Mallen's Monday Memo, November 4, 2013

Monday Memo

 November 4, 2013

 

Dear Parents,

 

I hope everyone had a great weekend. This week is another busy one for us! We went to the Belmond Rehabilitation Center and Belle Haven at 1:40 on Thursday, and paraded our costumes for them. We came back to school and participated in the parade at school and then we had our Fall Party .Thank-you so much to our room mothers for putting on that party for us!! I would also like to remind you that your child needs to have read Bound for Oregon by Friday, November 1^st. I gave your child a new story to read by November 15^th, entitled The Jacket. This is a shorter story written by Andrew Clements. I had read the story he had written entitled No Talking and I know they will enjoy this book as much as that one. If they pass the RC quiz over this story before the 15^th, I will send them to the library to read another book. I will be giving them a book on the 15^th.

 

In reading this week, we will be starting a story entitled A Very Important Day. This is a good story about what becoming an American Citizen meant to them. We will be working on the skills of comprehension, vocabulary, and reading from a non fiction text. Our grammar skills for this story will be over possessive singular and plural nouns. Our spelling words this week are attached to this memo. We will be spending some time this week working on the individualized SRA stories. They are a wonderful way to individualize their learning, and they hold them accountable for their reading through a variety of activities they do over the story. We get the kits about a week and a half each month. They are a great way to prepare for our Iowa Assessments in the spring.  We will be completing the MAP tests this week in fourth grade. The students will be taking a test in math, language arts, and reading. Each test takes about an hour to complete and we will be doing one test per day. If they miss the tests due to being gone, they will make them up over their recess time as we have to have everyone tested by next week. This is a test that they complete three times a year.

 

In Math this week we will be working on Chapter 4 in math. We spent a couple of days working on elapsed time last week. Ask them about the number line elapsed time strategy that they learned to use. It has really helped them with their understanding of elapsed time. This week we will be doing some writing in our math, working on calendar skills, pictographs and line plots. We will continue with our daily review and working on our multiplication facts. Almost everyone has become a member of the “Never Again” club. Hopefully soon we will have our entire class become a member of the club. Most of the ones who are left, are very close. Thank-you for going through those facts with them for about 5 minutes a night. It is paying off!!

 

We will continue to be working on the NE region of the United States. This week we will be talking about the Industrial Revolution. We will compare the cities in the NE region to the city of Mumbai. We will work on distributions maps this week. By the end of the week, we will be talking about how the NE region of the United States looks today. Your child receives a  DOG each Monday, unless we don’t have school on Monday, in which case, they receive them on Tuesday.  DOG stands for Daily Oral Geography. I give them to the students on Monday, unless they don’t have school that day, then it is the next day they have school. They are due on Fridays. They are a series of geographical questions to help the students understand where they are in the world. They may use any resource they have, their social studies book, internet, maps, you… If they turn them in by Friday, have their name on them, and get them perfect, they will be in a drawing for a prizeThank-you for your help with these!!

 

 I appreciate that you sign the planners verifying that they read at least 15 minutes a night! That is one of the best things we can do for the kids!

 

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, (Tuesday, October 29, 2013)

Monday Memo

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

 

Dear Parents,

 

I hope everyone had a great long weekend. This week is another busy one for us! We are going to the Belmond Rehabilitation Center and Belle Haven at 1:40 on Thursday, to parade our costumes for them. We will come back to school and participate in the parade at school and then we will have our Fall Party. I would also like to remind you that your child needs to have read Bound for Oregon by Friday, November 1^st. I will be giving them their new story at that time. That book will be due November 15^th. If they finish early, I will send them to the library to read a book of their choice.

 

In reading this week, we will be finishing our story entitled Boss of the Plains. We will be working on the skills of comprehension, vocabulary, and using context clues. Our grammar skills for this story include rewriting plural nouns and looking for the correct noun endings. Our spelling test this week will be on Friday. We spent a lot of time last week working on the individualized SRA stories. They are a wonderful way to individualize their learning, and they hold them accountable for their reading through a variety of activities they do over the story. We get the kits about a week and a half each month. They are a great way to prepare for our Iowa Assessments in the spring. 

 

In Math this week we will be working on Chapter 4 in math. We will begin by working on units of time, elapsed time (which I have a really neat trick to help with that), writing to compare, and doing some skills using a calendar.

 

We will continue to be working on the NE region of the United States. This week we will be talking about the Industrial Revolution. We will compare the cities in the NE region to the city of Mumbai. We will work on distributions maps this week. By the end of the week, we will be talking about how the NE region of the United States looks today. Your child brought home their first DOG last week. DOG stands for Daily Oral Geography. I give them to the students on Monday, unless they don’t have school that day, then it is the next day they have school. They are due on Fridays. They are a series of geographical questions to help the students understand where they are in the world. They may use any resource they have, their social studies book, internet, maps, you… If they turn them in by Friday, have their name on them, and get them perfect, they will be in a drawing for a prize. Look for those to come home at the beginning of each week. If it is a significantly short week of three days or under, we won’t do one. Thank-you for your help with these!!

 

We have almost everyone in our “Never Again Club”!  Again, I thank-you for helping your child learn those multiplication facts. It absolutely will help them throughout the rest of their math career in school! I also appreciate that you sign the planners verifying that they read at least 15 minutes a night! That is one of the best things we can do for the kids!

 

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, October 21, 2013

Monday Memo

October 21, 2013

 

Dear Parents,

 

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Since my last memo, we enjoyed having the fireman talk to us about fire safety and they also gave us a ride on the fire truck. Their message is one you can’t hear enough and we appreciate all the time and effort the firefighters give to our community! We had guidance class this week, which is something we have once a month. She is talking about goal setting with the kids. This is National Red Ribbon Week. Today the students were to wear hats to “Put a Lid on Drugs”. Tuesday it is “Tie Down Drugs” and they are to wear ties for the day. Wednesday it is “Boot Out Drugs” and they can wear boots that day. On Thursday it is “Sock it to Drugs Day” and they can wear wild socks and tuck them outside of their pants. On Friday it is wear red day. Next week we will be starting on Map Testing. We also have Monday off for teacher inservice. On Thursday, the students have their fall party parade and are going to parade over at the care center to show their costumes. They will be doing that about 1:40 and returning to school in time for the 2:00 parade. We thank our room mothers for the fall party, Michele Miltenberger, Rachel Bonin, Sandra Willms and Norma Gonzalez.

 

In reading this week, we will be finishing our story entitled Tanya’s Reunion. We will be working on the skills of comprehension, vocabulary, and drawing conclusions this week. Our grammar skills for this story include finding singular and plural nouns. Our spelling test this week will be on Wednesday. We will start a new story on Thursday. This story is entitled Boss of the Plains. We will work on comprehension, vocabulary this week as well as continuing our lessons on plural and singular nouns. Our new spelling list will be coming home with the students on Thursday. This list has ir, or, and ar sounding words in it. All of the students are reading the RC book of Bound for Oregon which is due on November 1^st. For some of the students, feel free to read a page and they read a page… This is a very good book in the historical fiction genre. 

 

In Math this week we will be working on finishing our second chapter in math. We should be ready to take the chapter test on Thursday. Most of this week will be devoted to reviewing the chapter and preparing for the test. A lot of algebraic concepts have been part of our discussion for the end of the chapter. We have talked a lot about variables and using them and applying rules to them. We will be skipping to Chapter 4 in math on Friday. We will go back to chapter 3 after we finish chapter 4. Chapter 4 is over time, graphing skills, elapsed time and using charts and graphs.

 

We will continue to be working on the NE region of the United States. The students will be finishing chapter 5, with the study guide going home with the students tonight. Tomorrow will be the chapter 5 test. We will then be working with chapter 6, still on the northeastern region. This chapter has us visiting the culture and economics of the region, as well as studying a Native American tribe that is associated with this region.

 

I thank-you for attending conferences! I appreciate how we can work together towards giving your child the best education we can!  

 

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 October 7, 2013

Monday Memo

October 7, 2013

 

Dear Parents,

 

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Last week we enjoyed a presentation by some students in 4H encouraging the 4^th graders to join their program. They sent a bag full of information home with them. This week is fire prevention week and conferences. Just a reminder that there is no school on Friday as a compensation day for evening conferences. I look forward to visiting with you this week. The quarter isn’t over, so grades won’t be there, but we will talk about your child’s progress up to this point. Thank-you for having your child read their Encyclopedia Brown book each night. Many have already passed their quiz over it and are reading a second Encyclopedia Brown book. They can read a book of their choice if they get a second Encyclopedia Brown quizzed over. They have to have one Encyclopedia Brown book quizzed on by October 15^th. This grade I use on their comprehension score.

 

In reading this week, we be starting a new unit entitled “American Stories”.  The stories they are reading all take place in America. The first one we will read is called Tomas and the Library Lady. This story is about how a little boy was from a family of migrant workers and spent time in a few different places and the importance of a library in his life. He eventually grew up to be a writer. They will be working on the following skills this week:  Vocabulary, Comprehension, Contractions, and Drawing Conclusions. During grammar this week the focus will be on proper nouns and proofreading for capital letters. The spelling list contains words contain the ou and schwa sounds.

 

In Math this week we will be working this week on subtracting whole numbers and money, looking for patterns in numbers, matching words and expressions, and evaluating expressions.

 

We will start social studies this week, we are going to start working on the regions of the United States. The first one that we will be working on is the Northeastern Region. We will be looking at the states along the Atlantic Coast this week. We will also talk about the colorful environment, the cities, and their connection to the seaways, and we will work on some cause/effect in social studies. If you have any artifacts, brochures, or souvenirs etc.  from the Northeastern Region of the United States, to share with the students, please feel free to send them and the students can share them.

 

As I will be seeing you at conferences this week, I won’t be sending a Monday Memo out on the week of October 14^th. I will resume on Mondays beginning October 21^st.  

 

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 (Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2013)

Monday Memo

 September 30, 2013 (Tuesday, October 1, 2013)

 

Dear Parents,

 

I hope everyone had a great weekend! Well, the students are to be done by today reading their Laura Ingalls Wilder book. They will be testing on their book today. They have three chances to pass it, but they have to wait 24 hours before retaking the test. I am giving them an Encyclopedia Brown book to read for their first book of the October. It will be due to be test on, October 15^th.  I encourage them to read another Encyclopedia Brown book and other books of their choice, if they finish the one I give them and pass the test before October 15^th. Thank-you for seeing that they read every night!!   Just a reminder to sign the planner each night verifying that they are reading each night. I have discussed with a few that they have to also fill out the planner each day. It was fun to participate in the Homecoming festivities last week. The students enjoyed the Homecoming parade and the assembly we had on Monday! This week the students will be listening to some students talk about their 4H experience, on Tuesday (today). They will be given some information about an invitation to join 4H. Look for that going home with the students today.

 

In reading this week, we are finishing our review over the journeys theme and talking about the genre:  mysteries. We will be doing some activities involving mystery stories and reading some Encyclopedia Brown minute mysteries each day. Having the students read an Encyclopedia Brown book is a way to have them read from the mystery genre. We will be reviewing a variety of skills each day including:  comprehension, vocabulary, remembering details, and some grammar review practice on subjects/predicates, common nouns, and guide words. There will be no spelling list for this genre unit. We plan to have this journey unit finished by Friday. Next week we will be starting our new reading theme. It is entitled: American Stories with the genre unit being on plays.

 

In Math this week we will be working on over and under estimates, adding whole numbers and money, column addition, and subtracting whole numbers and money.  We have 3 more members of the “Never Again Club”. That makes 14 members total. I truly appreciate you working with your students on memorizing those multiplication facts!!

 

For Science today, we are finishing up on our animal characteristics and behavior unit. I will be sending home a study guide on Thursday with your child. The test over this science unit will be Friday. We will spend a lot of time this week reviewing the vocabulary over this unit. There is a lot! I thought they did a great job on their first science test! Just make sure they study the study guide and they will do well on this test! I am keeping all of the tests until conferences at which time I will go through them with you and send them home from then on.

 

I sent home the homeroom letter with those that were willing to help out. I sent those out on Friday. If you didn’t receive one, just email me and I will get one to you. Again, I only sent them home with those that had said they could help. I thank-you in advance for your time and effort!!

 

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 September 23, 2013

Monday Memo

 September 23, 2013

 

Dear Parents,

 

I hope everyone had a great weekend! I appreciate that the majority of the students were ready to test on their RC book on Monday. They had three chances to pass the book. The majority passed their test the first time they took the test. If they didn’t pass it, they got a 0 for their score and are starting on their new book. The new book is a Laura Ingalls book as I had explained in the last Monday Memo. They need to have that book read and tested by Oct. 1^st. Dividing the book into reading so many chapters a night, helps to avoid having to read it all at the end… Thanks again to making sure your child is reading every night!

 

In reading this week, we are testing today over By the Shores of Silver Lake. We took the spelling test today and we wrapped up our common noun unit in grammar. We will be working on ending our first theme in reading (already!!) .  Our first theme has been entitled Journeys. The students will be doing review lessons over their grammar lessons this theme (subjects/predicates, compound sentences, and common nouns) They will have two stories in their anthology this week. One is entitled Chester Cricket… and the other is called Parcel Post Kid. Both of these stories continues our theme on journeys taken by people or animals…  Our skills this week in reading include: Comprehension, Vocabulary, Comparing/Contrasting and Syllibication.  Our spelling words this week are review words from the last 4 lists we have had.

 

Today in Math, we did our Chapter 1 book test. We will be testing over Chapter 1 tomorrow. I have been giving the students periodic quizzes over the information we have had in this chapter all week. There has been a lot of information so I am hoping that by continually reviewing the information learned, that will help them continue to retain the information. We will be starting our new unit on Wednesday. This unit is on learning how to add and subtract using mental math. The idea is to get them thinking about the subtraction and addition concept. They will also spend a little time this week estimating sums and differences. I really like our daily review as it continually reviews the concepts we have learned in math and it really helps them prepare for our Iowa Assessments. I am thrilled to say that we have 10 members of the “Never Again Club”. The way to enter the club is to get 100% on the 5 minute 100 point timed multiplication test. Most of them are doing an amazing job! Keep working a few minutes a night with them on those! It will truly pay off for them for their future in math!!

 

For Science today, we began a new unit. We got a little behind so the test wasn’t until Friday. I will share the student’s scores with them, but I will keep the tests for the Parent/Teacher conference. I will start sending the results home with the students after the conferences. So long as the students study those study guides, they will do very well on their test. They did a great job on their first science test!! This week we are starting a unit on animal characteristics. This is another favorite of the students. We will be working on animal growth and adaptations this week.

 

I will be sending home the homeroom parents letter as soon as I hear back from everyone. We are a little short on helpers. I have received a few emails, planner notes, and the letter returned. I will put a due date on it of this Friday, September 27^th. If you are interested in helping with any/all of the room parties, please let me know via email/phone call/planner note/ returned letter from school, and next week I will send the note home to the parents that have agreed to help. Again, thanks for the time and trouble it takes to put the parties together. Just a reminder to send $2.00 with your child for party money to help offset those expenses! I have had 3 students bring their $2.00.

 

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

Monday Memo

 September 16, 2013

 

Dear Parents,

 

I hope everyone had a great weekend! Last week we were treated to decorating cookies with our new friends at the Belmond Care Center. We really enjoyed our time there. They are our adopted business and invited the 4^th grade to come over and help them celebrate National Care Center week. We thank them so much for all they do for us! They will be a part of your child’s 4^th grade experience this year!

 

In reading this week, we are testing over Finding the Titanic. We took the spelling test today and we wrapped up our compound sentence unit in grammar. We will be working on a story entitled On the Frontier. This is a story that comes from a chapter in one of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books. With that, today the students will be receiving a Laura Ingalls Wilder book. This is their RC book that I would like to have read and tested on by October 1.  Most of them did a great job testing on at least one RC book. Those that haven’t, will be reading during recess time so that they can get that book finished so they can start on this Laura Ingalls Wilder book. These books are a little bit lengthier, so I recommend that you see how many chapters are in their book and divide that by the number of days until October 1 and have them read that many chapters each night. Again, reading at least two books a month is our focus! Our skills this week in reading include: Comprehension, Vocabulary, Noting details, Taking notes and using guide words. Our spelling words this week are homophones. We will be working on common nouns with our grammar lessons this week as well.  Our guided reading books are all books that have a frontier theme to them. They all work on the skill of noting details in their reading. We also have the individualized SRA kits that we share with the other fourth grade classes. It is our week this week. We aim to get at least two done throughout the week.

 

Today in Math, we spent the time today continuing to work on counting back change. This week we are focusing on decimals, problem solving with problems that have decimals, and doing a diagnostic review. We will continue working on our daily reviews (we call them buckets) and on a daily multiplication sheet with weekly timed multiplication tests.

 

For Science today, we are doing a Science review today. Tomorrow I will be sending home a study guide with the students for Wednesday’s first Science test. This test is over our plant and animal adapatation chapter. We will be starting on a region of the United States to finish our week.

 

I will be sending the book order in today. Once we receive the books, I will send out a new book order. If you are interested in being a homeroom parent to help with the parties, I would love that!! Please let me know via email or phone call. I will put you on the list. Request the party you would like to help with and I will put you on that party and once I receive everything back (let me know by Sept. 30) I will send home a list of phone numbers and names of the people on the committee and you can contact each other to plan. I thank you so much for time and trouble!!

 

 

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