10/18/13 Update

It was so great to see so many of you at today's music performance put on by the 4th and 5th graders.  What a wonderful job they all did!

Thank you to all of you who helped to ensure that your child turned in their book report on time today, they all look fabulous and I can't wait to read them.  Don't forget that starting on Monday, they will be giving a brief oral presentation of their books to the class.  There were no written instructions given to them but we have discussed this extensively in class many times over the past two weeks.  They are to prepare a brief presentation (3-5 minutes) where they summarize their book for the class and then explain the symbols they included on their quilt and why the symbols were important to their story.  They will NOT be turning in a summary to me or anything other than the quilt that they have already given me.  Students have the option of either memorizing their presentation or they may have notes to refer to (like an outline).  What I don't want them to do is to come up to the front of the classroom and just read to the class from a piece of paper.  Over the weekend when they are practicing their presentations they should work on speaking slowly and with expression, as well as loud enough for everyone to hear them. They should also work on standing up straight and tall and not fidgeting around too much. I shared the scoring sheet that I will be using when I grade them on this oral presentation so they know exactly what I will be looking for.

Next week is Red Ribbon Week at Dilworth where we will be pledging to be healthy and drug free citizens.  Below I have included the schedule for the week so students can dress up and participate in this important week.  We will also be doing a few anti drug related activities through out the week in class including designing and creating  door decorations.  We will of course continue with our drug and alcohol awareness program, Too Good For Drugs, through out the school year as well.

Monday – Wear Red + 'Wear red Day' sticker + students get 'Be Bright…Be Drug Free' heat sensitive pencil

Tuesday – WEAR YOUR FAVORITE PAIR OF JEANS + "Jean-ius I'm Drug Free" sticker

Wednesday – WEAR CRAZY, MISMATCHED SOCKS + "Sock it to drugs" sticker

Thursday – WEAR YOUR FAVORITE CAP + "Put a cap on drugs" sticker

Friday – WEAR YOUR DILWORTH SHIRT + "Show your school spirit drug free" sticker

We will also be starting a new unit next week in math.  Unit 3 will focus on multiplication and division skills.  Since next Friday (10/25) is the last Friday of the motn we will also be having our monthly math stations.  I will be emailing my volunteers  next to remind you of this. 

I also wanted to mention that the following week (10/28-11/1) includes Halloween and the majority of our day will be focused on activities relating to the event.  In the morning all 4th graders will be rotating through the three classrooms (13, 14, 15) to do Halloween related games, crafts, and other educational activities.  After lunch will be the school wide Halloween parade and right after that will be our classroom party.  Look for an email next week regarding signing up to help out with our class party.  I know that some families choose not to have their child participate in Halloween activities due to cultural or religious beliefs, which I totally understand.  If this is true for your family, please let me know as soon as possible so that I can make other plans for your child.