September 30 - October 4

 

Hello October!

REMINDER: Reading Rodeo calendars are due on Tuesday, October 1st!!

What we are up to in Mrs. Roth's Class -

In MUR...

We will continue to work with the prefixes pre-, fore-, post-, and after-. No spelling homework this week. 

This week we will continue a 3-4 week genre study on action and adventure where we will be reading the book The Genius Files by Dan Guteman. In grammar we will continue to work on verbs, specifically on verb tenses. 

In MUM...

This week we will be starting chapter three which is all about whole number multiplication and division. 

Again this week students will be assigned a basic facts homework packet to help improve the fluency, rate and quick recall of basic facts. In fourth grade we are building on to a foundation of math that the students already have, but in order to keep moving, part of that foundation has to include being able to quickly recall math facts.

Each week this basic facts packet will be assigned Monday and is due Friday.

As parents, please check this packet with your child before they bring it in to make sure that they are improving in speed AND getting the facts correct. You can make it fun by timing your child to see if they are getting faster each time.

I also encourage parents to utilize all the great websites that are out there to help students work on their basic facts. Below is a list of a few that I have found and liked.

1.     www.Tutpup.com  – this is a website where you can sign up for FREE and challenge kids around the world in the area of math.  Very fun – kids love it!

2.     www.Multiplication.com – great website with math games.

3.     arcademicskillbuilders.com

4.     Learnzillion.com

Even if your child works 5-10 minutes a night on facts they will be successful in class each day. Thank you for your continued support at home!

In History...

Mrs. Roth's class is with Mrs. Slavik for meteorology this week. We are continuing to work with Mrs. Slavik's class on the mapping and mountains unit. The quiz for Mrs. Slavik's class will be on Tuesday, October 1st! Over the weekend (Sept. 28-29) you child should be bringing home a study guide to review so that they are ready for the review on Monday, and quiz on Tuesday! 

In Writing...

This week we will continue working with basic paragraph writing so that we have a good basis as we build into bigger projects as the year goes on. We will also go to the computer lab at least once a week to work on typing skills. 

Read Aloud...

We are reading The Underneath by Kathi Appelt. The students are loving the story so far!

September 23-27

What we are up to in Mrs. Roth's Class -

In MUR...

This week students DO have homework working with the new prefixes pre-, fore-, post-, and after-. This homework is do on Friday. Students will have a quiz on Friday.

This week we are starting a 3-4 week genre study on action and adventure where we will be reading the book The Genius Files by Dan Guteman. In grammar we will continue to work on verbs, specifically on verb tenses. 

In MUM...

This week we are going to focus on factors and multiples, along with whole number multiplication. Students will get their first math homework packet. Our class needs to REALLY work on building their fluency in basic math facts as that is a building block for all other skills. Here is the explanation that will be coming home with homework on Monday. 

Starting this week students will be assigned a basic facts homework packet each week to help improve the fluency, rate and quick recall of basic facts. In fourth grade we are building on to a foundation of math that the students already have, but in order to keep moving, part of that foundation has to include being able to quickly recall math facts.

Each week this basic facts packet will be assigned Monday and is due Friday.

As parents, please check this packet with your child before they bring it in to make sure that they are improving in speed AND getting the facts correct. You can make it fun by timing your child to see if they are getting faster each time.

I also encourage parents to utilize all the great websites that are out there to help students work on their basic facts. Below is a list of a few that I have found and liked.

1.     www.Tutpup.com  – this is a website where you can sign up for FREE and challenge kids around the world in the area of math.  Very fun – kids love it!

2.     www.Multiplication.com – great website with math games.

3.     arcademicskillbuilders.com

4.     Learnzillion.com

Even if your child works 5-10 minutes a night on facts they will be successful in class each day. Thank you for your continued support at home!

In History...

Mrs. Roth's class is with Mrs. Slavik for meteorology this week. We are continuing to work with Mrs. Slavik's class on the mapping and mountains unit. The quiz for Mrs. Slavik's class will be on Tuesday, October 1st!

In Writing...

This week we will continue working with basic paragraph writing so that we have a good basis as we build into bigger projects as the year goes on. We will also go to the computer lab at least once a week to work on typing skills. 

Read Aloud...

We are reading The Underneath by Kathi Appelt. The students are loving the story so far!

Spirit Week

Spirit Week 

September 23-27 next week

Monday: PJ/comfy clothes (no tank tops or silk jammies, make sure child is dressed appropriately for school)

Tuesday: Career/Character Day (dress in something you want to be when your older; cop, doctor, etc...OR dress in your favorite character attire- ex:  Katniss or Harry potter..no masks or extra props are allowed)

Wednesday: Dress your Best!   It's Lifetouch Picture Day.

Thursday: College T-shirt day with Jeans.  (Shirts will be in by Tuesday.)


Friday: Personality day (show your true colors!) example: wear your favorite band t-shirt, wear your skate shoes if you love skateboarding, wear that favorite headband that you don't usually get a chance to wear, etc.  

Bus Information

Now that we are beginning to feel settled into the school routine, I want to address behavioral expectations for the bus.  This is the first time, for many students, that mom or dad are not driving the “bus”!  The bus driver’s first and main responsibility is to be an attentive, safe driver.  The students’ job is to emulate the same great behavior they have in the car with you when they are on the bus.

Bus behavioral expectations are in the school’s handbook and are outlined below.  Riding the bus is a new experience for most kindergarteners and an exciting experience for most students- especially the end of the day ride!  Ridership is a privilege for all.

Typical for this time of year is the repetition of bus behavioral expectations from school leaders, classroom teachers, and HOME.  Homeroom teachers will deliver the same message in their communications as is delivered here.  It’s important that everyone agrees that bus safety is very important. 

For the majority of riders (94%+), we are experiencing excellent conduct.  For this we are very proud of our students.  We want to send a very clear message to all that as far as physical contact (biting, hitting) is concerned the student will lose ridership for a week.  While inconvenient for parents, it sends a clear message to all that safety and compliance are the expectation.

Thank you in advance for covering the bus expectations with your child and for partnering with the school so that together we can create a community of safe learning for all.

From the Family Handbook

Cologne Academy’s transportation provider is Positive Connections. Questions can be made directly to Positive Connections, 952 361-0899.

RULES:

The school bus safety rules are posted on every bus:

·         The bus driver is the responsible authority on the bus.

·         Students will board and leave the buses only at specifically designated stops.

·         Students will remain at a safe distance from the bus when buses are arriving or departing from their stops.

·         Pick-up times are established, and students will be waiting 5 minutes before pick up time at designated stops.

·         Students will go directly to their seats.  Students will stay seated when the bus is moving.

·         Backpacks, musical instruments, and other large items must be handled by students in such a way as to not come into contact with other students or obstruct the aisles.

·         For safety and cleanliness, gum, food, and drink are prohibited.

·         Only authorized students may ride the buses.  Non-regular riders must secure written permission to ride a specific bus.

·         Drivers may assign seats to students when necessary.  Students will remain seated at all times.  Drivers and administrators may make specific seat assignments.

·         When crossing a road, whether boarding or leaving a bus, students will walk in front of the bus after the driver signals that it is safe to cross.

·         Students will not engage in noisy or boisterous conduct which might distract the driver.

·         Students will not use profane or indecent language.

Consequences:

Consequences for school bus/bus stop misconduct will apply to all routes. Decisions regarding a student’s ability to ride the bus in connection with co-curricular (for example, field trips) will be in the sole discretion of the school. Parents or guardians will be notified of any suspension of bus privileges. The school’s disciplinary code will be consulted for all decisions regarding consequences. Depending on the nature of the offense, consequences such as suspension or expulsion from school also may result from school bus/bus stop misconduct.

Rules at the Bus Stop:

·         The school bus driver will generally not wait for late students.

·         Respect the property of others while waiting at your bus stop.

·         Keep your arms, legs, and belongings to yourself.

·         Use appropriate language.

·         Stay away from the street, road, or highway when waiting for the bus.

·         Wait until the bus stops before approaching the bus.

·         After getting off the bus, move away from the bus.

·         If you must cross the street, always cross in front of the bus where the driver can see you. Wait for the driver to signal to you before crossing the street.

·         No fighting, harassment, intimidation, or horseplay.

·         No use of alcohol, tobacco, or drugs.

Vandalism/Bus Damage

Students damaging school buses will be responsible for the damages. Failure to pay such damages (or make arrangements to pay) within two weeks may result in the loss of bus privileges until damages are paid.

Criminal Conduct

In cases involving criminal conduct (for example, assault, weapons, possession, or vandalism), the appropriate school personnel and local law enforcement officials will be informed.

Lynn G. Peterson

Executive Director

Cologne Academy

1221 South Village Parkway

Cologne, MN 55322

952 466-2276

September 16-20

Week of September 16-20

What we are up to in Mrs. Roth's Class -

In MUR...

This week we are again working with spelling/vocab words that have the prefixes in-, dis-, mis-, and un-. Students will have a quiz on Friday using words that have not previously seen and they will be responsible for matching the words with their definitions based on the meaning of the prefix and base word. 

Also this week we are focusing on text features including titles, headings, subheadings, labels, captions, maps, etc. Students will be able to identify these features in non-fiction text. 

We will continue to work on routines and procedures this week in order to make sure that our class runs smoothly throughout the year. 

In MUM...

This week we will continue to work on place value, number patterns, and comparing numbers. We will also start working with estimation and computation. Students do not have a weekly packet this week to work on, but they will have homework come home throughout the week if they do not finish the pages in class during work time. 

In History...

Tuesday we have our first quiz on out mapping and mountain units. Students will then switch to Mrs. Slavik for the first science unit of meteorology. 

In Writing...

This week we will continue working with basic paragraph writing so that we have a good basis as we build into bigger projects as the year goes on. We will also go to the computer lab at least once a week to work on typing skills. 

Read Aloud...

We are reading The Underneath by Kathi Appelt. The students are loving the story so far!

Week of September 9-13

Few reminders for week two! Please check in with your child each night and look in their accordion folder for any important papers or homework from the day. This is the place that all those papers should be. We are working hard as a class to make sure that we stay organized. I think that we can all appreciate that!

Within the next few days you will get an email from your child's MUM and MUR teachers (if you haven't already) so that you know who to contact throughout the year with questions. 

At pre-conferences I handed out the first Scholastic orders of the year. If you are interested, please log in online and order by next Friday. Thanks!

What we are up to in Mrs. Roth's Class -

In MUR...

This week we will continue to read several short stories from the Jr. Great Book series that will prepare us for Jr. Great Books throughout the school year. We will also get into the first vocabulary lesson from Words Their Way and start the first lesson in our grammar books. 

Students will be assigned the first spelling packet, which will come home MONDAY and is due FRIDAY. Students will be tested on the 15 words from the list on Friday. Next week we will continue to work with the same prefixes, but the test will be different words. There will be spelling homework only every other week!

We will continue to work on routines and procedures this week in order to make sure that our class runs smoothly throughout the year. 

In MUM...

This week we will dive in to chapters one and two on place value and estimation. We will not have a homework packet this week, but there might be practice pages that come home throughout the week. Please look for any homework in your child's accordion folder each night. 

In History...

This week we are continuing to learn all about maps and world mountains. Students will be tested on the material on Tuesday, September 17th! When we start each unit, I will give the students a Unit Organizer that lays out when we are doing what and when the test dates are. Students already have these for the mapping and mountains units, so they are available for you to look at if you would like!

On the 18th students will switch to Mrs. Slavik's for the first science unit of the year which is meteorology. 

In Writing...

This week we will start working with basic paragraph writing so that we have a good basis as we build into bigger projects as the year goes on. We will also go to the computer lab at least once a week to work on typing skills. 

Read Aloud...

We are reading The Underneath by Kathi Appelt. The students are loving the story so far!