January 31, 2014

                                                                      

Dear Parents,

            I want to thank all of the parents and grandparents who went with us on our snowshoeing field trip.  I sure appreciate all the help you gave us along the trail.  I hope you enjoyed yourselves as much as we did.  It was a wonderful experience for the students.  We really had a workout!! I know I was tired by the end of the day. 

   IMPORTANT INFORMATION

• My class will be using a new computer website called Khan Academy.  This is a free online resource site that helps to teach and enrich student learning through exercises, videos, and tutorials.  Students may access this website from home as well as from school. Please read and complete the information sheet that is in the homework folder.  Only fill out the username and password section if your child already has a Khan account.  For those new to the site, I will create their username and password when I set up my class account.  If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to connect me at thompsde@sd25.us or 237-4742.

• VALENTINE’S DAY AND BOXES: Students may make a Valentine box at home or they may make a sack at school.  Students may start bringing their Valentine’s cards and boxes to school the week of Feb. 10^th.  Please make sure students have their names on their boxes.  I have put a list of student names for Valentine cards in the homework folders.

• HUNDRED’S DAY: Thursday, Feb. 6^th   Students are encouraged to wear shirts with numbers on them.  This is a fun day for the students with activities that include numbers.

THIS WEEK’S HOMEWORK

• Math: Drops in the Bucket D5
• Math: Homework and Remembering 7-3
• Language: Drops in the Bucket D5
• Reading:  Read nightly and fill out your reading log. 

Have a great weekend with your family!

Denise Thompson 

January 24, 2014

WEEKEND NEWS

January 24, 2014

Dear Parents,

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

*        SNOWSHOEING ON WEDNESDAY, January 29th:  If you have not returned the bus and Parks and Rec. Dept. permissions slips, please do so ASAP.  The cost is $10.  Students need a sack lunch (may buy one from school), water, snack, and warm clothing/boots.  We leave at 9:00 and return around 2:00.  On Monday, I need to know how many students will be ordering a sack lunch from our cafeteria. 

*        On Thursday, our class will be participating in a distance learning experience with our new videoconference technology. The program is “Lure of the West”.  Students will explore depictions of the people, lifestyles, and landscape of the nineteenth-century West to better understand this dynamic period of history. Videoconference presenters will guide the class on a free tour of artworks in the Smithsonian American Art Museum collection and engage students with questions and discussion.  In February, we will participate in a videoconference about homesteading. 

*        We have been working with long division this week.  Students have been taught several strategies for solving the problems.  They may draw a picture. They may use the rectangle method, the expanded notation method, or the partial quotient method.  They have not learning the “Traditional Method” yet.  PLEASE DO NOT TEACH THEM THIS METHOD YET.  We will be learning it, but not for another week. The students who are still struggling to master their multiplication facts are also struggling with simple division.  It is so important for students to practice these multiplication skills at home.  They were taught multiplication facts 1-10 in third grade and we have been working on the same facts this year as well.  Please help your child study each night. 

THIS WEEK’S HOMEWORK

*    Language:  Drops In The Bucket D4           

*    Math:  Division Set A                                      

*    Math:  Drops In The Bucket D4

*    Reading:  read nightly and fill out your reading log. 

                                                                                             

Have a great weekend with your family!

Denise Thompson

                                                                               

January 17, 2014

 WEEKEND NEWS

January 17, 2014

Dear Parents,

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

·        I have sent home the students’ Native American research reports.  They did a fantastic job researching, note taking, and writing.  I’m very proud of them!!

·        On Wednesday, our fourth graders had the opportunity to participate in a distance learning experience with our new videoconference technology! Former First Lady, Barbara Bush, and the author of Liberty, Lynn Curlee were the featured guests of this videoconference.  Students listened to guest readers read the book Liberty.  This was followed up with a question and answer session with Mrs. Bush.  It was estimated that 55,000-65,000 students participated in this international event. Students from the United States, France, and Canada had the opportunity to ask Mrs. Bush questions.  It was a wonderful experience for our students.  Our fourth graders have two more virtual field trips planned for the end of January and the beginning of February.   

·        SNOWSHOEING ON WEDNESDAY, January 29th:  If you have not returned the bus and Parks and Rec. Dept. permissions slips, please do so ASAP.  The cost is $10.  Students need a sack lunch (may buy one from school), water, snack, and warm clothing/boots.  We leave at 9:00 and return around 2:00.  We are going to have fun!!

·        JANUARY BOOK ORDERS:  orders are due back by Friday, Jan. 24^th.  Scholastic has a free book coupon worth up to $5 when you spend $10 or more.  The coupon is attached to one of the book order forms. Please make any checks payable to Scholastic Book Clubs. You may also order on-line at www.scholastic.com/bookclubs .  Use this code to order books:  HCWNC.   

·        Remember to send in BOX TOPS and CAMPBELL SOUP labels!!  Have your extended family members save them too.  Help our school earn free money!! 

THIS WEEK’S HOMEWORK

v    Language:  Drops In The Bucket D3           

v    Reading:  Main Idea Story Web “Life Story” worksheet                               

v     Math:  Drops In The Bucket D3

v    Reading:  read nightly and fill out your reading log. 

Have a great weekend with your family!

Denise Thompson

January 6, 2014

                               WEEKEND NEWS                               

January 6, 2014

Dear Parents,

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

·        Thank you to all of the parents who helped with our Christmas party!!  I appreciate your time and help.  It was a fun party and the students really enjoyed themselves!

·        FIELD TRIP INFORMATION:  We will be going snowshoeing on Wednesday, Jan. 29^th!!  On Friday, I will be sending home a Parks and Recreation information sheet/permission slip and a bus field trip permission slip.  Both of these permission slips will need to be returned.   The cost is $10.00 which includes the cost of the bus, snowshoe rental, and lesson/guide fee.  Students will also need to bring a sack lunch that day.  They are also welcome to bring extra snacks and a couple bottles of water. (No large water containers please!  Students will be carrying some of the water as they are snowshoeing.) If your child needs any help with the required clothing, please contact me ASAP and I will try and round up necessary items.  If you have any questions, please call me or e-mail me here at school:  237-4742 or thompsde@sd25.us .  If you would like to go with us, please let me know.  We would love the extra help!  We will be sharing a bus with Mr. Gornichec’s 5^th grade class, so any parent wanting to help will have to drive/carpool to the Mink Creek Nordic Center.

·        AR GOALS ARE DUE THIS FRIDAY, JAN. 10^TH. Keep reading!!

·        NO SCHOOL ON MONDAY, JAN. 20^th : Martin Luther King Jr. Day

THIS WEEK’S HOMEWORK

v         Language:  Drops In The Bucket C17

v    Math:  Drops In The Bucket Number 41

v    Math:  Subtraction Practice Set 20

v    Reading:  read nightly and fill out your reading log.

Have a great week with your family!

Denise Thompson