May 18-22

Class News! 

Happy Mother's Day to all my students wonderful Mom's! I hope you enjoyed your biographies. The children worked very hard on them. We love you! 

Thank you so much for all of the kind cards, treats, and surprises for teacher appreciation week! I felt so special and appreciated! I love all of you. Thank you for the lovely surprises. Also, Thank you so much for the donations for the waffle party. It was a lot of work making 30 waffles! Ha! The kids loved it and that made it worthwhile. Thank you! 

The $1000 party has been scheduled for Wednesday, (1/2 day) May 20, 2015 if your child has earned $1000 class cash they are invited to the pool party and have been given the information for the party. It will be at my community pool from 3-4:30. I hope everyone makes it! This is not a drop your child off type of party a parent must be in attendance for safety reasons. Also, everyone is invited to come swim! Please bring a snack to share and drinks for your family. I will bring a whole bunch of Popsicles.  I won't provide drinks, there is a drinking fountain outside of the pool area. The address for the party is on the invitation. Thanks! I hope to see everyone there to celebrate a great 4th grade year! Please let me know if you are coming so I can get a head count for Popsicles. 

Important Dates:

Thursday, May 14- 6:00 pm Spring Sing all students are required to come in Sunday dress or uniform. No Jeans. We are going for a dressy casual look! :) A quick note: PLEASE pick up your children right after the performance. Mrs. Broby is helping me as my daughters performance is at the exact same time as ours. I will be here to line up the class and take them into the Spring Sing. Mrs. Broby is going to help me as they are dismissed to you. 

Wednesday, May 20th- Half Day-early release and $1000 party

$1000 party 3-4:30pm ( Please let me know if you are coming and roughly how many so I can get a head count) *** The flyer says Saturday the 23rd but I had SO many people that are going out of town for Memorial Day I thought the half day would be better.

Monday, May 25th- NO SCHOOL- MEMORIAL DAY

****** DATE CHANGE*******This was due the 18th but with Galileo testing and trying to get the Mother's Day biographies done I decided we needed more time in class to work on this. 

Wednesday, May 26th-Research projects and visual aid due. We will complete the rough drafts in class. The students will have ample time in class to finish their work. If they have not finished they will have to complete their research paper at home.  The visual aid is to be completed at home. The information is outlined in the research packet your child has. I also emailed it to you. It is number 11 on the second page. 

Friday, May 29th- Last Day of school-early release

We will be having a short spelling test this week due to the Spring Concert. Also, because of the concert I will be giving the pre-test on Wednesday and the final test Friday. I don't like assigning homework on concert nights. It is just too much! 

Spelling List:

1. tear
2. tear
3. telephone
4. throughout
5. traffic
6. United States
7. unite
8. unit
9. valuable
10. value
11. wore
12. worn
13. circular
14. circle
15. argument
16. argue
17. volume
18. organize
19. summon
20. official
21. officer
22. office

May 4-May 8

Happy May 4th!

NEWS!

This week we will be Galileo testing beginning Tuesday. It is our last bunch of tests, hooray! Please help your children be ready by getting a good nights sleep and having a good breakfast. There are a lot of tests the next few weeks including monthly spelling and phonogram tests. I will also be administering the Dibels reading test this week and next. So, with all of this testing going on I am not going to give a spelling test or list this week. We will be concentrating on learning vocabulary words and spelling for our research projects. Speaking of research projects.......

We had so much fun at the library! Thank you to my chaperons who were a HUGE help! Trust me I know sitting in the library helping kids find resource books and fill out note cards is less than fun. I appreciate you SO much! Plus, I know how tricky it is because I had a group of students too. The kids were SO well behaved and I was beaming with pride. I would say it was a success!

There will be homework this week it will mostly be research report and math related. Please note each student is assigned a visual aid for their research paper. They can work on this in class if it is a poster or picture. However, other than that it will need to be completed at home. I would like them to be working on their visual aid this week for homework. We will be completing most of the writing in class, I will be modeling how to write the essay. We will be writing a portion each day. The only other part they will need your help with is editing the rough draft. I sort of despise "projects" for homework so I want most of the work to be completed in school. I know you have a lot of things to accomplish at home as well!! :) 

Friday is our WAFFLE PARTY and Princess Bride movie. The movie is rated PG. A permission slip was sent home last week with a waffle topping/paper product sign up. I only assigned items to students who volunteered to bring something in. If you have a topping your family loves please bring it! If not we have plenty! Students will not be permitted to eat waffles or watch the movie if they do not have permission from you. I handed out extra permission slips today. They are due no later than Thursday. This is a party to celebrate the END of state and Galileo testing! What an amazing, smart, hard working group of kids we have! I just love them. 

Have a wonderful week! 

Ms. Tidwell

April 27th-May 1st

Let's Be Sparky!

Important Dates:

Library Field Trip: Thursday- Tomorrow is the very last day I will accept field trip permission slips and money. I am also short on chaperons and need two parents that can stay for the whole day. If you are available I would love your help. Or, if you can help with the research portion of the field trip at the library let me know. The research portion will be between 12pm and 2pm. I will be emailing a copy of the report requirements via email. I will also be giving each child a copy. 

I will be conducting monthly spelling and phonogram tests this week so our spelling list will be short.

Galileo testing is next week. It is the last one of the year! Yay! We will be having our waffle party next Friday May 8th to celebrate the end of testing. I will provide the waffles and will be sending out assignments to each child to bring items for toppings. I will hand these out Friday so you have the weekend and week after to get them. We have not decided on a movie but if it is PG I will need you to sign a permission slip as well that will be included on the assignment sheets. So keep your eyes peeled. 

Several Students have earned $1000 for the $1000 swim party!! YAY!! More info to come on this event. 

Spelling List:

1. pressure
2. produce
3. product
4. purchased
5. purchase
6. quarrel
7. radio
8. recess
9. saucer
10. secret
11. similar
12. sleigh
13. society
14. social
15. solution
16. source
17. speech
18. steak
19. successful
20. tails
21. tales

April 20-24

Love it. 

WOW! What a week last week! The children did such an amazing job. I am so proud of them. Also, thank you for all the donations and snacks. They were a highly anticipated part of our morning. 

We have a lot to do still this year. We will be completing a biography essay by next week. The biographical interview was due last Friday. Please check with your student to make sure it is completed there are quite a few missing. They need to interview a person who is special to them first, that is the homework portion. The students will be missing a recess each day it is not completed. 

We are going to go to the library to do research for our end of the year research project. The children are very excited about this because they can pick ANY topic they are interested in and want to learn about. I told them that this project is JUST like college because you get to study what you are interested in. We will walk around and explore the Riparian Preserve for the morning. Then eat our lunches together at the park area and head to the library for a couple of hours to learn how to use the resources there.  The field trip is Thursday April, 30th and all parents are invited. I do need chaperons but even if you wanted to meet us there for all or part of the field trip would be awesome! Permission slips will be sent home today and are due Thursday this week. The cost of the field trip is $4. 

YEARBOOKS- Yearbook orders will be completed online this year. The school nor I will be handling any money. If you would like to order one the link is www.treering.com/validate?PassCode=1014285297091457

You can even customize a page for your child! Orders are due April 26th

$1,000 party

You may have heard about our $1,000 party. This will be a culminating activity for our class and class money system. To attend the party each student must have $1,000 class money cash. It is a special party that I will have at my community pool in Agritopia. There are BBQ's there and I was hoping to make it a family fun event/potluck. It will be one of the last two weeks of school I haven't nailed a date down just yet. If your student has earned his/her way to the party you will be notified with your dinner assignment. I think it will be super fun! The kids are excited about it. 

Important Dates:

Wednesday: Earth Day wear green accessories

Spelling

1. elephant
2. everybody
3. frightened
4. frighten
5. grocery
6. group
7. health
8. listened
9. listen
10. nickel
11. niece
12. northern
13. southern
14. eastern
15. western
16. poet
17. poetic
18. poetry
19. poem
20. potatoes
21. potato

Short Spelling Test this week! 

Have a wonderful day!

Ms. T

AZ Merit Week April 13th-17th

Have Courage and Be Kind

Dear Fourth Grade Families,

This next week is AZ Merit testing. There are a lot of things I have implemented to make this week go as smoothly as possible. Please prepare your child by helping them get a lot of sleep. I would like everyone going to bed EARLY if possible; with a book to read to keep their mind sharp and working but resting. Also, children need a full tummy for their brains to work correctly. Please make sure they have a yummy breakfast each morning a few good ideas are: oatmeal, yogurt and granola with fruit, eggs and toast etc. This will help them feel ready to do their best each day. I have asked for snack donations via last weeks email. Thank you to those of you who have already signed up! That helps me so much. 

I have some fun things up my sleeve for testing besides snacks to make the week go smoothly. I am excited for the kids to show us how much they have learned and how smart they are. I just know they are going to do great! We have all been working very hard! 

One of the fun things we will be doing is having a fairy tale week next week. We will studying different fairy tales, reading, writing and even doing some art! 

HOMEWORK

*No homework this week or spelling. HOWEVER, I expect the kids to go to bed early with a book to read so they can relax but keep their brain active! :)

INCENTIVE

I know it can be hard to get here on time some days! We will be starting the AZ Merit promptly right after announcements. I will have a morning "on-time" treat for every student that gets to school before 8:03! Those who get here late will not get the special treat.

PARENT LETTER

I sent a letter and envelope home last week. I will have these on the students desks on Monday morning. PLEASE return these by Monday 4/13. It would be so sad if someone didn't get one. Please talk about how special your child is and give them a pep talk of encouragement for the test. The kids LOVE this! 

It is going to be a great week! Let's all work together to help these kids be AWESOME!

Love,

Ms. T

March 30-April 3

Good Morning!

We had such a fun time at Boyce Thompson Arboretum last week. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of you who made sack lunches, made sure your child had enough H2O, and especially my chaperone's! It would not have been a successful field trip without all of your help. Thank you! 

There will be no Spelling tests or lists until after AZ Merit. We are working in our ELA workbooks, Math workbooks, and Science workbooks for the next several weeks. We are down to the last few weeks to prepare and will really be cracking down. 

Please make sure your children are here and prepared to test during that week. We are hoping to not have any absences. 

Oration Contest permission slips are due. This years topic is American Poets. 

Permission slips to have your child tested for the gifted program are also due today. The testing will take place this spring. 

Important Dates: 

Wednesday: Half Day- Teacher Training

Thursday: Picture Day!! 

Friday: No School-Good Friday 

Have a great week,

Ms. T

March 2-6

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss! 

In honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday, one of America's prolific artist's and children's book authors we will have Spirit Week at school. 

Monday- Wear Red Day

Tuesday- "Fox in Sox" Day wear Wacky Socks/Leadership Day all parents are invited to attend we will have a leadership lesson beginning at 10:15. 

Wednesday- Wear a wacky outfit...while still wearing your uniform...so get creative.. :)

Thursday- Cat in Hat day--wear a hat 

Friday-Dress up as your favorite Dr. Seuss Character..In our class we are going to celebrate Dr. Seuss' Birthday by having a read-a-thon during Friday Fun Time. Students may bring a blanket and pillow to get comfy somewhere in the room. Don't forget your favorite book to read or two! Children may also bring in a snack for that time. 

Then end of quarter 3 is coming up fast! Check grades in IC so there are no surprises. I add new grades weekly. So they change often. 

Our class showed TONS of growth on our last Galileo test! I bought the kids Popsicles last week since they did such an outstanding job! Way to go! Thank you for all of your help.

A heads up that we are hoping to have 100% attendance for the AzMerit test. We do not want to have to have kids make up the test during instruction time. Please plan ahead now to have your students here. Thank you! 

Spring Break is March 16-20 No School that week. 

We are studying weather and we are going to have some rain this week! YAY! As your student about what we are learning!

Thank you parents for all you do. This is an exceptional bunch of students and I don't have to look very far to see why! You are wonderful. I love these munchkins and am doing my best every day to plan, prepare, and execute engaging lessons. We are working very hard in class. These kids are amazing! 

Love,

Ms. T

Spelling:

1. piece
2. peace
3. certainly
4. certain
5. witness
6. investigate
7. therefore
8. before
9. pleasant
10. ability
11. appearance
12. atmospheric
13. atmosphere
14. autumn
15. canvas
16. ceiling
17. celery
18. salary
19. college
20. communities
21. community
22. creation
23. creative
24. created
25. create
26. concert
27. decided
28. decide
29. design
30. dictionary