September 27th-October 2nd

Ms. Hewitt’s Fourth Grade Class Newsletter  

Sunday, September 27th, 2015

Good Evening Guardians and Students,

Hope you all had relaxing, fun weekends. Only one more week till our Fall break. Please be sure to be here everyday this week for we will be ending our social studies unit, Westing Game unit, and math chapter 3 on Friday this week.

Thank you to all the parents who attended our Age of Sail parent meeting on Tuesday. If you were unable to attend you may view our Age of Sail presentation by CLICKING HERE. Our journey will take place after our Winter Break on Tuesday, January 5th and will return Wednesday the 6th. I had a blast talking about this much anticipated field lesson extravaganza! On Wednesday the fourth grade teachers were able to draw names for who will be a chaperone (Tall Sailor) at this adventurous journey.

The parents are:  

1. Jennifer Espinoza- Toby
2. Donna McDonald- Ava
3. Kari Chism- Kloie
4. Brad Mott- Tyler
5. Rob Holmer- Emery
6. John Bell- Historian  Nate

WCS Chili Cook off was a blast! Thanks to all the families who came out and enjoyed the fun community event.

Progress reports were sent home on Friday.  Remember these grades are just an “in progress” grade. I have entered some math and language grades since they have been printed already. This just shows that grades are always changing. Please make sure to return the signed by Monday morning. Thank you.

Language Arts-

• Spelling City List #13 -words include: lived, living, rattled, rattling, studied, studying, etc. Students will complete assigned activities at home and will take the test in class Friday on their Chromebooks.  
• Vocabulary: Westing Game vocabulary 16-23  uncanny, confidential, hostage,   etc. Students will complete assigned activities both at home and in class. Students will take the test in class Friday on their Chromebooks.  

• Grammar: We will assess capitalization and  proper noun this week.

• Writing- Continue lessons on expository writing.

• Novel: We will complete our Westing Game unit this week.
• Our class Scholastics code is J2RYM

Math- Relating Multiplication and Division

IXL Strands- Complete IXL strands to ensure success on the test. 30 minutes a week is the minimum requirement.

Chapter 3- Relating Multiplication and Division D.1, E.1, E.2, D.8, D.2, D.5,

Monday- Lessons 5-6: Properties of Multiplication and Division- D.9, E.3

Tuesday- Lesson 7: Factor and Multiples- D.4, D.3  

Wednesday- Lesson 8: none

Thursday- Chapter 3 Study Guide on McGrawHill

Friday- Chapter 3 Test.

Go on XtraMath daily to become fluent in their math facts. Utilize Mangahigh to practice math facts using the game titled, Sundae Times. Our school ID is 67993.

Social Studies/ Science-

• There will be a test on California Friday, October 2nd. Students will start bringing their social studies notes home on Monday to study for their test. This gives them 2 weeks to study and prepare for the test before October Break. Please review their notes and their study guide with them.

Reminders/Mark Your Calendars-  

• Progress reports went home on Friday, September 25th: Please sign them and return to school.  
• Picture day will take place on Thursday, October 1st at 11 a.m.
• Friday,October 2, 2015 Spirit Day - Decades Day
• Our Fall Edition of Parents Go To School Night is just around the corner!  Check out the breakout sessions HERE I encourage you to RSVP on this form to reserve your spot in your choice of breakout sessions.  
• October Break- No School- October 5th-9th
• Our 2nd in our series of coffee talks with WCS Admin team will occur at the Pebblewood Campus on Thursday, October 1st at 7:50am Same evening, we’ll be hosting our 2nd WAVE meeting of the year.
• NWEA dates are Tuesday, October 13th from 8:30-9:50, Thursday, October 15th from 10:50-11:55, and Tuesday, October 20th from 8:30-9:50. It is important for students to come to school on time, alert with a good night sleep and nutritious breakfast.
• Westlake is hosting a High School Info Night on October 20th from 6:00PM to 8:00PM on our Pebblewood campus. Representatives from local high schools will be there to present their program and answer parent questions.
• Sat. October. 24th from 2:00-6:00 pm for the 5th annual WCS Fall Festival
• Morning Study Hall has been a great success! If you want to come please remember to sign up by CLICKING HERE
• Two book clubs will meet after school every other Tuesday, beginning September 29th. For both book clubs, students will need to get the book and read it before we meet, then come ready to hang out with friends and discuss the book. Those wanting to discuss A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle will meet in Mrs. Chastain's classroom. This book has a 740 lexile and a publisher's reading level of 5.8. We now also have another volunteer, Jinny Beaton-Lê to lead a second book called Wonkenstein (Creature from My Closet Series #1).Wonkenstein has an AR book level of 5.3 and a lexile of 860. This book will also be discussed on the same dates and time.  If you are interested in having your child join either book club, have questions, or are interested in facilitating a group, please email Elena.thrower@gmail.com. *Space is limited depending on how many additional parents we get to facilitate different groups.

Newsletter September 18th-25th

Ms. Hewitt’s Fourth Grade Class Newsletter  

Friday, September 18th, 2015

Good Morning Guardians and Students,

What a fun week! We are getting more in depth with the Westing Game trying to use each partner's clues to solve the mystery, we went on Google Classroom to practice our capitalization skills using Google Draw, learned more about our state’s weather patterns and bodies of water, took a test on chapter 2 and are moving onto chapter 3 in math. Students are reaching their AR point goals clipping up, earning certificates on Xtramath, earning coins on Front Row, and more! I love these students passion and motivation to achieve their goals. I am one lucky teacher!

I look forward to seeing you all this Tuesday for our Age of Sail parent meeting and at our WCS Chili Cook off Thursday evening. Look below for more detailed information about subject material and event dates and times.

Updates about the after school book club-

Is your child interested in joining a 4th grade book club?  Two book clubs will meet after school every other Tuesday, beginning September 29th (please note the date change). For both book clubs, students will need to get the book and read it before we meet, then come ready to hang out with friends and discuss the book. Those wanting to discuss A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle will meet in Mrs. Chastain's classroom. This book has a 740 lexile and a publisher's reading level of 5.8. We now also have another volunteer, Jinny Beaton-Lê to lead a second book called Wonkenstein (Creature from My Closet Series #1).Wonkenstein has an AR book level of 5.3 and a lexile of 860. This book will also be discussed on the same dates and time.   If you are interested in having your child join either book club, have questions, or are interested in facilitating a group, please email Elena.thrower@gmail.com. *Space is limited depending on how many additional parents we get to facilitate different groups.

Language Arts-

• Spelling City List #9 -words include: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, July, September, etc. Students will complete assigned activities at home and will take the test in class Friday on their Chromebooks.  
• Vocabulary: Westing Game vocabulary alibi,  jabber, wary, suspicious,  justice, ransom, anxious,  etc. Students will complete assigned activities both at home and in class. Students will take the test in class Friday on their Chromebooks.  

• AR halfway point goals is this Tuesday, September 22nd. All Students have their AR point goals on a golden half sheet located inside their “Super Magnetic Binders.” Please encourage your children to READ, READ, READ.

• Grammar: We will continue capitalization and  proper noun lessons.

• Writing- Continue lessons on expository writing.

• Novel: With the, The Westing Game, we will continue our case log to track down each character, their motives, and attributes.  We will also take comprehension literature quizzes to check for understanding throughout novel.
• Our class Scholastics code is J2RYM

Math- Relate Multiplication and Division

IXL Strands- Complete IXL strands to ensure success on the test. 30 minutes a week is the minimum requirement.

Chapter 2 Test was completed today.

Chapter 3- Relating Multiplication and Division D.1, E.1, E.2, D.8, D.2, D.5.

There is not many common core strands on IXL that align to the lessons specifically. Use IXL as a resource to practice multiplication and division but feel free to also use McGrawHill for lesson review activities.  

Monday- Lessons 1: Relate Multiplication and Division: D.1, E.1

Tuesday- Lesson 2: Division and Subtraction: none

Wednesday- Lesson 3: Multiplication as Comparison: none.

Thursday- Lesson 4: Compare to Solve Problems: E.2.  

Friday- Quiz on Lessons 1-4.

Go on XtraMath daily to become fluent in their math facts. Utilize Mangahigh to practice math facts using the game titled, Sundae Times. Our school ID is 67993.

Social Studies/ Science-

• There will be a test on California Friday, October 2nd. Students will start bringing their social studies notes home on Monday to study for their test. This gives them 2 weeks to study and prepare for the test before October Break. Please review their notes and their study guide with them.

Reminders/Mark Your Calendars-  

• Age of Sail mandatory meeting Tuesday, September 22nd at 6:00 pm in Miksits room
• Thursday, September 24th, 6:00-7:30- Chili-Cookoff – Pebblewood Campus
• Progress reports go home on Friday, September 25th: Please sign them and return to school.  
• October Break- No School- October 5th-9th

Morning Study Hall has been a great success! If you want to come please remember to sign up by CLICKING HERE

Newsletter September 11th-18th

Ms. Hewitt’s Fourth Grade Class Newsletter  

Friday, September 11th, 2015

Good Morning Guardians and Students,

I wanted to inform you all that NUSD let us know that the Network filter was offline today, so NUSD shut down the internet to repair the issue therefore we had to postpone Spelling City #11 test and Westing Game Vocabulary test. We will take those tests on Monday. They will also be able to take their AR quizzes on Monday as well. Thanks for your understanding.

Our class Scholastics code is J2RYM.   I just submitted orders for August. Thank you Nate and Megan for ordering books! I noticed that William has ordered recently for September! If anyone else is interested in purchasing books please order from our class code so we can earn  points and earn books for our class library.   

Morning Study Hall has been a great success! If you want to come please remember to sign up by CLICKING HERE. Students come to work on IXL, Spellingcity, XtraMath, taking AR quizzes, and more. This is a wonderful opportunity for students to get prepared and ready to have a successful day.

News from the Librarian and a fellow Westlake parent-

Hello Westlake Parents!

It is an exciting time for the library this year. Currently the library is being reorganized and cleaned. This means that volunteers are more than welcome. There will be a book fair in October. The book fair will take a great deal of work, and many hands makes the workload lighter for all. If you would like to spend some hours working in the library please contact me.

My email is: crollins@westlake.com Phone: 559.776.8681 (Text only please).

Is your child interested in joining the 4th grade book club? We will meet after school every other Tuesday, beginning September 22nd in Mrs. Chastain's classroom to discuss A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. This book has a 740 lexile and a publisher's reading level of 5.8. Students will need to get the book and read it before we meet, then come ready to hang out with friends and discuss the book. If you are interested in having your child join or in facilitating a group email Elena.thrower@gmail.com (book club leader/facilitator).

*Space is limited depending on how many additional parents we get to facilitate different groups.

Language Arts-

• Spelling City List #4 -words include: then, else, edge, when, tenth, empty, etc. Students will complete assigned activities at home and will take the test in class Friday morning on their Chromebooks.  
• Vocabulary: Geography vocabulary terms from our social studies unit: equator, Pacific Rim, irrigation, erosion, etc. Students will complete assigned activities both at home and in class. Students will take the test in class Friday morning on their Chromebooks.  

• AR halfway point goals have been extended to Tuesday, September 22nd! All Students have their AR point goals on a golden half sheet located inside their “Super Magnetic Binders.” Please encourage your children to READ, READ, READ.

• Grammar: Contraction unit assessed this week. We also will begin a unit on capitalization.  

• Writing- Continue lessons on expository writing. Taught transition words and how to support texts with evidence while paraphrasing.

• Novel: With the, The Westing Game, we will start a case log to track down each character, their motives, and attributes.  We will also take comprehension literature quizzes to check for understanding throughout novel.

Math- Add and Subtract Whole Numbers

IXL Strands- Complete IXL strands to ensure success on the test. 30 minutes a week is the minimum requirement.

Chapter 2 strands: B.4, B.6, C.4, B.3, C.3, B.8, C.6, B.1, B.2, C.1, C.2

There are no new IXL strands that correlate to our lessons. Students can review previous assigned strands. If those are completed they may go on FrontRow to work on their Base Ten skills.

Monday- Chapter 2 quiz on lessons 5-7

Tuesday- Lesson 8- Problem-Solving Investigation: Drawing a Diagram

Wednesday- Lesson 9: Solve Multi-Step Word Problems

Thursday- Study Guide on McGrawHill/ Review for test

Friday- Chapter 2 Test and pre-test for chapter 3

Students should also go on XtraMath daily to become fluent in their math facts. Students can also utilize Mangahigh at home to practice math facts using the game titled, Sundae Times. This resource also helps their math fluency. Also I assigned some challenges on rounding if students are looking for more math resources. Our school ID is 67993.

Social Studies/ Science-

• Students will continue taking notes in their ISN California’s Bodies of water, natural regions, weather and climate, natural resources while creating overlay.  Quiz on Latitude and Longitude will be given next week.

Reminders/Mark Your Calendars-  

• Thursday, September 17th, 6:30-8pm  Family Bingo Night – Del Paso Campus
• Thursday, September 24th,TBD- Chili-Cookoff – Pebblewood Campus
• Progress reports go home on Friday, September 25th
• Age of Sail mandatory meeting Tuesday, September 22nd at 6:00 pm in Miksits room