Important Things to Remember

1. Math Packet is due every Friday
2. Dictation words due every Friday - Spelling Tip, words written 5 times and sentences written one time
3. Greek and Latin test every Friday
4. Math Quiz every Friday - students can make corrections on their test Friday afternoon and earn 1/2 credit for each problem corrected (s.w. on the test means still wrong)
5. Tap Shoes are needed for dance class contact kcarpender@xaviercharter.org for questions
6. Book Orders Due the 28th of each month

4th Grade, Oh My!

I am very excited to get this year started!  It was wonderful meeting all of you that were able to come to registration.  I look forward to meeting those that were unable to attend and I really hope you were off doing something fantastic during the last weeks of summer!

4th Grade is a the very best grade at Xavier!  We have so many wonderful things to learn about and I always anxiously anticipate sharing this curriculum with my new 4th Graders.  Our first Core Knowledge unit will be a science unit on  the respiratory and circulatory systems.  We will begin the year with the novel Robinson Crusoe  and spend a lot of time reviewing key word outlining before we get started writing essays. 

In math we will be using Math in Focus for the first time.  This is a newer version of Singapore Math.  The newer program will give me more resources to enrich your math machine kids and to bring along those that may not excel in math.  I love teaching math and think Singapore Math really gives our students a great foundation for higher math.  I cannot stress enough how important it is that your student be fluent in  multiplication and division*.  Please work with your students on these concepts!  If they have never seen division, please let me know!    To assist with fluency we will do a math fluency test for multiplication or division daily.  This is a timed test with 60 problems. Students will stay on the same multiplication set until they pass it with a 60 in 3 minutes.  Once multiplication is fluent they will move on to simple division fluency.  Students that do not practice at home have difficulty passing these tests in the 3 minute time frame, but more importantly they are unable to learn 4th grade math concepts because they are not fluent in the foundational skill necessary to complete these problems.

*Division- at Xavier this was taught in 3rd grade!   In 4th grade we start dividing right away and the kids must know this concept to be up to speed with their peers.  If your child does not know how to divide they will struggle until they learn how to divide.  Please let me know if your new to Xavier student did not learn division at their previous school.  I will try to get them some assistance with parent helpers and paras during the day, but it will take a home/school partnership to get them up to speed without the student experiencing frustration.  I recommend starting division practice now and not waiting for us to get to that unit. 

I will follow-up next week with more information about what you can expect from 4th grade.  Make sure you check your student's traveling notebook on Tuesday.   There will be information about homework for you to refer to for the whole year.

Enjoy your weekend!  I look forward for Tuesday and getting to spend my day with 4th graders again!

Winter Update

We have been very busy since we returned from Christmas Break!  Your students have come far this year and I am looking forward watching them continue to grow.  I wanted to give you a few updates and reminders that are  important:

Agendas - your student will be completing a more detailed agenda every day.  Please take the time to look at that and sign it for them every day.  It will include due dates on assignments.  If there is not a date the assignment was either done in class and already graded or it must be turned in the following morning.

Agenda markings -

• if an item is circled it means that your child did not finish it and they should be working on it as homework, 
• if they have a check mark next to an item it means it is completed, 
• if it is crossed out it means we did not get to it that day.

The purpose of this change is to help facilitate better communication between school and home about what happens daily in class.  This will help your student to remember what the assignments were for each subject.

Weekly Homework
Please remember that your student has several items that are homework each week, due on Friday or the last day of the school week in the event of  short weeks.

• Math packet
• Spelling words - written five times and sentences written one time 
• Write with Me Journal 

Upcoming at home assignment
Your students will be bringing home an assignment for an atom project this week, please be looking for it no later than Tuesday.

It is Time to Get Rolling!

I hope you all enjoyed the beautiful weekend!   I like to send emails on Sunday evening to update you on what is happening for the upcoming week.  I don't always do it on Sunday, but I do most weeks.  I will also update the blog on Sunday if I have something to communicate that I want to stay available easily.  Following is what you can expect this week:

1. Homework - I will be sending home our first homework packet there are 4 math pages and an at home reading assignment.  Please help your students budget their time so they don't get overwhelmed with homework.  It is due on Friday.
2. Dictation and Write with Me Journal - your student will have a journal in their binder each week that has two homework assignments in  it.  The first is an at home writing assignment that is due on Friday.  Please read these with your students, they offer a lot of insight into your growing students thoughts.  Last year my parents thoroughly enjoyed this opportunity to have great conversations.  The second part is their dictation words (spelling).  Students need to write the worlds 5 times and the sentences 1 time.  I will check these on Friday.
3. Division - I am going to send a division packet home with every student.  This is a basic division review that should be easy for kids, unless they have not had division.  Have your student keep this in their traveling binder, as I get some help from parkas (about 3 weeks from now) I can have them help kids.  In the meantime please work with your students to make sure they can do these problems and learn these strategies.  This will be due the end of October.

What we will learn first:

• Math - we will be reviewing place value and moving to the millions and hundred millions
• Grammar - prepositions and prepositional phrases
• Literature - elements of a story
• Excellence in Writing - setting up our lap book and key word outlining
• Science - circulatory system
• Greek & Latin - our first 3 roots
• Handwriting - reviewing and fine tuning our cursive
• Sayings and Phrases - As the crow flies

Fridays are test days in 4th grade.  You can expect that your student will have a math, dictation, Greek & Latin (in about 3-4 weeks) and grammar test every Friday.  We do try to schedule other tests that day as well.  This is a good way for us gauge how they are doing and plan for the upcoming week accordingly.

As you can see, 4th grade is jam packed with fun!  I can't wait to get started! 

Welcome 2014-2015 4th Graders!

I am very excited to get this year started!  It was wonderful meeting all of you that were able to come to registration this week.  I look forward to meeting those that were unable to attend and I really hope you were off doing something fantastic during the last week of summer!

4th Grade is a the very best grade at Xavier!  We have so many wonderful things to learn about and I always anxiously anticipate sharing this curriculum with my new 4th Graders.  Our first Core Knowledge unit will be a science unit on  the respiratory and circulatory systems.  We will begin the year with the novel Robinson Crusoe  and spend a lot of time reviewing key word outlining before we get started writing essays.

In math we will be using Singapore Math and I cannot stress enough how important it is that your student be fluent in  multiplication and division*.  Please work with your students on these concepts!  If they have never seen division, please let me know!    To assist with fluency we will do a math fluency test for multiplication or division daily.  This is a timed test with 60 problems. Students will stay on the same multiplication set until they pass it with a 60 in 3 minutes.  Once multiplication is fluent they will move on to simple division fluency.  Students that do not practice at home have difficulty passing these tests in the 3 minute time frame.

*Division- at Xavier this was taught in 3rd grade!   In 4th grade we start dividing right away and the kids must know this concept to be up to speed with their peers.  If your child does not know how to divide they will struggle until they learn how to divide.  Please let me know if your new to Xavier student did not learn division at their previous school.  I will try to get them some assistance with parent helpers and paras during the day, but it will take a home/school partnership to get them up to speed without the student experiencing frustration.  I recommend starting division practice now and not waiting for us to get to that unit.

I will follow-up next week with more information about what you can expect from 4th grade.  Make sure you check your student's traveling notebook on Tuesday.   There will be information about homework for you to refer to for the whole year.

Enjoy your weekend!  I look forward for Tuesday!

Wow! Where has the time gone?

This happens every year!  We get back from Christmas Break and the next thing I know we are at the end of April!  Your kids have been working so hard and we have covered a lot of material in the past few months.  We just finished our musical "Jungle Book" and are preparing for our Spring Showcase, the date is on the school calendar.  Your students will be graduating from the Grammar School at this event, so make sure you make plans to attend this monumental step in a classical education. 

We are very busy from now until the end of the school year!  Here is a rundown of what we have coming up:

• Math - we will  continue with our study of decimals.  We will be rounding decimals this week and then begin our study of the four operations of decimals for the next several weeks.
• Literature - we have begun Treasure Island!  This is a fun book for the students to read.  I have given a map project that will be due on Friday, I hope your students have shared the requirements with you.  (I don't have an electronic copy of the assignment, so make sure to ask your child for it.)
• History - MY FAVORITE UNIT!  We are learning about the American Revolution and will move right into the Constitution and Early American Presidents to finish the year.
• Science - We will do an Electricity Day at the end of the school year as a full day for this finial science unit.

We will have an auction in 2 weeks.  I  will send out an email with more details very soon.

January Update

Hi Fabulous Fourth Grade Parents!

I want to thank you all for your support in all the crazy projects we have been doing.  Without your help, we would not be able to do these memorable activities.  Half-Way Day was very successful!  If the level of exhaustion from the 3rd and 4th grade teachers is a measure of success, I think the kids had a great time and learned a lot about fractions.  :)   It was a very fun day for all of us!

Poetry Outloud Junior is coming up the end of January.  Your child has selected a poem from one that we have learned this year  They need to have that memorized by the end of this week.  We will be having classroom recitations and then we will have large competition toward the end of the month.  I will get back to you with the date.

The end of the semester is this week and your children's PowerSchool is up to date as of today.  I want to remind you of our late work policy:  assignments will be accepted for 80% 1 day beyond the due date, 70% 2 days beyond and 60% 3 days beyond.  No late work is accepted beyond 3 days late.  This is a school wide policy and not just my policy.  I am very proud of your students!  In my 5 years of teaching, this is the year with the fewest missing assignments.  That shows me that these kids take responsibility for their education and I am sure they are going to be very successful!

Have a great week!  Remember early release on Thursday and no school on Friday!

Welcome Back!

I am excited to get back into the routine of the classroom!  We had a lot of fun with the Middle Ages and the students were very excited for the tournament.  Now that the excitement of the tournament and Christmas holidays have passed we will be on hyper drive!  We have so much to on our agenda in the next few weeks.  Following is what you can expect:

• Math:  FRACTIONS! - They are finally here and are my favorite math concept to teach!  As a student I never understood fractions and I refuse for that to happen to my students.  We have a lot of fun with fractions and the students typically do very well.  We will be finding equivalent factions, adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators and finding fractions of a set.
• Half-Way Day! - This will be coming up mid-January and I will send more information home soon!
• Literature - We continue Robin Hood and will finish by the end of January
• Excellence in Writing - Our first narrative summary will begin this week.  Students will re-write the "Ant and the Grasshopper".  They will use the story sequence and create their own characters based on this story.   This story line is what A Bug's Life was based upon.
• Grammar - this week we will be working on subject/verb agreement
• Science - Meteorology - study of weather, clouds, air pressure, storms and the layers of the atmosphere.
• WEATHER JOURNAL AT HOME!  - Students will be logging the weather at home in a journal as we learn about meteorology.  Please expect this to come home on Monday.  It will be due at the completion of the unit.
• Greek and Latin - we are on our third set of words
• Cursive - we will writing in cursive from this point forward  The only exception will be for notes, as the students need to write more quickly during note taking.  

I hope you all had a fabulous break and are ready for more 4th Grade!

Middle Ages Tournament

Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye all vassals of the kingdom of Xavier Charter School!  The knights of the fiefdoms of Robbins and Barrutia will be taking part in a tournament and feast on:

Thursday, December 19^th

6:00 p.m.

Xavier Charter School

Role of Students:  come in knightly costume (old t-shirt with the sleeves cut off and side seams cut then belted make a great tunic), gather in their classroom with their trusty steed as they prepare to participate in the knightly tournament and feast.

Role of Parents:  come to serve the noble knights.  As serfs you shall be entitled to leavings after the feast (cookies and punch).  Your assistance with preparations and activities are crucial to the success of this event.  Siblings will not be allowed to participate in the events or activities, use your best judgment as to whether they attend.

Link for necessary supplies and volunteer jobs:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/13eFoOjz-rx8n5SOn0RpNIWWNs3gDA4-pwrJ9cESuaP0/edit?usp=sharing

December 1, 2013

I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving Break!  I had a nice time with family and relaxing after our hectic week!  The last week we were in school we were being monitored by the accreditation committee, and that was indeed a stressful time for us all!  For those of you who don’t know, accreditation is crucial to high schools.  It means the difference between our students graduating with a high school diploma and graduating to take the high school equivalency exam.  Xavier decided to go through the process for K-12 and not just the high school, so our building was full of visitors making sure we are providing a quality education.  The initial reports are good and we are all relieved to just be teaching without so much additional pressure.

4^th grade is moving right along and I have some valuable information for you! 

Save the date!!!!!

December 19^th – Middle Ages Tournament

More information will follow very soon, but I wanted you to get this on your calendar now!

Math – we will be studying division and multiplication of single digits and 4 digit numbers and then moving into double digit multiplication before the break.

History – we are well on our way through the middle ages!  The students are enjoying this unit as they always do. 

Literature – We have finished Pollyanna and will begin Robin Hood this week

Grammar – we are continuing our work on verbs and verb phrases.  Next week we will be talking about verb tenses and irregular verbs.  By the end of December we will be studying nouns and pronouns.

Excellence in Writing – Our first ever research paper is progressing slowly!  This is the first time we have tried this with 4^th graders and it has been a learning experience for all of us.  Your students are rising to the challenge and doing remarkably well, which is no surprise to me.

We have a very busy three weeks ahead of us!  I can’t believe we are almost halfway through 4^th grade!  Don’t forget to take a few moments to just enjoy special times during your busy holiday season. 

Update on our Wonderful 4th Graders!

We are moving very quickly now that we have had a quarter to get accustomed to the new classroom and new routine.  Here is an update on what is happening in our 4^th grade classroom.

History – we finished our geography study of Mountains of the World and today we began the Middle Ages Unit.  Be watching for your opportunity to assist us as we plan our Middle Ages Tournament in December.

Math – our kids were order of operations rock stars!  We have now begun our unit on negative numbers.

Writing – your students completed their at home research on insects and will begin writing their essays on insects this week.

Poetry – We have written several poems and I have been very impressed with the poets of 4^th grade!

Literature – we are continuing Pollyanna and I anticipate finishing this novel by Fall Break.

Volatile Volcanoes! and More

We will be having our ring of fire volcanic eruptions on October 31st at 10:30 a.m.  Your students should have brought home the specifications for their volcano project that is due on October 31st. The volcanoes are a take home project and students can work in a group of up to three students or on their own to create the volcanoes.  The bases of the volcanoes can be 1 2/3 foot by 1/1/2 foot and they can be up to 2 1/2 feet high.  Your volcanoes can erupt or just look nice.  Parents are welcome to attend our eruptions on the 31st.

Parent Teacher Conferences are upon us!  Your students should have brought home a scheduled time for our conference.  If that did not make it home please contact me and I can let you know when your time is.

October Update

I think we have finally gotten into our stride as 4th graders!  We have been doing almost everything on our agenda each day and the class is starting to proceed on 4th grade pace!  I am very happy with how well the students are settling into being 4th graders although I am still getting a number of late assignments from students and we have talked about this in class.  All assignments are due the day after they are assigned unless I give the students extra time.  If that is the case the due date is written on the "What is Due" board.  Beginning this week we will be responsible for turning in our assignments by the due date.  If they are not turned in they will be graded according to the 4th grade late assignment scale:  1 day late 80%, 2 days late 70% and 3 days late 60 anything after that is a 0.  

We have a busy week ahead of us:

Math - continue learning factors, rules of divisibility, common factors and prime factorization

Excellence in Writing - begin a new explanatory essay

Grammar - finish our unit on prepositions and start working on capitalization rules.  Students will need to continue to study their prepositions as we will keep testing, I want all kids to pass off these prepositions as it makes the rest of their grammar much easier 

Literature - Continue Pollyanna

Science - Continue our unit on Geology and we will be studying volcanoes, mountains, rocks and erosion

Math Practice

As I am concluding the initial screening of the class, I have found that some of the students are not fluent in their multiplication.  This is crucial for them to be able to master the majority of 4th grade math.  Please make sure you are working on your math facts every night.  Following are links to math games and pages you can print out:

• http://www.softschools.com/math/games/
• http://math.about.com/od/multiplication/ig/Times-Tables-Worksheets/

In class students are given 3 minutes to complete 60 problems.  Please work at home with them until this is happening.  We will be doing multiples and factors of numbers in approximately 2 weeks and they MUST know their facts by then.  

It was great meeting each of you at the Open House, I hope you have a better understanding about what you can expect in 4th Grade.

First Day!

We had a great first day of school.  It was very busy and we didn't even get close to finishing everything I had planned for the day!  We spent the morning learning about what they can expect each morning in 4th grade.  The students were then asked to write a letter to themselves expressing what they are worried about in 4th grade and what they are excited about.  Once that was complete I handed out letters for them from last year's 4th graders.  These letters addressed some of the things that students were worried about and eased some of the new class jitters.  Last year's kids also gave them a hint of things they could look forward to in 4th grade.

We had an all school assembly this afternoon to introduce our Fellowships and the monthly Cantus.  This will replace the Monday Opening that we have had in the past.  We will use this time to issue a new challenge to students based on the 9 Pillars.  September’s Pillar is Responsibility.  Students were given the definition of responsibility and will be competing with the other groups to win the Pillar for their group.  We will also use this time to promote school spirit and a sense of family at Xavier.  We have three fellowships that are named after our philosophy of seeking the good, true and beautiful.   Fourth grade is in the Good Fellowship along with 1^st grade, 7^th grade and 10^th grade.  We will spend time periodically throughout the year getting to know one another, competing in challenges against the other fellowships and working on curriculum related activities.  I am very excited for this program and have hopes of seeing great things come from it.  

Tomorrow promises to be just as busy!  I look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow!

Welcome to 4th Grade!

        It was fantastic to meet everyone this week!  I am really looking forward to this year.  It is always so much fun to get a new group of students and spend time getting to know one another as a group. 

        You can expect next week to be full of learning what 4^th grade is all about!  We will learn procedures for our classroom and our school.  We will also get all of our composition books set up to be used as resources to be kept at their desks.  The week will also be backed with Great Expectations.  We will work on learning about the first of our 9 pillars, Responsibility as well as covering the Eight Expectation of Living.  In addition we will do some pre-testing in math and grammar. 

        If you have not brought your student’s supplies they can bring them on Monday.  The entire class will meet in the gym and I will be there greeting students.  Please join us in the gym and not the classroom.  I will walk the students to class once we have gathered. 

        Enjoy the rest of your weekend; I will see your students on Tuesday!

I get my kinder babies back!!!!

Well, they aren't babies anymore, but they are mine!  I am so excited to start the year off with my very first class and get to know all of the new students I will have this year.  We have all grown so much since kindergarten and I can't wait to show these amazing students the wonders of 4th grade!

 4th grade is going to be a fabulous experience, that is why this is my 4th year in 4th grade, I just can't leave!
Stay tuned for more information as I update the start of the year blog!

Fun! Fun! Fun! Fractions are so Fun!

Fun! Fun! Fun!  Fractions are so Fun!

Tomorrow is half-way day!!!!  We will spend our day doing fractions and finding out just how much fun they can be!  Thank you all for your wonderfully kind donations to make this event possible!  The students are going to have a ball learning about fractions and they don’t even know they will be learning.

Poetry Out- Loud Junior

We will hold our class competition on Tuesday morning at approximately 8:30 a.m.  Mrs. Barrutia will judge our class and I will judge her class.  The top three contestants will then compete in the Grammar School completion on Thursday at 10:00 a.m., in the multi-purpose room.  On Thursday we had everyone recite their poem for their grade and the competition promises to be stiff!  What amazing poets our 4^th graders are.  Parents are welcome to attend the poetry events.

Brrr....It is cold out there!

I hope everyone survived the snow day!  My family spent it in front of a fire with no school work by any of us!  (That does not happen often here.)  We are in for a busy week, but as you have figured out they are all busy for us!  Here is what you can expect:

Monday – I would like to do the tests we missed on Friday, but I will gauge the kids and determine if that is a good idea.  If they seem to need an extra day we will review on Monday and test on Tuesday.  We will have an AimsWeb Winter Benchmark test on Monday, all grades 4-8 will be doing one on Monday and Tuesday

Tuesday – Thursday -  We will begin fractions in math and continue with meteorology and Robin Hood

Friday – We will have our regular tests and one on meteorology.  We will also be creating a poetry book.  I need your help with this one! Please see below.

Poetry Book: we are going to be creating a really cool poetry book for each child and we need your help!   Each child will be creating a 10 page book to highlight the poetry they create this year.  Each page will be decorated and then the student’s poetry will be placed on the page.  If you could send any of the following by Friday:

·         Scrapbooking paper (just your scraps will work out) If you are inclined to purchase something – JoAnn’s has a 50% off coupon and scrapbook books of paper can be purchased for $10 with that coupon.  Here is the link to that coupon:  http://www.joann.com/coupon/?cm_mmc=Bing-_-Brand+-+Coupons-_-Coupons+%28E%29-_-joann%27s+coupons_Exact&utm_source=Bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=joann's+coupons&utm_campaign=Brand+-+Coupons&002=2366114&004=875614939&005=9079001056&006=1036925590&009=e&011=joann's%20coupons

·         Ribbon – any scrap ribbon,  raffia or lace would be fun to use

·         Buttons – Do you have old shirts you are getting rid of?  Cut the buttons off, or those extra buttons that come with your clothing that you never use would be great too!

·         Cardstock straps

·         Cute cutouts or old cards we can cut up

·         Use your imagination we can use it!

As always THANK YOU for helping us make 4^th grade Fabulous!

Welcome Back!

I hope everyone had a fantastic break!   I want to thank everyone for the warm holiday wishes and thoughtful gifts!  My family and I had a very relaxing break and enjoyed a lot of time together.  Although I enjoyed my time off, I was happy to be back at school to welcome each of your children back to 4^th grade.

January is a busy time for us and we are already as busy as bees.  Following is an outline of what you can expect to see in the coming weeks:

·         Math:  double digit multiplication

·         Science: Meteorology

o   Students will need to do a daily weather journal.  They are expected to watch the weather forecast each evening, find it online, or read it in the newspaper.  These will be checked each day and should be in your child’s homework section

·         Literature

o   Robin Hood

o   Poetry – Xavier has decided to have a Jr. Poetry Out Loud Contest

§  Each student will be given three poems to choose from and they will be required to memorize and recite the poem in class

§  The Logic and Rhetoric schools participate in this event annually and it is tied to a regional and state competition.  We decided we should extend this incredible event to include our Grammar school at the school level. Be on the look-out for more information.

·         Grammar – types of sentences and irregular verbs

·         Excellence in Writing – addition of quality adjectives to the required dress-ups for essays.