"Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy, and keep choosing it every day." -Henri J.M. Nouwen
Dear Parents,
Four weeks into the year and your scholars are already demonstrating excellence in their behavior that I would expect from the third quarter. We have been very impressed by the wonder they bring to our classrooms and by how they choose to pursue learning and virtue every day.
One concern we have though is homework completion. Many scholars are missing one or more homework assignment. This is due in part to some students forgetting to put their name on their work, but also to many not turning work in. Because of this there are many students whose grades are in deficient levels right now. If you receive a deficiency notice, make sure your scholar turns in their homework for the rest of the quarter and that should bring their grade up significantly.
This Week
History: This week your students will be learning about the Middle Ages and the amazing innovations produced by people who faced the struggles of living in the post-Roman Empire. They will also be learning about the role played by the Catholic and Orthodox Christian churches in the Middle Ages and how those institutions deeply shaped culture.
Writing: We will be starting to learn how to read, understand, and summarize passages in school this week. This is a crucial skill that will be key to their success on AZ Merit and the rest of their academic career. We will be spending a lot of time on summary, so feel free to ask any questions you have to help or let me know if your scholar is struggling with the skill.
Literature: This week we will seminar on Prince Caspian! The questions they will be discussing as a group (with minimal teacher help) are "What is the most important characteristic to have to be a good king?" and "What role does belief play in the actions of the characters in the book?"
Spalding: We should be getting into the rhythm of Spalding soon. We have been reviewing cursive and making sure all the students can write proficiently and legibly. Starting next week between 20 and 30 spelling words should be coming home as homework on Mondays and Wednesdays. Make sure students are getting those done and preparing for their spelling tests every Friday.
The year and all of its stresses keeps coming, but the prize at the end of the journey is worth all the challenges we face. Lets follow the example of your students and keep choosing to be joyful every day.
Best,
Mr. Ohbayashi
4th Grade History/ELA Lead Teacher
Monday, August 29, 2016
Monday, August 22, 2016
Q1 Week 3
Dear Parents,
"Since it is so likely that children will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage." -C.S. Lewis.
A new week begins, with new challenges and new adventures. We are beginning to fall into our routines now, and as the freshness of the year wears off we are likely to see slips and mistakes on everyone's part. If you see one or two infractions coming home, that is okay. Everyone is getting comfortable in fourth grade, and everyone makes mistakes.
As we push forward let us always keep our minds on our mission, to help these students become excellent human beings. They are very likely to face many enemies and difficulties as they grow up and take leadership of the world, we must at least prepare them to face them with heroic courage.
This Week
History: We will be learning about the fall of Rome this week. The students will learn about the instability and chaos left in Rome's wake and how the people of that time adapted and built the beginnings of the kingdoms and nations that would form into the modern world. There will be a quiz on Friday.
Writing/Spalding: We are going to really focus on handwriting this week. By the end we will have gone through cursive and manuscript letter formation and should all be writing proficiently. The best way to help your student improve their handwriting is by checking their homework (or anything they write) and insisting on their best work. It might be painful to rewrite a sentence, but the benefit of what it teaches them will save them a lot of time in the future. There will be a handwriting quiz on Thursday.
Reading: We will continue with Prince Caspian. This week Caspian and the Pevensie's situation will become even more dire and they will encounter some truly cruel enemies. If you read with your students (a great idea!) then talk to them about the courage that was required by the children to face such terrible enemies. Such courage is worth emulating.
Thank you for your continued support! Please feel free to email me with any questions or concerns.
Best,
Mr. Ohbayashi
4th Grade History/ELA Lead Teacher
"Since it is so likely that children will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage." -C.S. Lewis.
A new week begins, with new challenges and new adventures. We are beginning to fall into our routines now, and as the freshness of the year wears off we are likely to see slips and mistakes on everyone's part. If you see one or two infractions coming home, that is okay. Everyone is getting comfortable in fourth grade, and everyone makes mistakes.
As we push forward let us always keep our minds on our mission, to help these students become excellent human beings. They are very likely to face many enemies and difficulties as they grow up and take leadership of the world, we must at least prepare them to face them with heroic courage.
This Week
History: We will be learning about the fall of Rome this week. The students will learn about the instability and chaos left in Rome's wake and how the people of that time adapted and built the beginnings of the kingdoms and nations that would form into the modern world. There will be a quiz on Friday.
Writing/Spalding: We are going to really focus on handwriting this week. By the end we will have gone through cursive and manuscript letter formation and should all be writing proficiently. The best way to help your student improve their handwriting is by checking their homework (or anything they write) and insisting on their best work. It might be painful to rewrite a sentence, but the benefit of what it teaches them will save them a lot of time in the future. There will be a handwriting quiz on Thursday.
Reading: We will continue with Prince Caspian. This week Caspian and the Pevensie's situation will become even more dire and they will encounter some truly cruel enemies. If you read with your students (a great idea!) then talk to them about the courage that was required by the children to face such terrible enemies. Such courage is worth emulating.
Thank you for your continued support! Please feel free to email me with any questions or concerns.
Best,
Mr. Ohbayashi
4th Grade History/ELA Lead Teacher
Sunday, August 14, 2016
Q1 Week 2
"No one in the world can change Truth. What we can do and should do is to seek truth and to serve it when we have found it." -St. Maximillian Kolbe
Dear Parents,
The first week of school is past, and here we are. There are still procedures to master, but your students have been incredibly impressive these first four days. As we begin to fall into the routines of schoolwork, here are some things to keep in mind:
1) Infractions and Virtue Codes
This year we will be using an infraction and code system to track and communicate behavior. An infraction is given to a student when they are not following our expectations for the class.
An infraction is a gentle reminder for them to recognize that they are not meeting expectations so they have a chance to adjust their own behavior. The infraction will be put into their agenda and needs to be signed by you before the next day.
We are all human and make mistakes, and it is likely that each of your students will receive at least a few infractions this year. I strongly advise these infractions should not be treated as major offenses at home.
A single infraction can be an opportunity to have a discussion about the expectation and how your student can follow it in the future, but typically won't require any further consequence.
2) Friday Folders
Every Friday a manila folder will come home with your student with their graded work. This should be the work they did that week up to Thursday, plus Thursday and Friday's work from the week before.
Make sure you are asking for your students Friday folder, as sometimes they forget to show it to their parents. The folder should be returned the following Monday.
3) Names on homework.
Make sure to remind your students to put their names on their homework! We already have 3 assignments that will not get credit because they had no names. We will not hunt down the owners of assignments that do not have names on them, so it is important that students learn this basic skill quickly.
In class this week:
History: We will finish learning how to use latitude and longitude to find coordinates on a map and go on a world tour from London to Mecca to Beijing, some of thee major cities we will study this year. There will be a quiz on Thursday assessing their ability to locate specific coordinate points on a map and their general understanding of the layout of a basic map.
Reading: We will continue to read Prince Caspian. A great strategy for approaching focus questions is to have your scholar read the questions before doing the reading and talk to you or someone else about what kind of answer they will be looking for. Then they can read and find answers as they go. This saves time and keeps them from having to search through the text after they have already read it.
Spalding: We will be re-learning correct Spalding manuscript and cursive this week. Handwriting will be a grade this year, so continue to encourage your student to do their best. Sometimes having them rewrite assignments that are very messy can be frustrating, but it will benefit them greatly.
Writing/Grammar: We will be learning about common and proper nouns this week, as well as pronouns. Their noun notes will go into their blue Writing/Grammar notebook. There will be a quiz on Friday assessing their understanding of the difference between common nouns, proper nouns, and pronouns.
Please feel free to email me if you have any questions or concerns.
Best,
Mr. Ohbayashi
4th Grade Lead Teacher
Dear Parents,
The first week of school is past, and here we are. There are still procedures to master, but your students have been incredibly impressive these first four days. As we begin to fall into the routines of schoolwork, here are some things to keep in mind:
1) Infractions and Virtue Codes
This year we will be using an infraction and code system to track and communicate behavior. An infraction is given to a student when they are not following our expectations for the class.
An infraction is a gentle reminder for them to recognize that they are not meeting expectations so they have a chance to adjust their own behavior. The infraction will be put into their agenda and needs to be signed by you before the next day.
We are all human and make mistakes, and it is likely that each of your students will receive at least a few infractions this year. I strongly advise these infractions should not be treated as major offenses at home.
A single infraction can be an opportunity to have a discussion about the expectation and how your student can follow it in the future, but typically won't require any further consequence.
2) Friday Folders
Every Friday a manila folder will come home with your student with their graded work. This should be the work they did that week up to Thursday, plus Thursday and Friday's work from the week before.
Make sure you are asking for your students Friday folder, as sometimes they forget to show it to their parents. The folder should be returned the following Monday.
3) Names on homework.
Make sure to remind your students to put their names on their homework! We already have 3 assignments that will not get credit because they had no names. We will not hunt down the owners of assignments that do not have names on them, so it is important that students learn this basic skill quickly.
In class this week:
History: We will finish learning how to use latitude and longitude to find coordinates on a map and go on a world tour from London to Mecca to Beijing, some of thee major cities we will study this year. There will be a quiz on Thursday assessing their ability to locate specific coordinate points on a map and their general understanding of the layout of a basic map.
Reading: We will continue to read Prince Caspian. A great strategy for approaching focus questions is to have your scholar read the questions before doing the reading and talk to you or someone else about what kind of answer they will be looking for. Then they can read and find answers as they go. This saves time and keeps them from having to search through the text after they have already read it.
Spalding: We will be re-learning correct Spalding manuscript and cursive this week. Handwriting will be a grade this year, so continue to encourage your student to do their best. Sometimes having them rewrite assignments that are very messy can be frustrating, but it will benefit them greatly.
Writing/Grammar: We will be learning about common and proper nouns this week, as well as pronouns. Their noun notes will go into their blue Writing/Grammar notebook. There will be a quiz on Friday assessing their understanding of the difference between common nouns, proper nouns, and pronouns.
Please feel free to email me if you have any questions or concerns.
Best,
Mr. Ohbayashi
4th Grade Lead Teacher
Monday, August 8, 2016
Q1 Week 1
Dear Parents,
Welcome again to the 4th grade. It is my hope that we can work together this year to continue to help your students down the path toward success and virtue.
The purpose of this blog will be to create a reliable stream of communication from myself to parents. I will update the blog every Monday with an outline of the content we will be covering that week, test dates, and other important announcements.
I plan on creating an automatic notification for all 4th grade parents every time my blog is updated. Please email me at bohbayashi@archwaytriviumeast.org if you would prefer not to receive this update.
This Week
So much of this week will be dedicated to getting the students back into school mode. We will be practicing procedures a lot, but also introducing the main themes and ideas that are going to define our learning this year.
Writing/Grammar: Why do we write? What is the purpose of communicating through written word and what skills are fundamental to excelling at it? We will be discussing these questions and setting up our Writing and Grammar notebooks. We will also be reviewing the Spalding phonograms. Make sure your students are brushing up on them!
History: Why do we study history? In class we will be exploring the purpose of learning about the history humanity. What can we learn from it practically, and are there reasons that go beyond what is practical to learn about history?
Literature: This week we will be jumping right into Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis. We will be reading together in class and reading at home, so make sure to purchase a copy of the book for your student if you haven't already!
If you want to know what homework is being assigned to your students, check their agenda! They should be recording all homework in their agendas and putting any worksheets they need to complete in their red homework folders.
This week is going to be a lot of work for your students! Make sure to congratulate them Friday for getting through it!
Best,
Mr. Ohbayashi
Welcome again to the 4th grade. It is my hope that we can work together this year to continue to help your students down the path toward success and virtue.
The purpose of this blog will be to create a reliable stream of communication from myself to parents. I will update the blog every Monday with an outline of the content we will be covering that week, test dates, and other important announcements.
I plan on creating an automatic notification for all 4th grade parents every time my blog is updated. Please email me at bohbayashi@archwaytriviumeast.org if you would prefer not to receive this update.
This Week
So much of this week will be dedicated to getting the students back into school mode. We will be practicing procedures a lot, but also introducing the main themes and ideas that are going to define our learning this year.
Writing/Grammar: Why do we write? What is the purpose of communicating through written word and what skills are fundamental to excelling at it? We will be discussing these questions and setting up our Writing and Grammar notebooks. We will also be reviewing the Spalding phonograms. Make sure your students are brushing up on them!
History: Why do we study history? In class we will be exploring the purpose of learning about the history humanity. What can we learn from it practically, and are there reasons that go beyond what is practical to learn about history?
Literature: This week we will be jumping right into Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis. We will be reading together in class and reading at home, so make sure to purchase a copy of the book for your student if you haven't already!
If you want to know what homework is being assigned to your students, check their agenda! They should be recording all homework in their agendas and putting any worksheets they need to complete in their red homework folders.
This week is going to be a lot of work for your students! Make sure to congratulate them Friday for getting through it!
Best,
Mr. Ohbayashi
Welcome the 2016-2017 4th grade year!
Dear Parents,
“It’s a dangerous business Frodo,
going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet,
there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.” –Bilbo Baggins
Whenever a new school year
approaches, I think of this timeless advice given by Bilbo Baggins to his
nephew. Every year is the beginning of an adventure. We step out of our door,
out of our comfort zone, and hope to keep our feet as the learning begins. The
uncertainty of it all is scary. Who knows what could happen?
But Bilbo never tells Frodo to stay
home. There is something about the endeavor that is worth the risk. Beyond our
door there are goblins and elves, heroes and dragons, dungeons to be explored
and treasures to be found. There is a world of magic and mystery just waiting
to be discovered. Who knows what could happen?
I am so excited to be joining your
students in this fellowship of learning this year. The road before us is long,
and may sometimes be difficult, but the wonders awaiting us are well worth it.
Welcome to the 4th
grade!
Best,
Burk Ohbayashi
Burk Ohbayashi
4th Grade Lead Teacher
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)