Happy May to all of our families! The calendar is getting crowded with many events and activities being planned for this last full month of school. I sent home on Friday a pink sheet with the schedule of meetings, etc. that Glacier Creek has sent out for incoming 5th graders - I thought that might be handy for you to keep. On Friday, May 8th, all of our 4th grade classes will be taken to Glacier Creek for a tour from 1:00 to 2:00. That will be very exciting!
As for the next month in our own West Middleton world --- whew, get ready! We have all completed the new Badger Exams over the past month, and our kids handled it all very well. Over the next three weeks, we will still need to fit into our days the 3rd round of MAPS testing for both Reading and Math (approximately one hour for each). I will also be meeting individually with each of my students to listen to them read and discuss a short story with me, again a third round for this year to determine progress in reading skills.
We also have 3 field trips left to enjoy! On May 13th, the 4th graders from our school will join those from Park and Sunset Ridge Elementary Schools at the MHS Track for the annual 4th Grade Track Meet. The blue permission slip you received a good week ago has the approximate schedule of events printed on the back, in case you want to stop by and watch for awhile. We will be wearing our tie dye shirts, and bringing along a completely disposable sack lunch, along with perhaps an extra water bottle or two for the day -- ALL marked with student name and school. This includes all extra layers of clothing brought along as well, which is usually a very good idea! On Friday morning, May 29th, our 4th graders go back to Pope Farm Park for the morning for a new round of sessions with naturalists, gardeners, and historians. A permission slip and a chance to chaperone will be coming soon. Finally, on Monday, June 8th, our four classes will be spending the day at the Cave of the Mounds.
Stay tuned for news of plans for our last afternoon of school on June 10th. There will be special activities planned for our departing Fourth Grade Class, and you will get details from the organizing parents over the next month. If you are interested in helping with this, let me know (I think the activities will involve outdoor games and goodies).
We have transitioned to new units in all of our academic subjects over the last couple of weeks! In Social Studies, we are exploring five regions in our United States, making maps and finding significant places and people for each region. Science has our kids studying Life Structures, and they are developing 'green thumbs'! In Math, we are well into Unit 11, figuring out volumes of geometric solids, and subtracting negative numbers. Just one more Unit to go after this one! Writing class is giving us new opportunities to write more deeply about what we are reading (literary essays), and in Reading class, we are just about ready to start new books as members of Book Clubs. Being able to converse about and analyze the characters and events in the books we read together has been a highlight in our room all year with our Class Read Aloud books. Now we will be trying to transfer that same deep level of discussion to small groups where our students will be taking on more responsibility for the direction of their conversations.
I will definitely keep you informed as we go through each week, with details and special notes and reminders about our activities. This coming week, we do have "Wacky Wednesday" where students can come with some mismatched or crazy clothing/hair/shoes.... - our school earned this day by accomplishing good behavior goals promoted by our PBIS Team. Thanks for your attention and support with papers and deadlines for your student as we jump into this very busy final month of 4th Grade! Wow! Sincerely, Melanie Hannam
