#3 September 2-6, 2013

Fourth Grade Footnotes

Next week we will be back to a regular schedule. This means that the children will have all of the subjects. They should have a list of their spelling words in their binder or you can find the Unit 1 Week 2 Spelling Words on my website which you can find by going to the district website and clicking on Middle School then Hemberger.

This year I am using the app Remind101. I introduced Remind101 to everyone who was at the open house. I only have 14 parents using Remind101. This app allows me to text important information to each of you when I need to do so. Please sign up to receive my text messages by texting (815)261-0491 with the message @mrshembe, and I will reply. Then you need to follow the directions on your texts.

I would like to introduce everyone Miss Olivia, our new student, to everyone. My students have done a wonderful job helping Olivia get adapted to our classroom. I want to thank all of my class for your kindness. You are all wonderful!!!

We have been studying plant and animal cells in Science and last Friday we looked at plant and animal cells though microscopes. The children need to know the difference between a plant and animal cell for their Chapter 1 Science Test. I know that they enjoyed looking at the different types of cells.

Dear Parents,

Below you will find the finalized schedule of the parties with the names of helpers and their responsibilities. I have used your child’s name next to the item you indicated you would provide. If any problem exists with the items that you signed up to bring, please feel free to contact me. I want to thank Hank’s family for volunteering to bring napkins and juice boxes for our Valentine’s Day party. I am very grateful for your help.

I was so pleased with your response to our request for party volunteers. We are very grateful to those parents who were able to give some of their time to our classroom on these occasions. We have a total of twenty students and one teacher. This is the last time that you will see this list for awhile. I will notify the people who volunteered to bring items two weeks in advance of the party.

Thank you one and all,

Halloween Party: Thursday, October 31st Time 1:45 – 2:15 p.m.

Cupcakes – Lucy

Cookies – Alex

Candy Treats – Tamara

Napkins – Hallee

Juice Boxes – Braxton

Christmas Party: Friday, December 20th Time 1:00 – 2:00 p.m.

Cupcakes – Cassidy

Cookies – Briar

Candy Treats – Tamara

Napkins – Hallee

Juice Boxes – Hallee

Valentine’s Day Party: Tuesday, February 14th Time 1:45 – 2:15 p.m.

Cupcakes – Tamara

Cookies – Lilian

Candy Treats – Braxton

Napkins – Hank

Juice Boxes – Hank

I am pleased to announce that we will be having Accelerated Reader for 4th graders. This means that the children will once again be able to earn prizes for reading. The children have also been asking me how to find out if a book is A.R. (Accelerated Reader) or not. If you would like to know whether or not a book is an A.R. book you can search the following url, http://www.arbookfind.com. Remember to use my website to help you with useful websites.

Our school is once again collecting Box Tops for Education. Please send all of your Box Tops to school. The money collected from the Box Tops goes right back to your child’s education. Thank you for your help!!!

Dear Parents and Students, I have had a lot of late work this week. As a matter of fact, ten students have had late work since Labor Day. This means that those people will not be receiving my special reward for NO LATE HOMEWORK for the 1st quarter. Please remind your child that it is their responsibility to get all of the homework written off of the board, complete at home, and returned to me the next day. Remember, I am deducting points for late work, no names on their papers, not capitalizing the first word in a sentence, no end punctuation, and words not spelled correctly when they are on the paper. It is my sincere hope that this will teach the children to be careful and recheck their work.

Your child will be taking a selection test every Thursday on the computers at school. I will be printing of these tests for you because I wanted you to be able to see your child’s score. I will let you know that due to budget constraints, I will be unable to print off these tests every week. However, you can keep track of your child’s test scores simply by going to www.pearsonsuccessnet.com and logging in using your child’s name and password. You can find your child’s user name and password in their binders located in the reading section. Simply go to www.pearsonsuccessnet.com enter your child’s name and password, as it appears on the paper. Then you will go to another screen. From there you will need to click on “Parents.” In the box that says “View Student Progress” you will need to choose Mrs. Hemberger-Reading Success Tracker 2008 G4. Here you will be able to keep track of your child’s reading test scores.

Parents, I want you to know that it is never too early to start preparing your child for the I.S.A.T. tests. You child and utilize a program for home called “STUDY ISLAND.” To go to this website you child will need to type in http://www.studyisland.com/ . Here they can begin to practice for the fourth grade I.S.A.T. tests that will be coming up this spring. The child’s user name is the first two letters of their first name, then their entire last name, with no spaces, then the at sign followed by CUSD10. The CUSD must be in all caps. For example, my first name is Tricia and my last name is Hemberger so my user name would look like this trhemberger@CUSD10. Their password is the child’s lunch account number. If your child is new to the district the password is trojans. When they log in they will need to change their password to their lunch account. This site will definitely help them perform better on their I.S.A.T.

If you are sending in cash for lunch money it needs to be sent to school in an envelope with the students name on it, their lunch account number, and my name. When cash gets put in the envelope the secretary does not know who it comes from and which account to credit. Thank you for your help with this matter.

Look for pictures of all of our wonderful grandparents in next week’s “Fourth Grade Footnotes.”

Keep in mind these upcoming dates:

Friday, September 6th - Don’t forget to look at your child’s papers in the “Friday Folder.”

Keep the papers and then sign the “Friday Folder” so that it can be returned on

Monday. Please sign your child’s September Behavior Chart on the Week 1 line. Study for the Unit 1 Week 2 Spelling Pretest on Monday, September 9th.

Monday, September 9th – The children will have their Unit 1 Week 2 Spelling Pretest today

on the computer using Spelling City to take their pretest. Please go to

www.spellingcity.com to practice your spelling words this weekend. The children

were given their list for these words to practice last Thursday. Students who earn a 100% A+ will not have any Spelling homework for the rest of the week.

Wednesday, September 11th – Your child will ask you to listen to them read this week’s

story aloud and then you will need to sign the Reading Log indicating that you

listened to them read the story to you entitled Lewis and Clark and Me. The

children will have their selection test over this story tomorrow. Please use the

“Family Times” for this story to help your child prepare for this test. The children

will have their Language Quiz tomorrow over Imperative and Exclamatory

Sentences and they will take their Chapter 2 Math Test today.

Thursday, September 12th – The children will take their reading selection test today in the

computer lab over the story Lewis and Clark and Me. Remember, you can

check your child’s selection test score by going to www.pearsonsuccessnet.com and

logging in using your child’s name and password. You can find your child’s user

name and password in their binders located in the reading section. The children will

take their Language Quiz today over Imperative and Exclamatory Sentences and

they will also have their Chapter 2 Math Test today.

Friday, September 13th – The children who did not earn a 100% A+ on Monday’s Spelling

Pretest will be taking the Unit 1 Week 2 Final Spelling Test today to try for an improved score. Don’t forget to look at your child’s papers in the “Friday Folder.” Please sign your child’s September Behavior Chart on the Week 2 line.

Friday, September 20th – School Improvement / Students will be dismissed at 11:20 a.m.

Friday, October 11th – 2:00 Dismissal / Homecoming

Monday, October 14th – No School / Columbus Day

Friday, October 18th – End of the First Quarter

Thursday, October 24th – All day Parent/Teacher Conferences

Friday, October 25th – All day Parent/Teacher Conferences

Friday, November 8th - School Improvement / Students will be dismissed at 11:20 a.m.

Monday, November 11th - No School / Veterans Day

Wednesday, November 27th - 2:00 Dismissal

Thursday, November 28th – No School / Thanksgiving Day

Friday, November 29th – School Not In Session

Thursday, December 19th - 2:00 Dismissal

Friday, December 20th – 2:00 Dismissal / End of the Second Quarter

Monday, December 23rd – Monday, January 4th – No School / Christmas Break

Monday, January 6th – All day Teacher Institute / Students Not In Attendance

Tuesday, January 7th – School Resumes