Welcome to 4th Grade! My name is Mrs. Anderson.  I will be your teacher this year.  I am looking forward to a great school year with you! 

Important Dates: 
August 30th - No School
September 2nd - No School  

In the Classroom:
Reading: Making Inferences and using text evidence in nonfiction texts
Writing: 5 paragraph opinion essay that has a hook, transition words and conclusion
Math: Finding equivalent fractions
Science/ Social Studies: Layers of the Earth
 
Important Dates: 
12/5 Santa Shop @12:30 $2
12/6 Family Night 5:00-6:30
12/7 4th Grade Music program -students need to be there at 6:00. Begins at 6:30.
12/21 Winter Party 10:00 / School dismisses at 12:30
12/24 -12/28 No School
12/31-1/4 No School 

Topics:
Reading: Main Idea and Summarizing
Writing: Opinion Essay
Math: Long Division 
Science: Patterns in Earths Features

Important Dates:
11-9 Veterans Day Assembly 9:00
11-21 No School
11-22 No School - Thanksgiving and Willard Turkey Trot 
11-23 No School
11-26 Tiger Pride Assembly 8:40

Here's what's happening in our classroom...

• Lead Time - Students are learning about Beginning with the end in mind. Students have created goals in math and reading.  You should've seen a goal page come home this week. Check with your child to see how they are coming along with goals! 
• Reading - By the end of the first quarter students should be able to identify key story elements, make inferences and select a theme in a fictional text.  We have also been working on summarizing a text.   
• Writing - Students just finished up their personal narratives.  They learned how to write a strong beginning, middle and end, and include sensory details.  Check in and ask your child what personal story they are writing about. 
• Math - We are finishing Topic 4.  Students should be multiplying two digit numbers by two digit numbers using different strategies.   
• Social Studies - Over the last two weeks we have learned how to read and create maps. Students learned about Cardinal and Intermediate directions, coordinate grids, rural and urban areas, and how to use a map scale.  

A few reminders: 
Fall Parties are this Friday, October 19th at 10:00.  This is a half day and school dismisses at 12:30. 

Don't forget to be checking your child's take home folder each night.  There are important notes that come home, graded papers on Friday, and math papers and math homework comes home daily.  Also, math homework is optional, but if you notice your student struggling in math, or if you would like them to have that extra practice, they do get extra dojo points for turning it in.  

Also, your child should be doing some reading at home.  If you are not seeing them read, please ask what they are reading at school, or ask them about their library books. I do not require students to keep a reading log, but we do have a 30 book challenge each student is trying to meet.  If your child is not reading at home, this is going to be hard for them to meet this goal.  Ask them how many books they have finished and recorded in their log. 

Don't forget to wear your Monday shirts.  This is one of our school goals to unite as a community, and it is part of our Willard North mission statement.  These are such a great gift from school money and from Freedom Bank.  Freedom Bank helps make sure it is possible for EVERY student in the school to get a shirt. 

Other Important Dates: ​

• Oct. 30 & Nov. 1 - Parent Teacher conferences - please contact me if you are not signed up for a time.  I will send out reminders closer to that time. 
• Oct. 29th Tiger Pride
  
• Nov. 2nd No School 
  
• Nov. 5th No School 
  
• Nov. 6th No School 
  
• Nov. 9th Veterans' Day Assembly 9am
  
• Nov. 21, 22, 23 No School - Thanksgiving Break 
  

Newsletters are being mailed out soon and I cannot wait to see my list of new students. Just like the kids, we have to wait until August to find out who's on our list.  I am looking forward to meeting everyone on Tuesday, August 14th for Meet the Teacher night.  Students are welcome to bring some or all of their supplies that night.  Parents be prepared to fill out paper work.

The first day of school is Thursday, August 16th!

In the classroom, the students have signed up for new leadership roles.  Some of these roles include Teacher's assistant, Line Leader, and Technology Team.  In addition to our new class leadership roles the students have applied for and have been placed on action teams.  Some of these teams include Tech-sperts, Guardians of the Library, and Pride Architects.  Please talk to your child about their important roles in the classroom and in our building. 

Fourth Grade Field Trip:
The fourth graders will be taking a charter bus to Jefferson City to visit the State Capital, The Governor's Mansion and Jefferson's Landing on Wednesday, May 9, 2018.  We will leave Willard North at 7:00 am and arrive back around 6:00 pm.  Students price is $12 and students will need to buy or bring a sack lunch.  There will be a lot of walking that day, students will need to dress comfortably and wear their green pride shirts.  Parents are invited to attend.  There are a few bus seats left ($17 per parent).  Parents that drive and meet us there do not need to pay.  Please contact me if you are able to sponsor a student that cannot pay for the trip.   

($12 students and $17 parents riding on the bus, due May 2nd)


Subject Topics include...
Reading - Using evidence from the text to answer questions and test strategies to prepare for the MAP test. 
Writing - Using informational articles to enhance informational and opinion essays.  Students have been using a scoring guide to grade their own writing.   Ask your child about their scores and what they could do to increase them.  We have been grading their essays in 3 categories: Organization, Evidence, and conventions. 
Math - On April 9th we will be taking a topic assessment on Line plots.  
Social studies - We are wrapping up our unit on Government just in time to be prepared for our field trip to Jefferson City. 

Reading Logs...
For third quarter, students will be only keeping track of the books they've read and not the minutes they've read.  Our class set a goal to read 2 books a month.  By the end of February they should've read 6 books.  By the end of March, 8 books.  April, 10 books.  May, 12 books.  Each student has a log in their Tiger Binder, please check this often and continue to encourage reading at home.  

Multiplication:
Several students have mastered all multiplication and division facts.  Please talk to your student to see where they are with their multiplication facts.  If they did not pass XTRA math they should be practicing their facts as much as possible. Our math can be quite challenging if they do not have all their facts memorized.  We have spent 15-20 every day working on their facts.  At this point in the year we are moving on to MAP preparation. We will continue to take weekly one-minute paper tests to check their progress.

Important Dates:
March 9th - Half Day dismissal at 12:30
March 14-16th Spring Break
March 26-29 Book Fair and Spring Conferences
March 30 - No School
April 2 - No School
May - MAP Testing
May 9th - Field Trip to Jefferson City

It's hard to believe we are now in the 3rd quarter! This year is quickly going by and we are back into our routines at school. This is a great time to check with your student regarding supplies they may need. Headphones or earbuds are something we use almost every day and they tend to break or stop working. If you can check with your child to see if they have some that are working, we would appreciate it. 

Grade Cards will be coming home on Friday. 

In Math students have been reviewing Topic 6 which includes solving multi-step problems and finding hidden questions within the problems. We will reassess on Friday, and begin Topic 7 on Tuesday.

Students are learning how to write informational essays in writing. They are researching a topic and will write an informative piece including facts from their research. 

In Science we have done some exploring and activities regarding weathering and erosion to see how it affects the Earth.

Here are some dates to remember:
January 12 - Progress Reports sent home
January 15 - No School for Students
January 22 - Family Fun Night 6:30-7:30 pm (The Lemonade Wars)
January 22 - Kick off Fundraiser
January 29 - Tiger Pride Assembly
​January 31 - January Reading Logs due