Valentine's Fun!

We will be having a Valentine's party on Wednesday, February 14th.  It will begin about 1:30.  There will be a sign up coming home on Friday for snacks.  Students can bring Valentine cards and treats for all students in the class.  It is not necessary to bring in anything.  Below is a class list to help students get started with their cards if they choose to bring them in. 

Ahmed

Lars

Matthew

Sofia

Jessica

Solomon

Mason

Grey

Maya

Andrew

Eilidh

Breyana

Malcolm

Xavier

Olivia

Quinlan

Noel

Camryn

Bryce

Emme

Ihla

Mackenzie

Colin

So Much Going On...

We will be hosting our annual Disability Awareness Day for our 4th graders on Friday, February 23rd.  For those of you who do not know, this is a great opportunity for the students to figuratively and literally walk in the shoes of someone who has a disability.  We can not do this without parent support.  If you are able to help during the event, please sign up here.  

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Dear families,

I would like to personally invite you to come visit my classroom and A2 STEAM for National African American Parent Involvement Day (NAAPID) on Monday, February 12th.  We welcome all families to our school to honor and celebrate our families and students of color. Unlike any other days you might come visit, we have some special activities planned during the day to help you get a feel for our school community and experience a day in the life of your students.

It means a great deal to students and our school as a whole for family members to come visit. You are welcome to come for just a short time or for the whole day. You can visit our classroom, as well as attend any of the special events throughout the day. On top of the events that are listed, there will be an all day parent cyber cafe in the computer lounge for you to come get some guided hands-on experience with the technology resources your child uses every day at STEAM (iPads and apps, computer programs, etc.).

If you are able to come, please let me know if there is anything I can do to help you get the most out of your day with us. Sometimes families are interested to see a lesson in a particular subject area, or to have some time to share about what school was like when they were kids, or to read a story aloud to the class, etc. Our class is excited to have visitors, and we hope you will be able to make it!

It is time to sign up for Science Olympiad events. In order to enroll your student(s), please complete the following steps:

1. Complete the Participant Release Form, Emergency Medical Form, and Video Release for A2Steam Forms available at a2steamweso.org. The forms can be e-mailed to a2steam.weso@gmail.com or turned into the school office. One set of forms will be needed for each student.
2. Send an e-mail to a2steam.weso@gmail.com with your child's name, grade, and event(s) that they would like to participate
3. After the forms have been received, the student will be added to the roster available on the a2steamweso.org website.
4. Be prepared to be a coach for an event or volunteer for a shift on the day of the Science Olympiad - May 12, 2018.

Thank you to all of the parents that have volunteered to be coaches! If you are still interested in coaching an event, please contact me at a2steam.weso.org. A2Steam will not compete in any events without a coach or students signed up by February 15, 2018.

If there are any questions, contact me at a2steam.weso@gmail.com.

Krista Takacs

Head Coach for A2Steam, Science Olympiad

Don't Forget!

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Follett Challenge - Please Vote for A2 STEAM! Each person can vote daily and the most “popular” votes will win $10,000 to support our PBL work! Help us spread the word on Twitter, your blogs, etc to increase excitement too. Thanks again to our team who worked to write this grant for our school!

Scholastic Book Order

The B Hive 1.20

Hey families!  I hope I am finding you all well.  We had some sickness running throughout our room and school last week so I hope that everyone is beginning to feel better.  It was a great second full week with Ms. Pelton.  Check out what we were up to:

Scholastic book order is due February 2nd.  Our class code is HB47X.

Reading - We spent a considerable amount of time testing this week.  We finished the NWEA Reading and NWEA Math assessments and also did some more reading records.  The students will be placed in new reading groups starting Monday.  We are solidly into The City of Ember and we are LOVING it!  Please ask your son or daughter what is happening in this book.

Math - We spent much of the week working on adding fractions and mixed numbers.  Next week we will be working on subtracting fractions and mixed numbers.  The expectation for 4th grade is that they can add and subtract those with like denominators, but I am pushing students to practice with unlike denominators as well.  Please make sure that you are helping your student practice their math skills with either study links, IXL, or Front Row at home.  We spend some time on it at school, but they should be working on it at home as well.

Spelling - Students got their new spelling words on Friday and we will take the test on Monday.  Each group has words that are just at their level and need to spend at least five minutes at home on sorting.  If you notice that sorting activities are not enough, please contact me and I can send extra work home.  They also can log in to spelling city to practice their words.

PBL - We are in our final week of a great Project Lead the Way unit called Energy Conversions.  In this unit students need to learn about energy conversions so that they can create a system that uses energy conversion to help move boxes in a Food Pantry.  This is very small scale, but a very fun and engaging unit.

Dates to Remember:
Penny Wars begins - Tuesday, January 16th (see flyer on blog)
Family Literacy Night for Kindergarten families - Thursday, January 25 from 5 to 7
Early Release Day - Wednesday, January 31st at 12:52
National African American Parent Involvement Day (NAAPID) - Monday, February 12th (see letter on blog)

Deadline is January 26th

The B Hive 1.15

Hello all!  I hope you had a chance to not only rest and rejuvenate this weekend, but celebrate MLK in some spectacular day.  Even with the four day week, we were busy.  Check out what we were up to:

Ms. Pelton is now with us full time and we are very grateful to have her.  This was her first week and her first snow day.  :)

Reading - This week we got back into the flow of extended self selected reading.  We finished up Rules and will begin reading The City of Ember.  This is a great dystopian novel that is just right for 4th graders.  If you need a fun book to read and like young adult, you should check it out.  I am in the process of doing reading records on all students and it has been lovely to sit down and read with each students.  This week we will be taking the NWEA Reading and Math assessment so look for more information on benchmarks and NWEA in the coming weeks.

Math - We spent two days this week completing a large mid year math assessment.  It was nice to see the growth that students have made this year and there are some obvious places for students to practice particular skills.  We also began the new math unit, which is Unit 5 on fractions.  We are heading back into fractions and will spend time adding and subtracting with like denominators.  Several students will move into adding and subtracting fraction with unlike denominators as well.  Please make sure that you are helping your student practice their math skills with either study links, IXL, or Front Row at home.  We spend some time on it at school, but they should be working on it at home as well.

Spelling - Because of the short week last week and the short week this week, students will not have new spelling words tomorrow.  They will take their spelling test on Wednesday and get their words for next week on Friday.  Look for the tests on Friday or Monday.

PBL - We are in our second week of a great Project Lead the Way unit called Energy Conversions.  In this unit students need to learn about energy conversions so that they can create a system that uses energy conversion to help move boxes in a Food Pantry.  This is very small scale, but a very fun and engaging unit.

Dates to Remember:
Penny Wars begins - Tuesday, January 16th (see flyer on Tuesday and on blog)
NWEA Reading Test - Tuesday, January 16th from 1 - 2
NWEA Math Test - Wednesday, January 17th from 1 - 2
NWEA Make Ups - Thursday, January 18th from 1 - 2
MLK Assembly is rescheduled for this Friday from 2:00 to 2:30
Early Release Day - Wednesday, January 31st at 12:52

Penny Wars Start Tuesday!