Week of October 19, 2026
Week of October 19, 2026
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It was a pleasure chatting with you all last week at conferences!
We are still in need of a few more volunteers to help run the class halloween party. It is is scheduled for Friday, October 30, from 12:30-1:30. Volunteers will need to fill out a background check form. Thank you for your help!
The Scholastic Book Fair is 2 weeks away! Click the link to preshop and set up your student's ewallet.
This week:
Math: Multiplying with bigger numbers, Home Connections pages 33-36
Reading: Powerful nonfiction reading, ask and answer questions, figurative language, media techniques
Writing: Expository Essay
Word Work/Grammar: pre-, re-, -s, -es, -ed, and -ing, proper nouns, complete sentences
Science: Built for Survival
Fun in science!
Week of October 12, 2026
Week of October 12, 2026
Your student can attend the HPS football game for free this Friday, October 16. Students can meet their classmates and our partner football player, Kenten Poll, before kickoff. Please see the flyer for details. Gates open at 5:45 p.m. We will make a tunnel for the players as they enter the stadium. Please arrange to meet your student after the tunnel. Students will not be supervised and need to sit or go home with you. Thank you for your partnership and for making this event successful for everyone.
This week:
Math: Unit 2: Multidigit Multiplication & Early Division. Home Connections pages 27-32 align with our class work this week.
Reading/Writing: Module 2: Come to Your Senses, informational texts/genre focus.
Word Work/Grammar: prefixes -re and -pre, writing complete sentences.
Science: Built for Survival unit of study
Week of October 5, 2026
Week of October 5, 2026
Thank you for your support and generosity with walkathon donations. Our annual fundraiser was a great success! Our school community is amazing. Check out the pictures I added. I tried to get as many as possible!
Class party volunteer sign-ups are here! Our halloween party is scheduled for Friday, October 30, from 12:30-1:30, and our winter party is scheduled for Friday, December 18, from 12:30-1:30. Thank you for considering volunteering to lead a game, craft, or snack station. Sign-up links are attached. Students love these parties and often say that they are the best memory of the year!
We have a fire safety prevention program on Wednesday morning. Staff from the fire station will show a video, review safety measures, and answer questions regarding fire safety.
This week:
Math: Unit 1 test on Monday!
Unit 2: Multidigit Multiplication & Early Division. Home Connections pages 21-26 align with our class work this week.
Reading/Writing: Module 2: Come to Your Senses, informational texts/genre focus
Word Work/Grammar: prefixes -re and -pre, writing complete sentences
Science: Built for Survival unit of study
Week of September 28, 2026
Week of September 28, 2026
The walkathon is this Friday! 5 more families still need to register -this is how your student will get their shirt! Students should plan to wear tennis shoes and their AES walkathon T-shirt (I will hand them out on Friday). Thank you for continuing to work on donations for AES’s annual fundraiser! Even a little bit can make a difference, so thank you for considering a donation.
Mr. Barry sent home details about ordering a recorder. These are due on Friday, October 9. Please return this even if you already have a recorder, so he knows that you are all set.
This week:
Math: Unit 1 Math test next Monday. We will review in class on Friday. Students can take the review home Friday night if they need more practice. Here are some fun “workplace” games that students can play to practice all of the Grade 4 skills. Home Connections pages 19-20 (complete Unit 1).
Reading: 400+ at-home reading minutes are DUE THURSDAY, October 1. Students should add up all of their at-home reading minutes since the beginning of the month, write the total on the gold paper (goes home tomorrow), and get a parent/guardian signature. Anyone who completes 400+ minutes will get their name entered into a drawing to pick a book from the book vending machine and will receive a small treat from me 🙂!
Writing: Finish publishing personal narrative story and writing an expository essay.
Science: Built for Survival unit
Dates to Remember:
September 30 - Tarry Hall 6:15-8:15
October 2 - Walkathon
October 3 - Alward Family Fall Festival 5-7
October 13 & 15 - Conferences
October 16 - NO SCHOOL
Week of September 21, 2026
Week of September 21, 2026
Thank you to everyone who donated puzzles and chess sets to our classroom! The students are having a blast.
Also, thank you for supporting the AES walkathon. Your support in fundraising is greatly appreciated! 7 more families need to register (this is where your student’s T-shirt size is ordered)!
This week:
Math: Multiplicative comparisons & equations. Home Connections pages 15-18 (optional) match our lessons this week.
Reading: Our library time is on Mondays. This week we will focus on using context clues to figure out unknown words, determining the theme in a story, and author’s craft.
Writing: Revising, editing, and publishing personal narratives
Spelling/Grammar: suffixes: un, im, in, y, ly, and er, types of sentences
Science: Built For Survival
Dates to Remember:
September 30 - Tarry Hall Skating Party
October 2 - Walkathon
October 3 - PTC Fall Fest 5-7 pm
October 13 & 15 - Conferences
October 16 - No School
Week of September 14, 2026
Week of September 14, 2026
… TOMORROW! Order forms went home last week.
Scholastic BOOK ORDERS will go home tomorrow. I will place the order this Friday, September 18.
Last week, we agreed on how we want to feel when we come into the classroom every day. We all agreed that we want to feel welcomed, safe, included, respected and comfortable. We brainstormed and voted on actions that will help everyone feel those things when we are in our room.
Please REGISTER for the annual AES Walkathon Fundraiser using this LINK. This link is where you will register for your student’s T-shirt size. There is also a SHARE button at the top of the page if you would like to promote the fundraiser to friends and family. This is the only fundraiser Alward does each year, and the community support has been incredible 🙂.
Thank you, thank you…for the amazing support with at-home reading minutes! To stay on track, students should have 200+ minutes documented by the end of the week. Everyone is doing awesome with this! This is required grade 4 homework. We have library tomorrow or students can borrow books from our classroom library.
If you are interested, check out the FREE NATIONAL PARK PASS and the Michigan FREE SKI PASS available to 4th graders!
This week:
Math: Prime and composite numbers. Home Connections pages 9-14 reinforce the learning we will do at school this week.
Students are working hard to memorize multiplication facts. They can access their Xtramath account to practice virtually. Timestables.com is another great practice site. Memorizing these facts builds foundational math skills for years to come. Thank you for your support!
Reading: We have library tomorrow! This week we will focus on checking for understanding as we read.
Writing: Drafting a personal narrative story
Spelling/Grammar: Using the suffix -er, ending punctuation
Science: Built For Survival
Dates to Remember:
September 30 - Tarry Hall Skating Party
October 2 - Walkathon
October 3 - PTC Fall Fest
October 13 & 15 - Conferences
October 16 - No School
Week of September 7, 2026
Week of September 7, 2026
Last week, our class started brainstorming how to be a good 4th-grade student and different ways we want classmates to feel and act when we are in our room. This week, we will agree, sign, and post these expectations on our wall as a class charter.
This week:
Math: Multiplication and division strategies. Home Connections pages 1- 8 correlate with skills that we have already done or will do (this week) at school.
*Home Connections is optional math homework. Students will leave the book at school and rip out correlating pages at the beginning of each week. Students will earn 1 dojo point for each Home Connections sheet they complete and turn in by the end of the week.
Reading: Details about our first reading unit went home (a pink sheet) last week. Our first unit focuses on realistic fiction and identity, and how our experiences form who we are. We learned some pretty big vocabulary words…ask your student if they remember any of them!
Writing: Developing a personal narrative using the writing process.
Spelling/Grammar: Each week we will focus on different patterns/skills. This week we will work on suffixes -y, -ly, and -er and discuss different types of sentences.
Homework this week: Reading 15+ minutes/day at home, recording the minutes, and having a parent/guardian sign or initial. The goal is 400+ at-home minutes read by September 30.
Week of August 31, 2026
Week of August 31, 2026
Our first 3 (½ days) went awesome! Thank you to whoever donated items from our class wishlist. I appreciate you!
Agendas went home last Friday, along with a paper explaining the use and purpose. Any student who returns the signed paper on tomorrow will get a small treat. Thank you for your support!
This week will continue to build our classroom culture by brainstorming ideas for our class Charter (rules/norms), playing games, and reviewing procedures and expectations.
This week:
Math - Students will take a STAR Math assessment. THIS letter details our first math unit. We will begin Unit 1 Math: Multiplicative Thinking.
ELA - Students will take a STAR Reading assessment. A letter (pink) detailing our first reading unit will go home tomorrow. Students should start reading 15-20 minutes each school night and record the minutes in their planner. The goal is to read and record about 100 at-home reading minutes/week. The grade 4 requirement is that students read 400 minutes every month. Some students will need to work up to this. It really helps if you establish the expectation right away during the first week of school.
Homework this week:
Read 100 minutes throughout the week; record minutes in agenda/planner, and get that signed/initialed.
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