choice to do this is because State testing is coming up in May and we need to learn the content in these last few chapters. 

  • I know the students are more than capable of doing this because they are so intelligent. I believe in them! 

  • The chapter 11 test will be the following week of the 15th.

• In history, we will be doing week 18 which talks about "Government and Economy of California Under Mexican Rule". Students will complete the study guide, in-class, on Wednesday. We will play Jeopardy on Thursday, and the test will be on Friday (4-12).

• We will finish up our Science unit, and students will complete a study guide, in-class, on Tuesday (4-9) and the test will be on Thursday (4-11). 

  • I decided to push the science study guide and the test a day since the Fun Run was moved to Monday 4-8.

​Hello families,

I hope everyone has been having a wonderful spring break week. Stay dry, safe, and warm this weekend. ​

​Here are some announcements for our short week (4/2 - 4/5)

• We will have a spelling ​​pre-test on Tuesday (4-2) and a graded spelling test on Friday (4-5). Students will be learning about words that have vowel teams. 

1. brain 

2. staircase 

3. domain 

4. praise 

5. trainer 

6. oatmeal 

7. beneath 

8. repeat 

9. reveal 

10. increase 

11. sneak 

12. boast 

13. afloat 

14. croak 

15. compound   

16. discount 

17. speed 

18. sleeve 

19. sheep 

20. baboon

• We will not have a weekly reading test for this week.

• We are finishing up chapter 10 in math. We will finish two more​ ​lessons and then have a review session. The Chapter 10 test will be on Friday. 

  • I hope your students have been taking advantage of the extra credit opportunity by completing the study guide that was sent home before spring break. A parent made me aware that questions 9-12 were different from the answer key that was sent; I apologize for that. 

• The end of the 3rd quarter is on Friday, April 5th. Therefore, students will be taking STAR 360 Reading on Wednesday and STAR 360 Math ​o​n Thursday. The students will be taking these assessments on their Chromebooks in the afternoon. 

• In history, we will learn about The End of the Mission System and the Mexican War of Independence. We will not have an assessment for this newspaper and instead will be completing worksheets throughout the short week. 

• We will continue through our Science lessons and finish up the unit. A study guide will be worked on in class on Monday (4-8) and ​the test will most likely be on Wednesday (4-10). 

• March Reading Bingo is due on Tuesday, April 2nd. April Reading Bingo will be sent home sometime during the week. 

Hello 4th grade families, 

We've had a fantastic week. I've had a lot of fun with the students this week. Today is very busy with Spring Picture day and we enjoyed some St. Patrick's Day treats. 

Here are some announcements for next week 3/18 - 3/22.

• We will have minimum days of Tuesday (3-19) and Wednesday (3-20) so dismissal will be at 1:00pm. 

• Talent show will be on Thursday, March 21st from 5:30pm to 7:30pm.

• We will have a spelling pretest on Monday (3-18) and a graded spelling test on Friday (3-22). Students will be learning about words that have open syllables.  

• • 1. famous
    2. radar
    3. razor
    4. vacancy
    5. beside
    6. beyond
    7. defend
    8. delay
    9. demand
    10. prevent
    11. secret
    12. veto
    13. bison
    14. diver
    15. cider
    16. silence
    17. clover
    18. spoken
    19. stolen
    20. tulip

• We will not have a weekly reading test on Friday. 

• We are going to continue Chapter 10 in math learning about decimals. 

  • Monday: Lesson 10.3

  • Tuesday: Notebooks and Check my Progress

  • Wednesday: Lesson 10.4

  • Thursday: Lesson 10.5

  • Friday: Lesson 10.6

• In History, we will not have a newspaper this week as that will give us time for students to present their mission reports. 

  • All projects will be due starting on Monday, March 18th. All students will have to be done and presented their missions by Friday, March 22nd. Those students that are ready to turn in their project and present can start on 3/18. We will do presentations throughout this week if needed for some students who may need extra time.

• We will continue working through our Science unit and learning about how animals know they are looking at its prey. 

• Our Easter Extravaganza party will be on Friday, March 22nd at 1:00pm. It will be lots of fun!

Hello 4th grade families, 

We have had a great, busy week!  It was fun to see all the students who dressed up for spirit week. 

Students took their unit 4 tests and completed their essays for ELA throughout the week. I have graded and sent home part 2, but not part 1 since there were short answer questions that take time to grade. Students also took their History tests this afternoon. All tests (ELA and History) and essays will be graded over the weekend and inputted into the gradebook and returned next week. 

We are already halfway through the 3rd quarter which means that progress reports will go home Monday or Tuesday. Please sign them and return them back to me so I know you've received them and taken a look at them.

Here are some announcements for next week 3/11 - 3/15.

• We will have a spelling pretest on Monday (3-11) and a graded spelling test on Friday (3-15). Students will be learning about words that have closed syllables. 

  • 1. blanket
    2. blossom
    3. dipper
    4. distant
    5. foggy
    6. fossil
    7. member
    8. nodded
    9. planner
    10. plastic
    11. rumbles
    12. slender
    13. summer
    14. swallow
    15. tablet
    16. thriller
    17. traffic
    18. welcome
    19. willow
    20. witness

• We will not have a weekly reading test on Friday.

• We are nearing the end of chapter 9 in Math. A study guide was sent home today with your student. This is a supplemental study guide meaning that it is optional. It is a study tool so it does not need to be turned in. Attached to this email are the answer keys for the study guide. The Chapter 9 Test will be on Wednesday March 13th. 

  • Monday: Chapter 9 Review Pages

  • Tuesday: Notebooks and Extra Practice (in-class)

  • Wednesday: Chapter 9 Test

  • Thursday: Lesson 10.1

  • Friday: Lesson 10.2

• In History, we will not have a newspaper this week which will give students time to work on their project in class. I would like students to do research on their missions and write their reports in class so that way there is less stress at home. All the mission project details were sent in a separate email. 

  • All projects will be due starting on Monday, March 18th. All students will have to be done and presented their missions by Friday, March 22nd. Those students that are ready to turn in their project and present can start on 3/18. We will do presentations throughout the week of the 18th if needed for some students who may need extra time.

• We will continue working through our Science unit and learning about how animals know they are looking at its prey. 

Hello,

In History, we are learning about the Mission System in California. I want this project to be fun and creative for the students. 

Today, all students will choose which mission they will be doing their project on. Students will continue to work on their projects by creating a replica of the mission. The replica could be done in a variety of ways; a painting, drawing, physical model, cardboard, styrofoam, popsicle sticks, legos, clay, paper, and so much more. 

In addition to the replica, students will write a small report on the mission of choice. This report must be 2 paragraphs. 

• Questions to answer; 

  • Paragraph 1: 

    • When was it created? 

    • By whom was it created? 

    • The date it was built. 

    • Which mission is it (number)?

    • Where is it located? 

  • Paragraph 2: Important details about the mission. Facts about the mission.   

Here is the website that students looked at to choose their mission. This website also has the information needed for the report, but they can use other websites too. 

https://californiamissionsfoundation.org/the-california-missions/

All projects will be due starting on Monday, March 18th. All students will have to be done and presented their missions by Friday, March 22nd. Those students that are ready to turn in their project and present can start on 3/18. We will do presentations throughout the week of the 18th if needed for some students who may need extra time. 

Next week, students will have time in the afternoons to work on this project if needed. If students want to bring their replica materials to school and work on it, they can do so. Students can do their research at school and write their report as well. 

If there are any questions, please feel free to ask. If help is needed gathering or purchasing materials for the project, please let me know too. 

Hello everyone!

Happy Friday and Happy March! 

Here are some announcements for next week (3/4 - 3/8)

• March Reading Bingo will be sent home on Monday, 3/4. It will be due Tuesday, April 2nd. 

• We will not have spelling tests, grammar pages, or practice book pages. We just ended Unit 4 which means we will have a unit test. 

  • Day 1 Monday: Topics; text evidence, idioms, synonyms, point of view, theme, stanzas, repetition, latin roots

  • Day 2 Tuesday: Topics; cause and effect, text features, context clues, point of view, theme, text evidence

  • Day 3 Wednesday: Essay drafting

  • Prompt: Students will write a 5-paragraph essay on their accomplishments and successes. Students can choose to write about 1 - 3 achievements they have done in their life or will do in their future. Students should talk about what it takes to achieve the goals as well.

  • Day 4 Thursday: Essay revising

  • Day 5 Friday: Essay finalizing

• `Students are working their way through Chapter 9 in Math. The test will be on  March 13th

  • Monday: 9.6 Add Mixed Numbers

  • Tuesday: 9.7 Subtract Mixed Numbers

  • Wednesday: Check my progress / Notebooks

  • Thursday: 9.8 Fractions and Multiplying 

  • Friday: 9.9 Multiplying Fraction by Whole Numbers

• We will continue working through our Science unit and learning about how light allows animals to see. 

• We are going to be doing a Week 16 newspaper in History which is about the mission system. 

  • Monday: Read pages 1 and 2

  • Tuesday: Read pages 3 and 4

  • Wednesday: Study Guide (in-class)

  • Thursday: Review/Jeopardy (in-class) and study day

  • Friday: Week 16 Assessment

• Students should also start thinking about which mission they would like to do a report on. Students will write and present a small report on the creation of a mission. Also, students will work at home and school to create a replica of the mission using various materials. More information will be given to students throughout the week.The reports and mission creations will be due on Monday, March 18th. Here is the website that shows all California Missions: https://californiamissionsfoundation.org/the-california-missions/ 

• Students will also continue to do Lexia and Dreambox throughout the week when they finish math work early or in the afternoons. 

Hello everyone!

This was another great week. I had a lot of fun with the students.  Good behaviors have been on the rise. I have been able to give out more class passes everyday and reward students. 

Here are some announcements for next week (2-26 / 3-1). 

• February Reading Bingo is due on Friday, March 1st. March reading bingo will be sent home the following week. 

• There will be a spelling pretest on Monday, 2/26 and a graded spelling test on Friday, 31. Students are learning about words that have Variant Vowel /ô/.

  • 1. caught 

  • 2. laws 

  • 3. drawn 

  • 4. strawberry 

  • 5. straw 

  • 6. awe 

  • 7. shawl 

  • 8. alter 

  • 9. halt 

  • 10. talking 

  • 11. walker 

  • 12. chalk 

  • 13. stalk 

  • 14. small 

  • 15. caller 

  • 16. squall 

  • 17. cough 

  • 18. fought 

  • 19. thought 

  • 20. false  

• There will be a weekly reading test on Friday, March 1st. The reading test will be done in the morning after the spelling test. 

  • 1. • Topics: theme, finding text evidence, connotation, denotation, and point of view.

• Students finished chapter 8 in math and took their math tests today. The tests will be graded over the weekend and be passed back on Monday. That means we will be starting Chapter 9: Operations with Fractions.

  • 1. 1. Monday: 9.1 Use Models to Add Like Fractions

       2. Tuesday: 9.2 Add Like Fractions

       3. Wednesday: 9.3 Use Models to Subtract Like Fractions

       4. Thursday: 9.4 Subtract Like Fractions

       5. Friday: Write in notebooks / Check my Progress 

• We are going to do a Week 15 newspaper in History which is about Colonization. There will be an assessment for this newspaper on Friday, March 1st. I have taken feedback from the students about this method having the test in the same week because the information is fresher since they tend to forget on the weekends or don't study over the weekend. I understand that not all students feel this way, however, I would like to give it a try. The outline of the week would be as follows; 

  • 1. 1. Monday: Read pages 1 and 2

       2. Tuesday: Read pages 3 and 4

       3. Wednesday: Study Guide (in-class)

       4. Thursday: Review/Jeopardy (in-class) and study day

       5. Friday: Week 15 Assessment

• We will continue to work through our science unit and complete more worksheets. A few worksheets were graded and sent home today. 

• Students will continue to do Lexia and Dreambox throughout the week for early finishers or for Chromebook time in the afternoons. 

• I understand that it may seem like many tests this week, a spelling test, reading test, and history test, but I know the students are very capable of doing a great job!

Hello 4th grade families, 

We made it to Friday!  This week has been good. Thank you to everyone who helped with the Valentine's Day party.  

This afternoon the 4th graders paired with TK-K students to practice writing numbers for the littles. We are buddy classes with Mrs. Hambro's class so that means we go visit their class every two weeks to do an activity together. 

Here are some announcements for our short week next week (2/20-2/23);

• There will be a spelling pretest on Tuesday, 2-20 and a graded spelling test on Friday, 2/23. Students are learning about words that have Diphthongs /oi/ and /ou/.

  • 1. noises 

  • 2. voices 

  • 3. rejoice 

  • 4. annoy 

  • 5. destroy 

  • 6. voyage 

  • 7. mound 

  • 8. south 

  • 9. pound 

  • 10. hound 

  • 11. pouch 

  • 12. thousand 

  • 13. wound 

  • 14. grouch 

  • 15. cowboy 

  • 16. gown 

  • 17. frown 

  • 18. howling 

  • 19. flower 

  • 20. tower  

• We are going to be ending Chapter 8 in Math. A study guide will go home on Tuesday and the test will be on Friday, 2/23. The following week, we will be starting Chapter 9 which is all about operations with fractions.

• We will continue to work through our science unit and will also be completing worksheets to go along with the lessons. We will continue discussing how animals use light to survive. 

• In History, we are going to start on Week 14: Exploration and Encounters. Just like this week's newspaper, there will be no assessment test for week 14 newspaper. Instead, students will be completing worksheets that go in the gradebook. 

  • We have not been doing assessments because there is too much heavy information in these newspapers; I have found that the worksheets are better for the students to demonstrate their learning.

  • In a few weeks, we will start to talk about the actual Mission System where students will build and create their own mission!

• Students will continue to do Lexia and Dreambox throughout the week; this will be done if they finish math early or during any other free time in the afternoons.

• There will be no weekly reading assessment for ELA this week.

• I am almost finished with setting up everyone's student account for Aeries. This will allow you and your student to check their grades and see any possible missing assignments.

I hope everyone has an enjoyable 3-day weekend. I am going to a comedy show with my family on Saturday at the Forum.  As always, if there are any questions you can reach me via email. Thank you for all your support.

Hi 4th grade families,

Thank you to all family members and supporters that came to the awards ceremony this afternoon.  We had a great week this week! 

Here are some important announcements for next week (2/9 - 2/16)

• Our Valentine's Day class party will be on Wednesday, February 14th from 12:45pm - 2:15pm. I am very excited for this fun-filled party! Thank you in advance for everyone's help and support with these parties. They could not be done without you. 

• We will have a spelling pretest on Monday (2/9) and a graded spelling test on Friday (2/16). We are learning about words that have /ü/, /ū/, and /ů/.

  • 1. mood

  • 2. stoop

  • 3. zoom

  • 4. crew

  • 5. stew

  • 6. ruler

  • 7. produce

  • 8. issue

  • 9. tutor

  • 10. truth

  • 11. bruised

  • 12. juicy

  • 13. suits

  • 14. group

  • 15. you'll

  • 16. huge

  • 17. crook

  • 18. wool

  • 19. used

  • 20. should

• On Thursday, students will be doing some creative writing on their Chromebooks. This is meant to be a fun writing activity were they can be creative in responding to a prompt; students will be writing a story that uses dialogue. This will not go in the gradebook; many students have been wanting to do writing on their Chromebooks so this will be fun!

• We are continuing to work through Chapter 8 in Math which is all about fractions. The test will most likely be in two weeks. 

  • Monday: Lesson 5, Simplest Form

  • Tuesday: Lesson 6, Compare and Order Fractions

  • Wednesday: Lesson 7, Use Benchmark Fractions to Compare and Order

  • Thursday: Check My Progress

  • Friday: Lesson 9, Mixed Numbers

• In History, we are going to start on Week 13: California American Indian Tribes of the Mountain, Central Valley, and Delta Regions. Just like this week's newspaper, there will be no assessment test for week 13 newspaper. Instead, students will be completing worksheets that go in the gradebook. 

  • Week 11 assessment tests went home today. Our class average was 83%. 

• We will continue to work through our science unit and will also be completing worksheets to go along with the lessons. We will continue discussing how animals use light to survive. 

• Students will continue to do Lexia and Dreambox throughout the week. The goal is that students can work on Lexia and/or Dreambox if they finish math early or during any other free time in the afternoons. 

Hello 4th grade team, 

We have made it through another week! Happy Friday. Report cards when home with your student today along with their recent STAR scores for Math and Reading. Please sign and return the empty envelope so we can recycle them for the next quarter. 

Here are some important announcements for next week.

• The 100th day of school is on Tuesday, February 6th. We would love to see your student dressed up as if they are 100 years old or wearing something that represents 100 items. 

• We will have a spelling pretest on Monday (2/5) and a graded spelling test on Friday (2/9). We will be learning about spelling words that have inflectional endings: y to i.

  • 1. funnier

  • 2. families

  • 3. pennies

  • 4. worried

  • 5. replied

  • 6. varied

  • 7. marries

  • 8. carries

  • 9. easily

  • 10. silliest 

  • 11. jumpier

  • 12. emptier

  • 13. merrier

  • 14. applied

  • 15. cozily

  • 16. sorriest

  • 17. prettily

  • 18. lazier

  • 19. happiest

  • 20. dizziest

• Students took their math tests for chapter 7 and did a fantastic job!  We will start chapter 8 which is all about fractions. 

• Students completed the Week 11 study guide for history. We went over all the answers as a whole class. The test will be on Monday (2/5) in the afternoon. Attached is the answer key to the study guide. 

  • We will start Week 12: California American Indian Tribes of the Pacific Coast and Desert Region. We will not have a study guide or test in this week's newspaper and instead we will complete in-class worksheets 

• We will continue working through unit 2 in science and talking about how animals use their senses to survive in their environments. 

• February's reading bingo will go home early next week and will be due on Friday, March 1st. 

• There will be no weekly reading test for ELA. 

• This week, students took their placement tests for our new Dreambox program. It is very similar to Lexia, and the students will continue to do both Lexia and Dreambox next week. 

• On Friday, February 9th, HELUS will be holding an awards ceremony for 4th - 8th grade. You and your student will be notified if they are getting an award on Monday. A note will go home with your student. 

  • Awards: Attendance, Citizenship, and Academics.

• I am continuing to work through the rest of the students on setting student's accounts up to gain access to Aeries so they, and you, can check grades. We recently started quarter 3, so nothing has been inputted yet. Once you receive an email, you will know that your student's account has been set up.

1/26

Hello 4th grade families, 

This week was great! Students took their unit tests, worked on their essays, did their history presentations, and so much more. All students did a good job on their history presentations. Thank you to you and your student for sharing all about their culture and family traditions. 

Here are some announcements for next week (1/29 - 2/2)

• The end of quarter 2 was today. I will accept any work up until Monday, January 29th. If your student happens to be absent Monday then I will accept work on Tuesday. We will have time in the afternoon on Monday to finish up any remaining assignments. Report cards will go home on Friday, February 2nd. 

• All subject work, unit tests, essays, science tests, and more that were turned in this week will be graded over the weekend, inserted in the gradebook, and returned early next week. 

• We will have an in class spelling bee on Wednesday afternoon, January 31st. The top 3 students will then move on to the whole school spelling bee; date and time is TBD.  

• A handful of students have finished their essay! Yay! All students worked very hard researching their person and doing their very best in the writing process. 

  • Students who have completed their essay: BillyJoe, Avery, Brayden, Cayden, Levi, David, Ryker, and Sydnie. 

  • Other students who may not have finished their essay in class should take time over the weekend to do that and be turned in on Monday. Students should have taken home their essay in their folder/backpack. Most students are very close to finishing. 

• We are nearing the end of Chapter 7 in Math which was all about sequences. We will be finishing a few more lessons and doing math activities to review sequences. A study guide/pre test will go home on Monday. The test will be on Friday, February 2nd. 

• We will start Unit 4 in ELA. As normal, we will have spelling tests, spelling pages, and practice book pages. There will be no weekly reading assessment for this week. 

• Students will have a spelling pretest on Monday 1-29 and a graded spelling test on Friday 2-2. We are learning about spelling words that have inflectional endings. Below are the words for the week. 

  • 1. tasted

  • 2. ripping

  • 3. forced

  • 4. flipping

  • 5. tapped

  • 6. flipped

  • 7. scared

  • 8. flagged

  • 9. ripped

  • 10. skipped

  • 11. tapping

  • 12. saved

  • 13. skipping

  • 14. scaring

  • 15. flagging

  • 16. discussed

  • 17. saving

  • 18. tasting

  • 19. forcing

  • 20. discussing

• We will be starting unit 3 in social studies which is "Early California and the Mission System." Week 11 newspaper will be going over "Life in North America Before European Colonization."

Students will complete a study guide in class on Friday 2/2, and the test will be on Monday 2/5.

• We ended unit 1 in Science which means we will be starting unit 2 which is all about vision and light.

• Finally, I have figured out how to allow students and their families to have access to grades. I will get those set up the first week of February. I will have students set them up on their Chromebooks in class since it requires accessing their student emails for a verification code. Afterwards, I will email you with your student's login information. 

If there are any questions about anything, please let me know. I hope you all have a great weekend. My family and I will be going to Knott's Berry Farm over the weekend, so I may be unavailable to respond to your email. However, I will try to respond in a timely manner; if not, I will respond Monday. 

Thanks for all your support. 

1/19

Hello 4th grade families, 

Happy Fri-yay! This week has been great! For the most part, I'm so happy to say that students have been behaving better. 

Here are some important announcements for next week

• Friday, January 26th is the end of quarter 2. All assignments up until 1-26 will be included in the quarter 2 gradebook. As I mentioned beforehand, I will accept missing assignments up until Monday, January 29th. Report Cards will go home on Friday 2-2.

• We ended Unit 3 for ELA which means we will have assessments and an essay. There will be no spelling test, spelling pages, grammar pages, or reading, writing workshop, and practice book pages. 

  • Day 1 (Monday): Comprehension portion. There will be two stories and 13 questions.

    • Concepts: Greek roots, text evidence, context clues, synonyms, [author's] point of view, definitions and restatements, paragraph clues

  • Day 2 (Tuesday): Grammar portion: There will be two short passages and 10 questions. 

    • Concepts: Action verbs, linking verbs, verb tenses, main verbs, helping verbs, and irregular verbs.

    • If there is enough time in our morning, we will start essay drafting here.

  • Day 3 (Essay drafting): Students will start drafting their essay in a flow chart. 

    • Prompt: Choose a famous person who has given a powerful speech, tell about their background, the famous speech, and your point of view on what the speech means to you. 

    • Students need to choose a person who has given a speech with powerful meaning. Ex. George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., Winston Churchill, Mahatma Gandhi, Steve Jobs, Susan B. Anthony, Franklin Roosevelt, Maya Angelou, etc. 

      • Paragraph 1/Intro: Hook, introduce your person and the speech they gave, thesis statement (Now, I will talk about __________'s background, what their famous speech is and how powerful it was to the people, and my point of view of the speech.) 

      • Paragraph 2/Body 1: Main idea and supporting details about the person's birthplace and childhood. Details that give background to how they became famous. Where were they born, where did they grow up, what was their childhood like, how did they become famous?

      • Paragraph 3/ Body 2: Main idea and supporting details on what the person's speech is about. What is the speech? Where was the speech given/to whom? Why did they give this speech? Why was it powerful? 

      • Paragraph 4/Body 3: Give your point of view and supporting details on what the speech means to you. Do you agree or disagree? 

      • Paragraph 4/Conclusion: Summarize the essay and restate your thesis. (I have talked about ____________'s childhood and how they became a public figure, their meaningful speech, and why I agree/disagree with their speech.)

• We will continue with Chapter 7 in Math.

  • Lesson 7.5: Addition and Subtraction Rules

  • Lesson 7.6: Multiplication and Division Rules

  • Lesson 7.7: Order of Operations

  • Lesson 7.8: Equations with Two Operations

  • Check my progress: lessons 5 - 8

• We created a Science study guide together in class; students should have it in their backpack/folder. Monday (1-22) will be the unit 1 test. There will be 6 questions on the test but there will be multi-parts. Attached are pictures of what we went over on the whiteboard and what should be studied from. 

  • List the 5 types of energy

  • List sources of energy

  • Define input and give an example

  • Define output and give an example

  • List 5 or more electrical devices and tell what kind of energy is the output.

  • List causes of a blackout

  • Write 1 paragraph that tells one possible cause of a blackout and what are some solutions to help fix the blackout.

• We will begin another week in History. Week 10 is all about culture (culture, architecture, beliefs, arts & literature, celebrations, food, and clothing).

  • Instead of doing a test for this week, I would like students to present an item from their culture. On Friday (1-26), I would like each student to bring in an item(s) that represents their culture. Students will give a presentation about the item; what it is and what the item means to their culture. Students will be graded on their presentation skills (up to 20 points).

1/12

Hello families, 

Thank you to everyone that has reached out to me and offered their volunteer services. I really appreciate it. 

I am overjoyed to say that ALL STUDENTS did fantastic this morning and all afternoon. Everyone in the class earned a class pass reward, and a few earned additional blue tickets. 

Here are a few important announcements for next week. 

• There is NO SCHOOL Monday since it is a holiday. Have a wonderful 3-day weekend!

• Students took their Chapter 6 Math tests today. I will grade those over the weekend and they will be returned on Tuesday. With the end of a chapter, that means that we will be starting Chapter 7 next week and learning about Patterns and Sequences

  • Tuesday, 7.1: Nonnumeric Patterns

  • Wednesday, 7.2: Numeric Patterns

  • Thursday, 7.3: Sequences

  • Friday, 7.4: Problem-Solving, Look for a Pattern

• Students will have a spelling pretest on Tuesday (1-16) and a graded spelling test on Friday (1-19). Next week we'll be learning about compound words.

  • 1. fishbowl

  • 2. lookout

  • 3. yardstick

  • 4. desktop

  • 5. campfire

  • 6. overhead

  • 7. waterproof 

  • 8. grandparent

  • 9. railroad

  • 10. snowstorm

  • 11. loudspeaker

  • 12. bookcase

  • 13. bedroom

  • 14. blindfold

  • 15. newborn

  • 16. bedspread

  • 17. yourself

  • 18. overdo

  • 19. clothesline

  • 20. undertake

• There will be no weekly reading assessment for next week as well. 

• Students worked on their History study guide today in class, and should have taken them home along with two newspapers. Some students did not get to finish the study guide in class because we went to go read to the TK and Kindergarten class. Attached is the answer key to the guide. Please note that there will be 16 questions on the actual test. The test will be on Tuesday (1-16).

• We will finish our Science unit next week. Students will have a Science study guide on Friday (1-19) and the test will be on Monday (1-22).

• We are nearing the end of quarter 2 (1-26) which means that the students need to be assessed on Renaissance Star 360. Star 360 Reading will be tested on Wednesday (1-17) and Star 360 Math will be tested on Thursday (1-18). These tests will be completed in the mornings since I feel that students perform better at that time versus the afternoon. Therefore, ELA work will be worked on later in the morning and afternoon. Students will have the entire morning until recess (10:15am) to complete these tests. 

• January Reading Bingo went home this week as well and it will be due on Friday, February 2nd. 

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out via email. Please look at our class webpage as it is updated every Friday or Saturday; the tab "upcoming tests!" will have additional test information for the next two weeks. 

12/30

Hello 4th grade families, 

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year. I can't believe the new year is upon us and we are entering the second half of 4th grade.  There aren't enough words to express how blessed, grateful, and thankful I am for the school year we've had thus far and for your continuous support.

I have been working hard over winter break to create new behavior, organizational, and writing systems. I am looking forward to introducing more daily journal writing too. 

Here are some important announcements about upcoming assignments. We are going to jump right back into the curriculum. 

• We will have a spelling pretest on Monday (1/8) and a graded spelling test on Friday (1/12). We are learning about plurals. 

  • 1. clams

  • 2. mints

  • 3. props

  • 4. arches

  • 5. dresses

  • 6. parents

  • 7. caves

  • 8. glasses

  • 9. hobbies

  • 10. engines

  • 11. couches

  • 12. arrows

  • 13. enemies

  • 14. babies

  • 15. ranches

  • 16. patches

  • 17. mistakes

  • 18. supplies

  • 19. mosses

  • 20. armies

• We will have Chapter 6 Math Test on Friday (1/12).  There will be 15 questions on the actual test.  

  • Attached is the study guide (and answer key) for the test; if the study guide is completed between now and the return of school, it can be turned in and worth up to 15 extra credit points in the gradebook. The document could either be printed or written on a separate piece of paper and then turned in.

• In Social Studies, we are going to be learning about "Regions in the United States" and "Regions in California." Since they are similar topics, we are going to have two newspapers to study from. Students will have a study guide to complete in class on Friday (1/12), and the Social Studies test will be on Tuesday (1/16). 

• We will continue to work through our Science unit all about energy and blackouts. Students will complete worksheets to go along with learning throughout the week. The test for Science will be during the week of the 22nd; a study guide will be worked on in class and sent home beforehand. 

• December Reading Bingo will be due on Monday (1/8) and January Reading Bingo will be sent home someday throughout the week. 

12/9

Hello 4th grade families,

We are one week away from winter break!

Here are some announcements for next week;

• We will have a spelling pretest on Monday (12/11) and a graded spelling test on Friday (12/15). Here are the spelling words; we are learning about words that have soft “c” or “g”.

  • 1. center

  • 2. once

  • 3. scene

  • 4. spice

  • 5. circus

  • 6. cement

  • 7. police

  • 8. certain

  • 9. ounce

  • 10. glance

  • 11. germs

  • 12. bridge

  • 13. badge

  • 14. strange

  • 15. orange

  • 16. ginger

  • 17. wedge

  • 18. arrange

  • 19. sponge

  • 20. village

• We will not have Science or Social Studies this week as our afternoons will be filled with crafts, activities, and Lexia Core 5. 

• There will be NO reading assessment this week. 

• We are continuing to work through Chapter 6 in Math. We recently learned the concept of long-division and remainders. This is a challenging concept to grasp since there are a lot of steps. We will continue to practice through each lesson. 

  • Thank you to those who worked with their student(s) to complete the test corrections for chapter 5 test. The test corrections were graded, changed in the gradebook, and passed back yesterday. 

• A lot of other work was passed out yesterday as well. Please check your student's folder for graded assignments. 

  • Those who finished their essay were graded and passed back yesterday. Everyone did a GREAT job on their essay. 

• Progress reports were also sent home yesterday. If your student was absent, then they will be taking them home on Monday. Please remember that this is just half way through quarter 2; their grades are not indefinite and can be improved before report cards. If your student has any missing assignments, please ask them about it. If there are missing Math assignments, I can make more copies of those pages and send them home with your student. 

• Most importantly, our classroom will be observed by Mrs. Denton on Tuesday. Mrs. Denton will be observing an ELA lesson; she is looking to see how I teach and how the students are behaving. I really hope that students can display excellent behavior and we get a good report. 

• Thursday (12/14) is our Holiday Program at The Painted Turtle. Please note that Thursday is a minimum day. 

  • Parents can drop off their students between 4:30pm and 5:15pm at the Dining Hall. 

  • The doors to the Gym (where the performance is taking place) will open for seating starting at 5:00pm. 

  • The Holiday Show will begin promptly at 5:30pm

• A flyer was also sent home yesterday with information regarding our Holiday party that will take place on Friday (12/15).

• Next week is Spirit Week! I hope to see students dress up. 

  • Monday: Mismatch Day 

  • Tuesday: Crazy Hair Day 

  • Wednesday: Festive Holiday Day 

  • Thursday: Wear your class color (YELLOW) 

  • Friday: Pajama Day! (NO slippers, blankets, and stuffed animals)

As always, if there are any questions about anything, please feel free to reach out to me via email. Thank you in advance to EVERYONE for your support and collaboration throughout the first semester. I hope everyone has a restful and relaxing Winter break filled with fun, joy, and family. 

Best, 

Miss Hall

12/1

Hello 4th grade families, 

Happy December!! 

First, I want to thank everyone for making my birthday so special. You are all so generous and kind. I feel so loved by the students and all of their gifts. 

Here are a few announcements for next week.

• We will have a spelling pretest on Monday (12/4) and a graded spelling test on Friday (12/8). Below are the spelling words for next week; we are learning about words that have silent letters. 

  • 1. wrinkle 

  • 2. wriggle

  • 3. wrapper

  • 4. wrench

  • 5. answer

  • 6. knead

  • 7. knives

  • 8. known 

  • 9. kneel

  • 10. knew

  • 11. plumber

  • 12. combs

  • 13, thumbs

  • 14. lambs

  • 15. condemn

  • 16. resign

  • 17. doubtful

  • 18. hour

  • 19. honest

  • 20. honor

• Students took their Chapter 5 Math Test earlier this week. We started Chapter 6: Dividing by a One-Digit Number. We will continue to work through Chapter 6. 

• Students should have taken home their social studies study guide and their newspaper. Attached to this email is an answer key to the study guide. Our Week 7 assessment will be taken after lunch on Monday (12/4)

• We will be working through our Science Unit 1 and skipping Social Studies.

• We will have a weekly reading assessment on Friday that will be taken on after lunch.

• For our Holiday show, we will be singing “Deck the Halls” for Miss Hall.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out via email. Have a great rest of your weekend. 

September 16, 2023

Hi 4th grade families, 

We have made it through another week of 4th grade. 

• As always, the spelling pre test will be on Monday, and the graded spelling test will be on Friday. Here are the spelling words for next week. Please consider practicing spelling these words with your student to ensure a good grade on the spelling test. 

• More graded work was sent home on Friday. Please check your student’s backpacks and folders.

• We will have our first Social Studies test on Tuesday. We have a new curriculum this year for Social Studies/History. Two newspaper type papers were sent home along with a study guide. There may be some repeating questions of the study guide, I apologize for that. Answers were not sent with the study guide for the sake of studying purposes, but all the answers can be found in the newspapers. The social studies test will be 16 questions long and will be conducted after lunch recess (12:30pm). 

• Yesterday, we took our first reading assessment test; students did a good job. We will have another weekly reading assessment conducted on Friday after lunch recess (12:30pm). 

• Lastly, cold and flu season is upon us. I have put out our last round of tissue boxes and would very much appreciate it if some tissue boxes be donated to the classroom. You may want to consider sending your student with a personal pack of tissues and/or hand sanitizer. I have some bottles of hand sanitizer around the classroom for students to use as well. Stay healthy!

• If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out.

September 10, 2023

A few important announcements for this upcoming week. 

• We will have our first Math test on Tuesday, 9/12. This test will cover place value, ordering numbers, and rounding. All Math homework pages done in class were graded and sent home on Friday. Please consider reviewing the concepts with your student to ensure they are prepared for the test. If you would like a pretest to do with you student Monday night, let me know and I can send one home. Tomorrow we will be reviewing the chapter in class as well. 

• We have new spelling words this week. A pre-test is done on Monday and a graded spelling test done on Friday. Spelling words are posted under the "Spelling Words" tab. 

• Weekly Reading tests will start to be conducted on Fridays after lunch recess (12:30pm). These tests consist of reading a passage and answering questions about that passage.

• Reading bingo is still in effect. Reading activities are done at home and the bingo card is due October 2nd. 

• I have given out many incentive tickets for those who have signed/initialed their student's planner. Thank you and please continue to do so. 

September 4, 2023

I hope everyone is having a relaxing three-day weekend. This week and next week, I will be conducting Renaissance Star 360 Reading and Math assessments on their chromebooks in the afternoon after lunch recess (12:30pm). In addition, tomorrow I will be sending home "September Reading Bingo" which is a monthly reading incentive. 

Please make sure you are checking your students' backpack, folder, and planner for work being sent home, important flyers, and updates. If you sign/initial your students' planner, they will get a small incentive reward. We try to write something in our planner everyday. 

Spelling words for this week are posted under the "Spelling Words" tab as well. 

Hi everyone,

I hope everyone is doing well as we are already through the first week of school. Yay! If you are seeing this message, this is our Google Sites homepage that I will be using to facilitate parent-teacher communication. I will post announcements, test reminders, weekly spelling words, and other important information. If anyone has any questions about anything, please email me at shall@heluesd.org. If it is an urgent matter, you can text me at (661) 492-8962. I want each of you to know how much I truly care about your students and their ultimate success in 4th grade. :)

Please check your student's folder and planner everyday. If you sign your student's planner, they will get a small incentive reward.

Best regards,

Stephanie Hall