Week of June 6 - 10

Dear Parents, 

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

The students seemed to have a great time on Friday doing the Spartan Run!! Our class was one of the top fundraising classes in the junior building! The students have earned a pizza and an ice cream party as a result of that and winning the banner contest! We will be enjoying these treats on Friday. 

Our class will be watching the spring play of Guys and Dolls on Thursday at 12:30.

Regarding the fractions test. It was very clear whether the students understood or are struggling to grasp the concept of fractions. We will continue talking about and reviewing fractions in class throughout the year, but reviewing them a bit at home would be helpful for some!

Cursive books: Some students have fallen very behind in their cursive books. I have reminded the students to work on them almost every day since the first day of school. I have also walked them through each letter. They are given time in the mornings to work on spelling lessons, cursive or work to finish. If your student is far behind they will be taking the workbooks home to do as homework. Fourth grade requires the students to write in cursive so it's important they practice!

Spelling List 30 this week.

Thank you!

Mrs. Macklin 

Dear Parents, 

I hope you all had a lovely Mother's Day weekend! 

Spartan Run: The entire class will get to participate this year thanks to all of your fundraising!

Students can start bringing in their extra clothes, socks, shoes, and a towel any day this week. They will keep them in their cubbies. Our class will be running at 12:10 and we are scheduled to have our lunch break right after they run. We will be watching a movie for the remainder of the day after the run, as the students get tired, wet and dirty. 

The students will be taking their Chapter 11 Math test on fractions this week, on either Tuesday or Wednesday. We might skip around a little in the math book for the remainder of the year. 

The students did so well on their STAR Reading tests last week! They will be taking the STAR Math test on Thursday at 9am. 

We will also be finishing up our Social Studies unit on Native Americans this week. We will work on American symbols and landmarks after this, as well as invisible forces in science.  

Spelling List 29 this week.

Thank you!

Mrs. Macklin 

Dear Parents, 

I hope you all had a nice weekend! We had a great time on the field trip last week! 

There is another field trip planned for June 10th. We will be going to Santiago Oaks Canyon to learn about ecosystems. The permission slip will be sent home 

The students will be taking the last round of STAR testing starting this week. 

We will also be finishing up chapter 10 in math on fractions this week and will continue learning about the various Native Americans throughout the US.

Spelling will be list 28 this week.

I hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day Weekend!

Thank you!

Mrs. Macklin 

Dear Parents, 

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter Break!

On Wednesday we will be going on our first field trip of the year to Shipley Nature Center. The actual field trip, the Gabrielino Walk is from 11:30 - 1:30, however, we will leave school earlier to have a picnic lunch at the park and some time to play before the guided field trip starts. Since we will be eating at the field trip all students must bring a packed lunch with them on Wednesday. Please pack the lunch in a disposable bag etc. Students can take a small backpack to hold their water and a hat or sunscreen. No cameras allowed, the teachers and parent chaperones will take some for you all. The field trip is a lot of walking around, so they will want comfortable shoes with their regular uniforms. 

Our class also won the poster contest for the Jog-a-thon for having Catholic Values! The class will get to celebrate with a party later in the month!

The final around of STAR testing begins next week.  

They will have list 27 for spelling this week.

Thank you!

Mrs. Macklin 

Dear Parents, 

This is the last week before Easter break! I hope you all have a wonderful time enjoying the two week break!

The students worked really hard and everyone has passed all of their x's tests! As a reward for their hard work the class will be enjoying an ice cream party this week. (Most likely on Wednesday.) Some students were a bit concerned because they gave up ice cream for Lent, so I bought some popsicles for them. 

We will be finishing up Because of Winn Dixie this week. We have been focusing on character traits and development, as well as visualization and inferencing. In Writing Workshop we have started focusing on opinion and persuasive writing. We will also be diving into our unit on Native Americans to prepare for the upcoming field trip. 

Field Trip: Please return permission slips for the field trip by this Friday the 8th!

The students will need to bring a lunch in a paper bag/one they can throw away so they don't need to carry it around with them during the field trip. Students can take a small backpack to hold their water and a hat or sunscreen. No cameras allowed, the teachers and parent chaperones will take some for you all. The field trip is a lot of walking around, so they will want comfortable shoes with their regular uniforms. 

Jog-a-thon: Be sure that your student comes with a big water bottle on Friday, as it will be a warm day! Our class will be running at 10:20 on the yellow track, the track closest to the DJ. There will be an opening parade at 8:30. We will be attending mass on Tuesday afternoon. 

They will have list 27 for spelling this week.

Thank you!

Mrs. Macklin 

Dear Parents, 

Thank you all so much for your kindness and generosity for my birthday last week! I truly appreciate all of the thoughtful homemade cards, flowers, bundt cakes, and the class gift of gift certificates to two of my favorite places! The students loved being able to celebrate with a little birthday party at Kid's Kingdom after eating the delicious treats. I am so grateful to you all and so lucky to have such an amazing class this year!

Last week was the final week of memorizing new fast facts and all the students passed their x12s. Once every student has passed all of their timed tests we will celebrate with an ice cream party! I am so proud of the students this year. They have done an amazing job! We will continue taking mixed facts tests randomly, as it is important that they remember the facts to help them be successful math students!

For Baba's lessons the students will each be given a fable. They will be responsible for learning their fable and retelling it, in their own words, to the class. I will be passing out the fables soon, but Baba will provide more guidance on these presentations when he returns next week. 

They will have list 26 for spelling this week.

Thank you!

Mrs. Macklin 

Dear Parents, 

I hope everyone had a nice weekend! It was great getting a chance to speak to you all last week for our second round of conferences. 

For those of you who would like guidance on how to help your student with their reading comprehension I have added a document that includes an extensive list of reading comprehension questions to help you at home. I would focus on a few of these questions at a time.

This will be the last week of learning a new multiplication fact! The students have been doing an amazing job so far and I am sure they will do well on their x12 this week. It is a short week though, so be sure to study early! Once everyone has passed their tests we will celebrate with an ice cream party!

They will have list 25 for spelling this week.

Thank you!

Mrs. Macklin 

Dear Parents, 

I look forward to meeting with you all this week during conferences. Be sure not to forget your time and date, as the conferences are all back-to-back. If you did not include whether you want to meet on Zoom or In-Person on the sign-up form, please send me a message to let me know! I will be going over the most recent STAR test results, as well as their trimester 2 report cards.

The class book, Animal Kingdom, turned out so well! I hope you have all enjoyed reading it and seeing how much effort each student put forth to make their pages look so nice.

This week we will continue reading Because of Winn-Dixie. In math the students will be taking their chapter test on Tuesday. The next chapter starts basic algebra, which I am sure the students will be excited to start learning about!

This week the students will take their x11 fast facts test and List 24 for spelling.

Thank you!

Mrs. Macklin 

Dear Parents, 

I hope you all had a nice long Presidents' Day Weekend!

This week we will learn about Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln and how they helped shape our country. This week the students will be doing List 21 for spelling and x7 for their fast facts. 

I am so proud of the students for all of their hard work that they put toward the class book! Voting for the cover was serious business and I am so impressed with the amazing work they submitted. The book has been mailed to the publisher in order to meet the print date of Feb 28th. In the past the books arrived just a few weeks after that, so we should get them in before spring break.

Mrs. Viles would like us to remind everyone of the uniform code. The uniform code can be found in the handbook on pages 47-50.

https://www.sjbschool.net/parent-portal/handbook

Thank you!

Mrs. Macklin 

Dear Parents, 

I hope you all had a nice weekend! 

Thank you to everyone who has sent in their order forms for the class book. It is completely optional, but fun for the students to have! The book will be printed the last week in February, so please place your orders before Feb 21. It can be ordered online here: www.studentreasures.com/preorder

STAR test results will be sent home shortly. You do not need to sign and return them. I hope you are pleased with your students' progress.

Valentine's Day is next Monday There are 24 students in the class, 11 boys and 13 girls. We will be having a Valentine exchange and it is always fun when everyone participates. My request is that the Valentine's are addressed generically and that they pass out the same thing to everyone in the class (different boy/girl Valentine's are fine). We will be having a class party in addition to the exchange. 

STEAM Night is Feb 16th from 5-7 pm! We look forward to seeing most of you there!

Extended Presidents' Day Weekend! Administration has extended our Presidents' Day weekend, to now include Friday 18th as a day OFF school! 

The students also filled their second marble jar for having good behavior! They voted to have another movie party, so we will come up with a day for that soon.

Thank you!

Mrs. Macklin 

Dear Parents, 

I hope you all had a nice weekend! It was nice to see some of you at the Open House.

This week is Catholic School's Week. 

Monday is Patriotic Spirit Day. There will also be a living rosary in honor of our nation.

Wednesday we will celebrate vocations.

Thursday is an all school mass day.

The students will also be taking their x4 tests this week..

The students did a great job on their rough drafts and revisions for their animal reports. This week we will be working on the final drafts and artwork for the class book. I will be sending home the order forms shortly if you are interested in purchasing a copy of the final book.

Valentine's Day is coming up and I know some of you want to start preparing early. There are 24 students in the class, 11 boys and 13 girls. We will be having a Valentine exchange and it is always fun when everyone participates. My request is that the Valentine's are addressed generically and that they pass out the same thing to everyone in the class (different boy/girl Valentine's are fine). We will be having a class party in addition to the exchange. The students will be decorating bags in class to bring home their Valentine's in. Mrs. Tiano is helping with the party planning, so please keep an eye out for an email from her with sign-ups if you'd like to bring something.

Thank you!

Mrs. Macklin 

Dear Parents, 

I hope you all had a nice weekend!

This week the students will be taking their x3 fast facts test. If your student didn't pass their 5's please practice with them and they can retake it once they feel like they are ready. They all did very well on their Chapter 6 math test. The next few Chapters are quite repetitive, so don't be alarmed if we skip a couple lessons, or do two lessons in one day. I want to make sure we get through all the material before the end of the year!

We will also be doing the writing for the animal book this week. They were all very diligent with their research and now we will compile that into a one page informational writing piece. They will also be responsible for having a picture of their animal to go next to their write up. They will work on this in class as well, but some might want to spend more time on it and take it home. 

Music: Students must bring their recorders with them each Thursday. If they take it home to practice, I recommend keeping it in their backpacks and only taking it out to practice.

Valentine's Day is coming up and I know some of you want to start preparing early. There are 24 students in the class, 11 boys and 13 girls. We will be having a Valentine exchange and it is always fun when everyone participates. My request is that the Valentine's are addressed generically and that they pass out the same thing to everyone in the class (different boy/girl Valentine's are fine). We will be having a class party in addition to the exchange. The students will be decorating bags in class to bring home their Valentine's in. Mrs. Tiano is helping with the party planning, so please keep an eye out for an email from her with sign-ups if you'd like to bring something.

Thank you!

Mrs. Macklin 

Dear Parents, 

I hope you all had a nice weekend!

We will be taking the math STAR test this week, on Thursday at 9. Most of the students showed improvement on their reading tests which was great to see!

They also did very well on their first Fast Facts test. I was able to grade them before school got out, so your student should know if they need to retake the test or not. I suggest practicing with a timer to help them get used to working in the 90 second time frame. Quite a few of the students told me you did that and it really helped! There are also a number of songs that also help students. Students love this song: https://youtu.be/EgjCLhoI9Mk and enjoy Schoolhouse Rock, which is available on DisneyPlus and YouTube. 

We will be taking the x5 test this week.

This week the students will be researching and writing a report, in class, on any animal they would like. We have been preparing for this by learning all about nonfiction books and text features in reading and writing workshop. The students will use the information they find, using the Encyclopedia and nonfiction books, to do a one page write-up about their animal. We will compile the final reports into a published class book! You will then have the option to purchase a hard or soft cover copy of the book, if you would like. I have used the company StudentTreasures to create these books in the past and the students love them. I will send more information on how to order one in the next few weeks. 

Thank you!

Mrs. Macklin 

Dear Parents, 

I hope you all had a nice long weekend.

This week in class we will continue reading Stone Fox as part of our first book study for Reading Workshop. Some of the themes of the book are responsibility and resilience. We learned a lot about being responsible last week and will focus on being resilient this week. The students will also be wrapping up their first science unit on the life cycle of plants and how plants grow. We will being our social studies unit on communities this week as well.

I will also be sending home the first reading logs this week. The reading goal for third grade students is 20 minutes a night of reading a book that is at their appropriate reading level. We use The Goldilocks Rule to determine if a book is just right, until I am able to formally assess their reading levels in class. If there are 0-1 words that they need to sound out on a page the book is probably a little too easy for them. If they need to sound out 2-3 words per page, it is just right, and if they need to sound out 4 or more words, it is probably too difficult. 

Parent Teacher Conferences:

The sign up times for conferences will be emailed out on Tuesday, Sept 28. Unfortunately, I will be out of town part of next week, Weds-Friday, when conferences are supposed to take place. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, but I have modified the sign up dates with conference times from Sept 28 - Oct 14. Please email me if there are any major scheduling issues.

You may meet in person or on Zoom. It will be the same Zoom link that was used for Back-to-School Night. I will post it on Class Dojo. 

Conference times are 15 minutes each. It is important that you arrive on time, or your time will be limited in order to accommodate the people after you.

We will discuss your student's progress in class thus far, their behavior, the STAR results, and goals for the year. I look forward to speaking with you all!

Confession:

The students will be going to confession for the first time this year on Oct 5 at 9:30. There was a schedule conflict, so it was pushed back a week. We will prepare in class, but if you want to go over the importance of confession at home that would be helpful. 

There is noon dismissal on Friday!

Thank you!

Mrs. Macklin 

Dear Parents, 

I hope you all had a great Labor Day Weekend!

Back-to-School Night: Our virtual/in-person Back-to-School Night will be on Tuesday, Sept 14th at 7pm. I will go over classroom learning and behavioral expectations, goals for the year, homework, Schoology, ClassDojo etc. 

If you are attending via Zoom, please type any questions that come up during my presentation in the chat feature, so I can address them as best as possible without interruption. Any questions I don’t get to I will answer via email, on my next newsletter, or as a ClassDojo message. 

I will post the Zoom link on ClassDojo next week. 

STAR Testing: The students will be taking their first STAR Reading test on Thurs, Sept 16th at 9am. They will take the Math test on Thurs, Sept 23rd at 9am. Please be sure your student is on time that day to take the test with the rest of the class. If they need to miss it, we can schedule a make-up.

Friday Quizzes: We will begin taking Simple Solutions quizzes every Friday starting this week. I will also start adding 3 dictation sentences to their spelling tests. Each dictation sentence is worth 3 points, so spelling tests will soon be worth 29 points each. 

If you have not already done so, please don't forget to pay the $10 art fee as well as the $10 cleaning supply fee. 

Thank you!

Mrs. Macklin

Dear Parents, 

I hope you and your students had a great first week back in school! 

It was so nice to see all the students in the classroom, having fun and engaged in their learning! The students picked up the class rules quickly and have been eager to clip up and earn marbles for good behavior. 

Here is some more information regarding the class structure:

Clip Chart: Students start each day on Ready to Learn (green) and can either clip-up or down a total of three times. For each clip-up they will receive 1 point on their ClassDojo account and for each clip-down they will receive 1 negative point. They will also receive a negative point for missing homework and PE/uniforms. For example, if they clip-up three times that day and end on Super Student (pink), they will get 3 points that day on ClassDojo. They will also get a sticker added to their clip each time they end the day on Super Student. Ten stickers earn them a prize from the prize drawer and their clips will get retired to the Hall of Fame!

I plan on using the ClassDojo/behavior points to help with transparency and to reward students for their positive actions and behavior! I will try to input these points each day after school, but sometimes I will input them the next morning. There is an example of the clip chart in the Resources tab of this site if you would like to print one at home.

Homework: The students are responsible for writing down their homework each day in their planner, and bringing it back and forth to school. I will write the homework on the board and help the students write everything down in their homework planner each day. 

Daily Homework Expectations: 

1 math sheet (Mon-Thurs, most days but not always.)

1 spelling lesson of choice (4 total due on Friday, done mostly in class.)

1 Simple Solutions lesson (Mon-Thurs)

20 min of reading a night 

Math homework: We correct the math homework together in class each day as review. I scan the classroom and check the students have done it each day, but I do not collect the daily math homework. 

Spelling: Each week students need to complete a total of 4 spelling activities. There is a menu of activity ideas posted on the Resources tab of this site. Examples include: 3x's each, ABC order, writing spelling words in sentences etc. Every morning I give the students time to work on their spelling lessons in class. Most students finish these in class, so they might not need to do lessons for homework, but it is good to study their words with them each night. All 4 lessons are due on Friday before the spelling test.

Friday Quizzes: Each Friday students will take a spelling test and a Simple Solutions quiz. Their spelling test will include 3 dictation sentences.

PE: Students are to wear PE clothes on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Art: Miss Champlin is requesting that each student purchase a 9 x 12 sketchbook and bring $10 for art supplies.

Headphones: Students will need to bring a set of headphones to class for use with the Chromebooks.

Supply list: Thank you for those who brought the $10 gift cards for cleaning supplies. The money will be put toward replacing supplies when they run low later in the year, as there is limited space in our rooms for storage. This includes more Clorox Wipes, hand wipes, tissues, paper towels etc. If you are unable to get an Amazon gift card, Target, or cash is fine. I will be starting by purchasing more baby wipes for the students to use to cool off on the hot days!

Thank you!

Mrs. Macklin