Ms. Hahn’s Newsletter and
School Policy Information
August 23, 2015
Dress Code
- All shirt straps should be 1 inch or wider.
- All shoes and slippers should be closed toe and have a back.
- All shorts and skirts should be mid thigh length.
- No umbrellas at PCCS.
Parties
There are three parties during the school year, Halloween, winter, and Valentine’s Day. Prairie Crossing asks that parents try to make the parties trash free with healthy food options.
Birthdays
Students may celebrate their birthdays at school WITHOUT food. You can send in a class gift or small gifts for the students in the room. We can also celebrate by just singing happy birthday. Students should not be passing out birthday invitations at school. I cannot give out parent contact information. If you give me permission, I can send your email address to parents. Very soon we should be getting the school directory with parent contact information.
Extra Clothes
It is important that students keep an extra set of clothes at school. The students may need to change due to wet weather, mud, or food spills.
Math Facts
Students should be practicing their math facts for about 5 minutes daily. Most students in fourth grade are working on multiplication and division facts. A good way to practice math facts is skip counting forward and backward.
Math
We started the year with a jeopardy review of third grade math skills. On Friday we practiced solving addition problems in more than one way. The students used standard algorithm, number lines, breaking apart, and rounding. They also learned to play a game called Close to 1000. Next week we will continue addition strategies and also discuss subtraction strategies. the students will be encouraged to solve the problems using the standard algorithm and one other way. Also, the students will take a quick assessment on math facts and an assessment on math story problems. This assessments is used to guide my instruction not for a grade.
Reading
The first week of school we read The Bad Case of Stripes. We did many lessons related to this book including vocabulary and cause/effect. This week students picked out “just right” books to read during class and keep in a reading basket. Next week we will go over procedures for reading to a partner. This coming week we will also be using a chapter from Wayside School for our mentor text. The students will be comparing the main character from Wayside School to the main character in The Bad Case of Stripes. Next week some students will be reading to me individually and answering comprehension questions. I will be using Fountas and Pinnell to determine reading levels. You can find out more about Fountas and Pinnell at http://www.heinemann.com/fountasandpinnell/reading-assessment.aspx.
Science
The past week the focus was on the scientific method. The students did a few short science experiments including “Saving Fred” and “Dancing Raisins”. Ask your child to tell you more about these activities. Next week we will begin our science unit on magnets.
Environment
We enjoyed the nice weather the first week of school by going on a hike looking for a space for quiet spots. On Wednesday we went to our first quiet spots of the year. Quiet Spots is a time for students to sit outside and journal about nature. Next Wednesday we will do Phenology. Phenology is the study of plants and animals over time. During the school year, we will have quiet spots or phenology almost every Wednesday.
Spelling/Word Work
At Prairie Crossing we use Words Their Way spelling program. Students are placed in spelling groups based on what spelling patterns they need to learn. The first week of school the students took a spelling assessment to help me determine the correct spelling group for each child. I will be taking next week to look closely at these assessments and your child’s writing to find the correct spelling group. This week we will be doing a word list with the whole class. This will help students get back into the routine of word sorts and teach students new to PCCS how to do word sorts. I will be sending home an explanation of the sorts next week.
Behavior
In my classroom all student have a clip on a behavior chart. During the day students can clip up or down based on behavior. The order of the colors from the bottom up are red, orange, yellow, green, light blue, purple, and dark blue. We follow the rules of safe, respectful, and responsible. If a your child is on green or higher at the end of the day at least 4 days, he/she will earn a reward for 10-15 minutes on Friday. All students earned about 10 minutes on Friday at 3:00.
Classroom Website
Please check the school website for updates and pictures throughout the school year. Mrs. Steinbeck and I will be posting the newsletters, classroom updates, pictures, and other important information. You can log on to the website using the following login and password:
Parent Portal Username: PCCSparent
Parent Portal Password: pccsgreen201516
Upcoming Dates
8-24 Band assembly
8-26 Picture Day
9-1 Curriculum Night
9-2 Early Release
9-7 No School
9-8 Green Assembly 8:15