Saturday, August 20, 2011

Letter Home on the First Day of Fourth Grade

We are having such a wonderful first day of school. What an inquisitive and friendly group of scholars! In addition our time in the classroom, your student went to art with Ms. Rankey and Healthful Living with Coach Martin. There is so much information at the beginning of a school year, and I wanted to share a few things with you today.

SNACK: We will have a short amount of time for a snack each morning. Please send a healthy snack for your child. They may get water from the water fountain or keep a water bottle in our room.

AGENDA: Students will record their homework in a school-provided agenda. We will sign everyone’s agenda to ensure that all homework is recorded. Your job is to sign the agenda at home each evening.

READING LOG: Each student will fill out a reading log to record their reading at home. We encourage students to read a minimum of 20 minutes at the beginning of the year. Please touch base with your child each night about this and check to see that they are filling the log out properly. It should come back to school each day in the homework folder. We have reviewed the expectations with them today.

BAND INSTRUMENTS: Our class will head to music on Thursdays and Fridays. Tomorrow morning the students will bring their instruments to our classroom. Mr. Postle and Ms. Burns will communicate their expectations about where to bring their instruments from that point on. (Due to the middle school trip, music class will be held on Tuesday, August 23 and Thursday, August 25, rather than the normal Thursday and Friday schedule.)

NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES: We will be doing a STEM project this Friday afternoon and are in need of supplies. Please send in any old magazines and newspapers that might be in your recycling bin. (STEM stands for Science / Technology / Engineering / Math)

Questions to ask your child about our first day together:
  1. Who is Big Al and what was the theme of the book?
  2. Who are you interviewing for your writing project?
  3. What was your fruit or vegetable in the get to know you game?
  4. What are the class rules?

Thanks so much entrusting us with your children! We’re off and running for an amazing 4th grade year!

Best,
Mandy Rencher and Alex Merritt