Weekly Update, Monday, May 30th

Happy Memorial Day!

I just flew back from Rhode Island and am recharged for the last 11 days of school!  I hope everyone had a great weekend, if you have any photos to share, please email them to me!

Please ensure your child reviews some of their math materials tonight, if even for a few minutes so when he or she sits down for the Math SOL Assessment tomorrow at 8:00 am, it isn't the first math problem he or shee has seen in three days!  On Friday I asked students to bring home their math materials and morning workbooks, either of these would be good to review, or you can go on the VA Department of Education website to the math SOL practice questions: http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/released_tests/2013/gr_4_math_released_in_spring_2014.pdf

Other noteworthy items in Academia:

Science: 
Students started their open-note plant quiz on Friday, I'll have them finish it this week.  I couldn't ethically give them ONE MORE TEST during a week of testing!  I feel confident they know a lot about plants, and will allow them to use their notes for the rest of the quiz.  Once this unit is over, we will finish our last unit which is on the Scientific Method.  Students will have a quiz on this next week.

Health:
Either later this week or early next week, I will begin to teach health!  We will primarily focus on content related to nutrition.

Reading: 
Students should still be reading!  I will be finishing DRA testing this week and next to determine student reading levels.  This information will be reported in report cards.

Homework for the rest of the year:
Prior to the Reading SOL Assessment, I made a deal with students that if they used their scratch paper during the test to show me their "active reading," and explained why they chose the answers they did, they would not have homework for the rest of the year!  22 students did this and as a result will not have homework for the rest of the year!  Students are obviously still encouraged to read, but are not expected to write summaries about their reading.  That being said, these students will not have Word Study homework either.

Lastly, the boys bathroom has had toilets purposely clogged with paper towels for several weeks in a row.  Until this issue is resolved, teachers are unfortunately going to be stricter with giving permission  to boys to use the restroom.  If your child knows anything about the toilets being clogged, please let me know, or have your child let me know.    

Homework Tonight!

In your child's homework folder, there is an SOL passage, "Melting Away."  If your child has a note on their assignment that says, "Please make corrections with explanations for homework,"  this is their homework.  If your child does not have this note, the assignment is graded and does not need to be resubmitted.

Students who missed the last two questions typically did so because they did not read the question carefully.  When the SOL question says, "which of the following words..." they need to recognize that there is more than one answer!  Sometimes there are three correct answers!

I've been stressing the importance of highlighting and going back to the text to prove answers.

Please make sure your child gets a good night sleep, has a healthy breakfast, and is in class BEFORE 7:50 tomorrow morning,  our reading SOL assessment begins at 8:00 am!

If you have any questions, please shoot me an email!

Weekly Update, Sunday, May 22nd, 2016

First:


Second:

Thank you to those parents who returned the Party Permission form and money as well as the LCPS SOL Retake letter so quickly!!!

If you have not turned in both of these items, please send them in with your child tomorrow!  Also - on the LCPS form, please make sure you include your child's name!

Third:
Wednesday, May 25th @ 8:00 am - Reading SOL Assessment, Part 1
Wednesday, May 25th - Fitness Night and Bike Rodeo
Thursday, May 26th @ 8:00 am - Reading SOL Assessment, Part 2
Monday, May 30th - Memorial Day, No School
Tuesday, May 31st @ 8:00 am - Math SOL Assessment, Part 1
Wednesday, June 1st @ 8:00 am - Math SOL Assessment, Part 2
Friday, June 3rd @ 8:30 am - Volunteer Breakfast
Friday, June 3rd @ 6:00 pm - Ice Cream Social
Monday, June 6th - Gum Spring Library Visit
Wednesday, June 8th - Field Day
Tuesday, June 14th - Last Day of School

This week in Academia:

Math: 
Tomorrow and Friday students will review and practice a lot of math!  The fourth grade teachers have each chosen a math topic to review with the entire fourth grade, and tomorrow we will continue with these rotations.  Ask your child about it!

Reading:
We will continue to practice reading SOL passages and questions so students feel comfortable for their tests on Wednesday and Thursday.  Students should continue to read at home as well.

Writing:-
No more Word Study!  Students will continue to work on their Poetry Packets this week.

Science:
Students have been learning about the different parts of the plants and how plants reproduce.  This week we will build and label plants as well as continue to learn about photosynthesis.

Virginia studies:
No more 

Two Important Papers In Your Child's Thursday Folder!!!

ATTENTION!
There are TWO forms in your child's folder in the "Return to School" section that I need ASAP!
1) The LCPS SOL Retake form - Please complete this tonight and send it back with your child tomorrow.
2) The 4th Grade Party Permission form and $5 Cash

THANK YOU!

Weekly Update, May 15th, 2016

Hopefully you and your family were able to enjoy some of the much needed sunshine this weekend!!  We have less than a month of school left, and your kids have been reviewing hard for our Virginia studies test.

This week in academia...

Virginia studies: As a reminder, the SOL assessment will be Tuesday, May 17th at 10:15 am.  We will spend a lot of time reviewing tomorrow through various activities and review games.  The SOLpass Review is due Tuesday (the schedule of all the activities and games with your initials).

Reading: Students will review all concepts we've learned throughout the year as we continue to prepare for the SOL assessment at the end of the month.  Students are still expected to read nightly, and summarize their reading on their reading log.  (New reading logs will go home tomorrow.)

Writing: Students will practice with their word study words from last week and will have their test on Friday, May 20th.  Students are expected to know the meanings of the affixes from their packet that was given out last Monday.

Science: Yay!  It's back!  We will begin learning about plants starting on Wednesday.

Upcoming Dates:
Monday, May 16th @ 6:30 - PTA Meeting
Tuesday, May 17th @ 10:15 am - Virginia Studies SOL Assessment
Wednesday, May 18th - Interims go home
Wednesday, May 25th @ 8:00 am - Reading SOL Assessment, Part 1
Wednesday, May 25th - Fitness Night and Bike Rodeo
Thursday, May 26th @ 8:00 am - Reading SOL Assessment, Part 2
Monday, May 30th - Memorial Day, No School
Tuesday, May 31st @ 8:00 am - Math SOL Assessment, Part 1
Wednesday, June 1st @ 8:00 am - Math SOL Assessment, Part 2
Friday, June 3rd @ 8:30 am - Volunteer Breakfast
Friday, June 3rd @ 6:00 pm - Ice Cream Social
Monday, June 6th - Gum Spring Library Visit
Wednesday, June 8th - Field Day
Tuesday, June 14th - Last Day of School


If you have any questions about this week, or anything in general, please send me an email!

Weekly Update, May 9th, 2016

My apologies for not getting this post to you before the end of the weekend.  I hope you were all enjoying your Mother's Day celebrations and too busy enjoying your families to even think about the work/school week.

I am humbled by the outpouring of generosity from you all this past week!  Thank you for making my Teacher Appreciation Week SO special and sweet!  The decorations, cards, gifts, and kind words mean so much to me.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

This week in Academia: 

Virginia studies: We will finish our last unit of Virginia studies this week!  We will have a quiz on the three branches of government and the products and industries of each region on Thursday, May 12th.  Students will be expected to know the difference between agricultural products and manufactured products, as well as the significance of the federal government on Virginia's economy.  We will be reviewing daily for the VA Studies SOL Assessment, which is Tuesday, May 17th.  Please make sure your child is completing the assigned activities and games on the solpass.org review schedule!

Writing: Students have been finishing up their reading response letters about their book club book, these will be returned in Thursday folders for a writing and reading grade.  This week for word study we will be focusing on prefixes, suffixes, and root words.  Students will receive a packet, similar to a few weeks back, and will be tested on them next Friday, May 20th.  Although there are recommended dates for the assignments, students will have two weeks to complete them.

Reading: Reading logs are due this Friday, May 13th.  We've been preparing daily for our reading SOL by reviewing passages, and just good old-fashioned independent reading.  Released SOL practice tests are posted on the following page (for all subjects, not just reading.) Please take some time to review some passages with your child: http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/practice_items/

A note about SOL testing: 
In previous years the fourth grade team has given students candy or mints to have during the test sessions.  This year we will not permit candy or mints, we will not be providing them, and they will not be permitted to bring them.  If you have any questions about this, please just ask me!

Thank you, and as always, email me if you have any questions about anything!

Weekly Update, Sunday, May 1st, 2016

I apologize in advance for an abbreviated update, I'm out of town!

This week in Academia...

Virginia Studies: We will learn about a variety of people this week that made significant contributions to Virginia history in the 20th century including Maggie Walker, Lindwood Rose, Oliver Hill, Harry Byrd, Woodrow Wilson, and more.  Ask your kids who Harry Byrd was, be prepared for a surprising answer!  The SOL Assessment for VA Studies is in 17 days.  Students are doing well with their reviews, thank you for signing off on their solpass.org review schedule.  On Friday I gave students in-class time to complete some more activities and games in advance and gave them stickers to indicate that I checked their work.

Reading: Students will continue to participate in book clubs this week and be expected to read nightly and write brief summaries on their reading logs.  In addition to book clubs, we will review testing strategies and reading strategies, and implement these with practice passages.

Writing: Once students complete their book club book, they will be expected to write me a reading response letter in which they summarize the book and share their opinions.  This will be graded for reading and writing.  I will pass back their Williamsburg letters this week so they can see what they need to improve upon when writing a friendly letter.  The Word Study test will be this Friday, May 6th.

RELEASED SOL ASSESSMENT SCHEDULE for MS. AKBAR'S CLASS:

Virginia Studies: Tuesday, May 17th from 10:15 - 12:15

Reading: Wednesday, May 25th from 8:00 - 10:00 AND Thursday, May 26th from 8:00 - 10:00

Math: Tuesday, May 31st from 8:00 - 10:00 AND Wednesday, June 1st from 8:00 - 10:00