5/6 Weekly Update

Hi Families!

I will try to do weekly emails just to keep in touch as we are in crunch time. And before I begin I want to say thank you so much for all the wonderful Teacher’s Appreciation gifts. I love my job and am so appreciative for all of you! Second, Happy Mother’s Day to all you amazing moms! I hope you get to relax and enjoy your day!

Here are some things you need to know about. This week will be long as I introduce all these things, and the next few weeks will be shorter. Please let me know if you have any questions. 

1. No more reading logs, math fact practice or spelling. Still check their agendas as they are writing down project work they need to do. Technically we only have 3 weeks left and they are doing so much practical application of reading and writing for their Natural Disaster project it takes the place of the reading and spelling homework. As for Math, we are in Testing Month- yay! So we are cramming and reviewing like crazy in class. They all pretty much have their multiplication facts mastered at this point but if you want to do it with them that's fine but not required. 

2. Donner Field Trip- it was great! Perfect weather and the kids all had a good time. Check it out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIzxbq48iXY (if the link doesn’t work let me know)

3. SBAC Testing- They did great this week. I told them how thankful I was that they were able to read. They worked and read for a very long time and I am so proud of the stamina they had.  Upcoming Test Dates: Monday 5/9 PM; Wednesday 5/18 AM Math; Thursday 5/19 AM Math. 

4. N.D. Project (Natural Disaster Project)- They are working SO SO hard on their Essays. I have high expectations but they always rise to the challenge. They are learning how to do research using credible sources, cite their sources, about the purpose and how to's of making a bibliography, using transition words, paraphrasing, how to write persuasively and write a concluding sentence. And that's all in 2 weeks!!! They will turn in their final draft including bibliography (from EasyBib) on May 13th. Their paper will be revised by a peer, myself and you are more than welcome to read it and assist them in their writing journey as well. Here is the rubric for the essay. They will use this when revising in class and you can use it at home as well.  https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxIFKqo_jMgKSTk1T3NuMGYtMG8/view?usp=sharing

***Please make sure they are brining their flash drives to and from school daily as needed to work on their projects. Missing flash drives make a waste of class time, and lost flash drives make lots of tears. If you have a gmail account you can have them save them on a Google Doc so they don’t need a flash drive. This is what we will be doing next year.***

5. N.D. Project- They are going to start working as a team to make a Safety Kit that they will then have to advertise. This will start the fun parts of the project. They will create their kits, determine the cost (as real as possible), make an iMovie commercial for their Safely Kit which will be viewed by other students and the commercials will be voted on. Then on June 2nd at 6:00pm you will get to see them attempt to sell their kit to a panel of potential "buyers". The team who is the most convincing, with strong factual evidence and well as strong persuasive techniques will be deemed the winner. 

6. Infinite Campus- I have some papers to put in over the weekend, but please be checking IC weekly (get the App if you don't have it). All assignments must be turned in by May 27th. They will be doing project work the following week but the credit for the work will be done May 27th. 

7. Music Field Trip on 5/20- Mrs. Fix has asked if we could have 3 chaperones that day. If you are interested please let me know. 

8. Ace’s Field Trip- if you haven’t signed and returned the purple form and money please do so. 

9. Upcoming Dates to Remember: 

5/9 SBAC Reading PM

5/13 Essays Due

5/18 SBAC Math AM

5/19 SBAC Math PM

5/20 Music Field Trip

5/20 Team Commercials Due

5/23 MAP Reading Test AM

5/24 MAP Math Test AM

5/27 Jog-a-Thon

5/27 Infomercial Outline due

5/27 Book Projects/Book Talks Due

5/27 All Quarter 4 work due

6/2 Presentation Night 6:00pm Whitehead cafeteria 

6/4 Ace’s Field Trip 9:00-2:00

6/9 Last Day of School 12:50 Release

Ok…that’ enough for 1 week! Have a great weekend and a very Happy Mother’s Day! 

With Love, 

Carrie 

May News

I just wanted to go over a few things as we head into our last full month of school.

1.       Donner Field trip on Monday- MUST bring a cold lunch, dress warm in layers, wear tennis shoes, no devices to play games (phones are allowed but must be put away).

2.       Chaperons for Monday. Please come on Monday- we are leaving at 9:30. We have to see how full the buses are, but we are hoping most of you will be able to ride the bus. If you’d like to drive that’s fine. I will assign everyone a group of students on Monday.

3.       Natural Disaster Project- we are well underway. They are cooking! Check Infinite Campus- ELA Writing and Science to see if they are missing anything, if so they are behind. Once they get behind on the project it is tough, but not impossible, to catch up. Please make sure you are checking agendas nightly as they have a list of To Do’s in there.

4.       June 2^nd- Mark your calendars for Presentation Night 6:00 in the Multipurpose Room. I’ll send home a formal flyer later in May. But you can invite family members to come. It’s a fun and amazing event!

5.       Please check out the Natural Disaster Blog for Due dates and links for assignments.

6.       SBAC Testing- Please make sure your child gets a GOOD night’s sleep, has a nice healthy breakfast. Talk to them about the test’s importance, but tell them it’s not the End All Be All for their future. They are going to do great! Please let me know if they are going to miss any of these days and we will get them in for makeups.

a.       May 4- ELA in morning

b.      May 9- ELA in morning and afternoon

c.       May 18- Math in morning and afternoon

d.      May 19- Math in morning

7.       All work must be turned in May 27^th for Quarter 4.

8.       Get out your calendars for these upcoming events:

a.       May 4- SBAC

b.      May 9-SBAC

c.       Math 18-SBAC

d.      Math 19-SBAC

e.      May 20^th Pioneer Center Field trip with Music

f.        May 23- MAP Reading test in the morning

g.       Math 24- MAP Math test in the afternoon

h.      May 27- Whitehead Jog-A-Thon

i.         May 27- End of Grading Period- all work must be turned in

j.        May 30^th No School Memorial Day

k.       June 2- Presentation Night 6:00pm

l.         June 7- Reno Ace’s Field trip

m.    June 9- Last Day of School 12:50 release

4th Grade Introduction Side

All 4th Graders are required to make a single slide PowerPoint. The slide is your opportunity to introduce yourself to Mrs. Cameron and Mr. Sorensen. You will present your slide to them at lunch one day on the last week of school. Your slide must represent you and your personality yet be mindful that this may be their first impression of you. And you never get a second chance to make a first impression. 

Slide should include:
Your name and any nic names you go by
Your hobbies
Your talents
Favorite part of SWAS
Your favorite subject
Optional: 
A question for them? 
Random fact or information

Click HERE to turn in your slide

Natural Disaster Project

Click here to visit the Natural Disaster Site

We have started our Natural Disaster Project! I've created a blog to organize and store all the information they will need for this project. Due dates, links for research, rubrics. Please check it out!

The students have studied several different types of natural disasters and are now starting research for the major pieces of the project.

There are 3 products the students will create by the end of the quarter:

1- An essay containing information about their natural disaster, a persuasive component discussing the importance and how to be safe during the disaster, and a bibliography citing all their texts used.

2- A commercial for a Safety Kit. Their group will make a safety kit to sell (hypothetically) that will help people protect themselves and their homes during the natural disaster. They will produce a video commercial that students from across the district will view and vote on.

3- An infomercial on their Safety Kit. On presentation night June 2nd their team will perform a short live infomercial style presentation of their Safety Kit, as well as be asked questions and receive feedback from experts and community members.


There is SO much your children will learn this quarter that is not related to Science:

-Collaboration Skills
-Communication Skills
-Self-regualtion
-Use of technology for learning
-Real World problem solving and innovating

I am very excited about the project and can't wait to see how much they will learn and grow over these next few weeks!

Please don't hesitate to email me if you have any questions: choffman@washoeschools.net

Book Talk Assignments

	Quarter
Sami	2
Jonah	4
Merryn	4
Braden	2
Maddison	1
Alex B.	1
Kaylie	3
Rayne	3
Christopher	2
Sabrina	4
Riana	3
Nicholas	2
Emily	4
Sydney	3
Millie	3
Adi	1
Gabe	1
Kielee	1
Thomas	2
Quinn	2
Rya	3
Victoria	1
Liam	2
Alexis	2
Avery	4
Bryce	2

Here is a list of the students and the quarter they are assigned to do their book talk. A Book Talk is a 15-20 minute presentation to the class on a book they have read. Books must be at a 4.0 reading level or higher. They are required to type an outline of their presentation and turn it in the week before they present. They will also make a visual aid on PowerPoint, Prezi, Gloster or PowToon and use this during their presentation. 

To view and print a copy of the Book Talk Directions and Rubric Click Here

Hard copies of these documents are available in class as well. 

Quarter 2:

Outline due December 11th. Presentations December 14-16.

Quarter 3: 

Outline due March 11th. Presentations March 14-15

Quarter 4: 

Outline due May 27th. Presentations May 31- June 2.

*Presentation dates are subject to change based on unforeseen circumstances with the students or teacher. 

October Newsletter

Happy October!

            Can you believe we are a quarter of the way through the year already? This has been a wonderful start. I just love your children so much! They are binging me laugher and joy every day! I am LOVING the Family History Projects. I can’t believe the time and energy that went into their projects. I will be posting pictures for you to see some of the amazing things they have done. We talked today as they started presenting their projects about work expectations. In SWAS we have high expectations for them as preparation for the future. They need to make sure to take pride in their work to get the grades they want. As they do this they will find strategies (like spell check, and peer editors) to help them with skills they are not so strong with.  Here are a few things that will help you help your child stay successful and reach their fullest potential:

·        Check agendas. Know what assignments/projects your child is responsible for.

·        Check Infinite Campus regularly. Know how your child is preforming.

·        Talk to your child about test corrections and makeup work when necessary.

·        Go through the Purple Friday Folders with care weekly. Separate grade work and keep it in a safe place. I suggest a plastic tub). Have them correct work that has low scores.

·        Communicate with the teacher when you have concerns… with anything

·        Get your child involved in extra-curricular activities. Interactions with kids their age, competing with others, dealing with conflict/resolution situations outside of school are things that will help your child become self-confident. Self-confidence and success are dependent upon each other.

The second quarter we are going to be diving deeper into Multiplication and Division. Keep up with the Daily Fact practices with multiplication. Knowing the facts quickly allows them to do more complex problems more easily. In Science we are learning about magnetism and gravity. We are learning though hands on experiments and observations as well as text book reading. We are about to start a new Social Studies unit on Nevada history. They will be learning about our great state, its symbols, geography, and rich history both from the pioneer’s point of view as well as from the Native American’s point of view. In reading we are doing to start reading a class novel called Patty Reed’s Doll. It is a wonderful story about the Donner Party told from the perspective of a girl’s doll as they journey West. As they read they will be learning how to compare themes and messages among different texts, like historical facts from Patty Reed’s doll compared to facts in the Social Studies Text book.

Lastly, I am SO SO excited about our second annual Fall Fair! This is a really fun day that just my class has.  On Friday October 23^rd all morning long the students will be rotating though fun Fall centers that are parent lead. The students get to dress up in their costumes that day which makes it even more fun! There will be relay races, a doughnut eating contest, a skeleton memory game, mummy decorating, a Fall craft project and a pumpkin math activity. I need parent support in order for this day to be a success. If you are able to help please click on the link and sign up for an activity that sound fun to you. They will be in groups of 4-5 rotating every 20 minutes from 9:00-11:30. I can’t wait for all the fun! This is one of my favorite days of the year!!  After lunch the students will be doing a class activity and then passing around treats and watching Percy Jackson: The Lightening Thief. We are reading the book right now in class and will be done by then. You are more than welcome to attend the party and please feel free to sign up to send in or bring something for the party. *See email or blog for links to sign up

Upcoming dates to remember:

October 5-9: Conference Week 12:50 release every day

October 14^th: NO EARLY RELEASE. Due to high school finals week

October 18^th: Run for Education Sparks Marina

October 15^th-23^rd: Grassroots Book Fair in Library

October 21^st: Whitehead Fall Carnival, time in the evening TBA

October 23^rd: Hoffman’s Class Fall Fair 9:00-11:30, Halloween Party 1:00-3:00

October 26^th-30^th: Fall Break NO SCHOOL

November 2^nd: Return to School

November 6^th: Field Trip to Carson City Museum

November 11^th: (Wednesday) NO SCHOOL Veteran’s Day

November 25^th-27^th: Thanksgiving Break NO SCHOOL

Fall Fair 2015

Fall Fair was a hit!!!! The kids had a great day! They enjoyed all the fun activities

and really enjoyed all the treats in the afternoon as we watched Percy Jackson The Lightening Thief (though we all agree the book was better!) 

I want to thank all the parents and grandparents who helped with the Fall Fair Activities:

 Mr. and Mrs. Keller, Mrs. Danen, Mrs. Dishman, Mrs. Boharsik, Mrs. Alano, Mrs. Anderson, Mrs. Colcock, Mrs. Conforti, Mrs. Santos, Mrs. Knight. 

You all made this wonderful day happen! Thank you VERY much!  

Pumpkin Math Activities

Pumpkin Art

Spooky Realy Races

Mummy Decorating

Happy Kid!!!

Skeleton Memory

Doughnut Eating Contest

Great times with good friends!

Dressing Godzilla up as a mummy

October birthday creatures!