Newsletter January 31st- February 5th

Ms. Hewitt’s Fourth Grade Class Newsletter  

Sunday, January 31st, 2016

Good Evening Guardians and Students,

Hope you all had great weekends! This week we are starting NWEA testing! Please be sure your children have a nice healthy breakfast and snack. Our first one is reading and starts first thing tomorrow. :) I am excited to see their growth!

NWEA Dates and Times

Monday, February 8:30-9:50- Reading

Thursday, February 10:50-11:55- Language Arts

Tuesday, February 9th 8:30-9:50- Math

Girls on the Run We are very excited to announce that registration is open for the Spring 2016 season of Girls on the Run.  Westlake will once again have a team this season and we can’t wait to get started. The Mission of Girls on the Run is as follows: “We inspire girls to be joyful, healthy and confident using a fun, experience-based curriculum which creatively integrates running.” The girls that participate will meet twice a week to do activities and to start training to complete a 5K right here in Natomas.   Practices begin on February 22nd and will be at the Del Paso Campus from 4:30-6:00pm. Registration is open until February 19th.  The registration is $165 and scholarships are available for qualifying families.  For more information about this program, please go to www.gotrsac.org  or contact one of the coaches: Barbara Kampmeinert                     Stacey Bradford bkampmeinert@me.com                 jlynnsma@yahoo.com 916-425-1986                                   415-713-7147

Language Arts

• Book Clubs are beginning this week! Students will meet with their groups on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. They need to come prepared with 3 questions written down on a post it with the page number for everyone to reference. They will take notes digitally and have their vocabulary and page numbers on their group doc on Google Classroom.
• Spelling City List #10- Complete all activities before Friday to be prepared for the test on Friday in class.
• Vocabulary:  Students will be introduced to five new Greek & Latin Roots during Unit 4 this week. Practice Packets will be due on Friday. Students will be tested on Unit 3 and 4 roots on Friday, 2/4.

• Writing: We will take our writing on whether zoos or good or bad through the writing process. Final drafts are due Friday.

Math

IXL Strands- Complete IXL strands 30 minutes a week is the minimum requirement.

New: R.4, R.5, R.6, R.7, R.8, R.9, R.10, R.11,

Monday- Lesson 6: Add Mixed Numbers- R.12

Tuesday- Review and Quiz on lessons 1-4

Wednesday- Lesson 7: Subtract Mixed Numbers

Thursday- Lesson 8: Model Fractions and Multiply

Friday- Quiz lessons 5-7

Monday-Lesson 9 Multiply Fractions by Whole Numbers

Tuesday- NWEA Testing!- Math

Wednesday- Study Guide on McGraw Hill

Thursday- Chapter 9 Test

Friday- Chapter 10 pre-test on Fractions and Decimals

Encourage your children to utilize our many math resources XtraMath,  Mangahigh our school ID is 67993,  McGraw Hill, Front Row, and Prodigy!

Science

This week we will  launch our earth science unit exploring how natural processes shape the surface of the earth and the ensuing effect on humans. Some of the essential questions that will be explored next week include: How can we see evidence of changes in the earth over time? What story of the earth can rocks and fossils tell us?

Art

Check out Ms. Jackson's website to see what's currently happening in art. Tons of neat pictures of students work!

My Princess and Me Dance

The annual WCS "My Princess and Me Dance" is coming up on February 6th at 6 p.m. Tickets will sell out and cannot be purchased on the day of the event. For more information please see daddyofdaughters.com. WAVE also needs help with volunteers and donations. Please sign up at https://goo.gl/QBXQJM. Thank you!

Academic Talent Search

Westlake will be offering Academic Talent Search testing for those interested in signing up for the ATS summer classes with CSU Sacramento. Forms should be returned no later than Feb. 5th.  The test will be proctored Feb. 25th from 4-5pm for 4th grade on the Del Paso Campus in room N1. For more information about ATS, parents can visit their website at www.csus.edu/coe/ats

Gate Testing

If you wish to have your child tested for Gifted and Talented Education eligibility, please email me. The process begins with submission of parent and teacher referral forms, which must be turned in by Friday, Feb. 5th. Parent forms and information are available at the following links:

• GATE Testing Timeline
• Parent GATE Referral Form

Reminders/Mark Your Calendars-   

• UPDATED DATE for WAVE Astronomy Night- Wednesday, February 3rd from 6:30-8:00pm on the Del Paso Campus!
• Talent Show- Friday, February 12th 6:00 pm at NP3 Gym
• February 15-19: Presidents' Week Break
• Update on Morning Hall: From now on morning hall will not begin until 7:50. If you have any questions about this please let me know. Morning Hall

Newsletter Jan 24- 29th

Ms. Hewitt’s Fourth Grade Class Newsletter  

Sunday, January 24th, 2016

Good Morning Guardians and Students,

Congratulations to Deigo Flor for being one of the four students to represent 4th grade our our school's Geography Bee! We are all so proud of you Diego! Geography Bee will be held on Wednesday, January 27th @ 6:00pm on the Pebblewood Campus.

Congratulations Emery and Ava Morrow for auditioning and making it into our schools Talent Show! I can’t wait to watch you both shine! Also Ava McDonald, Kloie, Jamar, Brendan, Francisco, Nate and Jason have been rocking the 3-8 group dance! I love seeing students involved in after school activities with our school! Go Westlake! WCS Talent Show is on Friday, February 12th, 6:00 pm at NP3 Gym.

Thank you Lanie Holmer, Alicia Teater, Maria Flor for helping with math this week. You ladies are so helpful! Also thank you to Jessica Bradbury for continuing to make copies for our class Friday mornings! Thank you Edith Tostado for grading all of our 4th grade timed tests prompting so I can have in those scores for the progress reports. I appreciate all the assistance I can get. :)

Mid-Trimester Progress Reports went home on Friday. Please review the scores that comprise the overall grades in each curricular area. You will notice that some areas have few grades. For example, we just launched our fractions unit and only have two classwork scores in this area. This grade will change quite a bit in the coming weeks as students delve deeper into these chapters. Please sign and return the cover sheet of the progress report only. The grade printout is yours to keep. As always, the best way to stay apprised of your child's ongoing progress is to check Infinite Campus regularly. Updated grades post on Friday evenings.

Language Arts

• Spelling City List #16- Complete all activities before Friday to be prepared for the test on Friday in class.
• Spelling City Vocabulary- Complete all activities before Friday to be prepared for the test on Friday in class. Words this week are related to our Physical Science Unit.
• Vocabulary:  Greek and Latin Root Words Unit 3. Practice packets are due on Friday.

• Grammar: Will begin DLR to review grammar expectations
• Reading: We will continue our unit on pairing fiction with nonfiction passages. We will continue learning about book club discussion norms, using common core close reading standards, and depth and complexity icons.  
• Writing: We will continue learning about opinion writing and how to organize using supportive evidence that support their opinions.

Math

IXL Strands- Complete IXL strands 30 minutes a week is the minimum requirement.

Review: Q.4, Q.5, Q.6, Q.8, Q.9, Q.12, Q.13, Q.15, Q.16, Q.18, Q.19, Q.20, Q.21

New: R.4, R.5, R.6, R.7, R.9

Monday- Study Guide online with McGrawHill

Tuesday- Chapter 8 Test and Chapter 9 Pre-test (Operations with Fractions)

Wednesday- Lesson 1 and 2: Add fractions using models, add like fractions- R.4

Thursday- Lesson 3 and 4: Use models to subtract, subtract like fractions- R.5, R.6, R.7, R.9

Friday- Quiz lessons 1-4

Encourage your children to utilize our many math resources XtraMath,  Mangahigh our school ID is 67993,  McGraw Hill, Front Row, and Prodigy!

Science

We will continue our physical science unit on sound and light waves. Essential questions  this week include: how do low frequency waves compare to high frequency waves on the electromagnetic spectrum?What are the features of radio waves? How are radio waves used everyday?

Art

Check out Ms. Jackson's website to see what's currently happening in art. Tons of neat pictures of students work!

My Princess and Me Dance

The annual WCS "My Princess and Me Dance" is coming up on February 6th at 6 p.m. Tickets will sell out and cannot be purchased on the day of the event. For more information please see daddyofdaughters.com. WAVE also needs help with volunteers and donations. Please sign up at https://goo.gl/QBXQJM. Thank you!

Academic Talent Search

Westlake will be offering Academic Talent Search testing for those interested in signing up for the ATS summer classes with CSU Sacramento. Forms should be returned no later than Feb. 5th.  The test will be proctored Feb. 25th from 4-5pm for 4th grade on the Del Paso Campus in room N1. For more information about ATS, parents can visit their website at www.csus.edu/coe/ats

Gate Testing

If you wish to have your child tested for Gifted and Talented Education eligibility, please email me. The process begins with submission of parent and teacher referral forms, which must be turned in by Friday, Feb. 5th. Parent forms and information are available at the following links:

• GATE Testing Timeline
• Parent GATE Referral Form

Reminders/Mark Your Calendars-   

• UPDATED DATE for WAVE Astronomy Night- Wednesday, February 3rd from 6:30-8:00pm on the Del Paso Campus!
• Talent Show- Friday, February 12th 6:00 pm at NP3 Gym
• February 15-19: Presidents' Week Break
• Update on Morning Hall: From now on morning hall will not begin until 7:50. If you have any questions about this please let me know. Morning Hall

Newsletter January 17th-22

Ms. Hewitt’s Fourth Grade Class Newsletter  

Sunday, January 17th, 2016

Good Morning Guardians and Students,

Here is to another fun, busy, week full of joyful learning!

Geography Bee

The Geography Bee is fast approaching: it’s Wednesday, January 27th @ 6:00pm. Mr. Canfield, Ms. Brunnmeier, and Ms. Wilhelm will be conducting the Preliminaries on Wednesday, January 20th (1:30pm at Del Paso; 12:30 at Pebblewood in Ms. Brunnmeier’s room). If your child is interested in participating (and we really hope they are!) please fill out THIS form by Tuesday, January 19th. Students can begin studying and preparing for the preliminaries NOW by clicking HERE. The Preliminaries will narrow down the top two Geography Buffs from each grade, plus an alternate. The alternate should prepare and be ready in the event that one of the top two students is unable to compete. The winner of our school-wide Bee will have the opportunity to compete in the state level, and perhaps even the national level! If you have any questions, please email either Ms. Brunnmeier (ebrunnmeier@westlakecharter.com) or Mr. Canfield (rcanfield@westlakecharter.com).​

• Geography Bee Info One Sheet
• Geo Bee Study Resources for Students

​

Academic Talent Search Westlake will be offering Academic Talent Search testing for those interested in signing up for the ATS summer classes with CSU Sacramento.  Please send the forms home Tuesday and mention it in your weekly email home.  Forms should be returned no later than Feb. 5th.  The test will be proctored Feb. 25th from 4-5pm for 4th grade on the Del Paso Campus in room N1. For more information about ATS, parents can visit their website at www.csus.edu/coe/ats Middle School Information Night! Come learn about WCS's middle school program on Thursday, January 21st at 6 p.m. in the Pebblewood campus cafeteria. Don't miss this important opportunity to learn more about our program! Gate Testing If you wish to have your child tested for Gifted and Talented Education eligibility, please email me. The process begins with submission of parent and teacher referral forms, which must be turned in by Friday, Feb. 5th. Parent forms and information are available at the following links: GATE Testing Timeline Parent GATE Referral Form

Language Arts

• Spelling City List #30- Complete all activities before Friday to be prepared for the test on Friday in class.
• Vocabulary:  Greek and Latin Root Words Unit 2. Practice packets are due on Friday. Test on Unit 1 and Unit 2 will be given on Friday.

• Grammar: Will begin DLR to review grammar expectations
• Reading: We will continue our unit on pairing fiction with nonfiction passages. We will also start practicing book club discussion norms using common core close reading standards and depth and complexity icons.  
• Writing: We will begin learning all about opinion writing this week!
• AR halfway goals are Tuesday, January 19th! Students have their AR grade reading level (updated on Friday) and point goals on a blue half sheet of paper located in their Super Magnetic Binder.    

Math

IXL Strands- Complete IXL strands 30 minutes a week is the minimum requirement.

Q.4, Q.5, Q.6, Q.8, Q.9, Q.12, Q.13, Q.15, Q.16, Q.18, Q.19, Q.20, Q.21

Monday- No School

Tuesday- Review for Quiz lesson 3-7- Start Lesson 9: Mixed Numbers

Wednesday- Lesson 10: Improper Fractions: Q.22

Thursday- Study Guide

Friday- Chapter 8 Test or Monday depending on students understanding.

Encourage your children to utilize our many math resources XtraMath,  Mangahigh our school ID is 67993,  McGraw Hill, Front Row, and Prodigy!

Science

We will continue our physical science unit on sound and light waves. Essential questions will be what what are the parts of different waves?

Art

Check out Ms. Jackson's website to see what's currently happening in art. Tons of neat pictures of students work!

Reminders/Mark Your Calendars-   

• No School on Monday, January 18th for Martin Luther King Jr’s Birthday
• Middle School Info Night- Thursday, Jan. 21 at 6pm
• WAVE Astronomy Night- Friday, Jan. 22nd at 6:30pm
• Mid-Trimester Progress Reports go home Friday, January 22
• Talent Show- Friday, February 12th 6:00 pm at NP3 Gym
• February 15-19: Presidents' Week Break
• Morning Study Hall has been a great success! If you want to come please remember to sign up by CLICKING HERE