Good morning! I'm a little surprised that I am awake at this hour (6:15) on a Saturday morning! I found out last night that Rita has a softball tournament that is continuing from yesterday. I have to leave here in just a few minutes to drop her off. My schedule is too crazy to stay with her for both games, but I hope to see the second one. Last night, Dave and I met some friends for sushi before heading over to the Titan Triad. I saw some of my current students and many former ones enjoying the festivities. I know I've said this before, but I feel very blessed to have been a part of this community for the past 10 years! This week, we will be celebrating in little ways each day to commemorate the 10th anniversary of our school.
You may recall that I'm hosting Dave's dad's 90th birthday party in just one week! It's pretty crazy when I think about all that must be done and that this is our final weekend to prepare! Besides all that, I have regular life stuff going on, too. I need to do my usual weekend grading first thing. Then tonight, we're heading to a fund raiser for the Franciscan Friars of the Holy Spirit out in Laveen and tomorrow, my mother is hosting a birthday dinner for all five February birthdays in our family. I think there will be 25 of us there. My exchange student is leaving Wednesday morning (I have to have him at the airport at 4:15!!!) and his mother sent a list of items that she'd love for him to bring back; so, I'll be taking him shopping today at some point. Then, in all my spare time I will be cleaning my house so that next Saturday 50-60 guests can arrive and be entertained. Whew! Wish me luck!
I have a new assistant! Mrs. Shani Tapia has joined the team! I have taught two of her children and know her and her family well, and am so happy that she was the one hired to help me. She jumped right in on Wednesday and was able to roll with all the craziness that happens each and every day! I do want to give a shout-out for Mrs. Smith, who came in each morning to help me check in the kids' homework and get that paperwork organized. It was super helpful, and I am very appreciative!
Let's take a look at our final week of the quarter.
Language Arts - On Monday, the kids will be writing an in-class essay. This will be an essay that looks very much like one they might see at the end of the month, when they take their AZ Merit writing test. We will begin first thing in the morning and they will write it in one sitting.
Spalding - We will not have Spalding this week.
Literature - We'll finish the final three chapters of Prince Caspian this week. I encourage you to find some time during your break to watch the movie version. It would be good to have the kids compare and contrast the film production with the book.
Grammar - We will continue to review material to prepare for standardized testing.
Poetry - We're winding down with our poem. The final stanzas are not as difficult as the past two! The kids will recite stanza 9 on Friday.
Math - This week, the students will learn how to round a quotient to one or two decimal places. There will be a unit test on Thursday.
Science - We will finish our geology unit this week taking a look at weathering and erosion and soil formation.
History - We will also be wrapping up our unit on Arizona. We have one more fold to create for our lapbooks and one final comprehension check about Arizona's path to statehood. This weekend the kids should be explaining to you how that came about.
That's it! Here's the testing schedule for 4th grade:
March 31st - Writing
April 6th - Reading and Math #1
April 8th - Reading and Math #2
April 13th - Science