Rockhopper Weekly Reminders
September 4th-7th, 2012


Mark Your Calendars:
• September 12th-20th - Parent Teacher Conferences, 12:30 dismissal
• Friday, September 21- Learning Day (No School)

A Back to School Night Highlight:
Parent/Student Expectations:
For the success of the child, there needs to be cooperation and communication between parents and students. Your child will have many opportunities to develop strategies to support their learning. We need you to monitor your child’s success with these new strategies.
Student Responsibilities-
monitor their learning, ask questions if they don’t understand
homework recorded and completed by assigned day
a time for students to gain independence and responsibility
work must be complete in order to participate in class
homework club
Parent Support-
time management- extra support especially at the beginning of the year
create a schedule/routine at home
quiet workspace
create a cut-off time- do not spend entire night doing homework
email teacher if unique situation arises
check to see if homework is completed
come to school on time
reasonable bedtime, good nutrition, & exercise
Common Sense Media- monitor appropriate computer usage outside the classroom
Parent/Teacher Communication Expectation-
You need to stay informed!
Read Weekly Reminders WITH your child to stay on top of classroom & school events, our main source of communication home

Conferences:
Thank you to all of our families who have promptly returned their conference forms and shared information about their children with their teachers. Your input is very valuable to us as we prepare for our meetings with you beginning next Wednesday. If you have yet to return your conference form, please do so as soon as possible. We’d like to remind all families to arrive promptly for their conference- most teachers will have as many as six conferences in a row on the scheduled dates! Also, students MUST attend the conference with their parents; no conferences will be conducted without the student in attendance.


Curriculum Flash!

Language Arts:
We’ve begun our small group center activities, and students have had the opportunity to practice, review, and learn new skills in poetry writing, vocabulary, comprehension of non-fiction materials, and grammar. Students have had a chance to decorate and design bookmarks and write in their journals, design compass roses, and sketch and label a map of California. Expository Writing is the first genre we’ll be covering during our Writer’s Workshop time. We are now beginning our study of Island of Blue Dolphins! Please do your best to have the Core Literature books as soon as possible.

Math
4th grade: This week we are wrapping up two weeks of study of our first unit in math, “Numbers Through the Millions.” This past Friday, students rotated through the three fourth grade math classrooms for a game day to practice their skills identifying Place Value and Ordering Numbers (least to greatest, greatest to least). We conclude Chapter 2 this week with Rounding Numbers and a unit review before our test at the end of the week.

5th grade: Students have looked at patterns from famous mathematicians like Gauss and Fibonacci and will apply that understanding to place value, exponents, and expanded notation in the coming week. A small quiz will be given at the end of this pattern unit in preparation to work with more patterns and functions as we move into algebra.

Social Studies:
Geography for the year has started! Students have been learning and reviewing map skills. They’ve explored their own maps, designed compass roses, and reviewed latitude and longitude and absolute location terminology. Our next venture is more specific when we will be learning about the four regions of California and designing our own salt maps of the state.

Science:
After beginning our year with an involving series of activities to introduce the Scientific Method, we now turn our attention to our Solid Earth unit. We take on the role of geologists this trimester, and we practice the field and lab work that is carried on regularly by these scientists. Investigation 1, Mock Rocks has three parts: observing the exterior properties of a rock, taking a rock apart to reveal its composition, and observing crystals that may or may not be present in a rock sample. Cooperation, sharing of ideas, and careful use of materials is emphasized. Stay tuned for more information from your student!

CA Trivia:

Where is the lowest elevation in the Western Hemisphere?

Students- when you find the answer to this question, please send an e-mail response to your teacher. We’ll be waiting for you!