Week of September 5th

 

Happy Tuesday Everyone,

     I hope everyone had a wonderful Labor Day Weekend!! The good thing about three day weekends is that it means a short school week! We only have four days of school this week.

F.A.S.T. P.M.

     This Wednesday (9/7) and next Monday (9/12) students will take their first F.A.S.T. (Florid Assessment of Student Thinking) Progress Monitoring test. On Wednesday students will take their reading test and on Monday we will take our math test. 

F.A.S.T. P.M. Quick Facts

*Computer Based

*PM 1 and PM 2 are for data collection.

*PM 3 is the accountability test. (similar to end of the year FSA testing)

*On PM 1 and 2 students are encouraged to complete the reading session in 90 minutes and math in 80 minutes, however students will be allowed to go over their minutes so that they can complete the entire test.

*On PM 3 students will be held to time limits.

*Students will test in their homeroom classrooms.

*All of the standards for the year are on the test.

Ways to Help Your Child Prepare

*Make sure they get a good nights sleep the night before the test.

*Make sure they eat breakfast the morning of the test.

*Make sure they have a set of headphones to use during the test.

*Encourage them to relax and not be nervous. They are not expected to know everything on the test right now. The tests include all of the 4th grade standards for the entire year.

     Please join us this week for Open House. Open House is this Thursday night at 5:30. We will meet in either room 207 or 208. We will send an email later in the week to let you know the details. We will discuss more information about our upcoming year together. 

     For the second year in a row JBE will be learning about the cultures of our families. Each month a different culture will be studied. We would like to include our families in our studies. Please look over the list below and let Mrs. Lomblo and I know if you are interested in coming to speak to the class about your families' cultural heritage. The list below includes information about the culture being celebrated, the month of the observance, and the date that we would like our volunteers to come in to present. If the date for a particular month doesn't work for your schedule, just let us know and arrangements can be made for you to come in on another day. 

September -Hispanic-Latino Heritage--September 28th

October--Italian American Heritage--October 26th

November--Native American Heritage--November 30th

December--International Day of Persons with Disabilities--December 14th

February--African American Heritage--February 22nd

March--Irish American--March 29th

     I have been selected to participate in a new Duval County Schools initiative named U.L.T.R.A. This program is a grant to study how students learn science with and without additional technology. There will be two groups. One group will receive access to a computer cart and the other will teach science as they normally would. I have not yet been which group I'll be in, but I'm hoping to be in the computer cart group. I will be sending home a letter from the district that gives more information. If you Do Not want your child to participate in the program simply sign the form and return it to me. Your child will still receive high quality science instruction here at school there data will just not be included in the study. The only information that will be included in the study is assessment scores. No personal information about your child will be used. 

     In addition to email, I also use a program called Class Tag. I use Class Tag as an additional communication tool. It is a private program that only members of our class family can access. I post announcements, pictures of classroom activities, and reminders. Class Tag has a two way communication feature. I can post things to the entire class and also send individual messages. You can also send messages to me. You can access Class Tag on the web or by downloading the app to your phone. 

   It is time for this year's Invention Convention competition. Students may enter either individual or group projects. If they enter a group project, the project must be done with another 4th grader. Please see the flyer below for more information and due dates. Students that enter a project will receive extra credit on in science.

9/5 Monday

Registration Forms for Invention Convention Due

9/7 Wednesday

ELA F.A.S.T. Progress Monitoring Test

9/8 Thursday

Open House @ 5:30

9/9 Friday

Unit 1 Science Test

9/12 Monday

Math F.A.S.T. Progress Monitoring Test

9/22 Thursday

4th Grade Invention Convention Projects Due

9/23 Friday

4th Grade Invention Convention Judging

9/28 Wednesday

Invention Convention Winners Announced

9/29 Thursday

Science Night @ 6:00

     This week in math, we will begin working on unit 3 in math. In this unit we will begin with reviewing basic multiplication facts. In fourth grade students must be able to recall basic multiplication facts through 12 x 12 and related division facts with automaticity. We will work on multiplication as a comparison. We will end the unit learning about balanced equations. Students will be given two equations with an equal sign between them. They will have to decide if two equations are in fact equal to each other. Students will also begin learning how to solve for variables in equations. 

Multiplication as a Comparison

This equation is true because 6+6=12 and 15-3=12

For the equation to be true, x = 2

    This week in science we will complete unit 1. Students will take their test on Friday, September 9th. To study for the test we will complete a study guide in class. Students should also reread the material in their books. If students prefer not to carry their books home, they can access the science textbook online through Blended Learning. They simply log in to One View and click on Blended Learning. Once in Blended Learning they should scroll down to find Florida Science. 

Monday: No School

Tuesday: Math: Freckle Fact Practice and NSO.1.1 Place Value Relationships due on Friday 9/9.

Wednesday: Science: Complete Unit 1 Test Review

Thursday: Math: Complete Lesson 3-4 Sheet

            Science: Study for Unit 1 Test

Have a Wonderful Week!! Hope to see everyone Thursday at Open House.

Ms. Johnson