Quarter 2, Week 7- Thanksgiving Break!

Hello Families!

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope the upcoming break is restful for each family, filled with lots of friends, family, and great food! The holiday season is officially upon us now! The rest of this quarter will absolutely fly by when we get back! 

What's going on in 4A

• The Bard Competition is back! Students have the opportunity to recite a poem (10-35 lines in length) of their choosing. The first round is December 6 & 9. Interested students were given a registration form that must be turned back into me by Tuesday, November 26. 

• We will enjoy a Thanksgiving party on Tuesday, November 26 before we start the break! We will have pie and cider, and the students will have a chance to practice table manners. You can view the sign-up here. 

• We conducted our class Spelling Bee this week! All scholars worked very hard and should feel proud of their accomplishments in this event. We are proud to announce the winners of our 4A Spelling Bee are Aaron A and Landon A! Aaron will move on to compete in the school Spelling Bee with his 1st-5th grade peers. Landon will serve as runner-up. The school Spelling Bee is Friday, January 10th at 5pm in the MPR. All are welcome to attend the event! The 1st place winners from each section will perform in the school Spelling Bee. 

Lessons

Math: We will finish up our unit on fractions with a test Tuesday.

Science: We will have a quiz Monday over information we have learned so far in our Meteorology unit. We will continue learning about weather fronts and severe weather this week!

History: We will continue learning about Joan of Arc.

Writing: Students will begin writing a new expositional essay this week, to be continued after Thanksgiving break. 

Roots: Check over the last three roots learned.

Spalding: No Spalding this week!

Important Dates

Tuesday: Math Test

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday: NO SCHOOL- Enjoy the break! 

Quarter 2, Week 6

Hello Families! 

What a fun week it was getting to see all the hard work you and your child put into their presentations. I love watching each student face their nerves and deliver a speech about their country that they have been studying for so long. We admired 2 amazing architectural structures, feasted on treats from various countries all day, and saw different outfits representing the countries. Thank you for supporting your child through this process! 

What's Happening in 4A

• The Spelling Bee is this week! While this is optional, I would love to have the whole class participate. Each student brought home a list of words to study if they would like to prepare. We will be completing the Spelling Bee in class on Friday. 

• The Winter Concert is Wednesday, November 20th! Concert time starts at 6:45. Please see the previous post for details. You can email myself or Mrs. Kaye with questions. 

Lessons

Poetry:  Students will recite the poem "Sin of Omission" this week. 

Writing:  Students will continue to work through their first expository essay on water. We will be typing the final draft this week. 

Math: We will review dividing fractions on Monday, and test on Tuesday. Wednesday students will work on Khan Academy. We will continue working with fractions by looking at the fraction of a set and multiplying a whole number by a fraction. 

Spalding:  Students will learn 10 words on Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday. We will review Thursday, and Test Friday.

History: We will discuss the 100 Years' War and Joan of Arc this week. We will have a quiz on Tuesday. 

Science: We will have our Life Science Test on Monday. This is a large test and students should use the study guide in their science notebooks over the weekend to study. The next unit we will learn about is meteorology. We will be learning about the water of the earth and types of clouds this week

.Important Dates

Monday: Science Test

Tuesday: Math Test

Wednesday: Winter Concert

Friday: Spalding Test, Spelling Bee

 

Quarter 2, Week 5

Hello Families! 

It is hard to believe we are half-way through the 2nd quarter already! Wow! This year is just flying by.

I found such a lovely surprise on my desk when I walked into school Monday morning. This beautiful stack of books bought and donated by YOU! Thank you so much to the families that bought a book (or book set) for our classroom library. The kids were all so excited to see the new books! Thank you so much for blessing our class and stoking the love of reading in these kids.

On that note, one book I received, "I Am A Seal Team Six Warrior", is aimed towards an older audience than I realized. It is a youth adaptation of a memoir, but after getting the book in my hands and skimming it, I did a little research. Amazon shows that the intended audience is ages 12 and up. Please let me know if you do not want your child to read this book. You can find more details on its Amazon page, here. 

What's going on in 4A

• Presentations are here! I am very much looking forward to seeing each students hard work. For your reference, you can find the presentation times here: Europe Project Presentation Schedule. Please let me know if you have any questions over the weekend!

• If you are planning on bringing food to share with the class as a part of the presentation, please remember to bring a complete list of ingredients. There should be enough to share with all 30 students and 2 teachers. Plan on bringing whatever you will need to serve the food as well: napkins, bowls, forks or spoons, etc. 

• There is NO SCHOOL Monday, November 11 in observance of Veterans Day.

•  It is my pleasure to announce that Spelling Bee season is upon us! Your child will be participating in a class spelling bee during the week of November 18. Please use the word list sent home with them Friday to study and make sure to read over the Spelling Bee letter for important dates and details. It is not mandatory for your child to study at home, however we recommend that all students participate in the class Spelling Bee. Please reach out to me anytime with questions. 

Lessons

Math: Tuesday we will review and practice working with fraction. Wednesday we will have a test over improper fractions. Thursday students will work with Khan Academy, and on Friday we will begin fractions and division. 

Writing: Students will continue working through writing an expository essay.

History: Presentations on Tuesday and Wednesday! Friday we will begin learning about the Magna Carta

Science: We will finish this unit Wednesday with learning about Arizona specific plants, mammals, birds, and fish. Students will be completing the remainder of their study guide to be graded and review in class Thursday. The science test will be the following Monday.

Important Dates

Monday: NO SCHOOL

Tuesday & Wednesday: Europe Project Presentations

Wednesday: Math Test

Special updates for Friday 11/8

Good Morning Families! 

I hope this week is going well! I have a few special announcements for you. 

Spirit Wear Friday 11/8

Students are invited to wear an Arete spirit shirt with uniform bottoms and shoes. Go Chargers! 

Spelling Bee

It is my pleasure to announce that Spelling Bee season is upon us! Your child will be participating in a class spelling bee during the week of November 18. Please use the word list sent home with them Friday to study and make sure to read over the Spelling Bee letter for important dates and details. It is not mandatory for your child to study at home, however we recommend that all students participate in the class Spelling Bee. Please reach out to me anytime with questions. 

Europe Project Presentations

Project presentations are right around the corner! There will be no homework assigned this weekend in order to give students plenty of opportunity to put the finishing touches on their project. Please feel free to reach out with any questions over the weekend! 

Homework Survey Results.

Hello Families!

Thank you to those of you who took the time to fill out the homework survey a couple weeks ago. Here are the results!

There were 6 surveys completed for 4A.

When asked "On average, how much time does your child spend on homework per night?"
Fewer than 15 minutes- 1 family
30-45 minutes- 3 families
45-60 minutes- 1 family
75-90 minutes- 1 family

The goal is to have homework last between 45-60 minutes, which we are hitting for the majority of students surveyed. If your child is consistently spending over 75 minutes each night to complete their work, please reach out to me and so we can discuss why and figure out how to get them into that goal range.

When asked "The homework my child receives in generally useful", the average of scores received is a 3.

Four out of six families responded that they would like more resources/training for helping their child with their homework. A great place to start is with Mr. Naaktgeboren's blog. If you click on the resources tab you will find a wealth of training and information. If there are more specific questions or classroom specific procedures, please let me know and I am happy to find a time to meet with you to discuss those things.

Always feel free to reach out to me with any questions or concerns you may have.

Thank you!

Mrs. Arnold

Quarter 2, Week 4

Hello Families! 

We had a wonderful time on Thursday for the Read-A-Thon! It was so fun to see how creative the students were with their costumes. We celebrated in the afternoon with ice cream floats and a fall snack mix while students read in their forts. Thank you to everyone who sent in supplies and volunteered to help in the classroom! 

What's going on in 4A

• Picture retakes will be Tuesday, November 5. Please let me know if you would like your child to retake their picture. 

• Winter dress code will begin after Thanksgiving break, Monday December 2. Boys must wear pants and girls may wear pants or skirts. Skirts must be worn with tights or long socks. 

• Next Friday, November 8th is Spirit Wear Day! Students may wear Arete spirit shirts to school. Spirit shirts will be available for purchase at the Movie Night on November 22, just in time for the December 18th Spirit Wear Day. 

• The Winter Concert will be on Wednesday, November 20th at the Higley Center for Performing Arts (4132 E Pecos Rd., Gilbert, AZ 85295). The K-2 concert begins at 5:30. Grades 3-5 students should arrive at 6:30, and the concert begins at 6:45. If your family has children in a lower and upper grade levels, please have the older child sit with your family until the end of the K-2 concert. 
• Dress attire for the concert will be as follows: 
• Boys: Black pants, white dress shirt, black dress shoes, and black socks. Hair should be combed neatly. 
• Girls: Black skirt, white top, black tights, and black dress shoes. Hair should be pulled away from the face with no distracting adornment. Please follow the Archway Arete dress code for guidelines on jewelry. 

• The PSO normally has a uniform exchange to help families with putting together concert attire, but they needed to move the date of the exchange because of the Prep's awesome playoff game! Unfortunately, the exchange is now after the concert, Nov. 20th. If you would like to use the uniform exchange, please email Deanna Carpenter at uniformexchangepso@gmail.com. 

Lessons

Roots:  On Monday, we will have a cumulative roots check over the first 32 words. Then students will begin learning Latin numbers. 

ELA: We will be going over the grammar practice test in class Monday, and have the test on Tuesday. Students will be writing their first expository essay next week. 

Math: There will be a test Monday over mixed numbers. Next, we will be learning about improper fractions. 

Spalding: This week students will learn 30 new words. 10 words on each Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. We will review all 30 on Thursday, and have the test Friday. 

History: We will fill in the study guide for this unit and have the test on Friday. Europe project presentations are coming up fast! You can find the presentation schedule here. 

Science: We will be learning about how living things interact, biomes, and environmental issues this week. There will be a quiz on Thursday. 

Important Dates

Monday: Math Test

Tuesday: Grammar Test 

Thursday: Galileo Testing, Science quiz

Friday: History Test