Q2 Week3

Dear Parents,

Week three into quarter two, and some changes coming to the 4th grade!

After a lot of discussion the 4th grade team has decided to change our discipline policies. Instead of 3 identical infractions in a month adding up to a detention, we are changing it to 3 identical infractions in a week. This means that if a student receive 3 TLK infractions in a single week, they will receive a detention. But if they receive 2 TLK infractions in the first week of November, and another TLK in the second week of November, they will NOT be given a detention. If you're still confused, feel free to email me for more clarification, but in essence we are shortening the amount of time that infractions can add up into detentions.

On the topic of infractions, make sure you are reminding your students to get their homework done and turn it in when its due! We have many missing homework assignments so far this quarter, and we are going to start handing out UPLs for every missing assignment (they build up fast, even in one week).

Also remember to remind your scholars to log their reading minutes for the Read-A-Thon. Its through those pledges that we are building our school library, so its important!


This Week

1) In History we will be spending Monday and Tuesday learning about the Crusades, and on Wednesday and Thursday we will be studying for our first TEST of the quarter. The test will be on everything they have learned so far this quarter about the religion of Islam. Islam Quiz 1 went home today and will be useful for studying for the test. Islam Quiz 2 will go home on Monday, so look out for that too when helping your student study. Islam has been more challenging for our students than previous units, so you should especially focus on memorizing Arabic terms such as "Mosque," "Minaret," and "Caliph."

2) In Writing we will be dissecting sentences to see how removing words can totally change the meaning of a sentence. Our students will get to see how the parts of speech function to create beautiful sentences and how much thought has to go into communication.

3) In Reading we will be continuing in King Arthur and our discussions of bravery and the meaning of being a knight. Feel free to ask your students questions about what they think it means to be a "true knight." As always, reading with your students gives them the best chance to comprehend and remember the plot of the story.

Thanks for all you are doing! Your children are truly a blessing to teach.

Best,

Mr. Ohbayashi