Hi, 4H families! We had a very busy and satisfying week getting into our routines and expectations, and digging deeper into our first lessons in math, social studies, science. We are very proud of ourselves for building our stamina in reading. We've been practicing each day to increase our ability to 'lose' ourselves in our reading books (pin drop silence in the room, eyes on the page, and so 'into' our stories that we forget we are in Room 117!). When I have to call an end to our independent reading time, I love it when I hear groans of protest and pleading for "just a few more minutes!" We are on our way!
I wanted to give you some details on a few upcoming events and activities. I have sent home the first of our monthly Scholastic Reading Club book order forms. Do not ever feel obligated to buy books, but in case your 4th grader successfully convinces you that he/she just HAS to have this book, I can assure you that I have not found a better deal on such a complete selection of the most popular books anywhere. We have a class account where you can place an order online - see the link on the bottom of every order form. I have also given each student a sticker for their Take Home Folders which gives you our account number to get into our classroom account. This is such a super easy way to place an order - I think it is very user friendly. You can also send in the paper order form to school with your 4th grader, and the preferred method of payment is a check made out to Scholastic Book Club (or cash). Our deadline for getting in your September order is September 19th. I will submit our orders at the end of that day. Over the years, I have been able to build up such a rich classroom library because the bonus points our room receives with each book ordered give us free books for the classroom - it's awesome and so fun! (I do get pretty excited about new books!)
Next week on Tuesday our first orchestra lessons begin. Out of our classroom family of 25 (a new student coming Monday!), we have 13 orchestra students!! Every Tuesday there is a whole group lesson/practice time that begins promptly at 7:15 AM. Students can come down to hang up backpacks, etc. in their cubbies, and then head straight to the lunchroom to be ready to go by 7:15. Then throughout that morning of classes, each instrument group will have a small group lesson for 30 minutes on a rotating schedule. Students should bring home their instruments every Tuesday afternoon so they can practice at home during the week.
Also this coming Tuesday, everyone at WM gets to tie dye a new T-shirt for the 2016-2017 school year! We think we are so lucky in 4th grade, because our color is EVERY color - rainbow! I will have the shirts ready to rubberband in class on Monday, and then Tuesday morning our class is scheduled to dye our shirts at 10am. Your child will bring home the shirt in a plastic bag, also containing instructions on how to do the wash process within the next couple of days.
Remember that I update the Homework Page of our classroom blog every day after school, not only with homework items, but also any due dates, reminders, and announcements of upcoming activities. Give it a look! Feel free to email me anytime if you have any questions or want to let me know something in particular about your 4th grader. Oh, and also, if you still have some parent papers to turn in, I would love to get them all during the next week - thank you! More news coming soon!
Melanie Hannam
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