September 18, 2015
Dear Parents,
With the cooler temperatures that we have had this week, it reminds us that Fall is on its way!
We have been very busy in 4th Grade. This week on Wednesday the Fourth Graders completed their
Reading MAP test. On Thursday they completed their Math MAP test, and today they will do their
Language Usage MAP test. On Wednesday, the nurses from Gonzaga University came to our school and
conducted hearing and vision screenings of all of our students. Our classroom schedule has been a little
bit off due to the testing and screenings, but the students did a great job adjusting, and getting back on
track when the testing was completed. I will share your student’s scores with you at our Parent/Teacher
conferences at the end of October.
During Math time this week we continued our practice of our multiplication facts. We completed a
multiplication table as an in-class assignment, had whole-class lessons on multiplication word problems,
practiced flash cards, worked on the math app called meteor math, and continued to increase our skills.
We watched a short School House Rocks multiplication video via our Apple T.V. The class favorite was
“Figure 8”. Please keep having your child study their multiplication and division facts 0-10. We will be
having our 4th Grade Multiplication Test (100 problem multiplication test, where the students are given
5 minutes to complete it) on September 28th. As I mentioned, we will continue to take the test until all
of our 4th graders have passed it, and once they all do, we will have a pizza and movie party!!
During Religion, we discussed our pledge to help the poor and vulnerable in our community by
collecting donations in our classroom for the September hygiene/disposable diaper drive to support Our
Place Ministries and CAPA. We will continue collecting items until next Friday, September 25th. Our goal
is to have 100% participation from our 4th grade students. Today we will talk about how Pope Francis
will be coming to the U.S.A. next week, and what a special event it is to have him so close to us! We are
truly blessed to have such a humble, kind Pope. We will begin Chapter 2 in our books next week, which
will begin our lesson on the Beatitudes.
In Language Arts our grammar center worked on root words, including lessons on prefixes and suffixes.
We also did some activities on word families, including “ed” and “en”. The vocabulary group did two
worksheets that focused on long vowel sounds. The white board group had their Unit 2 spelling list in
their bin, and quizzed each other on the spelling words, as well as wrote sentences that had their
spelling words in them. Our Unit 2 spelling test is today. The silent reading group did a great job
reading their“just right book” for their 20 minutes. Please remember that for their reading calendar
that is in their homework packets, the students may write down the 20 minutes that they read during
silent reading time or free choice time at school.
In Social Studies, we read the first section of our book, which includes the state bird, state flower, state
flag and state song. All of the groups were given the assignment to create their own song using the
lyrics from the Washington State song (the song lyrics are in our books). We had some amazingly
energetic and creative group songs. One group created a Washington State rap song, complete with
beat boxing and dance moves! We will continue with Chapter 1 next week, and I will give the students
an overview of what we will be doing this year, which includes learning the states and capitals, creating
a state report, learning about Washington State history, studying Native American tribes from the Pacific
Northwest, and of course, pioneers, settlers, and explorers.
In Science, we began our Life Science unit. We learned the five main parts of an animal cell. We talked
about note-taking skills, and then we wrote down our very first science vocabulary terms from the
chapter in our Science spirals. I told the students how proud I am of them, not only for learning the 5
main parts of a cell, but of learning how to take notes in great detail! I will be giving them a handout of
an animal cell, that they will use later when we “make our own cell” using food items.
Today the students will be bringing home their homework packet #3. Included is the spelling list for
Unit 3 words, a math worksheet, a spelling assignment that includes work on antonyms, and their
reading calendars. These are due back on Thursday, September 24th. You may remove the spelling list
from the packet before your student returns it, so that they can use it to study for their spelling test that
will be on Friday.
Thank you so much to all of you that have sent in Purell for our classroom, the students are making
great use of it. Also, the donations to our classroom prize bin for our end of the month Trading Post
store is greatly appreciated! If you would like to donate, we could use little prizes such as fancy pencils,
Pokemon cards, baseball cards, pencil sharpeners, dollar store toys, bubbles, cute notebooks, or
anything else that you would like to donate!  Everything will be for sale, with the price being a certain
amount of “gold nuggets” (reward stickers with a picture of a gold nugget on it that the students have
been earning all month for doing a great job on their classroom job, great behavior, or turning their
homework in on time).
I love being your child’s teacher. We are now up to 7 notes on our Wall of Kindness, and it is only week
3! This is such a great class! Thank you for your awesome support, and for all that you do to make our
school so wonderful. If you ever have any questions or concerns, please email or call right away!
Blessings,
Mrs. Croft