Friday, April 26, 2013

April 25, 2013

MSP TESTING

I am truly impressed by the efforts your children have put into the MSP this week.  They are all working extremely hard and are doing their best work.  I simply can’t ask for more.  We have a break from MSP next week, and will then finish up the following week.  The next testing dates are:

Date	MSP
Tuesday, May 7th	Writing Session 2
Thursday, May 9th	Math

Important tips for success on the MSP:

1.      Make sure your child gets plenty of sleep the night before each assessment.

2.      Make sure your child gets a solid breakfast on the morning of each assessment.

3.      If you can send your child to school with a healthy snack on MSP days, that would be great!

4.      Please try to reschedule appointments that may conflict with our testing days.

5.      Reassure your child that they will be just fine!  They are ready and will do great. 

IS THERE HOMEWORK THIS WEEK?

Yes.  Since we aren’t MSP testing next week, the kids do have some homework.  It was given to the kids today.

WHERE IS MY CHILD’S FRIDAY FOLDER?

Mr. V was the principal designee at the middle school today, so Friday folders were not sent home.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.  Many thanks!

bvandyne@freemansd.org

291-4791 ext. 135

www.mrvandynesclass.blogspot.com

Friday, April 19, 2013

April 19, 2013

MSP TESTING STARTS NEXT WEEK

Next week marks the beginning of our MSP testing.  This is very exciting!  We have been working towards dominating these assessments all year, and it will be great to start showing how much we know! 

Important tips for success on the MSP:

1.      Make sure your child gets plenty of sleep the night before each assessment.

2.      Make sure your child gets a solid breakfast on the morning of each assessment.

3.      If you can send your child to school with a healthy snack on MSP days, that would be great!

4.      Reassure your child that they will be just fine!  They are ready and will do great.  Kind of like that one show on Travel Channel says:  In the battle of Man vs. MSP, Man Wins!!!

Here is our MSP schedule for the next few weeks:

Date	MSP
Wednesday, April 24th	Reading
Thursday, April 25th	Writing Session 1
Tuesday, May 7th	Writing Session 2
Thursday, May 9th	Math

WHAT ABOUT HOMEWORK?

On the weeks where we are MSP testing, I do not give homework.  I want the kids to spend their evenings relaxing and spending time with family.  So, there is no homework for this next week.

CLASS PICTURES

Class pictures for 4^th grade is on Wednesday 4/26.  This will not disrupt our Reading MSP.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.  Many thanks!

Friday, March 29, 2013

March 29, 2013

It was great to meet with all of you this week.  Thanks for your time and for all of your support.  I appreciate you trusting me with your awesome kids each day.  I hope everyone has a great spring break!

Were the kids assigned homework today?

No.  Due to spring break, I did not want to give them a new packet of homework.  They will receive their homework on Monday, April 8^th when we get back from break.

Where is the Friday folder?

Again, due to spring break, no Friday folder was sent home today.

What should my child be doing over break?

1)  Having fun and relaxing.

2)  Reading their nonfiction book so they are ready to start their PowerPoint

presentation in class after break.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.  Many thanks!

Friday, March 22, 2013

The quote of the week comes from a young lady during math today.:

"When I don't pay attention, that's when good things happen to me."

I wonder if she notices the good things happening... :-)

March 22, 2013

I am looking forward to meeting with everyone next week!

Conferences

Your conference times are in this Friday folder, and our system should have sent you an email with the date and time.  Please let me know if your date and time do not work. 

Social Studies Magazine

Please consider donating $1.50 to help us purchase a Social Studies magazine that will help us cover many interesting topics about Washington this spring. 

Informational Book Talk

The grading rubric for this project is below.  The kids should be reading their books at this point, and I will provide computer time for them to work on their PowerPoints at school.  The due date is April 24^th. 

	Possible Points	Points Earned
Was your book approved on time?	5
Did you complete your project on time?	10
Was your power point organized, colorful, attractive, and easy to read?	10
Did you include pictures or illustrations?	10
Slide 1- include the book’s title, author, and your            name, date, and a picture	10
Slide 2- List of important vocabulary words that pertain to your topic with their definitions	10
Slide 3-Photo album : include pictures of one or two people, places, or events with captions from your book.	10
8.       Slide 4- continuation of pictures with captions from page 3	10
9.       Slide 5- write an note in memo format to a friend telling him/her why you would recommend the book to him/her	10
10.    Slide 6- design a souvenir to correspond to your book’s topic (use Paint program)	10
11.    Slide 7- Write four questions that could be answered by someone reading your book	10
Slide 8- Write a reflection piece about your book.  (Did you enjoy it, how did it make you feel, any questions you now might want to research, or other books you might like to read, etc.)	10
Are the spelling, punctuation, and grammar correct?	10
Was your presentation informative and convincing?	10
Did you make eye contact for most or your         presentation?	5
Did you acquire new knowledge?  Did you answer your classmate’s questions?	10
TOTAL	150

 

Friday, March 15, 2013

Yesterday, Landon and I were chatting outside during recess.  We were talking about soccer and I mentioned how I was never very good at it because I am not good with my feet.  He considered this for a moment and then replied, "Well, you're good at walking!"  Made us both laugh.  That I am, Landon, that I am.  :-)

Conferences

Conference week is March 25-29.  Please schedule your conference online at your earliest convenience.  The last day to do so is Wednesday, March 20^th.  After that, I will schedule a time for you. 

End of Quarter

Somehow, the end of the 3^rd quarter is here.  This is hard to believe!  The last day to turn in work is Wednesday, March 20^th.    

Social Studies Magazine

On Monday, I sent home a letter asking for $1.50 donation to help us purchase a Social Studies magazine that will help us cover many interesting topics about Washington this spring.  If you are able to donate, we would greatly appreciate it!

Late Start Day Moved to Wednesday 3/20

This was originally scheduled for 3/13.

Informational Book Talk

Next week I will be introducing this assignment to the kids.  They are to read an informational book about a topic that interests them.  Then, they will be creating a PowerPoint presentation in class about their book.  This should be fun.  I will distribute information and a grading rubric next week. 

Please let me know if you need anything.  Many thanks!

Friday, March 1, 2013

March 1, 2013

Late Start Day Moved to Wednesday 3/20

This was originally scheduled for 3/13.

Science Fair

Projects are due March 6^th, the Science Fair is March 7^th from 1:15-2:30.  Please let me know if you need anything. 

Informational Book

We are going to begin a book report/book talk project soon.  I am going to ask each child to pick an informational book to read for this.  Hopefully they will be able to find something that interests them at our school library.  More coming home about this soon.

Silverwood Reading Program

Remember to be documenting your child’s reading minutes on the Silverwood Tally Sheets.  600 minutes earns them a free Silverwood ticket.  The sheets are due back to school by March 13, 2013.  Let me know if you have any questions.

Please let me know if you need anything.  Many thanks!

Friday, February 22, 2013

Science Fair

We have been talking about the Science Fair in class.  At this point, your child should be ready to start doing their experiment at home and then creating their display board.  Use the materials I sent home a couple weeks ago as your guide for the display.  There is a grading rubric that tells exactly what I am looking for on the displays.  Projects are due March 6^th, the Science Fair is March 7^th.  Please don’t hesitate to let me know if you have any questions. 

Progress Reports
Believe it or not, we are half way through the 3^rd quarter.  Progress reports will be emailed to you either today or Monday, so please look for them and let me know if you have any questions about them.

What’s Going on in Class?

·         Reading – This week we learned all about whales and read some great informational texts about them.  We worked on sequencing and transition words.

·         Writing – We continue to review paragraph structure as well as possessive pronouns and the use of apostrophes.

·         Math – This week we worked on finding the factors of numbers.  Your child learned 3 different strategies to accomplish this.  Ask him or her to show them to youJ  Next week we will be talking about multiples and then working on division with single-digit divisors.

·         Social Studies – We have completed the chapter about Washington’s Native Americans.  We took notes on the chapter to find the key information.  The kids used their notes to make up some test questions.  I will take the best questions and create a test for them to take over the material. 

·         Science – Obviously, we are working on the Science Fair.

Silverwood Reading Program

Remember to be documenting your child’s reading minutes on the Silverwood Tally Sheets.  600 minutes earns them a free Silverwood ticket.  The sheets are due back to school by March 13, 2013.  Let me know if you have any questions.

March 1 – We will have school!

This is a snow make-up day, and since we had a snow day, we will be in class on the 1^st.

Please let me know if you need anything.  Many thanks!