Mallen's Monday Memo September 3, 2013

Monday Memo

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

 

Dear Parents,

 

I hope everyone had a great, long, (hot) weekend!! We made it through the first full week of fourth grade! They are a great group. They are starting to settle down and aren’t quite as chatty as they were at first. They are starting to realize they need to listen in school and not daydream… It was a rough week without recess, however, last week. I have to hand it to the kids, they really handled not getting outside for recess. That was tough for all of us. They handled it without complaining. They knew there wasn’t anything they could do about it, so they just accepted it. I really appreciate that! Most of them are realizing that they need to use the time given to get their work done or it will be homework. They are also doing a great job, for the most part, of having any work they needed to do at home, turned in. They are very responsible!! I really appreciate how the planner has been signed every night letting me know that they read the night before!

 

This week we are going to start a story entitled Grandfather’s Journey. Our first unit is entitled Journeys and each story is about a journey made by someone. It is quite entertaining! This story is about a girl who was born in Japan but came to the United States later in life. While in the United States, she missed Japan and while in Japan she was homesick for the United States. Some of the skills we will be working on this week include:  Comprehension, Vocabulary, working with words ending in y and ly, improving our writing, and reading through some Haiku poems. Down the road, we will be writing some. Our grammar this week is over subject and predicates. Our spelling words will be over words with the long and short i and o sounds. The list is attached to this memo. Today we tested over our first story entitled Akiak. The students know their scores and be sure to ask them. I will be keeping the tests until our first parent/teacher conferences and I will share them all with you at that time.

 

Our first two units in math are the most difficult. They really give them a good foundation for the rest of the chapters. We are working this week on comparing and ordering numbers, rounding numbers, the size of numbers, and we will be doing some problems solving as well. We do a daily review each day which reviews previous concepts to keep those fresh in their thinking. They require some thinking, but they have been exposed to all of the concepts on them. To begin the year, they will do half a page a day. Once they get going, they will be completing the whole page each day. Please continue to work on the multiplication facts at home each night for at least 5 minutes. We do times sheets each day, with our timed tests being on Fridays. They are doing better, but some really need to keep working on them at home, possibly a little longer each night. It will truly benefit their future school years in math to have those memorized!

 

We are beginning the year with Social Studies. Our beginning chapters are over different types of maps, globes, landforms, and this week we will work on reviewing our constitution and government in the United States, our economy, and using a prometheon board game to identify the different states in the United States. Once we complete this unit, we will do a unit in Science and then alternate with Social Studies. Our first unit in Science is over classification and we will be working on the regions of the United States when we return to Social Studies.

 

We have all passed the Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing book. YEAH! They will be reading a library RC book of their choice that needs to be tested on by Sept. 15. At that time, I will be assigning their next RC book. Thanks for having them read each night!! SO IMPORTANT!!

When you add their daily computer program, specials and listening to a story each day, you can see that your child has a busy day!! Thanks for all you do to support their learning.

 

 

 

I hope everyone has a great week! As always, please feel free to call me with questions/concerns.

 

Sincerely,

Chris Mallen

Phone:  444-3093 (Home)   444-4300 ext. 336 (School)

Email:  chris.mallen@bkcsd.org

Mallen's Monday Memo August 26, 2013

Welcome to Mrs. Mallen’s 4^th Grade!!

4^th Grade Students are GRAND!!!

 

Dear Parents and Students:

 

          I look forward to a wonderful school year with plenty of opportunities for new learning. I wanted to let you know a few things that should help us get set for a great year!!

 

  Responsibility/ Homework

 

          Our school is going to a new school-wide system called PBIS.  It is a program that rewards good behavior. I expect that in our school of myself and I expect it of your child. My number one rule in our class is to treat each other the way you wish to be treated. If we respect this rule, we should have no problems. As a teacher, if I see an area that your child needs to work on, we will work together to form a plan of improvement for your child. Responsibility is a major area that we work on in 4^th grade. The students will be expected to complete the assigned work. I will give your child plenty of time to work on the assignment and I will be here to help them with any questions they may have. However, it is their responsibility to use the time given. If they are not finished with the assignment in the allotted time, they will work on it during recess in the hope that they will finish it and then go out to recess and not have to take it home. However, if they don’t finish it in that amount of time, they will take it home for homework. Hopefully this will not happen very often. It is an expectation that they will return the work the following day. Should they not return it, they will complete it at recess time. I do feel, that the most important homework the student can do each night, is to read. My expectation is that they should read at least 15 minutes a night. I ask that this become their nightly homework. They will be bringing home some RC (Reading Counts) books to read each night. When the book is finished, they will be given 3 opportunities to pass a 10 point quiz over the book. This is a great way to work on comprehension skills and to learn the lifetime leisure skill of reading. I will be sending home a Monday Memo each Monday. (More about the memo is below.) That will inform you of what we are doing each week. It will also tell you of when their RC book is to be finished. We are starting the year with Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. I will read a chapter of the book each day and their assignment is to read a chapter each night at home.

 

Schedule/Class List

 

          I have not attached a copy of our schedule. At this point, with so many changes coming up, I haven’t a firm schedule made. I will send home a schedule once I have firmed it up. I have attached a class list should you need one.

 

Monday Memo/Lesson Planners

 

          I send home a Monday Memo virtually each Monday. It shows you what we will be working on that week. It will show if there are any tests to be studying for and when those will be, etc… Hopefully that will be a good communication tool for us. I always include my phone number and my email address to which you should feel free to use at any time. The students will also be filling out their lesson planners. This is their first time with them so we do most of it together each day. At the end of the day, they will circle anything they didn’t complete and need to work on for homework. I ask that the parents sign the planner each day. By signing the planner you are telling me that your child read for 15 minutes the previous night and completed any homework they brought home. Your child will receive a star for each day signed. If the planner isn’t signed, that tells me they didn’t get a chance to read for their 15 minutes, so I will have them read for 15 minutes during recess time. This is done to start the students out with correctly using a lesson planner and the importance of showing their parents each day and confirms my feelings on the importance of reading each night.

 

Book Orders

 

          I typically send home 3 book orders once a month. I will tell your child when they are due. Please don’t feel obligated to buy anything but it is just an opportunity for you should you wish. I find that having three orders to choose from gives you more choices and the ability to look for the best price!

 

Birthday Treats

 

          Many parents ask about birthday treats. We love them!! Never feel you have to send any, but we would love to recognize your child’s birthday!  The official rule of what you can and cannot bring is in the school handbook.

 

Math Facts

 

          It is so very important that the students memorize their multiplication facts. We will be doing timed tests, practice sheets, etc… on their facts virtually every day the first semester. The goal is to be able to complete a 100 point 5 minute timed test with at least 90% accuracy by semester’s end. We will be working on multiplying and dividing 2 and 3 digit numbers by that point, so it is to their benefit and makes math so much easier for them, if they know those facts. I appreciate your help in working with them for possibly 5 minutes each night!!

 

  

 

 

 I am really excited about this year and look forward to an awesome year!!

 

Sincerely,

 

Chris Mallen

Phone:  444-3093 (Home)   444-4300 ext. 336

Email:   chris.mallen@belmond-klemme.k12.ia.us