Rocket Works and Market Day is this Friday!

In the morning:

• Rocket Works is a free lab conducted by the Denver Museum of Nature and Science where students will design, create, and launch your own paper rocket.

In the afternoon:

• In the cafeteria, beginning at 12:45, parent volunteers will sweep and arrange the tables before Market Day. If your students wish to use an electrical outlet during Market Day, it’s okay provided an adult is in their booth with them throughout the event. Electricity is not to be used for signage or other advertising, but, as most have requested, for heating foodstuffs. At 2:45, parent volunteers will be needed again to breakdown the market.

Science Fair is this Thursday / Judges are still needed

The Legacy Academy Science Fair will be held in the gymnasium this Thursday, December 10th.

We will be using community members for the judging of student’s projects. We still need volunteers. Please contact rhonda.peterson@legacyk8.org if you can help.

There are three important parts to the Science Fair Project. Each student is responsible for completing all three areas:

1. SCIENCE FAIR NOTEBOOK – Bring it on Thursday. It will be reviewed by the judges at the Science Fair.
2. DISPLAY BOARD – This is the visual display of the results of your student’s science experiment. Make certain you bring it on Thursday.
3. SCIENCE FAIR JUDGING – Students will present their projects to the judges. On Thursday, students will be expected to answer questions about their projects at that time. Judges will grade each project using a rubric.

The rubric score will determine the student’s grade. We will be using community members for the judging of student’s projects. Ribbons will be awarded for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place for each grade level (4th – 8th).

Week 17 (December 7 -11, 2009)

For the latest news on Mr. T’s classroom, follow us at Twitter.

There will be no testing this week. Our Friday testing moves to Tuesday, December 15.

Thursday and Friday are crazy this week. Here goes:

• Science Fair. It’s this Thursday. Click here for the last minute details.
• Rocket Works. It’s this Friday morning. It’s a free in-school field trip. Here is the scoop.
• Market Day. It’s on Friday afternoon. Here are the details.

Download the “Weeks 17 and 18 for Parents” .zip file here from YouSendIt. It contains the:

• Open Court vocabulary words (the story is not available online)
• Mr. T’s spelling list
• DOL (daily oral language) answer key

–Download a .zip file unpacker here (most computers will open this file automatically when you click on it. If not, you can find one here)

Math 5. Problem sets 58 – 61 will be due as homework this week. They should have plenty of time in class to complete homework. They will not test this week.

Daily Oral Language (DOL). Students edit two or three sentences daily in class and will test on some of the same sentences next Tuesday, December 15. Additionally, students will edit two similar sentences weekly for a quiz grade (to see if they can apply their newfound editing knowledge).

Spelling. Every student has a spelling list at their individual spelling level as determined by their Morrison-McCall test results (several kids spell well beyond the fourth grade age level). A copy of their list is sent home in their Monday Folder and a duplicate list kept at school.

Vocabulary. All students take a five word vocabulary test next Tuesday, December 15.

Shurley Grammar. Students will continue classifying “Pattern 2″ sentences and working with vocabulary.

Science fair judges are needed

Judges are needed desperately for the Legacy Academy Science Fair.  Don’t be shy.  No experience is necessary and it’s an opportunity for volunteer hours.

If you or someone you know is available on Thursday, December 10 from 9 a.m. till 2:30 p.m. please contact Rhonda Peterson at rhonda.peterson@legacyk8.org.  Be impulsive.  Do it now.

Market Day, Friday, December 11

The culminating event of our “Dollars and Sense” unit in Open Court is the Fourth Grade Market Day to be held in the cafeteria on December 11. A grade will be awarded in Reading for your student’s participation.

We’ll need parent helpers beginning at 12:50 p.m. for setup and 2:45 p.m. for breakdown. Our Room Moms will be all over this.

Individual business ownership is encouraged, but your kiddo may work with a business partner from either class. So, no greater than 2 partners is allowed.

The Open Court unit was on entrepreneurship. Therefore, your child keeps any money they make selling their wares.

Now some basics on the four P’s of Marketing:

• Product (or Service). It should appeal to kindergarten through seniors, staff, and parents. Don’t overstock: the market will be open for only 60 to 90 minutes. Products can be handmade, store-bought, baked, or recycled. Previous marketeers have offered brownies, cookies, candy, cupcakes, beads, bracelets, rings, hair ties, drawings, toys, postcards, outgrown stuffed animals, trading cards, leather goods, 8 ounce cans of pop, and digital photos. They have painted fingernails and faces, sprayed, beaded and braided hair, given massages, and told fortunes.
• Pricing. This is tricky: a price high enough to make it worth their while, but low enough to keep their merchandise moving. Individual shoppers may have only a buck or two to spend during all of market day. One dollar for any item is almost certainly too high. 50 cents is pushing it, but allows a merchant to lower prices if necessary. At a quarter an item they’ll have steady traffic. Some kind hearts sell at discounted prices to the wee ones in kindergarten through first or second grades.
• Place. Biz owners will use cafeteria tables to sell their products and services. Hopefully the setup will allow foot traffic around the ends of tables (i.e., no one will be located down a one way, dead end street). They’ll also need to remember to bring change and a drawer or pouch to store their moolah.
• Promotion. Signage is important. It tells the world what they’re offering. It will be displayed in front of their “booth.” They have been working on advertising copy during workshop and I’ve discovered a common mistake: their text is either too small or too busy. Keep it simple: BIG BOLD LETTERING of the product or service and the price. Business names and elaborate artwork will be lost on the crushing and loud mob of shoppers.

Caveat emptor!

Week 16 (November 30 – December 4, 2009)

For the latest news on Mr. T’s classroom, follow us at Twitter.

Market Day. It’s the day after the Science Fair. I know you want to string us up, but it’s the favorite event of many students during their stay in Fourth Grade. So, here are the details.

The fourth grade website is NOT operable. I had to change hosting sites recently and it does not work. So here’s the fix:

–Download the “Revised Week 16 for Parents” .zip file here from YouSendIt. It contains the:

• Open Court vocabulary words (the story is not available online)
• Mr. T’s spelling list
• DOL (daily oral language) practice sheet and answer key
• Shurley Grammar study guide for my class (we are starting “Pattern 2″ sentences this week)
• Science Fair Information Packet
• Student Science Fair Notebook
• Mrs. Waide’s newsletter and spelling list

–Download a .zip file unpacker here (most computers will open this file automatically when you click on it. If not, you can find one here)

Science Fair. Science fair materials can be viewed and downloaded here (look in the lower right hand corner under “Science Fair”). These are the remaining assignments:

• November 23 (FYI: it’s late): Show completed Science Fair notebook to teacher.
• November 23 – December 9: Work on display boards. Practice presentation at home several times.
• December 10: The Science Fair at Legacy Academy.
  

Math 5. Problem sets 54 – 57 will be due as homework this week. They should have plenty of time in class to complete homework. They will test this Friday.

Daily Oral Language (DOL). Students edit two or three sentences daily in class and will test on some of the same sentences this Friday. Additionally, students will edit two similar sentences weekly for a quiz grade (to see if they can apply their newfound editing knowledge).

Spelling. Every student has a spelling list at their individual spelling level as determined by their Morrison-McCall test results (several kids spell well beyond the fourth grade age level). A copy of their list is sent home in their Monday Folder and a duplicate list kept at school.

Vocabulary. All students take a five word vocabulary test each Friday.

Shurley Grammar. Students will test this week in addition to classifying “Pattern 2″ sentences and working with vocabulary.

Week 15 (NOV 23 – 27, 2009)

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. I am indeed grateful for your kiddos. Fourth graders have a unique view of the world.

Do I need to tell anyone there’s no school Wednesday through Friday?

Due to the shortened week, my students will have no new homework or test preparation. Obviously, they must complete any missing assignments (particularly in math) and the December science fair looms large.

For the latest news on Mr. T’s classroom, follow us at Twitter.

Science Fair. I extended two deadlines. Get the scoop here.

Math 5. Small group investigations in class are planned. There will be no new homework this week. They should have plenty of time in class to complete missing assignments. They will not test this week.

Spelling / Vocabulary. All students will work with their cumulative spelling and vocabulary words. They will not test this week.

Rewriting.  Students will complete their second extended writing piece.

Shurley Grammar. No testing this week, however, students will be classifying sentences and working with vocabulary.

Science Fair: Week 14 assignments

Science fair materials can be viewed and downloaded here (look in the lower right hand corner under “Science Fair”).

I have extended two due dates:

• November 20: Return “Summary” page in the Science Fair Notebook signed by the parent.
• November 23: Show completed Science Fair notebook to teacher.

Subsequent assignments are detailed in the “Time Line” in the Science Fair Notebook.

Week 14 (NOV 16 – 20, 2009)

For the latest news on Mr. T’s classroom, follow us at Twitter.

The fourth grade website is NOT operable. I had to change hosting sites recently and it does not work. So here’s a temporary fix:

–Download the “Week 14 for Parents” .zip file here from YouSendIt. It contains the:

• Open Court story and vocabulary words
• Mr. T’s spelling list
• DOL (daily oral language) practice sheet and answer key
• Science Fair Information Packet
• Student Science Fair Notebook

–Download a .zip file unpacker here (most computers will open this file automatically when you click on it. If not, you can find one here)

Science Fair. I have extended two deadlines. Get the scoop here.

Math 5. Problem sets 50 – 53 will be due as homework this week. They should have plenty of time in class to complete homework. They will test this Friday.

Daily Oral Language (DOL). Students edit two or three sentences daily in class and will test on some of the same sentences this Friday. Additionally, students will edit two similar sentences weekly for a quiz grade (to see if they can apply their newfound editing knowledge).

Spelling. Every student has a spelling list at their individual spelling level as determined by their Morrison-McCall test results (several kids spell well beyond the fourth grade age level). A copy of their list is sent home in their Monday Folder and a duplicate list kept at school.

Vocabulary. All students take a five word vocabulary test each Friday.

Shurley Grammar. No testing this week, however, students will be classifying sentences and working with vocabulary.

MatchWits

Click here.