Q1 Week 4

"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