Newsletter 2021-2022

April Newsletter

4/14/2022

News & Notes:

PTA Read-a-Thon - Thank you to everyone who participated in the Read-a-Thon. We more than doubled the targeted fundraising goal - with $15,636 pledges!
MSTEP - Our Bennie theme for the MSTEP is "Knocking it Out of the Park". I am proud of the efforts our 4th graders have put into preparing for this test. Be sure to charge your child's chromebook for Monday ... a good night's sleep, eating a healthy breakfast and arriving to school on time will all help your child get ready to do their best and show us what they know.
Newbery Project - We'll begin Newbery presentations next week. Your child chose the day they will present. We dedicated time today to practice presentations and prepare for next week. I'm excited to hear about their books.
Dress Code - As the weather is turning warmer, it's a good time to review the dress code. Attached is a letter explaining our elementary dress code.

Upcoming Dates:

Friday, April 15 - No school
April 18-22 - Newbery presentations. Students chose their presentation dates.
Monday, April 18 - 4th Grade Reading MSTEP
Wednesday, April 20 - 4th Grade Math Mstep
Friday, April 22 - April academic progress report and At-Home Math Practice packets go home.
Friday, April 29, 6:30pm - PTA Family Dance

What we're Learning:

Writing - We are putting it all together. Students are asked to write a minimum of two paragraphs, follow conventions such as punctuation and capitalization and provide details or evidence to support their main ideas.
Reading - We have been focusing on reading comprehension and summarizing. Evidence, evidence, evidence - your child is asked to give examples from the text to support their answers. Book Clubs are back after a slow down to allow time for the Newbery Project.
Brain Friendly Reading - Ask your child to tap the charts for you. We continue to use the phonics skills developed in this program to improve spelling, writing and reading comprehension. Check out their youtube videos for more information on this program.
Social Studies - We will end the year with a study of Economics.
Science - We are investigating the phenomena of how these Dorito bags ended up on a beach ... ultimately studying waves and weather.

Math - We will end our year continuing to develop mastery of multi-digit multiplication and long division, while focusing on measurement and geometry.

Ask Me:

What is your plan to do your best on the MSTEP next week? What "mindful moments" can you use to help you pause and refocus on your test?

Class Highlights:

We won the Golden Tray award in the cafeteria!
We won a trip to the Book vending machine for our great hallway behavior!
Our "field trip" to the Michigan State Capitol was a lot of fun!

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Week 29

3/22/2022

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News & Notes:

PTA Read a Thon - The readathon continues until the end of the month - so a few days left. We have been in the top five classes for having read the most minutes! Thank you for helping your child log in to the program. Our goal is 30 minutes - but even 20 minutes a day makes a big impact!
Newbery Project - Just a reminder that we have reading time each day in Room 107. All Newbery books and chapter notes can be completed in class. Chapter notes are due on Thursday, April 7.

Upcoming Dates:

March 26-April 3 - No school for Spring Break
Mon, April 4 - School resumes
Fri, April 8 - In school virtual field trip with the Michigan State Capitol tour guides
April 18 and 20 - MSTEP testing in 4th grade

What we're Learning:

Writing - As we work on narrative writing, the importance of our first sentence has been a focus. I've been really impressed with the creativity of some of our writing lately. Ask your child to tell you about a piece of writing they are proud of.
Reading - "Book Club" books have been on hold during our Newbery Projects. All clubs will get new books after spring break.
Brain Friendly Reading - I sent home a "syllables" chart for your child to tap at home. Understanding these patterns in the English language is helping students to grow both as readers and writers! Ask your child to tap the chart for you.
Social Studies - We will end our unit on civics and government on April 8th. We will be participating in a virtual field trip to the Lansing State Capitol with all three fourth grade classes.
Science - We wrapped up our investigation of how energy is transferred in a system with our water wheel engineering design experiment. Ask you child to tell you how many pennies they were able to get their water wheel to lift.
Math - We have been working on comparing decimals and fractions as we continue to practice multiplication and division. If your child is struggling with basic multiplication, I sent home a set of unique multiplication flash cards for them to cut and use at home. Fluency with this math skill is critical to success in 5th grade math.

Ask Me:

We are preparing to plant pumpkin seeds in the courtyard. Ask your child what they learned about harvesting seeds from a pumpkin and when can we put them in the ground. Also - ask them to tell you what we learned about what we found in our courtyard!

Weekly Highlights:

Last week we were able to get out in the courtyard - look for fossils in our rock, bugs, and birds. We found lots of evidence of life in our courtyard habitat! Also, Miss Nicole surprised the kids as a guest reader.

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Week 27

3/11/2022

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News & Notes:

Newbery Project - Just a reminder that we have reading time each day in Room 107. All Newbery books and chapter notes can be completed in class.
Multiplication Goal - Students were given a blank multiplication chart to fill in. It was not timed. They then were asked to set a goal for themselves. Their chart should be coming home. We'll try it again at the end of the month and compare the information. Being fluent with basic multiplication facts is tied to success in math in 5th grade and beyond.
PTA Read a Thon - We're off to a good start on our Read a Thon. Students and classes earn prizes for participation. Please help your child log into their account if they have not done so yet. New log in information sheets are going home 3/11 for everyone who hasn't logged in yet. One of the best predictors of reading success is the number of minutes a child reads each day. Our goal is 30 minutes - but even 20 minutes a day makes a big impact!

Upcoming Dates:

Fri, March 11 - End of the second trimester
Fri, March 18 - No school for students
Fri, March 18 - Second trimester report cards available on MiStar
March 26 - April 3 - Spring Break. Classes resume April 4.

What We're Learning:

Writing - Using our "Performance Assessment" books from Journeys, we will be writing a narrative essay.
Reading - Students are working on their chapter notes with their Newbery project books. As a whole class we've been continuing to work on summarizing.
Brain Friendly Reading - We continue to work on using strategies to identify syllables and spell unfamiliar words. Next week will focus on ea and oo vowel teams. We have been incorporating the online game Wordle into our word study time. It's a great way to play with phonics!
Social Studies - We continue to study the constitution and how our government is organized. Next week we will study voting rights.
Science - Our long term investigations in science continued this week with a trip to our courtyard to see what evidence of change we could find and check in on our mini-greenhouses. Fridays will be our engineering/design days as we continue to investigate how energy is transferred and the ways humans use natural energy to do work (our water wheels are a great example of this).
Math - We continue to practice using addition, subtraction, multiplication and division to solve math problems. Practicing basic multiplication and division facts at home will help build fluency and speed.

Weekly Highlights:

After more than 100 years at the bottom of the Weddell Sea, Shackleton's ship the Endurance has been found. We just finished reading about this epic story two weeks ago. It was super exciting to see the ship from the drone footage released on Wednesday. Ask your child to show you their Google Classroom writing assignment from Shackleton

Ask Me:

We've been studying genres and did a genre sort of book covers. Ask your child to describe the different types of genres. Which one is their favorite and why? Ask your child to sort books in your home by their genre type.

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Week 24

2/25/2022

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News & Notes:

Geometry Challenge - Each week there is an optional at home Geometry Challenge in Google Classroom. Looking for these geometry shapes, angles and lines at home will help build your child's mathematical understanding.
Wishlist - We are down to our last two containers of clorox wipes - we would love donations of more!
Scholastic Book Club - I'll be placing the next Scholastic Book Club order on Monday. Check out the link to the online store for more information.
Academic Progress Report - The February progress report should come home today. In addition, the "at home math practice" packets are also being sent home. These activities and games will help build your child's understanding of our 4th grade math concepts.
Book Clubs - All book clubs will get new books next week. I am really impressed with the way the clubs work together and the conversations they have been having about their books. There is enough class time to complete assignments here at Bennie, but some people may need to finish their work at home.

Upcoming Dates:

Fri, March 4 - Bennie's Reading Fundraiser begins
Fri, March 4 - Bingo for Books at 6:00pm
Fri, March 11 - Second trimester ends

What We're Learning:

Writing - We are focusing on revising and editing our work. The writing prompts from Jason Reynolds, Children's Poet Laureate, have been a huge hit.
Reading - Our literacy strategy focus for next week is identifying main ideas. As part of March is Reading Month, we will have a Newbery Award book report. Details will go home next week.
Brain Friendly Reading - We continue to work on using strategies to identify syllables and spell unfamiliar words. Next week will focus on VC/CCV and VCC/CV words. The list/pattern flyer will go home on Monday.
Social Studies - We continue to study the constitution and how our government is organized. Next week we will study the Bill of Rights.
Science - We continue to explore how energy moves in natural systems and human designs. We began our water wheel experiment today!!
Math - We are moving on from fractions as our primary focus. We will be spiralling back to double and triple digit multiplication and division.
Social Emotional Learning - We have started the Choose Love's "Compassion in Action" unit exploring what it means to be compassionate to others and ourselves.

Weekly Highlight:

It was a great week in Room 107 - but winning the prize for hallway behavior and a trip to the Bennie Book Vending Machine was a huge hit today.

Ask Me:

We just finished reading "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" as a whole class. Ask your child: How would you describe Ernest Shackleton? What were his character traits? What was your favorite part of the story and why?

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February

2/10/2022

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News & Notes:

Valentine's Day - we will be celebrating both Valentine's Day and the end of Chinese New Year on Monday. Students are encouraged to wear red and are welcome to bring in Valentine's to share with the class.
Treat Supplies Needed - Please respond in the comments below if you are willing to donate the following items for our "Sweetheart Floats": 1 gallon of vanilla ice cream, 30 solo cups, 30 straws, 2 - 2 Liters of Red Pop. All donations are needed Monday morning.
Brain Friendly Reading - At home tapping charts went home with your children. We will be focusing on 1-2 patterns a week. Each Monday, I'll send home the list we're working on and ways you can build and extend this learning at home. Here's a link to the Brain Friendly Reading website for more information.

Upcoming Dates:

Friday, Feb 11 - No school for students
Monday, Feb 14 - Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year Celebration
Monday, Feb 21-22 - No school

What We're Learning:

Writing - We will be working on writing summaries next week.
Reading - Our literacy strategy focus for next week is using evidence from the text to draw conclusions.
Brain Friendly Reading - We continue to work on using strategies to identify syllables and spell unfamiliar words. We will focus on ci, ce, cy words.
Social Studies - We continue to study the constitution and how our government is organized with an emphasis on checks and balances between the three branches of government .
Science - We continue to explore how energy moves in natural systems and human designs.
Math - We are currently working on adding and subtracting fractions. Keep an eye out for our weekly Geometry Challenge. Students who complete this optional at home activity receive "Geometry Bucks" and the change to win prizes.
Social Emotional Learning - We will start a new unit on "Compassion in Action" exploring what it means to be compassionate to others and ourselves.

Weekly Highlight:

It was a great week in Room 107! Sciecne was definitely the highlight. From planting in our mini-greenhouses to building our snowman to measure ... there was a lot of fun and learning going on.

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Week of January 17

1/11/2022

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News & Notes:

Chromebooks - Please try and help your child remember to plug in their chromebook each night. We have a limited number of extra devices in the classroom and it's been tricky to try and navigate all the devices that have been running out of power.
Progress reports - With our shortened week and the addition of NWEA testing, a combined progress report for January 10-21 goes home today. Please sign and return so I know you are receiving the reports.
At Home Math Activities - Along with the monthly academic progress report, an optional at home math activity packet will go home with your child. These activities will help your child continue to develop their understanding of our 4th grade math concepts.
NWEA tests have been completed. Your child's report will go home on Friday, February 28 along with the academic progress report.
Milk Jugs - we need rinsed plastic milk jugs for a winter gardening project. Please send them in anytime. We hope to plant next week.

Upcoming Dates:

Friday, January 28 - Academic Progress Reports go home

What We're Learning:

Writing - We will be writing fairy tales next week.
Reading - Our literacy strategy focus for next week is identifying story elements. We will be comparing and contrasting traditional fairy tales with new spins on the story.
Brain Friendly Reading - We continue to work on using strategies to identify syllables and spell unfamiliar words. We will also focus on ly suffixes and adverbs.
Social Studies - We continue to study the constitution and how our government is organized.
Science - This week we've looked for evidence of energy in natural systems and human designs.
Math - We are currently working on comparing fractions and identifying equivalent fractions. Basic multiplication and division are necessary for our fraction work.
Social Emotional Learning - We have been talking about Dr. King this week. In our morning meeting today, we talked about what this quote means for us in our classroom family.

Ask Me:

Our math with a partner activities are always popular with the kids!!

In your Roll a Fraction game, what is the best fraction to create and why? (Hint - 6/1 is the largest number that can be rolled).

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Week 16

1/7/2022

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News & Notes:

Cold Weather - We will go outside every day that the windchill is above 20 degrees. Please send in boots and warm weather gear each day as several of our recess locations are snow covered.
Music - Students received their recorders in music this week. Click here for information on this project from Mr. Cross.
Chromebooks - This month we will be taking the NWEA test. In order for the test to function properly, Chromebook updates need to be completed. To help with this, please have your child charge the chromebook with the computer on and connected to your wifi. The updates cannot occur without being connected to the internet. Thank you!

Upcoming Dates:

Friday, January 14 - No school for students
Monday, January 17 - No school in observation of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr Day
Tuesday, January 25 - Bennie Family Fun Night at 6:30pm

What We're Learning:

Writing - We are working on including details in informational writing.
Reading - Our literacy strategy focus for next week is "making connections". We will do that throughout the week in our "book of the day" and in our whole class book "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World".
Brain Friendly Reading - We have made great progress with our Brain Friendly Reading. This week I met with each student to conduct a phonics screener. I will use this data to help guide our small groups as well as whole class instruction. Next week we will review of short vowel sounds as well as syllables.
Social Studies - We have begun our unit on Civics and Government with a focus on the Constitution.
Science - We are studying how energy is transferred in our new unit of physical science.
Math - This week we did some review of concepts we focused on in the fall. Look for "exit tickets" on rounding, number comparison and expanded notation as well as multiplication. This will give you a good idea of your child's level of current understanding. We will be focusing on fractions for most of the month of January.
Social Emotional Learning - Mrs. Metzger has been talking about an "attitude of gratitude" in our morning WBEST broadcasts. During one morning meeting each week we share something we are grateful for.

Weekly Highlight:

Our "Toy Take Apart" investigation was a huge hit!! We are in the process of dissecting our toys and discovering how their electrical circuits work.

Ask Me:

We have been "tapping the chart" daily. Ask your child how we know which letters are vowels. (Hint - you can "sing" the vowels.) See if your child can tell you the short vowel sounds for all the vowels.

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Week 14

12/10/2021

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News & Notes:

Food Drive - Truly amazing! Our class is currently in first place in our Food Drive Competition with 169 pounds of food donated this week! All together the 4th grade classes have donated 486 pounds of food!! Last day to donate food is Thursday.
Kiwanis Donation - Thank you to the Kiwanis Club of Allen Park for donating student dictionaries to our 3rd and 4th grade classes.
Absent Work - If your child is absent, feel free to check out the "absent work" page on our class website. If needed, I will send home anything that needs to be completed at home after your child returns. Should an extended absence be necessary, I have an at-home learning plan that will be posted to your child's Google Classroom that can support extended at home learning.
Monthly Math Support - About once a month, I will send home optional math activities and games that can be played at home to support our math learning. December's packet was in student mailboxes today.

Upcoming Dates:

Friday, December 17 - Winter break begins after school next Friday. We'll return on Monday, January 3, 2022.

What We're Learning:

Writing - We are returning to Friendly Letter Writing - with an emphasis on using details in our writing.
Reading - Our whole class reading focus next week will be analyzing how characters change over time.
Social Studies - We are finishing our unit on human migration.
Science - We've been focusing on Earth science and how Earth changes over time, and comparing how Pictured Rocks was formed to the potholes we see around Michigan.
Math - We've been doing a lot of great multiplication and division work (as well as measurement conversions) with our Food Drive competition each day.
Social Emotional Learning - Each day we begin with a class meeting. Sometimes we watch a "Think About It" video from Gonoodle. Here's a link to some of their videos online.

Ask Me:

How do you calculate how much food has been donated each day? For example if 12 cans weighed 15 ounces, tell me how you figured out how much weight that was altogether?

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Week 11

11/19/2021

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News & Notes:

Room 107 Video Conference Day - We have interviews scheduled for Tennessee and North Carolina on Tuedsay! We are interviewing family/friends in other states about what it is like in their state. This is activity is a big hit with the kids and gives us a chance to learn more about our country. There's still time to schedule other interviews - please consider talking with your out of state family and friends! Here's the flyer.
Brain Friendly Reading - We've been working on developing our procedures for our new word study/spelling/reading program. Our class has been really engaged with "tapping the chart" and the activities we've been doing. The "Blends" chart went home with your child - they can "tap" it at home and play "I Spy" as they build their fluency with those elements. I look forward to talking with you about it at conferences.
Parent Teacher Conferences - Conferences are scheduled for December 1-2 on Zoom. Click here to sign up for a meeting. I look forward to talking with you all.

Upcoming Dates:

Tuesday, Nov 23 - Regions Interview Day in class
Wednesday, Nov 24-Sunday, Nov 28 - Thanksgiving Break
Tuesday, Nov 30 - Book Fair Preview Day
Tuesday, Nov 30 - Picture Retakes Day
Wednesday, Dec 1 - Book Fair Buying Day
Wednesday, Dec 1-2 - Parent Teacher Conferences on Zoom

What we're Learning:

Writing - We have been working on Opinion Writing this week.
Reading - Our whole class reading focus this week was point of view. In your child's book club, we've been working on identifying text features in non-fiction text and summarizing in our fiction stories.
Social Studies - Our interview day is the final project for our Regions studies. We'll be talking about Oral History next week. Your child will be invited to participate in StoryCorps "Great Thanksgiving Listen" project. Its' a lovely activity that fosters conversation and develops generous listening skills.
Science - We've been focusing on Earth science and how Earth changes over time, using Michigan's Pictured Rocks as our phenomenon. We're going to be investigating how potholes form and the ways pothole formation may be similar to the Pictured Rocks.
Math - We will continue to work on 3 digit by 1 digit multiplication, but have moved on to division. A division game based on basic division facts went home on Thursday to play at home.
Social Emotional Learning - We take "mindful moments" throughout our day. Ask your child to show you their "5 Finger" breath and how pausing just to focus on their breathing makes them feel.

Ask Me:

What can fossils tell you about what Michigan looked like millions of years ago?

Highlight of the Week

Mr. Klein donated Reading/Science bags to our class. Each bag is unique but all contain a few books, a science and math activity. Extra fun for the Thanksgiving break.
Highlight of last week was the cupcake science model!

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Week 9

11/5/2021

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News & Notes:

Room 107 Video Conference Day - Flyers went home last week explaining our US regions video conference project. We are looking to "interview" family or friends in other states about what it is like in their state. This is activity is a big hit with the kids and gives us a chance to learn more about our country. Please consider talking with your out of state family and friends! Here's the flyer. (Also I noticed it said we would be using Google Hangout - that was from pre-covid life. We'll be using zoom!)
PTA Membership - It is once again time for our PTA membership contest. The classroom with the most memberships will win $75 in scholastic dollars. These scholastic can be used by the classroom teacher to purchase new books for their classroom library. Also, the students of the winning class will receive a popcorn snack. Here is a link to the membership hub. As of Nov. 1, we're tied for sixth place.
Brain Friendly Reading - On Nov 2 our teaching staff were all trained on the Brain Friendly Reading program. I am excited to launch this program in our class and am anxious to see the impact it will have on reading and spelling in our 4th grade. This will change what we are doing in word study/spelling. So, for the next two weeks, your children and I will be working together to develop our new procedures for this program. They will not have weekly spelling words. I look forward to sharing more about this when we meet for conferences after Thanksgiving. Until then, please be patient with us as we develop our understanding and work together to grow as readers and spellers. I am very excited about the potential to improve student success in reading and spelling!

Upcoming Dates:

Tues, Nov 9 - Bennie Culver's Night (I'll be there from 7-8)
Fri, Nov 12 - Video conference forms due
Tues, Nov 23 - End of first trimester

What We're Learning:

Writing - We will be working on informational writing and using transition words in our sentences.
Reading - Our reading focus this week will be using inference to determine character motivation. We are reading "Esperanza Rising" as a whole class. Ask your child how Esperanza is feeling about her move to California.
Social Studies - We wrapped up our Regions Research project this week. They will go home next week for you to look at and then return to class. We'll be creating a class book from the individual projects. **As a note, due to our research project this week, we did not utilize our Daily Five self-checklist.**
Science - We are beginning a new unit in science focusing on Earth science and how Earth changes over time.
Math - We have been working on 1 digit by three/four digit multiplication. We will continue to build on this. With the progress reports last week, if your child is struggling with any of our math concepts a packet of optional math activities went home as a way to help build/practice the skills we've been working on.
Social Emotional Learning - As part of Bennie's PBIS program, each class has a "calm down" kit and a spot for children to take a break in class if they need it. The goal is always to self-regulate and return to learning as soon as possible. We reviewed our calming kit again this week. Ask your child to describe how they might use the glitter jar to help calm or focus their minds.

Ask Me:

Our reading strategy focus this week was on cause and effort. All of our "books of the day" had a theme connected to helping people. Ask your child to tell you in what ways the characters in the books helped people. (Hint - "The Cat Man of Aleppo" helped cats and children in Aleppo. In "Seeds of Change", Wangari Maathai planted trees and helped the people of Kenya.)

Highlight of the Week:

We end each week writing in a journal and sharing the best thing that happened to us this week. Several kids said our leaf fun this afternoon was their highlight. Pure joy to end our week!

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