Week 16

Only one week left! (Can you believe it?) This week will be filled with assemblies, assessments, and parties. It's going to be fun! Also, this Wednesday I have my sonogram to (hopefully) find out if I'm having a boy or girl!  I'm going out of my mind with anticipation!

Here are the big events:

1)  This week's homework menu is due this Friday. The kids just need to finish creating their dioramas. I can't wait to see what they produce!

2)  Our Christmas party is Thursday at 2:00. Please remember that each child needs to bring a book for the book exchange we will be doing that day. Here are the directions again that Mrs. Downs sent you: For the gifts, the students will have a random book exchange.  The teachers have asked that the students choose a new, grade-appropriate, book that costs no more than $5.00.  Please wrap the book and label it “from a boy, to a boy” or “from a girl, to a girl”.  Send the wrapped book the week of the Party.  The gifts will then be exchanged through a game that will be played at the party.

3)  Friday is an early release day! Please make arrangements to pick up your child at 11:45 that day.

4)  We are still having some problems with tardies, but the numbers are decreasing. Thank you for getting your child to school as close to 7:35 as possible.

5)  Students should post their 14th book on the wikispace this week. The students will not be assigned additional reading over the Break, so the two weeks off should be a great time for your child to get caught up and/or ahead.

6)  Every week more children are mastering their timed math drills!  I am so proud of their hard work. If your child still has not mastered all 4 areas, please help him/her practice daily. Remember, there are printable drills on my website to help out.

7)  We will not have a blog question for the kids this week.

8)  We are finishing up assessments for report cards this week. It is extremely important that your child is here each day this week.

9)  Our OUTDOOR Christmas Assembly is Friday at 10:00. Kids can wear jeans and a red shirt that day.

Week 15

Thank you to all of the parents who made time this week to come in and meet with me and your child. I am excited about the goals that have been set and the progress the kids are making!

Also, I wanted to take time to thank Mrs. Foster and Mrs. Downs for bringing me drinks and lunches this week. I'm not sure if it's because I'm pregnant, but these two women completely made my day with their acts of kindness. Thanks for going out of your way to do this for me, ladies!

Here are this week's happenings:

1)  This week's homework menu has 2 activities. The first activity is due Friday and requires the students to finish the bare books they have been working on already. The second activity is due the following Friday and requires the students to create a diorama of the Alamo. Please encourage your child to use supplies around the house for this activity. (Your child's goal should be to spend no money to complete this.) Last year kids were extremely creative with this project, and I can't wait to see what this group will do!

2)  Our field trip to the Rangers Ballpark is this Friday. Please remember that:

• children and parents need to bring a (peanut-free) sack lunch,
• parents must pay $8.00 at the door,
• students must ride the bus to the ballpark and back to the school,
• if parents are going, I need to know now, and 
• if parents are going, they will be responsible for chaperoning small groups of children.

3)  We will be doing several different assessments over the next 2 weeks for report cards. It is very important that your child is at school everyday ready to learn and work hard.

4)  We are beginning to have a problem with tardies. Friday six different students came into the classroom after the 7:45 tardy bell. Please make sure your child has enough time to get from your vehicle to the classroom before this bell rings. Thank you for your help with this.

5)  Students should post their 13th book this week on the wikispace.

6)  Students need to post a response on the class blog by next weekend.

7)  We are getting closer and closer to meeting all of our 5-minute timed math goals. Please remember that there are printable drills posted on my website you can use at home. If your child has not yet met these goals, he/she needs to be practicing every single day.

Week 14

I hope everyone had a great week off and a terrific time with your families!  I spent some much needed time in Oklahoma and feel refreshed and ready to tackle this week.

Thank you to all of the parents who went on the field trip with us.  You were absolutely amazing!  I have never had such a smooth trip, and that is due primarily to your hard work and cooperation.  Thanks for your involvement and for your wonderful example to your children.

Here are this week's happenings:

1)  Your child needs to bring his/her trip pictures and trip journal to school tomorrow.  We will be using these throughout the week.


2)  Vertical Schedule begins again tomorrow.


3)  Conferences are this Thursday.  I will remind your child of you assigned time slot tomorrow.  Please don't be late since these conferences are planned one right after another.

4)  This week's Homework Menu is now available for you to print off.  The spelling assignment is due Friday, but the bare book assignment is due next week.

5)  Our kids are doing great overall on their timed math drills!  Our goal is for all kids to meet the 5-minute math goals before Winter Break.  This means that if your child has not yet mastered these skills yet, your child needs to spend the next 3 weeks really focusing on practicing and memorizing these facts.  I have place some printable drills on my website for easy access.

6)  Your child should be working on his/her 12th book this week.  As a class, we have now read 244 books so far this year!  Incredible!!

7)  Your child needs to post a response on the class blog by Sunday.

Week 13

Good morning!  I don't know if this week could possibly be any busier, so let's just jump right into it.  

Here's what you need to know:

1) It’s time for Student Led Conferences! I am eager to sit down with you and your child so we can all celebrate your child’s progress and set goals for the rest of fourth grade. On December 2nd, someone will be covering my class, and I will be scheduling conferences to meet throughout this day. Monday I will be sending home the list of times available, or you can click here to view it now. Rather than sending this letter back to me with marked times, I am going to accept “conference requests” via email. As of 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, November 16th, you may send me an email requesting your top 3 times. I will schedule conferences on a first-come, first-serve basis. After I receive your email requests, I will send a reply email a.s.a.p. letting you know if I was able to schedule one of your requested times or if I need you to choose another available time. Please note that emails received before 8:30 will be considered after all other requests have come in. 

2) This week's homework menu simply requires your child to pack for our trip. These kids are definitely old enough to actively participate in the packing process, so please allow them to use the checklist provided to get their bags ready. 

3) Tuesday is our Math Checkpoint test for the district. We will take care of this first thing Tuesday morning and will spend the rest of the day preparing for the trip. I will communicate the results of all 3 Checkpoint tests (reading, science, and math) at your child's conference on Dec. 2nd.

4) We will load buses Wednesday at 5:15 in front of the Academy. Please do not get on the bus until all of the teachers arrive. Your child should be wearing his/her pink Run for the Rings shirt and Academy bottoms, jeans, or finger-tip length jean shorts. We will be pulling out of the school by 5:45, so please don't be late. Click here to review the Trip Information form again and to see the latest Itinerary. 

5) One thing I want to remind all of the parents before we leave is that this trip is a learning experience for the kids. The students will be required to work on their journals throughout the trip. It is important to remember that the kids, not the adults, should be writing in the journals. Also, the Itinerary clearly explains which pages of the journal the kids should be working on at each point of the trip. Please help make sure your child has completed these requirements before finding recreational activities to fill his/her time.

6) Your child must bring some type of camera to use on the trip (regular or disposable). The pictures he/she takes will go into the final journals the students will be completing in class. Over the Thanksgiving Break, you need to develop or print off the pictures your child wants to include in his/her journal. We will be using these as soon as we return from the Break, so it is important to find time during the week off to take care of this task.

7) Friday is Turkey Bowl! The festivities should kick off at 1:30 in the back of the school on the Circle. This ridiculous event should be a blast! Thank you to each of the families who have sent canned goods for this.


8) Thanksgiving Break is next week! Enjoy the well-deserved week off! If your child is behind with his/her reading, this week is a great opportunity to catch up!


9) Your child should have posted his/her 11th book on the wikispace this week.


10) Your child should have posted a response to the Week 12 question on the blog this week. We will not have a blog question for this week.

Finally, I want to thank Mrs. Miller who helped sort the new t-shirts for the trip. She spent an afternoon dividing the shirts up among the classes, and her time and efforts are so appreciated!

Week 12

Can you believe our Austin/San Antonio trip is now just a week and a half away? I am so excited, and I know the kids are pumped as well! We are working on preparing our journals now and will continue to do so over the next 2 weeks. Click here to see the revised Trip Information Form with details about what you and your child will need to pack and wear. Please note that we will be leaving from the Academy, not the high school as previously stated.

I want to thank the parents who have sent dry-erase markers this week for our class! What a blessing! Your generosity and kindness is much appreciated!

Also, I want to thank Mrs. Downs for coming and working with the kids to make the class project for the carnival. I can't wait to see how everything turns out!

What's going on this week?

1)  Club Pictures are Monday. The office will be calling different groups throughout the day to take care of this.

2)  The School Carnival is Saturday from 11:00 - 2:00! (Yippee!) At 2:30, they will have the Snoopy Dance and auction. This event should be a blast, and I really hope that you and your family can make it. Just so you know, one of the auction items you can bid on is a movie night for your child and me. (Actually, there are 3 different ones you can try for since Mrs. Smalley, Mrs. Brannum, and I are going together and each taking a winning bidder.) I did this last year, and it was super fun! 

3)  This week's homework menu has 2 spelling options that are due Friday. Kids who are starting on these assignments early in the week (or on the weekend) are finding themselves much less stressed throughout the week. Thank you for all that you are doing to help your child set aside time and make this a priority. Please remember, if your child is going to come to the Homework Hotline Tuesday afternoon, please print off, fill out, and send back the permission slip by Tuesday.

4)  Kids should have 10 books on the wikispace by now. I am so proud of some of the detailed paragraphs I am seeing from some of the kids. Thank you again for helping your child learn to set aside time for this regularly to meet this goal.

5)  The new blog question will be ready sometime this weekend. Almost all kids have posted for Week 11 now. If your child did not finish posting for last week yet, please make sure he/she does so by Sunday.

6)  We still have a few students who have not yet met the 5-minute goals for addition and subtraction facts. All of the kids are improving, and I am so proud of their continued effort to reach these goals. Please remember, all 4th graders should be able to complete 100 addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts in 5 minutes by the end of this Nine Weeks. Your child should be practicing flash cards daily or printing off and practicing sample tests from the link on my website.

Week 11

This week was so much fun with the kids! Their Idiom Day costumes were incredibly creative and absolutely hilarious. Our class photographers got some good pictures of the day, so hopefully I'll be able to share those with you soon.

I just wanted to remind everyone that our Austin/San Antonio trip is coming up soon (November 17-18). We will begin preparing for this in class, but I wanted to make sure you had this important event on your calendar.

Here's what's happening this week:

1) This week's homework menu has 4 items on it: 2 spelling options and 2 math options. The kids are only required to complete 1 of each type, but they can complete a 3rd or 4th activity if they wish to extend their learning. All activities are due Friday. The spelling assignment should go faster this week since the students have already found and recorded 10 words in their agendas that can be used in their assignment. Remember, if your child is going to stay after school on Tuesday for the Homework Hotline, you must fill out the Homework Hotline pass which can be found at the top of the Homework Menu page on my website.

2) Wednesday is a district early release day. Please make arrangements to pick up your child at 11:45 that day.

3) This week we will be taking 2 different district tests. These help us know your child's areas of strength/weakness to help direct our instruction in the classroom. Wednesday is the Reading Checkpoint and Thursday is the Science Checkpoint. Please make sure your child is well-rested and on time both of these days.

4) If you still haven't returned your child's report card, please do so by Monday.

5) Most kids are doing an outstanding job of keeping up with their reading! As a class, we have read over 28,000 pages! I am proud of the kids for working so hard and for taking such personal responsibility to meet our goals. Your child should have posted his/her 9th book on the wikispace by this weekend. If your child is having trouble getting online or finding access to a computer, have him/her write everything up on paper and we'll update the wiki in class. Remember, the Homework Hotline time on Tuesdays is always a great time for kids to finish tasks such as this!

6) Your child needs to post on the blog by Sunday. Next week's question should be up sometime this weekend.

Week 10

The kids wrote an AMAZING mission statement this week that really shows their desire to better themselves this year.  Yes, it's a little long, but it has contributions from everyone and includes all of the things they truly value.  Here is what they came up with:

We the responsible students of Mrs. Bennett’s rockin’ 4^th grade class promise to go above and beyond to learn new things.  We will be true Olympians, supporting each other and showing the rings.  We promise to have fun and to learn from our mistakes.  We will never give up because failure is not an option for us.  Not only will we meet our goals, but we will extend our learning and only be satisfied with our personal best.  This is our promise to ourselves and to each other.

You'll have to stop by and see the amazing way we have displayed it in the room!

Here are this week's events:

1)  Report cards go home Monday.  You will need to sign your child's card and return it in the provided envelope.  Feel free to make copies of the report card for your own records, but remember to send back the original.  Please click here if you need to review the information I gave you last week about what will be included and what you should expect.

2)  This week's homework menu has just one item.  The students need to create their Idiom Day costumes so they can wear them to school on Thursday.  We will learn a spelling pattern in class this week, but the kids will do the homework for this pattern next week.  (Hopefully this will make homework go faster next week since they will have all of this week to collect their words.)

3)  This week is Red Ribbon Week.  Each day there is a theme to help the kids remember to stay off of drugs.  Here is what your child should wear each day:

• Monday: Tie Out Drugs - Kids wear a crazy tie.
• Tuesday: Give Drugs the Blues - Kids wear all Academy blue clothing.
• Wednesday: Put a Cap on Drugs - Kids wear their favorite cap.
• Thursday: Sock It to Drugs - Kids wear crazy socks.
• Friday: Shade Out Drugs - Kids wear sunglasses.

4)  If you haven't sent $10 for our class project yet, please do so as soon as possible.  Your child should have brought home a flyer about this last week.

5)  Most kids are doing a terrific job of keeping up with their reading and posting.  Please make sure your child has posted on the class blog this week.  The new question will be up sometime on Sunday.

6)  Your child should have finished his/her 8th book this week.  He/she needs to post each book on the wikispace to receive credit.

7)  There is an Awards Assembly on Friday at 8:00.  If you child is going to receive an award, I will email you Monday to let you know.