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

Mallen's Monday Memo May 20, 2013

Monday Memo

May 20, 2013

 

Dear Parents,

 

We are rapidly approaching the end of the year. This will be my last Monday Memo, so I will try to put as many calendar items as I can think of, for the rest of the year, on here.

 

Last week was quite the busy week!

 We ate at the care center on Tuesday. They graciously made us chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese and we had ice cream treats as well. They were so good to us this year and it was a fantastic experience for all of us!!

We went fishing on Wednesday.

We were treated to Mrs. Bates coming and talking about the Summer reading program. It sounds like a fantastic program with fun field trips and guests… I encourage everyone to sign up for the fun!! Did the students tell you she ate worms?? You will have to ask them about that.

We had Antarctica Man (Kelly Wilhelm) come in person and talk to us about his experiences there and answer a multitude of questions.

 

The next few weeks are filled with some fun as well:

May 21:  Music Man Square Field Trip (Sack lunches provided.)

May 23 (May 24 rain date):  Track Meet (9-11:00 for us)

May 27 (No school: Memorial Day)

June 4:  I will be using the leftover money from the parties and my own, to buy the kids pizza for lunch. They are to bring their own beverage.

 

We finished on Friday with our reading series. The next two weeks we are going to be working on a variety of skills and next week we are going to make some book commercials. I will be videotaping them. If your child asks for a prop of some sort, that is what it is for.

 

For Math, we will be testing today over chapter 8. We will start on chapter 9 tomorrow. Chapter 9 is over fractions. We are also finished with Science for the year. We will be working on the Midwest Region of the United States for Social Studies. We will test over it and we will also be making a travel brochure over one of the Midwest States. 

 

Thank-you so much for sharing your children with me. It has been an honor. They are truly great kids, who will do very well in their future!! They are very kind and compassionate! I wish them the very best in their journey to 5^th grade!!

 

Sincerely,

Chris Mallen

 

Phone:  444-3093 (Home)   444-4300 (School)

Email:  chris.mallen@bkcsd.org

Mallen's Monday Memo April 28, 2013

Monday Memo

April 29, 2013

 

Dear Parents,

 

I hope everyone had a great weekend! Finally, some nice weather to talk about!! We had a very busy week last week! We spent last week celebrating Earth Week. On Monday we made sock puppets with Mrs. Wagner’s class. We cleaned out our lockers and desks, we picked up garbage at City Park on Thursday, we made a class poster that will be out in the community in a week or so, and we listened to a story about garbage recycling. It was a great way to acknowledge Earth Week and our role in keeping our planet clean! Our most exciting and time consuming project we did last week were our ads for the Belmond Independent. We divided up into teams and the kids designed ads for the business they were given. They did such a great job and spent a lot of time and effort designing these. Mr. Vanderlinden will be bringing copies of the Belmond Independent for each of the 4^th graders, so they can show them to you. I think you will be impressed with what they have come up with!

 

This week we are reading a story for our Nature:  Friend or Foe unit entitled “Wildfires”. This is a good non-fiction story about how wildfires spread and what happens because of them. The students will be working on a variety of skills this week including:  Comprehension, vocabulary, main idea, supporting details, and the use of good and well and they will work on analogies. During grammar they will be working on elaborating with adverbs. The spelling words will all be words that are “usual” spellings. The list is attached to this memo.

 

We will be getting back to Science this week. Last week I talked about starting on weather. Well, due to ads, and Earth activities, it didn’t happen. So, this week we will be working on Earth’s atmosphere, air masses and ways of predicting weather.

 

We are working on congruent figures and motions, symmetry, and other geometric terms this week during our geometry unit. We will be doing some “playing” with manipulatives and talking about different figures and how they are different and the same from each other.

 

Friday is our “Go the Distance Day”. It is a fun way for our entire school to be physically active. We are very excited to have Kelly Wilhelm skype us today from Antarctica. We are so lucky as he shows us a lot of different things he sees down there and answers our abundant questions. It is a great opportunity for the kids to “see” a continent they will most likely never have the chance to go to. He is coming to actually talk to us in person on May 17^th and we look forward to that day as well!!

 

As usual, any questions or concerns, please give me a call/email!

 

Sincerely,

Chris Mallen

Phone:   444-3093 (Home)   444-4300 (School)

Email:  chris.mallen@bkcsd.org

Mallen's Monday Memo April 15, 2013

Monday Memo

April 15, 2013

 

Dear Parents,

 

I hope everyone had a great weekend!! The students worked very hard on their Iowa Assessments last week! I want to take this time to thank Mrs. Simonson for the treats she provided for the students each day last week!! That was incredibly thoughtful, and it gave the students something to look forward to when finishing their tests each day!! It was also a tough week of having to stay indoors for recess each day due to the weather conditions. They also missed their specials a few days due to the morning tests, so being cooped up was kind of the norm for them and they handled it very well!! Hopefully spring will actually make an appearance at some point!

 

This week, we are ending our Heroes unit. We will be learning about porquois tales. They will be reading and writing some as well. Their spelling words are attached to this memo. Their grammar lessons this week will be about correctly combining sentences. They will also be working on syllable pairs, animal descriptors and exact verbs. It is kind of a review of what they have learned in their heroes unit.

 

We will be finishing up on our division unit in math this week. Our chapter test will be on Thursday. The students have done a nice job learning how to divide numbers and have learned about the divisibility rules and how to do averages. Our next chapter focuses us on geometry!

 

Our Northeastern Region of the United States unit, will come to an end this week also. A study guide will come home with the students on Tuesday night, with the test on Wednesday.  We will be starting a unit on weather during our science time!!

 

We are testing over Hatchet today. I think most of the students really enjoyed this action packed book. I read a chapter a day and they read a chapter. We will be doing the same with their next book, Misty of Chincoteague. I will read a chapter and assign a chapter for them to read at night. We will have this book done by the end of April, to be tested on.

 

Just a reminder that there is an early out on Wednesday. On Thursday, Dirk Vanderlinden is coming to talk to the 4^th graders about a special project we will be doing with them. The students will be assigned a business and will be creating and ad for them, to be published in the paper. This is a project that has been done with the Independent for around 15 years. We are happy to be a part of this!!

 

As always, if you have any questions/concerns, please give me a call or email me!!

 

Sincerely,

Chris Mallen

 

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

Email:  chris.mallen@bkcsd.org

Mallen's Monday Memo, May 13, 2013

Monday Memo

May 13, 2013

 

Dear Parents,

 

I hope everyone had a nice weekend! Last week was a busy one for us and this week will continue that trend. It must be May!  Last week the students spent a lot of time having extra music practices before their concert on Tuesday night. Wednesday we began our third session of MAP testing. We tested on Wednesday and Friday. With the late start and no school on the 2^nd, and all of the above, we are really struggling to get everything in. Consequently, we are off schedule with our reading. We will post test the spelling words they got on Wednesday of last week, on Friday. That will be our reading assessment day as well. This week is a busy week for us as well. Tomorrow the fourth grade students have been invited to eat lunch at the care center. This is an annual lunch the care center has put on for us. We are so very fortunate to have them do this for us!! So, we will be eating lunch there at 11:15. We look forward to that! On Wednesday, the students will be going fishing for PE. At 1:00 on Wednesday, Mrs. Bates from the library will be coming to talk to us about their summer reading program. On Friday, Mr. Antarctica Man (Kelly Wilhelm) will be coming to our class in person and talking to us more about this continent and answer questions the kids may have. Quite a week!

 

In between all of the above, we will be finishing our unit on Nature:  Friend or Foe. The story we are working on now is entitled Skylark and it is the second book in the Sarah, Plain and Tall series. I have read the series to the kids and I think they enjoyed those books. We will be working on the skills of: Vocabulary, Comprehension, making  inferences, roots graph and tract, and prepositional phrases. Our spelling words are words with a silent letter in them. The spelling list was handed out to the students last Wednesday.

 

We are finishing up on our geometry unit in Math. We should be testing by the end of the week. I will be sending a study guide home with the students tonight, for a science test on weather, tomorrow. We will be starting a unit on the Midwest Region for social studies after that.

 

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 April 8, 2013

Monday Memo

April 8, 2013

Dear Parents,

Thank-you for taking the time to come to conferences! I truly enjoyed visiting with each of you. I know I have said this a lot, but this is such a great group of kids!

We ended last week by having the chance to go to the care center and read books to our friends. As always, they treated us very well and we enjoyed our visit!! The kids all did such a wonderful job and I am always very proud of them. We also finished our African Adventure reading incentive month. Thank-you for the money you donated and for having your child continually reading! I also appreciate you helping them gain some African information to bring to school! It was a fun way to spend the month of March!

The students needed to have read and tested on Harris and Me by April 2^nd, when they returned after break. Most passed the quiz the first time they took it. I had some, however, that didn’t pass after the third time. Just a reminder that grade goes into their comprehension score. The students all have the book Hatchet. I read a chapter each day and they are assigned a chapter to read that night. We will be given a different book on April 15^th.

This is Iowa Assessments week. It is a high stakes testing situation. The results are very important to the students and to our school. All we ask is that they do their absolute best on them. Please make sure they have adequate rest and some sharpened #2 pencils are always a help!! There will also be some daily snacks for them, which I know they always enjoy!!

We have been so out of sequence with our late starts, early outs and vacation days. Our plan for this week is to work on the book Hatchet and review skills during our shortened reading time. We won’t have a spelling list or grammar skill this week. Next week, we will hopefully have a “normal” week. That would mean that there would be a Monday pre spelling test and a Friday post spelling test. We will also begin a new story on Monday and test on it, on Friday.

We are finishing up on our Northeastern Region of the United States. We will be testing next week on this region. More information will be on next week’s Monday Memo. Our Math unit on division is winding down this week as well. Our plan is to test next week over Chapter 7.

As always, please feel free to call or email with any questions/concerns!

Sincerely,

Chris Mallen

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

Email:  chris.mallen@bkcsd.org