4C News week of September 10th

Hope everyone has had a nice relaxing weekend. Every Sunday/Monday I will be posting here about our upcoming week. This will not be like our formal newsletters but will outline any important information and what we are learning.

 

September 11th: September 11, 2011 had a profound impact on the United States and the rest of the world. Each year, I reflect on the events that occurred on that clear September day. September 11th taught me about empathy and compassion. I will never forget the lessons I learned that day. On Tuesday, I am going to share pieces of my story with your 4th graders and let them in on a little bit of history that had a lasting impact on all of our hearts. We will be making a collaborative poster in class in honor of September 11th.

All Read: All Read is happening this Thursday at 3:25.

Conference Sign Ups: Highcroft's Fall Conference Night is October 4th, from 4:30-8:00 pm.  We utilize an online system to schedule conference meetings. This system, called MyConferenceTime, will allow you to schedule your conference with your student’s teacher without having to send in paper forms.

You will be able to schedule your conference beginning September 13th at 8:00 am.  There are a few easy steps to register for your conference. If you have one child at Highcroft Ridge:

1. Go to www.myconferencetime.com/highcroftridge
2. Click your child’s teacher from the list of teachers.
3. Choose your preferred conference time from the list of available conferences and click “Sign Up” under your preferred time.
4. Fill in all required information and any necessary optional information and click “Sign Up for Your Conference.” Please be assured that all information is submitted securely and will only be used by the school for confirmation purposes.  It will not be available to outside sources.
5. You will receive a confirmation email confirming your conference time.

If you have multiple students at Highcroft please click “Register for Multiple Conferences,” then follow the steps to enter the information for each child. You will then be presented the schedules for multiple teachers to compare.

Again, the website will open at 8:00 a.m. on Thursday, September 13.  Please be aware that this system is set up in a way that everyone will have the same priority in scheduling.  If you have a need for a specific time, it will be important that you schedule as soon as possible once the window opens to ensure availability of conference times.

If you do not have access to a computer or have difficulty scheduling, please contact Sherry Heyse at sheyse@parkwayschools.net or call at 314-415-6406.

September
  12: Parkway Board of Education Meeting, 7:00 pm, Central Middle
  13: All Read, 3:25 pm
  20: PAMEE Meeting, 6:00 pm, ISC
  24: Picture Day
  26: Late Start, School begins at 11:05 am
  27: Jog Jam
        PSO Meeting, 7:00 pm in the Library 

Reading: This week we will continue to grow ideas about our characters in the book we are reading as a class and independently. Students will also develop theories about their character and participate in a debate to defend those theories.

We will also be Skyping with Ben Guterson the author of Winterhouse. He reached out to me this summer asking if my class would like a Skype visit. I contacted him last year for an advance copy of Winterhouse and he was happy to send it to me and my fifth graders last year. Book 2 in the Winterhouse Trilogy will be out in December. Our Skype visit will take place on Thursday @ 1:40.

.          

Winterhouse Summary: Orphan Elizabeth Somers’s malevolent aunt and uncle ship her off to the ominous Winterhouse Hotel, owned by the peculiar Norbridge Falls. Upon arrival, Elizabeth quickly discovers that Winterhouse has many charms―most notably its massive library. It’s not long before she locates a magical book of puzzles that will unlock a mystery involving Norbridge and his sinister family. But the deeper she delves into the hotel’s secrets, the more Elizabeth starts to realize that she is somehow connected to Winterhouse. As fate would have it, Elizabeth is the only person who can break the hotel’s curse and solve the mystery. But will it be at the cost of losing the people she has come to care for, and even Winterhouse itself?

Writing: We are in the process of finishing our realistic fiction stories. You can find your child's story in Google Classroom. Students will spend time this week revising and editing their story during our editing stations.

Social Studies: We will be finishing lesson one The First Missourians and starting lesson two Native Americans of Missouri. This will include reviewing the vocabulary, compare and contract the Native American groups in Missouri and answering review questions.

Vocabulary: archeology, prehistory, mound, surplus, teepee, lodge, clan

Science: This week we will be moving on to lesson five of our MySci unit Our Dynamic Earth. This lesson focuses on how does weathering and erosion affect Earth's landforms. Students will be using patterns of changes in Earth's features to investigate plate motions. We will be making observations and using measurements to observe weathering, wind, water, and glacial erosion.

Vocabulary: erosion, soil, glacier, weathering

Math: We have come to the end of our unit on place value and adding and subtracting whole numbers. This week (Tuesday) will students will come home with a review packet. The review packet will take the place of Math homework for the week. We will spend the week in class reviewing topic 1: place value and topic 2: adding and subtracting whole numbers. Notes and teachings can be found in your child's math notebook and their textbook. I will encourage them to bring them home to study each night. Our test will be September 18th.

September Newsletter

A Look into 4th Grade

We are off to an awesome start in 4th grade! Remember to check Dojo
for daily updates, pictures, and homework.  Here is a look at what we
are working on and what is coming next.

Reading:

We are working on our first unit, which is Interpreting Characters.
Our focus over the next few weeks will be establishing a reading life,
thinking deeply about characters, and building interpretations. We
are reading every day during independent reading time where we
confer with your kids about their current books and their goals.  
Please remind your students to be reading each night at home. We
ask for at least 30 minutes.

Writing:

We are working on our first unit, which is Writing Realistic Fiction.
Our focus over the next few weeks will be creating and developing
stories and characters that feel real, drafting and revising with an eye
toward believability, preparing for publication with an audience in

mind, and embarking on independent fiction projects.  Students are
writing independently every day while teachers are conferring with
your kids. You can check their story on our Google classroom.

Science:

Our first unit is Our Dynamic Earth. Throughout this unit, students
will build an appreciation of the Earth as a dynamic system that is
constantly being shaped by wind, water, ice, vegetation, plate movements,
earthquakes, volcanoes, and humans.

Social Studies:

We have started our first unit on the early settlement of Missouri and
exploration.  We will focus on prehistory and the Northwest Passage,
Thomas Jefferson and the Louisiana Purchase, and the Corps of Discovery
with Lewis and Clark.

Math:

We have begun our first unit on addition, subtraction, and place value.  
Your students will generalize their understanding of place value by
recognizing relationships among places, the value of each individual
digit, and values within the whole number. Your student will also
apply place value understanding to expanded notation, and the rounding
of numbers. They will become fluent with the U.S. algorithms for addition
and subtraction, and learn to select the most appropriate addition or
subtraction strategy for the numbers in a given problem.

Daily Reading Log

Dear Parents,

   This year we are stepping into the 21st century and moving to a paperless reading log instead of chasing diaries and notes from students and parents. That was so last year... :)

This change has some major benefits for all involved.  From my perspective as
a teacher I can both track what your child is reading, and now dive deeper into
examining their insights and reactions around what they are reading.

This new reading log is also dynamic, and will automatically change based upon
whether your child is reading fiction, non-fiction and also whether or not they
have completed a book or still working their way through it.

It offers a far richer assessment of your child’s reading which can be used to
improve spelling, comprehension, writing and grammar in the classroom, resulting
in better learning opportunities for your child and less work for you as a parent.

HOW IT WORKS

They will access the log through my Google Classroom.  From there all they
need to do is complete the reading log.  It should take no more than about five
minutes and can completely be done by your child.  All you need to do is make
sure it is done every school night.

Thank you!

Mrs. Childes

Welcome to Fourth Grade!

5C News April 23rd - 26th

Highcroft’s Hurricane Day of Service: Thursday, April 26th is our Highcroft Hurricane Day of
Service. After engaging in learning about hurricanes this year, it is time for action. Your child’s family
group is participating in our school-wide service learning project supporting people and animals
impacted by hurricanes. Please send your child to school in their Highcroft gear!

Spirit Day: Thursday, April 26th is going to be a spirit day! Send your 5th grader to school in their
Highcroft gear or red!

No School: We will not have school this upcoming Friday, April 27th.

Headphones for MAP: Please make sure your child has a pair of headphones for the MAP test!

April

23: Wax Museum - Mrs. Swanger's Class, 9:20 am

 

24: Chorus Concert at Spoede Elementary, 6:30 pm

25: Wax Museum - Mrs. Wright's Class, 9:20 am

26: PSO Meeting, 7:00 pm, Highcroft Library

27: No School

April 30 - May 11: MAP Testing

May

 4: Spirit Day - Star Wars Day

  Highcroft Carnival

 9: Parkway Board of Education Meeting, 7:00 pm, Central Middle

14: 5th Grade Celebration, 9:05 am - 2:00 pm

15: Field Day/Science Olympiad

16: PSO Meeting, 7:00 pm, Highcroft Library

17: Orientation for 5th Grade Students attending West Middle, 11:00 am - 2:00 pm

  5th Grade Performances, 3:00 pm and 6:30 pm

24: Last Day of School - Half Day, school dismisses at 1:05 pm

Reading: This week in reading, we will continue our unit, Author Study. Students will learn that
another way to study an author’s body of work is to consider what structural patterns exist across those
texts. One author might favor flashbacks, another might tell stories through multiple perspectives, and
another might tend to include twist endings. Studying the plot structures of many books written by the
same author can reveal patterns--and breaks in patterns--giving readers extra insight into how that
author writes. Then, we will learn that another way readers get to know a particular author’s books
better, and become even stronger readers. They do this not just by studying the books from the outside
in, as readers, but also by studying those books with their clubs, as writers. Readers think about how
they're structured their own stories in the past and then look at the structures of the books they have
read by the author to see if patterns emerge. Finally, we will learn that reader who really love an author’s
work will sometimes write alongside that author--writing fan fiction by drafting scenes that could be
inserted into existing stories. To do this work, readers study characters, setting, plot, and style of the
author.

Writing: This week in writing, we will continue our unit, Literary Essay. Students will learn that
writers use checklists to get ready to draft. Specifically, that when writers flash-draft a literary essay,
it helps to rehearse it in the air with the qualities of good essay writing in mind. Then, we will learn that
essayists study small, specific details or the parts that feel odd or important to grow big ideas and interpretation.
Finally, students will learn that one way literary essayists generate ideas is to closely study the times
when characters face trouble, knowing that often the character or the reader learns a lesson from those
experiences.

Math: This week in math, we will wrap up our mini unit on writing numerical expressions and then
begin our geometry unit. Students will learn to classify quadrilaterals and triangles.

Important Vocabulary:parallelogram, trapezoid, rectangle, rhombus, square,  

Science: During our last science unit, Astronomy, students will learn about the concepts of
how Earth's rotation creates patterns in the apparent positions of the Sun, Moon, and stars.
They will observe shadows to demonstrate how the change in the length and position of
shadows over a day illustrate the rotation of the Earth. Students will observe the positions of
the Sun and Moon over a period of time to learn about how they change throughout the day
or from day to day. They will learn that, though half the Moon is lit at all times, the Moon
appears to go through phases where different amounts of the lit section of the Moon are
visible throughout the lunar cycle. Also, students will examine Earth as one of the planets of
the Solar System, and compare Earth to the other planets in terms of size, distance from the
Sun and from one another, and ability to sustain life. For each of the preceding ideas, students
will use models and hands-on investigations to help them uncover the scientific ideas that they
are trying to understand.

5C News April 16th-20th

Celebration of Generation: Celebration of Generations is April 19th from 11:30-2:00. Special persons and parents are welcome between 11:30-1:00. Only special persons are able to stay for lunch between 1-2.I look forward to meeting your 5th graders special person!

Spring Book Fair: Join us for a Scholastic BOGO book fair April 19-20. Our class will be visiting the book fair on Thursday at 2:00. Feel free to join us after Celebration of Generations at the book fair.

 

Penny Wars: During the mornings of April 16-19, each grade level is invited to bring in coins for our Penny War benefiting communities affected by Hurricanes. There will be milk jugs in the MPR for students (and adults!) to use. Pennies are 1 point and silver and paper money is a negative balance. The grade level with the most points at the end of the week earns a Bonus recess or their own selected Spirit Day. Please help spread the word to your students and families. Thanks for your support.

5th Grade Party Volunteers and Donations: Our 5th Grade Party is May 14th, 2018 from 9:00-3:30 at Highcroft Ridge! We would love more parent support! Please fill out the form sent home with your child before break and indicate whether you can volunteer your time from 9:00-12:00, 12:00-3:30, or all day! Also, donations are greatly appreciated! If you decide to donate, you may send cash or check (made out to Rene Koons) anytime before the party on May 14th.Thank you in advance for your support! The day would not be possible without you!

Headphones for MAP: Please make sure your child has a pair of headphones for the MAP test!

Social Studies test will be Friday, April 20th. Students received a study guide last week. Please make sure they are filling out their study guide, and studying for their test for homework this week.

April

16: Mile Run, wear running clothes/shoes and bring water bottle

18: 3rd Grade Musical - Ms. Galanti's Class, 10:50 am

     3rd Grade Musical - Ms. Harper's Class, 1:30 pm

19: Celebration of Generations, 5th Grade, 9:05 am

  Spring Book Fair, BOGO

20: Talent Share

  KDG Field Trip to Zoo, 9:15 am - 1:30 pm

  Spring Book Fair, BOGO

23: Wax Museum - Mrs. Swanger's Class, 9:20 am

     4th Grade Musical - Mrs. Swanger's Class, 11:30 am

  1st Grade Musical - Mrs. Rudd's Class, 2:30 pm

24: 1st Grade Musical - Mrs. Cahill's Class, 2:30 pm

  2nd Grade Musical - Ms. Tilden's Class, 3:15 pm

  Chorus Concert at Spoede Elementary, 6:30 pm

25: Wax Museum - Mrs. Wright's Class, 9:20 am

  4th Grade Musical - Mrs. Wright's Class, 11:30 am

     1st Grade Musical - Ms. Chandler's Class, 12:10 pm

     2nd Grade Musical - Mrs. Adams' Class, 1:50 pm

26: 3rd Grade Musical - Mrs. Lang, 10:50 am

  2nd Grade Musical - Mrs. Cornell, 3:15 pm

     PSO Meeting, 7:00 pm, Highcroft Library

27: No School/Inclement Weather Make-up Day

April 30 - May 11: MAP Testing

May

 2: 1st Grade Field Trip to Botanical Gardens, 9:30 am - 1:30 pm

 4: Spirit Day - Star Wars Day

  Highcroft Carnival

 9: Parkway Board of Education Meeting, 7:00 pm, Central Middle

11: KDG Mother's Day Celebration, Mrs. Larson's Class, 2:15 pm - 2:45 pm

  KDG Mother's Day Celebration, Mrs. Trokey's Class, 2:45 pm - 3:15 pm

  KDG Mother's Day Celebration, Ms. Schaeffer's Class, 3:15 pm - 3:45 pm

14: 5th Grade Celebration, 9:05 am - 2:00 pm

15: Field Day/Science Olympiad

16: PSO Meeting, 7:00 pm, Highcroft Library

17: Orientation for 5th Grade Students attending West Middle, 11:00 am - 2:00 pm

  5th Grade Performances, 3:00 pm and 6:30 pm

24: Last Day of School - Half Day, school dismisses at 1:05 pm

Reading: This week in reading, we will continue our unit, Author Study. Students will to pay careful attention to specific parts in their text that evoked a strong response--ones that made them laugh out loud or feel sad or suspect that something was about to happen that would twist the story in an unexpected direction. Readers then consider whether multiple books by this author have similar parts. After that, students will learn another way to study an author’s body of work is to consider what structural patterns exist across those texts. One author might favor flashbacks, another might tell stories through multiple perspectives, and another might tend to include twist endings. Studying plot structures of many books written by the same author can reveal patterns--and breaks in patterns--giving readers extra insight into how that author writes. Finally, students will learn that reading many books by a beloved author means apprenticing oneself to that author’s craft.

Writing: This week in writing, we will continue our unit, Literary Essay. Students will learn that one way writers support their claim is by crafting mini-stories that are angled to highlight the writer’s point and that balance storytelling as well as summarizing. Then, students will use checklists to get ready to draft. Specifically, they will learn that when writers flash-draft a literary essay, it helps to rehearse it in the air with the qualities of good essay writing in mind. Finally, we will learn that essayists study small, specific details or the parts that feel odd or important to grow big ideas and interpretations.

Math: This week in math, we will begin unit 6, Write and Interpret Numerical Expressions. Students will learn that there is an agreed upon order in which operations are carried out in a numerical expression. After that, we will learn the value of a numerical expression can be found by using order of operations. Students will evaluate expressions with parentheses, brackets, and braces. Finally, students will learn that expressions can represent the calculations needed to solve a problem.

Science: During our last science unit, Astronomy, students will  learn about the concepts of how Earth's rotation creates patterns in the apparent positions of the Sun, Moon and stars. They will observe shadows to demonstrate how the change in the length and position of shadows over a day illustrate the rotation of the Earth. Students will observe the positions of the Sun and Moon over a period of time to learn about how they change throughout the day or from day to day. They will learn that, though half the Moon is lit at all times, the Moon appears to go through phases where different amounts of the lit section of the Moon are visible throughout the lunar cycle. Also, students will examine Earth as one of the planets of the Solar System, and compare Earth to the other planets in terms of size, distance from the Sun and from one another, and ability to sustain life. For each of the preceding ideas, students will use models and hands-on investigations to help them uncover the scientific ideas that they are trying to understand.