Mr. Sassman's 4th Grade Class Blog
Weller Elementary School
From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU so much for your kindness and generosity before the break. I received many nice cards and thoughtful gifts. I loved the homemade pastries, coffee, fruit, cookies, candy, honey, bread, pictures, socks, blankets, ornaments, and gift cards!!! I feel so fortunate to have such an awesome class and a supportive bunch of parents! I had a great break and I hope you did as well!
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| My family and I enjoyed a trip back east to visit with family and friends. |
Welcome back! This week is a shorter one, and I would like to ease the kiddos back in the routine, so there will not be any homework. We will, however, hit the ground running tomorrow. We will work on Alaska Native Spirit Masks and keep going with My Side of the Mountain.
This week...
We will also start our first lessons on figurative language, paragraph writing, and finish up our space unit. I want to work on our Space Art, but the weather is being less than cooperative. If it keeps up, unfortunately, the paint will freeze before we get it onto our canvases, so we will have to wait a bit.
I have updated our Q3 agenda below and it is an ambitious one, but I am confident that we can do it. If we need it, we can keep rolling into Q4.
The Spelling Bee is coming in February. For those interested in participating, I can print out a list of words to study if students would like. We will have a class spelling bee for those interested, as I can only send 3 kids to the Weller preliminary.
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| Report cards are due by this Wednesday...they should be available for viewing on Friday. |
The third-quarter looks like:
Space Art
Rock Cycle
Pacific Rim
Volcanoes
Spelling Packets
DOL - Paragraph Development and Figurative Language
Geo Notes
Step-Book Book Reports***(Project)***
Current Events Google Slides Presentations***(Project)***
Persuasive Essay Writing***(Project)***
Folk Tale Triramas
Read LIVE
Paper Airplanes (Possibly Q4)
Rockets (Possibly Q4 at UAF)
Newton's Laws of Motion
Student-led Parent-teacher Conference Prep
On your radar...
We have decided to meet: Thursday, February 13th, 2020 for our Twin Bears/Angel Rocks Educational Excursion and Camping Trip, "Parent/Guardian Information Night." It will be from 5-6 PM, with some time built in for questions. I will have a lot of information for you, and we will need all hands on deck for the trip. This meeting will be the first of two. The second will be for volunteers that have signed up and been cleared through the district. Your help and these meetings are critical to our success. Thanks so much!
Tuesday looks like:
8:30 - 8:50
Writing Prompt
Morning Announcements
New Jobs
8:50 - 9:20
Counselor Lesson - Mrs. Dershin
9:20 - 11:20
New Seats
Snack/Read Aloud - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Alaska Native Spirit Masks
11:30 - 12:00
Recess
12:00 - 12:30
Lunch
12:35 - 1:50
Math Block
1:55 - 2:10
SSR
2:10 - 3:00
Class Novel - My Side of the Mountain
Our Place in the Universe - Neptune!
Clean Up
Pack Up
Stack Up
Mailboxes
*Please note that math, specials (PE, music, and library), lunch, and recess are part of a fixed schedule and stay in blocks. At times, curriculum instruction will be shuffled to accommodate different initiatives.
If you have any questions, concerns, or comments, please feel free to call or email me anytime to discuss things further. I hope you find this information helpful and useful.
IN-CLASS ASSIGNMENTS - QUIZZES - TESTS
DUE ON
--None this week
HOMEWORK
ONGOING
--Reading Logs (ongoing)
MATH HOMEWORK DUE THIS WEEK
DUE ON
Wednesday, January 8, 2020
--Quick Check 8-1
Thursday, January 9, 2020
--Quick Check 8-2
Friday, January 10, 2020
--Quick Check 8-3
***A brief note about homework. It is my philosophy that homework is an opportunity for students to practice skills that they have learned in school that day/week. The benefits are proven and tremendous. I try to keep things simple: 20 minutes of reading practice (reading logs), 20 minutes of math practice (worksheet), and 5-10 minutes of spelling (1 page per night). If your student is working on homework for more than an hour each night (Monday - Thursday, none on the weekends), please contact me so we can discuss things further. It is not my intention to make life impossible for you at home.
DUE ON
Wednesday, January 8, 2020
--Quick Check 8-1
Thursday, January 9, 2020
--Quick Check 8-2
Friday, January 10, 2020
--Quick Check 8-3
***A brief note about homework. It is my philosophy that homework is an opportunity for students to practice skills that they have learned in school that day/week. The benefits are proven and tremendous. I try to keep things simple: 20 minutes of reading practice (reading logs), 20 minutes of math practice (worksheet), and 5-10 minutes of spelling (1 page per night). If your student is working on homework for more than an hour each night (Monday - Thursday, none on the weekends), please contact me so we can discuss things further. It is not my intention to make life impossible for you at home.
***Please keep in mind, projects, or tests we have in class may have to be brought home to be finished or to study. Please ask your child if they have completed their work and check PowerSchool regularly.
ONGOING INFORMATION
READING LOGSReading logs are a regular part of our class. Students will receive "points" for each day that they read a minimum of 20 minutes at home. The purpose: for students to read each day (not 100 minutes over the weekend or 40 minutes on Tuesday to catch up for Monday).
Reading logs will be due on a rolling basis and should have dates read on them. I will give credit as they are turned in and filled out correctly (please initial these). The points students receive will be added to their overall reading grade, counting towards their final grade.
It is simple, if students read and turn in their logs, they will see their grades improve significantly while naturally benefitting in fluency and accuracy. If they do not, they will not be given a "0" on the assignment, they simply will not receive any points.
I have a yellow folder by the classroom front door filled with new reading logs. Email me with any questions or concerns, please.
GOOGLE DRIVE
You can access all of your student's digital assignments online and work at home if you would like. Simply go to www.gmail.com and type in their email address and password. Then find the Google Menu (where you will find the Drive, Docs, and Slides) icon in the top right corner (it is a nine-square grid next to their s-number). This is where they will make their Google Slides Presentation for their Biography Book Reports. All passwords have been reset and synched to their individual defaults for the start of the school year. Please do not make any changes. It is as follows:
Username: s#@student.k12northstar.org
Password: s#g
User Name for example: s123456@student.k12northstar.org
User Pswd for example: s123456g
User Name for example: s123456@student.k12northstar.org
User Pswd for example: s123456g
DATES TO REMEMBER AND FIELD TRIPS
Monday, January 20, 2020
--Martin Luther King Jr. Day (No School)
Friday, January 31, 2020
--Field Trip to UAF's Davis Concert Hall to see "Bach to the Future." More details to follow.
Thursday, February 13, 2020
--Twin Bears/Angel Rocks Educational Excursion and Camping Trip, "Parent/Guardian Information Night." It will be from 5-6 PM in room 22 (next to our classroom).
Monday, February 17, 2020
--Professional Development Teacher Work Day (No School).
Tuesday and Wednesday, February 18 and 19, 2020
--Student-led Parent-Teacher Conferences (Please make sure your child is present for this).
Friday, March 6, 2020
--End of Q3. Early dismissal at 1:30 PM.
Monday, March 9, 2020 to Friday, March 13, 2020
--Spring Break - No School
Friday, March 20, 2020
--Field Trip to Herring Auditorium at Lathrop HS to see "Eileen Ivers." More details to follow.
Wednesday, May 13, 2020 - Friday, May 15, 2020
--Angel Rocks Hike and Twin Bears Educational Excursion. We will have several meetings throughout the year about this as it is a 3-day overnight camping trip, and yes we will need volunteers!
Friday, May 15, 2020 to Tuesday, May 19, 2020
Early dismissal at 1:30 PM and final three days of the school year.
It's a good life!
Mr. Sassman
