This is an announcement about our celebration for February 12th.

At Archway Lincoln, we will not celebrate Valentine’s Day as it is traditionally celebrated in schools, but will instead celebrate Great Hearts Day on Friday, February 12th.  Our class will have a short celebration, the focus of which is on friendship and kind-heartedness, not gifts and candy.

 

Our classroom liaison and I will plan a party during which the students will enjoy activities that recognize what it means to be a good friend. Our hope is that each child is celebrated for the ways in which he or she demonstrates Friendship in our classroom and community.

 

Please remember that students are not to bring in any Valentine’s cards or treats for their classmates. We will take care of showing our appreciation for our friends during our party. If any student brings in Valentines or candy, we will need to put them in the backpack to be returned home.

 

Thank you for your consideration of this special day and the establishment of traditions here at Archway Lincoln!

Please check your child’s agenda each night. I’ve been writing in the missing assignments and hoping they will be returned the next day so their grade will not be affected too much. I have extra copies of everything available if your student needs them.

You’ve probably noticed that we’ve picked up on our writing this quarter. We are focusing on paragraph formation and using proper conventions. Doing their homework thoughtfully and well will help them in this endeavor. We also are going to require more typing because they will have to type a 5 paragraph essay for part of the AZ Merit test this spring. The school has access to a typing program called Typing Master that we will use. The school’s website has a link and I will put it on my blog and in an email after I figure out the kinks this week. Your child will be given their user name and password.

We started our new books in math on Friday with an introduction to decimals. The students are noticing how these are closely related to fractions.

We’re continuing our study of chemistry. This week we are learning more about the atom. Ask your child to tell you about its parts and how they relate to each other. We will have a cumulative test for chemistry on the 5^th of February.

We are learning about Arizona’s history this quarter.

      I am going to let the students eat their lunch in the classroom a few days this week so we can discuss comprehension questions about Prince Caspian. This is an optional time to have extra discussions. We have a test on Thursday on chapters 1-7.

      

We are in desperate need of tissues, we’ve been going through a box and a half a day. Donating boxes will be greatly appreciated!

Please clear out the “take home” folders regularly. The only thing that should be in there is homework to return and any papers that help with that homework.

I hope everyone had a good break. I did : )

We will be reciting “Paul Revere’s Ride” the 7^th and 8^th of January. We will discuss delivery and expectations on Wednesday. This is the fourth grade project and is for a grade. Please work on articulation, fluency and expression.

We will be going to the MIM (Musical Instrument Museum) on Friday, January 15^th. I was informed that the link I put in the last blog was not working for the permission slip. I placed it on the sidebar and that fixed it.

Most of you probably already signed up for the field trip at the beginning of the year but I know we have some newer students who may not have and it may have gone under the radar for others. Please make sure you sign up, I’m looking forward to going with the whole class. If you have any questions, please fell free to contact me.

This quarter in literature we will start off reading Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis. It is a popular story and should be easy to obtain if you have not yet done so. I have put a picture of the cover on the sidebar. Please bring the book in by Monday the 11^th.

In Science we will begin by studying chemistry. We’ll be focusing on measurement for a bit in math and in history we learn about Arizona.

I’m looking forward to seeing everyone on Wednesday!!