Murdock Mania

Please be aware of the strange schedule this week. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday are “normal” days. Thursday is a half day with students dismissing at 11:30. There will be no school on Friday due to KEA meetings.

In reading, we are working on finding themes of fiction stories. This week we are viewing a movie based on a book, “Lilith Summer”. Students are working to find character, story events, and theme. We are progressing to finding the themes in poetry and plays.

Environmental Camp is quickly approaching. On March 25 we will be leaving for Environmental Camp in Carlisle. While there, we will experience some wonderful science activities that involve our environment. We will be staying all night and returning to school by 2:30 on March 26. If you need information on this trip, please contact us for packets. Parents are also welcomed to attend!

This week in reading, we are continuing our exploration in themes of stories. There will be several activities completed in class. What doesn’t get finished in class will be assigned as homework.

In reading we are working on nonfiction reading strategies. Our topic is dolphins. We have started discussing the characteristics of mammals and adaptations. We watched a video of dolphins and their habitats and will read about a pink dolphin in the Amazon.

Please be sure to encourage your child to do his or her best work and be very attentive during class time. We work very hard all day in order to NOT have much homework. If work is not done during the day, then work will have to be done at home.

First I want to thank everyone for the birthday wishes and blessings. It’s truly an honor to spend my 21×2 birthday with such great students!

I would like to wish each and every family a wonderful Christmas and a blessed new year. Rest over these next few days, go out and play if you can, and read, read, read!!!! I will see you back in class, ready to learn on Wednesday, January 2, 2013!!!

Tis the season!!!!!!
This week is a CRAZY week as far as scheduling goes.
On Tuesday, December 4, Southside will be performing “A Bugz Christmas” at the Harrison County High School auditorium. Students are to be at the auditorium by 6:00 in order for us to get all costumed. Please plan to attend and see all the hard work we have put into the production.
Thursday is Junior Achievement. This is an all day event where people from our community teach our classes about economics. It’s a great day for all!
Don’t forget that Friday is 1/2 day. Students will be dismissed at 11:30.

In reading, students are exploring technical reading. We are discussing explicit information and inferred information.

It’s that time of year! We’re all so excited for the upcoming festivities!
On December 4 students will be performing “A Bug’s Christmas” at the Harrison County High School Auditorium. We have been working each afternoon to perfect our musical. If your child would like to perform in the musical, please fill out the permission slip, if you have not already. We are working to make costumes and working on speaking parts. Come be a part of this holiday celebration!

The 4th grade will be celebrating Halloween on Wednesday, October 31. As “big kids”, we like to do it up right! Send in any type of WRAPPED candy or goodies. Each child will be given a paper bag first thing in the morning. ALL candy and treats will be passed out. Students are allowed to carry this bag ALL DAY, eating as much or as little of their candy as they want. The only two rules are: Pick up all wrappers and don’t eat so much that you make yourself sick. Learning will commence as usual, but with extra treats involved!
Students ARE NOT allowed to wear costumes on this day. Experience has shown us that learning cannot be accomplished in Halloween costumes. We also do not want to run the risk of damaging them the day they are to be worn trick-or-treating. Thanks for your understanding!
Friday, November 2 will be our second reading common assessment. We are working on main idea and supporting details and elements of a play. I am sure we will have fabulous scores!

This week in reading we are working on main idea and supporting details in nonfiction reading. Our story is “So You Want To Be President?”. We will be reading this, watching videos on presidents, and reading picture books on presidents to find main ideas and supporting details. I will have in class work that may need to be completed at home, too.

The 4th grade will be celebrating Halloween on Wednesday, October 31. As “big kids”, we like to do it up right! Send in any type of WRAPPED candy or goodies. Each child will be given a paper bag first thing in the morning. ALL candy and treats will be passed out. Students are allowed to carry this bag ALL DAY, eating as much or as little of their candy as they want. There will be some movie shown at 1:00 that afternoon. The only two rules are: Pick up all wrappers and don’t eat so much that you make yourself sick. Please start thinking about what you would like to donate to our all day celebration.

On Thursday, October 18 will be our Parent/ Teacher Conferences. Mrs. Clevinger, Mr. Hartzel, and I would LOVE to meet with you to discuss how wonderful your child is doing in 4th grade. When you schedule for a conference, all three of us will meet with you to discuss your child’s TOTAL academic progress. If you would like to sign up, the times are 3:30-8:00. We have extended the time in order to accommodate all families. Please send back the peach form ASAP.

Report cards go home Tuesday, October 16. If you have any questions, feel free to bring these up at your conference time.

On Friday, October 19, we will have our end of nine weeks yard sale. This will occur around 1:00 in the afternoon. If you have any items you would like to donate to this event, PLEASE send them in next week. Some items that are popular are toys, books, games, clothing, shoes, DVD’s, CD’s…

The 4th grade will be celebrating Halloween on Wednesday, October 31. As “big kids”, we like to do it up right! Send in any type of WRAPPED candy or goodies. Each child will be given a paper bag first thing in the morning. ALL candy and treats will be passed out. Students are allowed to carry this bag ALL DAY, eating as much or as little of their candy as they want. There will be some movie shown at 1:00 that afternoon. The only two rules are: Pick up all wrappers and don’t eat so much that you make yourself sick. Please start thinking about what you would like to donate to our all day celebration.

This week in reading, we are working on Halloween poetry. Encourage your child to share the poems with you and talk about the terms we are using. Also have them discuss how poetry is different than prose.

Remember that Thursday and Friday is Fall Break. We will not be in school these two days.