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
Friday, October 30, 2015
Monday, October 26, 2015
Q2 Week 1
Dear Parents,
We are back to full weeks of school and the second quarter is officially underway! I spoke to most of you last week, and mentioned that the curriculum is going to get a little more difficult. Expect the homework to ask more of your students and maybe take a bit longer, but let me know if it becomes too much. All homework should take about 90 minutes to complete, if it is taking significantly more than that for your student, let us know and we will work with them.
This Week
1) In History we will continue to learn about Mohammed and the rise of Islam. Make sure your students are doing the readings and focus questions that will be going home and feel free to discuss and ask them questions about the early days of the Muslim religion. This is a topic many students are much less familiar with than Medieval and Christian history, so extra discussion at home will help a lot!
2) In Reading we will be reading the story of Sir Gareth in King Arthur and also starting the tale of Tristram and Isolde. Read along with your students and focus on discussions of bravery in its different forms. There will be a quiz at the end of the week that will ask them to discuss the bravery of these two knights (and of Isolde) and try to define the difference between bravery and brashness.
3) In Writing we will be learning about adjectives, the great describers of the English language. A great thing to do at home is to ask your students to identify the different parts of everyday sentences. Questions like "Is that a noun or a verb?" or "Can you find the subject of this sentence?" help give students the experience to be confident in their understanding of the parts of speech.
Lets start the quarter off strong!
Best,
Mr. Ohbayashi
We are back to full weeks of school and the second quarter is officially underway! I spoke to most of you last week, and mentioned that the curriculum is going to get a little more difficult. Expect the homework to ask more of your students and maybe take a bit longer, but let me know if it becomes too much. All homework should take about 90 minutes to complete, if it is taking significantly more than that for your student, let us know and we will work with them.
This Week
1) In History we will continue to learn about Mohammed and the rise of Islam. Make sure your students are doing the readings and focus questions that will be going home and feel free to discuss and ask them questions about the early days of the Muslim religion. This is a topic many students are much less familiar with than Medieval and Christian history, so extra discussion at home will help a lot!
2) In Reading we will be reading the story of Sir Gareth in King Arthur and also starting the tale of Tristram and Isolde. Read along with your students and focus on discussions of bravery in its different forms. There will be a quiz at the end of the week that will ask them to discuss the bravery of these two knights (and of Isolde) and try to define the difference between bravery and brashness.
3) In Writing we will be learning about adjectives, the great describers of the English language. A great thing to do at home is to ask your students to identify the different parts of everyday sentences. Questions like "Is that a noun or a verb?" or "Can you find the subject of this sentence?" help give students the experience to be confident in their understanding of the parts of speech.
Lets start the quarter off strong!
Best,
Mr. Ohbayashi
Friday, October 2, 2015
Week 9
Dear Parents,
Its hard to believe the quarter is almost over already. Both Mr. Elefson and I have greatly enjoyed the past 8 weeks teaching your students. As we close out the quarter, make sure to encourage and praise them. Making it through even one quarter of a Great Hearts curriculum is no small achievement.
They will have little homework over the break (possibly none at all, I have to confirm), so make sure to let them to rest and relax, they have earned it!
This Week
1) In History we will be studying great people of the Middle Ages. Your students will have a project where they study their own famous person. More details will come home on Monday.
2) In Reading we will continue to read King Arthur. The next tale is the story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. It is incredibly exciting so make sure to talk to your students and get the details. As always it is always so helpful for you to have your students read to you.
3) In Writing we are going to be copying a passage from the Magna Carta. There are a lot of beautiful sentences that we will be breaking down and putting back together to give your students an understanding of how the English language can be used to express ideas with power and verve.
Your students are doing great here at school, keep encouraging them and keep up the great work you are doing at home!
Best,
Mr. Ohbayashi
Its hard to believe the quarter is almost over already. Both Mr. Elefson and I have greatly enjoyed the past 8 weeks teaching your students. As we close out the quarter, make sure to encourage and praise them. Making it through even one quarter of a Great Hearts curriculum is no small achievement.
They will have little homework over the break (possibly none at all, I have to confirm), so make sure to let them to rest and relax, they have earned it!
This Week
1) In History we will be studying great people of the Middle Ages. Your students will have a project where they study their own famous person. More details will come home on Monday.
2) In Reading we will continue to read King Arthur. The next tale is the story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. It is incredibly exciting so make sure to talk to your students and get the details. As always it is always so helpful for you to have your students read to you.
3) In Writing we are going to be copying a passage from the Magna Carta. There are a lot of beautiful sentences that we will be breaking down and putting back together to give your students an understanding of how the English language can be used to express ideas with power and verve.
Your students are doing great here at school, keep encouraging them and keep up the great work you are doing at home!
Best,
Mr. Ohbayashi
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Week 8
Dear Parents,
Sorry for the late post again! On Monday I left school thinking there was something I had forgotten, and Tuesday morning I finally figured out it was my blog post! I have now set up a notification to remind me to post it on Fridays.
We are reaching the end of the quarter, my how time flies! As we close out these last few weeks make sure to keep encouraging your students. Its likely they are feeling a little stressed right now, but fall break will be a good reprieve from work.
This Week
1) In History we will be having a test this Friday! The test will be on Charlemagne, the Feudal system, women in the Middle Ages, and William the Conqueror. Quizzes 4 and 5 are good resources to use to study for this test. A study guide will be created for your students to study Thursday, so look out for that!
2) In Writing we will be learning about verbs and diving into diagramming sentences. Learning to diagram is an important part of understanding the inner workings of a beautiful sentence, it can also be incredibly fun if approached with the right attitude. Encourage your students to think of it like a puzzle or riddle to be solved.
3) In Reading we will continue to read King Arthur. The story is getting interesting; King Arthur and his knights are about to begin their search for the Holy Grail! Keep reading with your students, you can even direct them to a page number where you remember a detail they need to answer their focus questions, just have them reread and find the detail on their own.
You are all doing an amazing job parenting these kids, keep up the great work!
Best,
Mr. Ohbayashi
Sorry for the late post again! On Monday I left school thinking there was something I had forgotten, and Tuesday morning I finally figured out it was my blog post! I have now set up a notification to remind me to post it on Fridays.
We are reaching the end of the quarter, my how time flies! As we close out these last few weeks make sure to keep encouraging your students. Its likely they are feeling a little stressed right now, but fall break will be a good reprieve from work.
This Week
1) In History we will be having a test this Friday! The test will be on Charlemagne, the Feudal system, women in the Middle Ages, and William the Conqueror. Quizzes 4 and 5 are good resources to use to study for this test. A study guide will be created for your students to study Thursday, so look out for that!
2) In Writing we will be learning about verbs and diving into diagramming sentences. Learning to diagram is an important part of understanding the inner workings of a beautiful sentence, it can also be incredibly fun if approached with the right attitude. Encourage your students to think of it like a puzzle or riddle to be solved.
3) In Reading we will continue to read King Arthur. The story is getting interesting; King Arthur and his knights are about to begin their search for the Holy Grail! Keep reading with your students, you can even direct them to a page number where you remember a detail they need to answer their focus questions, just have them reread and find the detail on their own.
You are all doing an amazing job parenting these kids, keep up the great work!
Best,
Mr. Ohbayashi
Friday, September 18, 2015
Week 7
Dear Parents,
It's incredible that we have already gotten through 6 weeks of school. Time flies by! You may be starting to notice that its getting a little more challenging for your students. Don't be discouraged if they are struggling more than you have seen them do so before, we want them to struggle (at least a little bit) so they can learn that learning is sometimes difficult and frustrating, but always worth it!
Keeping that in mind, we also don't want to utterly defeat a student. Please let me know if you think the workload is overtaxing your student and we can meet to figure out how to help balance it.
This week:
1) In History we will be continuing to learn about the age of Feudalism. We will study the life of knight and codes of Chivalry. We will also learn about some important people who lived during the Medieval Age. Keep asking your students questions about what they are learning in history, it absolutely helps them understand and retain information when they can explain it to someone else.
2) In Reading we will continue to read the adventures of King Arthur and his knights. This book is much more difficult to Caspian was, so I recommend you continue to read it with your student if you have time. If you explain words they don't understand and have a conversation about what is happening in the story it will greatly increase their comprehension.
3) In Writing we will be copying and deconstructing sentences. The goal is to give students more practice reading and writing cursive and also start to explore what make beautiful sentences beautiful.
Other announcements:
1) There isa Peter Piper Pizza night for the whole school this coming Monday, 15% off all pizza! Ask your students for more details, they should have a flier.
2) A few parents have approached me wanting to organize a 4th grade family day. I am going to forward them all the contact info I have. If you would prefer your contact info NOT be forwarded, please send me an email at bohbayashi@archwaytriviumeast.org.
I am also going to send out a mass email asking this question, to make sure everyone gets it. If you do not respond I am going to share your email with a select few parents who want to organize the outing.
Can't wait to see your students for another awesome week!
Best,
Mr. Ohbayashi
It's incredible that we have already gotten through 6 weeks of school. Time flies by! You may be starting to notice that its getting a little more challenging for your students. Don't be discouraged if they are struggling more than you have seen them do so before, we want them to struggle (at least a little bit) so they can learn that learning is sometimes difficult and frustrating, but always worth it!
Keeping that in mind, we also don't want to utterly defeat a student. Please let me know if you think the workload is overtaxing your student and we can meet to figure out how to help balance it.
This week:
1) In History we will be continuing to learn about the age of Feudalism. We will study the life of knight and codes of Chivalry. We will also learn about some important people who lived during the Medieval Age. Keep asking your students questions about what they are learning in history, it absolutely helps them understand and retain information when they can explain it to someone else.
2) In Reading we will continue to read the adventures of King Arthur and his knights. This book is much more difficult to Caspian was, so I recommend you continue to read it with your student if you have time. If you explain words they don't understand and have a conversation about what is happening in the story it will greatly increase their comprehension.
3) In Writing we will be copying and deconstructing sentences. The goal is to give students more practice reading and writing cursive and also start to explore what make beautiful sentences beautiful.
Other announcements:
1) There isa Peter Piper Pizza night for the whole school this coming Monday, 15% off all pizza! Ask your students for more details, they should have a flier.
2) A few parents have approached me wanting to organize a 4th grade family day. I am going to forward them all the contact info I have. If you would prefer your contact info NOT be forwarded, please send me an email at bohbayashi@archwaytriviumeast.org.
I am also going to send out a mass email asking this question, to make sure everyone gets it. If you do not respond I am going to share your email with a select few parents who want to organize the outing.
Can't wait to see your students for another awesome week!
Best,
Mr. Ohbayashi
Monday, September 14, 2015
Week 6
Dear Parents,
My apologies for getting the letter up late this week, I wrote it but forgot to publish.
This week we will send out deficiency notices if students are struggling in particular subjects. A deficiency notice will be sent if your student has an overall grade of a D+ or lower in a class. If your student receives a deficiency notice, don't panic! They are common the first quarter, especially the first quarter of the first year of a new school. Students who get deficiencies half-way through the quarter still have plenty of time to bring up their grade. The deficiency will provide suggestions for what we can do to help your student improve, usually tutoring. These will be sent out by Wednesday, so keep an eye out for them.
In class this week:
1) In history we will be learning about the Franks and their leader Charlemagne, who re-united Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire. If you want to research and discuss these events with your student it would help them in class!
2) In writing we will be working on identifying the difference between proper and common nouns.
3) In reading we will be continuing with King Arthur. This is a much harder book than Caspian, I strongly encourage you have your student read it to you out loud, so you can help them with comprehension. Ask them questions about the story, to make sure they know what is going on.
4) We are going to be reciting our poem this week! Make sure your student has memorized all three stanzas of "Afternoon on a Hill" by Edna St. Vincent Millay.
There will be no tests in History or Language Arts this week.
As always feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns! My email is bohbayashi@archwaytriviumeast.org.
Best,
Burk Ohbayashi
My apologies for getting the letter up late this week, I wrote it but forgot to publish.
This week we will send out deficiency notices if students are struggling in particular subjects. A deficiency notice will be sent if your student has an overall grade of a D+ or lower in a class. If your student receives a deficiency notice, don't panic! They are common the first quarter, especially the first quarter of the first year of a new school. Students who get deficiencies half-way through the quarter still have plenty of time to bring up their grade. The deficiency will provide suggestions for what we can do to help your student improve, usually tutoring. These will be sent out by Wednesday, so keep an eye out for them.
In class this week:
1) In history we will be learning about the Franks and their leader Charlemagne, who re-united Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire. If you want to research and discuss these events with your student it would help them in class!
2) In writing we will be working on identifying the difference between proper and common nouns.
3) In reading we will be continuing with King Arthur. This is a much harder book than Caspian, I strongly encourage you have your student read it to you out loud, so you can help them with comprehension. Ask them questions about the story, to make sure they know what is going on.
4) We are going to be reciting our poem this week! Make sure your student has memorized all three stanzas of "Afternoon on a Hill" by Edna St. Vincent Millay.
There will be no tests in History or Language Arts this week.
As always feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns! My email is bohbayashi@archwaytriviumeast.org.
Best,
Burk Ohbayashi
Friday, September 4, 2015
Week 5
Dear Parents,
My apologies, this is the week clubs are starting! If you haven't already signed your student up for an extra-curricular club, there are some great after school opportunities. I myself will be leading the Drama Club, where students will learn the fundamentals of theater.
Other important reminders:
1) The Prince Caspian Literature Test is pushed back from today (Friday) to this upcoming Wednesday, Sept. 9. The test will focus on the big ideas in the story, namely answering the question, "What is necessary to be a good leader?" The test will require examples from the story and the students have a study sheet to work from.
2) The History Test is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 11. It will cover the fall of Rome, the barbarians, early Christianity, and Charlemagne. Please be sure to have your students study their notes. A study guide will also be sent home this week.
Because of Labor Day, this weekend is an R&R weekend so no studying should be done. I hope they enjoy it!
In class this week:
1) In history we will be learning about the schism in the early Christian Church and about the rise of Charlemagne and the Holy Roman Empire.
2) In literature, after the Caspian test, we will spend Thursday and Friday memorizing "Afternoon on a Hill" by Edna St. Vincent Millay. Students should have the first stanza memorized on Thursday.
3) In writing we will be finishing cursive this week. Encourage your students to write their best at home as well!
Homework loads are going to be increasing in the coming weeks, keep encouraging your students! Learning is frustrating, but its worth it. If your student ever takes longer than an hour on a single assignment, please email myself and Mrs. Wycklendt so we can take action at school to help them.
Thanks for everything you are doing to support us, we really appreciate it. Enjoy your long weekend!
Best,
Mr. Ohbayashi
My apologies, this is the week clubs are starting! If you haven't already signed your student up for an extra-curricular club, there are some great after school opportunities. I myself will be leading the Drama Club, where students will learn the fundamentals of theater.
Other important reminders:
1) The Prince Caspian Literature Test is pushed back from today (Friday) to this upcoming Wednesday, Sept. 9. The test will focus on the big ideas in the story, namely answering the question, "What is necessary to be a good leader?" The test will require examples from the story and the students have a study sheet to work from.
2) The History Test is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 11. It will cover the fall of Rome, the barbarians, early Christianity, and Charlemagne. Please be sure to have your students study their notes. A study guide will also be sent home this week.
Because of Labor Day, this weekend is an R&R weekend so no studying should be done. I hope they enjoy it!
In class this week:
1) In history we will be learning about the schism in the early Christian Church and about the rise of Charlemagne and the Holy Roman Empire.
2) In literature, after the Caspian test, we will spend Thursday and Friday memorizing "Afternoon on a Hill" by Edna St. Vincent Millay. Students should have the first stanza memorized on Thursday.
3) In writing we will be finishing cursive this week. Encourage your students to write their best at home as well!
Homework loads are going to be increasing in the coming weeks, keep encouraging your students! Learning is frustrating, but its worth it. If your student ever takes longer than an hour on a single assignment, please email myself and Mrs. Wycklendt so we can take action at school to help them.
Thanks for everything you are doing to support us, we really appreciate it. Enjoy your long weekend!
Best,
Mr. Ohbayashi
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