Hi there, 

I hope everyone is having a great start to their Memorial Day Weekend! It's a little cooler and windier than any of us would want, but at least it isn't raining. I had to opportunity to volunteer and spend time in Abby's school yesterday, so I am sending out our Classroom Update while enjoying my coffee on the couch with Penelope. 

This week the students presented both their speeches and their trifold boards to the class. They did a fabulous job, and it was so great to hear all of their speeches. Everyone loved being able to do a gallery walk and have the opportunity to see each others boards up close and personal. They did a wonderful job! I am still working on grading both their speeches and trifold boards. My hope is that they will be brought home by the end of next week!

I also wanted to include a reminder for the end of the year performance assessments and tests. The study guide for math has been posted in both Enrichment as well as our math Google Classrooms. Students should spend about 10 minutes a night “studying”. Students should focus on one skill a night to practice. We are asking that they do the work on a separate sheet of paper or on a white board that they may have at home. Please make sure to double check their answers or thinking! Below is the schedule of the remaining performance assessments and tests. 

End of Year Performance Assessments & Test 

Fourth Grade

2025

Date

Description

Week of May 28th - Reading Comprehension &  Performance Assessment

Week of May 28th - Religion Performance Assessment

Week of June 3rd - Language Arts Performance Assessment

Wednesday, June 5th - Math Final- Part 1

Thursday, June 6th - Math Final- Part 2

Thursday, June 6th - Science- Unit 3 Test

Friday, June 7th  - Make-Ups

 Social Studies - Unit project (NO TEST or Performance Assessment) 

TESTS- Students will be given a study guide to prepare. These study guides may either be posted in Google Classroom or students were given a hard copy (science). 

• Students have been preparing in math class and as parts of HW for the end of year math test. This test covers all the topics we have covered this year. IXL is a great study tool to practice problems at home. Math study guide is posted in Google Classroom for the students.

Performance Assessments- Students will complete performance assessments during class periods. Performance assessments are not tests that students can study for, but rather allowing students to apply their understanding of skills and concepts using given resources.

I hope you enjoy your long weekend as we start the kick-off to summer! Enjoy your time with family and friends.

Have a wonderful long weekend! 

Hi there, 

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend and is having a great start to their week. I know a number of you were getting soggy with me at the Regional Championship track meet on Sunday. 

We ended last week on such a high note with our class trip to the Churchville Nature Center’s Lenape Village. It was a ton of fun, on top of having an absolutely gorgeous day to be outside. Everyone loved the hands on components of the trip and enjoyed sharing all their knowledge about the Lenape tribe. I created a photo album on shutterfly.com for chaperones to upload all of  the pictures that they took. Please feel free to checkout the photos that have already been uploaded. I am not sure if all chaperones have gotten a chance to upload theirs, so be sure to check back. LINK TO ALBUM

👀A  Peek into our Week

Math- In math we have been working with the basic understanding of fractions, as well as focusing our energy on working with equivalent fractions. Students took a classwork check on this last week. This week, we are applying our knowledge of equivalent fractions to design our own Fraction Avenue neighborhood. Make sure to ask your child about this. Mrs. Cox’s math class is working to wrap up Chapter 10. Last week students worked on how to convert improper fractions to mixed numbers, convert mixed numbers to improper fractions, and order fractions and mixed numbers.  Students will be assessed on Chapter 10 on Thursday and Friday this week. Study information is posted in Google Classroom for the students to use in order to prepare. 

Religion- Last week, the students were introduced to our next unit on the Beatitudes. Students were introduced to the story “The Sermon on the Mount '' which is where Jesus preaches about the Beatitudes to the crowd of disciples. This week, students are working with the first Beatitude as well as a saint who models this specific Beatitude. 

Reading- Students were introduced to our last unit in reading this year. This last unit focuses on inferring. This is often a difficult concept for students to grasp and understand. It requires the students to analyze the text as well as identify, use, and communicate their own understanding of the situation and knowledge to draw a conclusion. We have been doing some really fun activities this to introduce and work on their inference skills. Some of which include making things out of playdough based on the description of riddle provided, and playing a game of "What am I" as I read to them clues to kick off our Inferencing at Camp Conundrum week! 

Social Studies- We are wrapping up our unit on William Penn. Last week we wrote bio poems about William Penn to laud all of his accomplishments. This week we are writing advertisements to convince people to leave all they know behind to set sail for the new colony of Pennsylvania. 

Wax Museum Update-This past week we spent a great deal of time working on the many portions of our Wax Museum project. Many students finished and published their Biography Poem about their Notable. We also spent time working to complete their graphic organizer for paragraph 2, which came home for your signature.  Students rough drafted their speech and and today they worked to add detail to their speech based upon my written notes. Please ask them to share their speech with you tonight. We will be making sure that their speeches fit on ONE PAGE, and I will be printing them a new copy of it tomorrow. I also shared with the class a checklist of all things that need to be completed, and had them take a look at what they have done and what they still need to finish. Please see it HERE.  Any timelines that are NOT completed by the end of the day on Thursday will become homework and are due back to me next Tuesday, 5/13. 

     Don’t forget…  Trifold board and supplies are due May 9th! You may still send them on Monday, 5/12 if you need some extra time to gather the last bit of odds and ends.  Please do not send in the trifold board and supplies prior to the 9th as I need to make room in the classroom! Students will be spending about 5-10 minutes each night practicing their speech at home. All students have completed their speech and it is published in their Wax Museum Google Classroom.  I will be giving them paper copies tomorrow.  We are down to the wire and are using our ELA periods to work and finish up all aspects of this project. Please remind them that this time is important and they should be focused on working and not talking. I had to stop too many times today to aske the class to please work and stop having conversations and making random noises. 

Upcoming Events:

5/8 & 5/9- Chapter 10 Test for Enrichment Math

5/9- Trifold board & supplies due

5/14 - Mrs. Moore out of the classroom. Doctor's appointment 

5/16 - Wax Museum - doors are open from 1:30 - 2:30pm 

5/23 & 5/26 - SCHOOL CLOSED (Happy Memorial Day weekend) 

Last but not least, a HUGE congratulations to all those who participated in the OLM production of “Beauty and the Beast Jr”! I heard it was an absolutely FABULOUS show! 

I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week! 

Link to Classroom Update Newsletter 

Link to Classroom Update Newsletter 

Link to Classroom Update Newsletter 

Link to Classroom Update Newsletter 

Link to Classroom Update Newsletter 

Dear Parents, 

We are excited to share that the 4th grade will be returning to both the Lenape Village at the Churchville Nature Center and Pennsbury Manor, the home of William Penn, this year; these are both hands-on immersion trips for the students where they can experience what a day in the life would look like during those two very different time periods in our state’s history. I am always excited to take my social studies classes on those trips, as I have done for almost two decades. 

In years past when we’ve visited Pennsbury Manor, we worked with their animal care coordinator, Mrs. Carole Cunliffe, to help raise money for their amazing animal program. That program creates a tangible link to the Manor’s past and the animals are an integral part of their program. Mrs. Cox and I started working with Mrs. Cunliffe back in 2017 when they adopted two orphaned sheep named Lavender and Sage. Mrs. Cunliffe has always been so appreciative of the fundraising we did to help offset the costs of the animals care at the Manor. The program relies solely on the work of volunteers, the Pennsbury Society, and donations. This year, we will one again adopt Sage, but they asked if we would also be interested in adopting Arnie, one of their two horses with an amazing sense of humor. Everyone’s favorite part is when we get to stay behind at the end of the program day to meet Sage and some of the other animals in person.

I am also looking into Pennsbury’s outreach program and having William Penn visit our social studies classes to teach us about his journey to the Pennsylvania colony on his ship, The Welcome. 

I know some parents have reached out asking about going back to Harrisburg this year and, unfortunately, it just didn’t work out for this school year for multiple reasons. That being said, I know your children will love the two trips we have planned and will help bring two of their favorite units to life. 

Link to Classroom Update Newsletter 

Link to Classroom Update Newsletter 

Happy 2025!!!

I hope everyone had an absolutely fantastic Christmas break full of family, laughter, and friends. This is the first day since the 22nd of December that I’ve opened my computer to do work, and it was a much needed break! I sent both Bryan and Abby off to school today, so I am enjoying the house to myself. Currently, the pups and I are all snuggled up on the couch under blankets.

THANK YOU

I cannot thank you enough for the absolutely amazing and generous Christmas gift that you all gave to me. I have been enjoying much of it throughout the break. I absolutely love my new coffee mug and have used it every day. The blanket is AMAZING!!! We are a family that LOVES blankets and I usually lose mine to the dogs or Abby. I am guarding this one with my life! HA! The pups love the treats that you included in the basket for them, and Abby has been relaxing at night before bed making bracelets with her new bead kit. It was so sweet of you all to think of them! She wanted me to send you her thanks and tell you how much she loves it. The book of places to visit has already been put into the RV and we’ll definitely use it this summer as we are headed to Kentucky and Georgia this year. I used one of my gift cards towards a pair of Dublin River boots I’ve been wanting to treat myself to for awhile. I have some items sitting in my Amazon cart and I am headed to Horseman’s Outlet this weekend with some friends, so I am sure my other gift card will be well used. Your generosity and love is greatly appreciated. 

🗓️Upcoming Events

1/6 - School resumes 

1/8 - 4th Grade Storytelling Event - Use link if you still need to RSVP (email sent on 12/22)

1/20 - No school (MLK Jr. Day) 

1/31 - Mini THON & Noon Dismissal 

📝Items to Note 

Supply Restock - I sent everyone home with their pencil and art pouches to look through over the break. This is a perfect time to add pencils, glue sticks, scissors, etc to your weekend grocery store list. I also have a handy Amazon List that you might find helpful if you’d rather have items delivered to your doorstep. 

Mrs. Moore Update - Radiation has been going well over the break, and my doctors are happy with what they are seeing. It is definitely starting to catch up with me and I am becoming much more tired than before. I will continue with my schedule of leaving at noon everyday through the 26th of January. This coming week is the first time they will have Mrs. Weir Monday through Wednesday for 6th period, and Mrs. Finore on Thursdays and Fridays all afternoon. I am confident that the class will carry on as usual with being their amazing selves and working efficiently and effectively on all assignments.  

👀Take a Peek

December was a FAST, but busy month! Those of you that were able to join us for our Christmas party had the opportunity to check out our Dodecahedrons hanging from the ceiling. These are so much fun to make! In making these we learned how to use a compass to draw circles and practiced using rulers to measure out the antlers for our reindeer, we used adjectives to describe our Christmas trees at home, retold the poem Twas’ the Night Before Christmas through illustrations, and shared what we learned about Christmas traditions from around the world. I still have students that are older and in college tell me their parents still have their ball and hang it up each year. My math class had a blast during our “commercial break week” learning about angles and how to measure them using protractors. We used this knowledge to make ornaments decorated with triangles that we had to measure and identify as an acute, right, or obtuse. Mrs. Cox’s math class did a multistep problem solving challenge to help Buddy the Elf plan his Christmas party. 

Next week we will be jumping back into our multiplication and Native American units in math and social studies. In reading we will be finishing up our Traditions at Christmas reading comprehension assignment and starting our next story Moon Over Star in our reading anthology. In ELA we will continue to work on writing our expository paragraph about our chosen state symbol and begin our study on adverbs. In religion they will be continuing to learn about the Liturgical seasons with the focus still on Advent and Christmas. 

Hi there, 

  I hope everyone is having a great week. Yesterday's storytelling events was everything I was hoping for and then some! Hopefully your kiddo came home excited to tell you all about it! I know I talked about it a lot at my dinner table last night. I had my "excitement voice" and a huge smile on my face the entire time. Thank you so much to those parents that were able to take time out your insanely busy schedules join us. It worked out that we were able to create little groups to work together, and I loved this! Their narratives were full of so much creativity, epic tales of adventure, and it seems quite a number of bear hunt and maulings to be had.  I know the kids are VERY excited to share these with their classmates and create their visual pictograph stories next week. We are definitely going to find a way to do this again this year. 

I did take some pictures yesterday that I wanted to share. I have created a Shutterfly album to share with you. I have so many photos sitting on my phone that I wanted a way to share them with everyone, as well as give you a way to upload any photos that you have taken. I chose to do this instead of a Google Photos album because you need a Google/Gmail account to access a Google Album. If you have taken any photos this year at school, please upload them to our shared album. LINK to Shutterfly album was sent through your email on January 9th. 

Hi there, 

    I am just sending you a set of quick reminders for tonight and tomorrow. I was working on a whole classroom update last night after dinner, but the Email Gremlins stole it when I double checked that a link was working. UGH! I will make sure that I send that out to you over the next couple of days. 

Need to Know:

12/19 - Tableau tonight at 7:00 

- students are asked to arrive at 6:30. Not all teachers will be in the building before 6:30, so please do not send them to their classrooms before that time. 

- after Tableau has ended, students are to be picked up from the classroom. Please do not ask them to meet you somewhere. 

- students are asked to wear their regular uniform (kilt/pants, polo, school shoes. No sneakers please) 

12/20 - Christmas Parties 

- Parents are welcome to pop into our classroom party tomorrow between 10:30 - 11:30 

- Please make sure your child has their Pollyanna gift tomorrow if they have not brought it in yet

- Students can wear their gym uniforms with Christmas accessories tomorrow (hats, antlers, fun shirt, etc. ) 

- If you are taking your child from the party, you must fill out the form on the following link - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfaLubS5byEyX4DhYtY5VKUsOz_vVsmh4ouz1_OYm6dS8JkiA/viewform?usp=sf_link 

Have a great Thursday and I'll see you tonight, 

Link to Classroom Update Newsletter 

Link to Classroom Update Newsletter 

Link to Classroom Update Newsletter 

Link to Classroom Update Newsletter 

Link to Classroom Update Newsletter 

Link to Classroom Update Newsletter 

Link to Classroom Update Newsletter 

Hi there! 

I hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend! This cooler weather is my absolute favorite!!! I love nothing more than bumming around in comfy sweats! 

We made it through our first three days of school with flying colors and lots of smiles! I really loved getting to know your children last week. We learned some fun things about each other! We played a fun “Getting to know you” activity with my Topple Blocks. Students got to roll the dice and answer a question based upon the color: what are you looking forward to this year in 4th grade, what was your favorite summer adventure, what is something special or unique about you, what is something you are proud of, what makes you nervous? We only toppled it once! Students then got to share the color they hoped to roll, but didn’t. 

I’m sorry I missed those of you that attended the Ice Cream Social on Friday. Unfortunately, my husband was unable to take my daughter to her riding lesson for me, so I was not able to attend. It is the start of our fall horse show season, so missing lessons is something we try not to do. 

🗓️Upcoming Dates:

9/10 - Student Council forms and written speech due to Miss Timlin

9/13 - Student Council speeches given to the class  

9/18 - Back to School Night @ 6:30

📝Items to Note:

* Gym Class - Students have gym on Mondays! 

* Homework - Students will start using their Homework Books this week. We keep homework to a minimum and make sure it is purposeful and with a goal in mind. Occasionally if students do not finish something in class they might be asked to finish it for homework allowing us to move on the next day.  That said, we do require students to read for 20 minutes each night (reading to a younger sibling counts) and practice multiplication facts (5 min each night). 

* Forgotten Items - Please do not feel the need to run forgotten items into school, you are too busy to add that into your day. We become resourceful and are able to make it work for the day. 4th grade is all about the learning curve of beginning to understand the idea of autonomy and becoming accountable, independent, and responsible learners. Gone are the days of "My mom forgot to put that in my folder" I lovingly remind them that it is not Mom or Dad's responsibility to pack your folder or bag anymore. Abby packs her backpack the night before and we keep her Chromebook in the open bag and charge it overnight while it sits in there. This way she can't forget her laptop or folder. I stole this idea from a past student when he kept forgetting his iPad, and after we talked about it and told him he needed to create a solution at home to help him remember, this was his plan. He would keep his backpack by the front door, with the ipad plugged in and charging. His mother hated always looking at his bag next to her entryway table, but he never forgot his stuff again. 

* Student Council - Students in 4th grade are able to join Student Council this year as homeroom representatives. Those students that were interested in running for Class Representative brought home information last Thursday. These forms, plus their speech are due to Miss Timlin on Tuesday 9/10. Students will speak to our class on Friday, 9/13 (yes, they may read from their speech) and we will vote whom we would like as this year's Room 217 Representative. 

* Homeroom Mom - I am excited to have Mrs. Will as my Homeroom Parent this year

* 📸Classroom Photo Album - If you haven't already filled out my permission form for our Classroom Photo Album, please do so! LINK

* Reminder about Clearances - If you are interested in volunteering in the building this year or attending field trips, you will need to make sure your clearances are up to date. If you have any questions, please reach out to Mrs. Mullen in the front office. All information was posted in the most current Wednesday Communication. 

👀Peek into our week: 

Reading - This week we spent our time checking out our classroom library. We talked about how to make sure all the books are handled with care and put back in their correct spot. The boys have been loving an old military aviation book that was my husband’s when he was a kid.  This coming week we will start our #READ board using the books we read over the summer. We will also be doing a Close Read activity using the lyrics from the song Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning  by Alan Jackson as part of our Patriots’ Day lesson. 

Math - This week we stayed together as a homeroom and did our first math in literature lesson. We read the Math Curse and worked together to review time, fractions, measurement, addition, subtraction, multiplication. This was a math talk activity where we dusted off the cobwebs from last year, and connected all the ways math weaves its way into our daily lives. This coming week we will be creating our own math equations based upon given situations within our daily lives. For example the sum of all the digits in their phone number, their favorite number, number of sports played, etc. 

Science - students were able to switch for science twice this week to meet Mrs. Sowden and got the 411 about science class this year. 

Social Studies & Religion- This coming week, students will be switching only twice for these content areas. We are starting them slow and helping them to gain a rhythm and routine. Mrs. Cox will be teaching them religion this year

I hope you have a wonderful rest of your Sunday. 

Dear Parents & Students,

It is hard to believe that our summer is beginning to wind down and we are starting to navigate our way towards the start of another school year. I wanted to take a few minutes to introduce myself and personally welcome you to another great school year at OLM. My name is Mrs. Michelle Moore, and I am beyond excited to be starting my 21st year of teaching with you and your child as part of my classroom family this September.

 I love being a teacher at OLM and the mission of our school speaks to my heart. Fourth grade is such an amazing year because it is filled with so many milestones. For many, this is their first year to reside in the upstairs portion of the school. If your children haven’t already told you apparently moving upstairs, “is the best” and something third graders look forward to each year.  This will also be their first time getting to experience multiple teachers who are their teacher of record for a specific content area subject.  Reading, grammar, and writing instruction is taught by the homeroom teacher.  I will be the teacher of record for social studies.  Mrs. Cox will be their teacher of record for religion, and Mrs. Sowden will teach them science. Information regarding math will be sent home the first week of school.  I know this sounds like a lot of movement, but we start slow and really help them manage how to transition through their day. They are so adaptable, and with our amazingly supportive teaching team, they really begin to love the movement and working with these other teachers.  One of my favorite parts about being a fourth grade teacher is helping your children to learn to become more accountable, independent, and responsible young people and students.  In fourth grade we like to say, “4th Graders Have an A.I.R. About Them.”  My goal is for each student to be accountable for their actions, to become independent learners and seekers of knowledge, and to be responsible for their choices. We will be spending a great deal of time with this theme at the beginning of the year discussing what this type of student looks like and how they might feel and grow by following these three ideals. 

I truly feel that the greatest key to a successful school year is communication between home and school. Your child is your greatest source of information about what is going on within the four walls of our classroom; however, as a busy mom with a kid who likes to be somewhat scant on the details of her school day, I like to email out classroom updates on a regular basis. You will also find these updates on my Classroom Update page, found on our class website. I also LOVE to take TONS of photos and videos to share through a private class Google photo album. Please complete this permission form about our class photo album. You will need a Gmail account to access this photo album. 

We are going to ask for your help completing a couple of tasks before the start of school on September 4th.

1- If you have not done so, I would encourage you to visit & explore our websites

• Link to Mrs. Moore’s website   ~   Link  to Mrs. Cox’s website 

• 
  

2 -  Please make sure Chromebooks are fully charged for the first day of school. We are asking that all students log back  into Google Classroom from home on their device. This way, we will know ahead of time if there is an issue. 

 ⭐If you are new to OLM, no need to worry! They will not have their OLM issued email as of yet.  I will help your child to get set up on the first day of school when they receive their Chromebook. We will work together if they are not familiar with Google Classroom. 

Google Classroom Directions:

• Go to classroom.google.com 

• Sign in using their school email - 2029FirstnameLastname@olmrcs.com 

• Password: mercy1234 

• Please try joining my homeroom class in Google Classroom. The code is posted below:

  • uta7cqi

3 - Summer Reading BINGO- I hope that your child enjoyed the Summer Reading BINGO activity! As you know, the first day of school is a bit hectic! I am asking that they turn this into me  by Friday, September 6th. We will be using their reviews to create an interactive #READ board in our classroom. 

4-  We are asking that you work with your child to help them label each of their  copybooks and folders, if you  have not done so already. Please write or  place a label with your child’s first name and last name in the top right corner, and subject in the middle. 

• Copybooks are needed for the following content areas: Grammar, Science, Math, Social Studies, Religion, Writing, and Reading (will have 1 extra)

  • To help students find a needed copybook easier when laid flat in their desk or cubby, we’ve found writing the subject on the top and bottom of the copybooks in Sharpie helps to streamline this process 

• Folders are needed for the following content areas:  Homework/Important papers, Reading, Math, ELA, Religion, Social Studies, Science, & Specials ( 1 folder for all Specials classes)

Important Links: 

• Mrs. Moore's website & Mrs. Cox's website

• Supply List 

• Class Photo Album permission form 

I hope you all find time to enjoy these last few weeks of summer  with your family! I look forward to seeing everyone in September, and I cannot wait to leap into fourth grade with your child! 

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Why it is so important to read at least 20 minutes each and every night? These 20 minutes per day expose our children to 1.8 million words in a given year. It helps to promote language and brain development, as well as an understanding of a world outside of their own. Children who are avid readers show this through their writing too. Within their writing they start to convey meaning and articulate their thoughts in a new way. They also become more persuasive and begin to use figurative language to engage their readers. 

 I usually find it best to read right before bedtime, as it helps to wind down from their day. This 20 minutes can take the form of your child reading to themselves, you reading a challenging novel with them, or them reading to a younger sibling, or a bit of each of these throughout their week. Reading a storybook to a younger sibling does not always build vocabulary, per say, but it does help to build fluency and intonation when they read.