We are already starting our second to last week of school!!!!!  The kids finished publishing their reports today.  We will start the Adobe Spark portion of the report tomorrow.

There will be a spelling test on Friday. It will be our final spelling test this year!

We had a productive day today!  I made it halfway through the class with DIBELS testing :) The kids also started a new research writing project today. I let them chose their topic, and they had to tell me their three headings by the end of the day.  We will continue to research tomorrow AND do the outline.  Next week they will take their information and put it into a picture video with voice narration!

No official homework tonight, however, kids may chose to work on IXL D.23 if needed and some wanted to work on their research.  Spelling test tomorrow!

Students got their yearbooks today.  We discussed proper handling and signing of yearbooks as well.  If you did not order a yearbook and are interested in doing so, please email office@acsphx.org.

Tomorrow is the music concert!  The concert will begin at 6:30, and students should arrive by 6:15.  Fourth grade will be playing their recorders before the concert begins.  Formal spring attire for the concert :)

Tonight's homework is language arts IXL BB.3 and page 335 from the readers notebook.  Some students will also have corrections to make on their math practice page.

Thank you to those of you who sent in school school supplies today :)

Field Day is tomorrow!!!!  Students may wear spirit shirts and appropriate athletic bottoms. If your child comes to school in shorts that are too short, they will miss the activities until appropriate bottoms are brought from home. 

We were out of the classroom a lot today, as we had a make up music class this afternoon.  We still managed to get quite a bit of math done, as well as typing the comparison paragraph the kids have been working on all week.

Tomorrow is also early release!

Tonight's homework is IXL D.24- multiplication practice!  

Tomorrow is May 1- May Crowning!  The ceremony begins at 9:15 in the church.   Please bring a flower to present to Mary during the ceremony.

Friday is Field Day- appropriate attire required!

You'll see the animal report coming home today.  You've already seen the webpage your child built using this information (if they emailed it to you before break).  They did outstanding! This project took quite a bit of time and energy and their final products were very impressive!

Welcome Back!  I hope you had a wonderful Easter Break!

A few announcements:
* The Food Drive has begun!  Please bring non-perishables to the classroom all week.
* Wednesday is May Crowning at 9AM.  Please send your child in with a thornless flower to present to Mary.
* Friday is Field Day.  Students may wear spirit t-shirts and appropriate athletic shorts.  IF THE SHORTS ARE TOO SHORT (more than a few inches above the knee), THEY WILL SIT OUT OF THE ACTIVITIES UNTIL APPROPRIATE ATTIRE IS BROUGHT.
*Friday is also early release!

We got right back into the swing of things today.  We have finished the Journeys readings from the text book and are reading from a 4th grader reader.  We will have our spelling test on Friday morning.  Tonight's homework is page 341-342.

For math, students have practice 12. 8 AND corrections from our math computation practice.

We ended our day taking notes on weapons of WWII.  Our social studies lessons have been quite fun as the kids are very into the facts about the wars!

We've been working very hard on our animal reports!  The kids researched from a book and the internet.  They used notecards to organize their facts in categories.  Then they created an outline.  Next, they typed up a final copy of their report with headings and paragraphs.  They had to include one map and format the document as instructed.  To top it all off, we created a web page about the animal!  They had to include a button, a map, a picture, and a video.  We spent quite a lot of time working on this and the outcome was AMAZING! If you emailed your child's school address they were able to reply to the email with the link from Adobe Spark.

We are half way through math chapter 12 today.  The kids also read our final story in the Journeys hardcover book.  After break we will read from a special reader and read a novel as a class.

Reminder- Thursday is a half day.  Dismissal is at noon.  Please pick up your student promptly at 12!

NEEDED:  Kleenex and Clorox wipes----LOTS!!! Thank you in advance:

The kids are finished with their research for their animal report.  The report will be typed by end of day tomorrow!  Then next week, we can get started on creating our own web page about our animal!  This will be very exciting and new for us :)

We practiced converting pounds and tons and pounds and ounces today in math.

The kids practiced using commas in language arts today.  Homework is to re-read the main story.

We had a digital citizenship lesson about being kind online.  We had a little time to start our movie, Kit, about the Great Depression!

The children were going to play the recorder at mass tomorrow, however, Mrs. Trayer has been out this week, so the recorder playing has been pushed until after spring break.

It's already half way through the week!!!  This week the kids are working on a research paper.  They will complete notes on notecards, transfer their facts to an outline, and then create a final copy of their information writing.  They will use headings and insert a map.  We will also learn how to write a reference page.  They have been working very hard so far and I'm excited to see what they write!

We wrote to our Adopt-A-Seminarian this afternoon to wish him a happy birthday and tell him of our summer plans.

We are starting measurement in math and converted from units of measure today.  IXL homework is N.1-N.5.

The kids should also read Owen and Mzee tonight for homework.

Pictures from the State Capitol Museum

We completed our ITBS and CogAt testing today!  Woohoo!  If your child was absent this week at all, we will do our best to arrange for a make up testing session, however, it will depend on the availability of a proctor.

Monday is our field trip!  All parents who said they could and would drive are able to come. I sent an email earlier this week.  Please send a sack lunch and disposable water bottle for the picnic lunch before our tour.  We will eat outside, so apply sunscreen.  Send a snack as usual.  We aren't leaving campus until 10:30 or so.

Today was day 1 of ITBS Testing! The kids did great!  We took our time setting up our testing seating arrangement, sharpening pencils, answering questions about the test, and getting our room comfortable and distraction free.  We took the mathematics and computation test today.  We will test all week, mostly in the morning.  If everything goes according to plan, we'll be done by Friday, however, we have all next week if we need it!

Due to the fact that we have ITBS for most of our mornings, our class work will be lighter and we'll just be going with the flow and get done what we can!  We'll have a spelling test on Friday and do the comprehension test on Thursday.

I send second copies of the permission slip home last Friday for those who had not returned the forms.  Everyone who did respond that they could drive, may drive!  I'll be sending a driver email tomorrow, hopefully :)

Today was jam packed!  Phew!  We started our day with science- wrapping up yesterday's activity.  We then let our trays dry out a bit so we could use them again later!  We watched our CRS Rice Bowl video about community and human dignity.  The kids thought of ways they could help others.  We spent quite a bit of time on our stream tables this afternoon, as well!  We tested a flood variable and a slant variable.  We will discuss our observations tomorrow.  We ended working on some problem solving with angles.  The kids had to work with a partner on some challenging work.  We will compare work and reasoning tomorrow.  

Tonight's homework is: Read I Could Do That from Journeys, and page 292 from reader's notebook.  Also, to read pages 9-14 in the science reader and to answer the two questions on page 14.  

Our retreat was a success!!!!! We had a wonderfully prayerful time at The Franciscan Renewal Center and lots of fun at the centers around campus in the afternoon.  THANK YOU To all the parents and grandparents who volunteered their time and talents to make this day so successful!  The church and school staff were so grateful that we shared our pretzels with them again this year.  If you volunteered, please don't forget to log your hours on www.x2vol.com.

Tomorrow is our retreat! Mrs. DiPasquale sent an informational email last night about our trip tomorrow.  I've gone over the day with the kids and we're excited!

Tomorrow there is community prayer.

Tonight's homework is to read through the social studies notebook with your child.

I don't know where our day went today! We we so busy!  We reviewed adverbs that compare in language arts and wrote a class summary of The World According to Humphrey.  Tomorrow the kids are going to start their own summary of a book they've recently finished.  Tonight's homework is page 279-280 from the workbook.

We started talking about angles of a circle in math today.  The homework tonight is a two sided worksheet to practice.

We took notes on President Wilson's response to WWI and women's role in WWI.  Tomorrow we'll discuss the end of the war.

We are almost out of tissues, so if you have a box to spare over the next few weeks, please send one in!

I hope everyone had a wonderful long weekend!  It's going to be a warm week, so please make sure your child has their water bottle this week! The crazy hair today was great!

The kids are bringing home their new spelling words today.  Test on Friday! We also read The World According to Humphrey in language arts and completed a vocabulary graphic organizer. Tonight's homework is to read Make the Switch from the Journeys book.

We watched a video to review weathering before taking our investigation check for science.

We watched our video for our Lent journey with CRS today.  We met Annet from Uganda and discussed helping the poor and vulnerable.

We finally had our dessert party!!!!  We ate while completing our first Digital Citizenship Academy lesson.

Dessert Day is TUESDAY.......sorry for my previous mistype!

Everyone can take a sigh of relief....the states and capitals test is OVER! Time to enjoy a long weekend!

We spent our morning on the test and in specials, which left us the afternoon to finish up the Horses book and learn about modern weapons of WWI!

Remember no school on Friday or Monday!

Tuesday is crazy hair day.  We also added dessert day.  One of the rewards from the Fun Run was that they could bring in a desert one day and eat it in class.  We will do this on TUESDAY afternoon.  Desserts only need to be for themselves.

Only two days until the states and capitals test! Nerves are running high :)

We continued our class discussion today about how we treat each other, and focused on behavior that has been exhibited by our classmates that makes people feel excluded, hurts their feelings, or physically hurts others.  As I told the kids, we will continue to have these conversations so that the concepts we discuss are clear and the behavior that is unacceptable can be turned around!  The conversations are going REALLY well. The kids are engaged and really inquisitive!

We read more in our Horse reader in language arts.  We also logged into our gmail accounts again today and created a doc!!! Success!!!!!  The kids did a really good job with this :) They had some time to explore the G suite after completion, and some kids created documents with templates, added their classmates as contacts (it doesn't automatically pick them up like Office365 did), and some took a look at slides. I can't wait to try our all the features of our new G suite!

Please continue to assist your child in studying for the upcoming test! Thank you everyone for getting your permission slips in for the retreat on March 26th.  I'll be emailing the drivers soon!  If you're interested in helping during the afternoon, sign up HERE!

What a busy Monday we had!  We had a really great day!  We have been having a little trouble remembering how to conduct ourselves in the classroom and during transition time, as well as during some specials.  We spent some time today reviewing the expectations of our classroom inside while working and at lockers.  Our religion lesson for Lent was perfect to transition us into a conversation about how we are treating each other and what it means to be an "active bystander".  The kids had a lot to say and were very interested in our discussion!

We are reading the book Horses in language arts this week.  There will be no spelling words, other than the states and capitals for Thursday.  There will also be no homework this week as part of the reward for earning over $100 per lap for the FunRun!

The state and capitals test is on Thursday!  The kids need to know where each state is and how to spell each state and its capital.

Crazy Sock day for 4th grade will be on Wednesday, March 13th! This is another prize from the FunRun!  

Bring your stuffed animal day was quite a success! I still owe the kids more rewards, but I have to schedule those a little farther in advance, so I'll try to get some in next week!

Homework tonight is all language arts- practice with abbreviations and spelling words and shades of meaning!

There will be a math test tomorrow.  The kids did fantastic on our review today!

Just a reminder that the permission slips for the retreat are due tomorrow, as well as any Scholastic orders!

Extra recess yesterday!

Observing the evaporation dishes. 

Taking notes on the start of WWI.

Due to our extreme success in raising donations for the FunRun, I owe the children lots of fun rewards!  The homework passes have already been given, and today we took our extra recess due to the beautiful weather!

We had a wonderful lesson about our CRS Rice Bowl project for lent.  Your child should have brought home their rice bowl.  Every year I challenge the class to have 100% participation in the project, meaning that everyone would return their bowl with something inside.  We don't focus on the amount, just the participation.  We will be learning about a new place in the world where CRS provides education and resources to those in need each week during Lent.  The calendar that accompanied the bowl contains thoughts and suggestions for each day during Lent.  I hope you look through the pamphlet and discuss ways to help others during this Lenten season!

We practiced using abbreviations in language arts today, and identifying patterns in math!   Language arts IXL PP.1-PP.8 is homework.

Remember the permission slip for our retreat is due Friday.  I will email our drivers on Friday after all slips are turned in.  If you are chosen to drive, I will be assigning students to drivers the day of the trip, so please do not list names on your forms.  We have most all forms already turned in- thank you!

Also, our states and capitals test is just over a week away!  Links for some songs are on the sidebar in the blog.  Studying for the test takes place at home, so if you've not started- I'd suggest your child spend a good deal of time studying over the next week.  They need to know the location of each state and its capital.  Spelling counts!

See this link for items needed for the retreat!

A few things went home today that have due dates:
1) Retreat permission slip- due Friday, March 8th.  Our retreat is a 2 parter- the morning is at the Franciscan Renewal Center and the afternoon is spent at school completing 3 rotations of Lent activities.  It's a really special day that I look forward to each year!  There will be numerous opportunities for volunteer help during the retreat, both at in the morning and afternoon!

2) March Book Orders- due March 8th.

3) Free homework pass- the kids earned 2 from the Fun Run.  We went over the "rules" today- that the may use them as they see fit, but they will still be responsible for the skills we're practicing.  For example, tonight's IXL is practicing classifying quadrilaterals- when test day comes, they will still have to answer questions about quadrilaterals.  That being said, they may have done great with today's lesson and skipping this additional practice is fine!  :)

New spelling words came home today- test on Friday!  We read Sacagawea from our Journeys book today.  After we read, the kids had to use a graphic organizer to tell me the main idea and supporting details.  We also reviewed shades of meaning again- using the correct synonym for the correct context of a sentence.

We set up our next science experiment. We are finding out if rocks and vinegar had a chemical reaction, so we soaked the rocks in vinegar and to find out, we're letting the vinegar evaporate to see if anything is left in our dishes.

We classified quadrilaterals today in math.  IXL is homework.

I have two kids with fevers tonight- so I'll be home tomorrow, however, Mrs. Jauquet will be subbing!

THANK YOU 4th GRADE!  We are in the lead for per lap donations for the Fun Run :)  Thank you for all your support for ACS.  The kids received their t-shirts today.  Most of them fit "just perfectly", so I do not suggest drying them tonight :)  Students may wear athletic shorts (the length of the PE shorts) or PE shorts and the fun run t-shirt and tennis shoes.  Please apply sunscreen as it's going to be sunny!  The run starts at 9:30. 

We wrapped up our language arts lessons today and only have our spelling test for tomorrow!  

We also set up a chemical reaction experiment for science.  Tonight the homework is to read page 6-8 in the science reader.  

Happy Monday!  It's Fun Run Week!  If you've not signed up online, please do so!  We're enjoying our daily assembly to learn about being good citizens and getting pumped up for the event on Friday!

We were busy getting all set to start our third trimester! We got new seats and lockers today :)

The kids were responsible for reading our new Journeys story today.  They could choose to silently read or listen to the story online.  We will still discuss the story together as a class, however, as the third trimester continues we are going to be practicing more independent work as we prep for 5th grade!  Spelling test will be on Friday.

We started geometry in math today- lines and angles!  The kids are enjoying it so far!

We learned more about the 5th commandment today in religion.

Tomorrow morning is community prayer, with our fun run assembly right after!

Happy Friday! What a crazy past two days with this weather!  Thank you for all the birthday wishes, cards, flowers, and gifts- I feel so loved today!  

Parents,

Thank you again for supporting our school through the ACS Fun Run!

This weekend we are issuing a special challenge! Your child can earn a bonus prize simply by getting a qualifying pledge this weekend only. Check out funrun.com for details!

And if you’re looking for the easiest way to ask for a pledge, just upload a photo of your student to funrun.com to create a personalized Student Star video. This fun, hilarious video starring your child can be shared by email or social media to connect with sponsors and ask for a pledge.

Thank you again for helping our class!

P.S. - If you haven’t registered your child on funrun.com, use our school registration code: 667157

Observing the soil that has settled over night. 

Observing the soil that has settled over night. 

What is soil?

Small group white board lesson and work with Mrs. Kasper

Reading Zomo's Friends with Mrs. Rowe.

Suffix game

Our Boosterthon Flag!

Welcome back from a long weekend!  The kids were ready to get to work today and we had a fantastic day!  We started reading one of my favorite stories in Journeys, Hercules' Quest.  This is a Greek myth, and we had fun talking about other mythical characters too!  Spelling test will be on Friday- the next ten states and capitals.  Tonight's homework is to read the story and complete the plot chart. 

We reviewed divisions in math- talk about moaning and groaning :)  We clearly need some more practice! 

We had a great time starting our new science unit today.- soil, rocks, and landforms! Today the groups observed different soil samples.  We then added water and will observe how the particles have settled tomorrow.