What's Happening- Week of May 20th, 2013

Dear Fourth Grade Parents,

It was great to see many of you at our Spring Festival today! A reminder that today started our “Spirit Week” and tomorrow will be wear red and blue for St. Jerome Color Day. Schedules for spirit week were sent home last week. Tuesday is “Twin Day.” Does your child have plans to wear the same thing as one or two others? I hear there are $5 tees at Old Navy. Wednesday is “Wacky Wednesday” where you can wear clothing backwards, inside-out, mismatched socks, etc. Thursday is “Crazy Hat or Hair Day” and we will also have our talent show in the afternoon. Friday is “Class Color Day.” 4^th grade's color is black. There was talk of a “Men in Black” theme. So if your child has a dark/black pair of sunglasses, that can add to the look. It should be a fun week. Don't forget that Tuesday is hot dog day and that Friday will be a minimum (12 noon) dismissal day. Next Monday is the Memorial Day holiday.

Also this week, in Science we will continue our last unit from MARE, called “Seaweed Smorgasbord.” Watch for a list of foods that contain seaweed ingredients to come home. On Friday, we will have our own “smorgasbord” to taste some of these foods. If you can, please send in any food from the list that will be sent home to have students taste on Friday. We will take a survey of all foods tasted.

Have a great week!

-Mrs. Gialis

Here's a list of some highlights in 4^th grade this week:

MONDAY- Wear Red and Blue Day; Daily Oral Language, Daily Geography, Daily Writing; Spelling: Unit 32; Literature- James and the Giant Peach ch. 18-21 and vocabulary section 3; Math- Ch. 11- Geometry and Measurement: Perimeter; Religion: Pentecost and 7 Sacrament posters; Social Studies: Ch. 9, lesson 4: “A Thirsty State;” MARE- continue session 2 of “Seaweed Smorgasbord;” Library; Writing: Compare/Contrast paragraphs.

TUESDAY- Twin Day; Literature: James and the Giant Peach ch. 21-23; Math- Area; Religion: Ch. 12 Review and finish Sacrament posters; Social Studies: ch. 9 Review, including group poster; Science: Mr. McKinney/FOSS continue stream table investigation

WEDNESDAY- “Wacky Wednesday”; Daily Oral Language, Daily Geography, Daily Writing; SPANISH- 9:15-9:55; Math: Problem Solving: Tide Pool Ecosystems; Religion: Ch. 12 TEST: “Sharing in Christ's Life and Work”; Social Studies: Ch. 9- correct Review and finish/share posters; Science: make “kelp worms” and finish seaweed questions; 2:15 Dismissal

THURSDAY- Crazy Hat or Hair Day; Literature: James and the Giant Peach “What do You Really Mean?” and “Is it An Insect?” worksheets; Math- 11-7: Area of Complex Figures; P.E.; Religion: Finish Family Life Ch. 3: “The Love of Jesus”; Social Studies: Chapter 9 TEST; Talent Show

FRIDAY- Class Color Day- wear black; DOL Quiz, Spelling test - Unit 32; P.E.; Math- Chapter 11 TEST; Seaweed Smorgasbord; NOON DISMISSAL

What's Happening- Week of May 13th, 2013

Dear Fourth Grade Parents,

I hope everyone had a nice Mother's Day yesterday! Our Grandparents' Day Friday was very nice and it was great to see all of our grandparent visitors who got a chance to see our classroom and have the students show them some of the computer programs we have worked on this year.

This week we have our MARE visitors from Lawrence Hall of Science who will visit our classroom today and do a hands-on fish activity with the students. So if your child comes home smelling a little strange, you'll know why! We have a regular week of school this week with a 2:15 dismissal on Wednesday and full days the rest of the week. Friday, I am taking a personal day to go on a field trip with my daughter's 6^th grade class to the Oakland Greek Festival. If you have a chance this weekend, come out to experience the festival. This is my family's parish church and where I got married. The festival runs all weekend with great food and music. Visit http://www.oaklandgreekfestival.com/ for details.

Speaking of festivals... I will also be here on Sunday morning for our St. Jerome Spring Festival. Please join us for this special day of food and games. The festival will run from 10AM to 3PM and features performers, live music, a cake walk, and carnival games. Money raised will go toward technology for our school. http://www.stjeromecatholicschool.org/springfestival/

Please also remember that Ms. Wilkie will be walking this week after morning assembly on Wednesday and invites parents to join her..... see below. 

Have a great week!

-Mrs. Gialis

Here's a list of some highlights in 4^th grade this week:

MONDAY- Daily Oral Language, Daily Geography, Daily Writing; Literature- James and the Giant Peach ch. 10-12 and vocabulary section 2, #1-10; Math- Quadrilaterals; Religion: 7^th week of Easter and Ch. 11 Review; MARE- “It Takes All Kinds” fish activity; Library; English

TUESDAY- Literature: James and the Giant Peach ch. 13-17 and vocab. #11-20; Math- Parts of a circle; Religion: Ch. 11 TEST and Read Family Life: ch. 2 “Called to Love;” Social Studies: ch. 9- Luther Burbank and Line Graphs; Science: MARE activities- finish “It takes All Kinds” and begin discussing “Seaweed Smorgasbord”

WEDNESDAY- Daily Oral Language, Daily Geography, Daily Writing; SPANISH- 9:15-9:55; MATH- CH. 10 BOOK TEST ; Religion: Family Life- Ch. 3 “The Love of Jesus”; Social Studies: Ch. 9, Lesson 2 “Coming To California”; Science: algae/seaweed; 2:15 Dismissal

THURSDAY- Literature: James and the Giant Peach ch. 17 and Quiztime for section 2 (ch. 10-17); Math- 11-1 Measurement- Congruent; P.E. 11:05-11:45; Religion: Begin ch. 12 “Sharing in Christ's Life and Work; Social Studies: finish lesson 2 and do “New Faces in Calfiornia” worksheet; Science: categorizing seaweed; Writing: compare/contrast

FRIDAY- DOL Quiz, Spelling test - Unit 31; P.E.; Math- computers; Religion: Continue ch. 12; Social Studies: Ch. 9, Lesson 3 “The Rise of Southern California”; Science: Monterey Bay Aquarium Kelp Forest packet; Art: Sea Otters

From Ms. Wilkie:

Lastly, do you enjoy walking and chatting?  I invite each of you to join me on the remaining Wednesday mornings of this school year.  We will leave the campus directly after morning assembly for a half an hour walk around our beautiful neighborhood.  It is important to me to be available to the parents of St. Jerome to answer questions and catch up regarding various activities and events at the school, and I thought that this would be a great way to accomplish that and promote healthy habits at the same time. There is no need to RSVP, and you can join me for 1 or more Wednesdays. I hope you will put on your tennis shoes and join me! 

What's Happening- Week of May 6th, 2013

Dear Fourth Grade Parents,

We are looking forward to Grandparents' Day this Friday and students are preparing a song from our MARE unit to perform at the festivities. Please remember that Friday is a Minimum Day- Noon dismissal. We have been finishing up our MARE bulletin board with our Kelp Forest animals. Come by to see it in the hallway! Also, check out our new links on our class home page. We have been adding new links to games and pages that are related to our current curriculum content, including new links for FOSS games, Odell Lake, Oregon Trail, and Monterey Bay Aquarium's fish food game. 

Here is a list of What's Happening this week:

What’s Happening this Week:

Monday: Spelling this week: Unit 29- Prefixes; Daily Oral Language, Daily Geography, Daily Writing; Literature- James and the Giant Peach ch. 3-4 and vocabulary #21-29 (section 1); Math- Lines and line segments; Religion: 6^th week of Easter and Unit 1 Review; Social Studies: Citizenship and Chinatown, Review Ch. 8; Science: Review for ch. 4 TEST (Slow Changes on Earth); Library

Tuesday: Literature: James and the Giant Peach – Read ch. 5-7; P.E.: Math: Angles; Religion: Family Life: The Gift of Life; Social Studies: Correct chapter 8 Review and review for TEST ON WEDNESDAY; Science: Chapter 4 TEST (Slow Changes on Earth); English: Abbreviations

Wednesday:  Regular 2:15 Wednesday dismissal; Daily Oral Language, Daily Geography, Daily Writing; Literature: James and the Giant Peach – Read chapters 8-9; Math: Triangles ; Religion: Begin Ch. 11: “Celebrating God's Love for Us”; Social Studies: Chapter 8 TEST (Connecting CA to the World); Science: Monterey Bay's Kelp Forest curriculum and practice MARE song.

Thursday: ; Spelling Test: Unit 29 and DOL Quiz today due to Friday's schedule; Literature –James and the Giant Peach “Quiztime” questions for section 1 (ch. 1-9); P.E., Math: Problem Solving ; Religion: Family Life and continue Ch. 11; Social Studies: Begin Ch. 9 “Economic Growth” in CA- “Farming Becomes Big Business”; Science: Prep for MARE visit next week; English: Pronouns

Friday: Grandparents' Day and May Crowning Mass at 8:45AM; Grandparent Day classroom visits and activities/presentations/performances; NOON Dismissal

 Upcoming Dates: 

Wednesday, May 8th- Progress Reports

Friday, May 10^th: Grandparents’ Day and May Crowning Mass – Noon dismissal

Sunday, May 19th- St. Jerome Spring Festival

 Friday, May 24th- Noon Dismissal/ Little Olympics

 Monday, May 27th- Memorial Day Holiday- No School

Have a great week!

-Mrs. Gialis

May News and What's Happening -Week of April 30th

Dear Fourth Grade parents,

Welcome back. Tomorrow is May 1st! Due to the short week this week, students will not have Daily Oral Language or a DOL Quiz on Friday. We will, however, continue in our Spelling books on Unit 28- more suffixes, and have a test on Friday. In Math this week, we finished our unit on Division and will be moving on to Geometry and measurement. We will jump around and touch upon some fractions, decimals, and a little bit of probability to finish out the year.

In Literature, we finished our By the Great Horn Spoon novels last week and will finish the year by reading James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl. We have read many books out loud by English authors this year and have discussed the differences in language even though we both speak “English.”

In English, we finished our unit on Adjectives and will focus on Adverbs as our last “part of speech” area.

In Social Studies, we have “moved on” from the Gold Rush to “Connecting California to the World” and will learn about the pony express, telegraph, and the Transcontinental Railroad, and how these new inventions and technologies helped to connect California to the rest of the country and world.

In Science, we are finishing up Chapter 4 on "Slow Changes on Earth" and have been enjoying many FOSS "ivestigations" to go along with this unit, including one on erosion this week with stream tables. We will have our test next week on Ch. 4 and are also working on MARE (Marine Activities, Resources, and Education" from Lawrence Hall of Science) activities in preparation for our MARE week the week of May 13th. Fourth grade's focus is the "Kelp Forest" and we have been watching our live web cam of the kelp forest in the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Students have also chosen and are creating a 3D kelp forest animal to put up on our MARE bulletin board that will be on display in the hallway. 

We welcomed our new P.E. teacher today.... Mr. Aicardi. I hope students will enjoy P.E. for the remainder of the year and get used to this new format and organized program that is used in many of our Diocesan schools.

A reminder that students may order Pizza for lunch on Friday as a fundraiser for our 8^th grade class and all of their end of year activities. Order forms are due tomorrow- Wednesday, May 1^st! Also, students whose registration packets were turned in by last Friday will have free dress this Friday.

We begin the month of May this week, which is a month to celebrate the blessed Mother, Mary. We will have our May Crowning Mass and Grandparents' Day next Friday, May 10^th and our School Festival on Sunday, May 19^th. Please join us for our festivities this month!

-Mrs. Gialis 

What’s Happening this Week:

Monday: No School

Tuesday: No DOL this week; Spelling: Unit 28 this week (more suffixes); Literature: James and the Giant Peach about the author and pre-reading activities; Math: Division- correct chapter review and do Chapter 9 Test; Religion: 5th week of Easter and begin Ch.10: The People of God”; Social Studies: “Understanding Newspapers” and Ch. 8, lesson 2: “Planning the Railroad”; Science: Erosion and Deposition FOSS investigation

Wednesday:  Regular 2:15 Wednesday dismissal; Orders for Friday pizza lunch due!; Literature: James and the Giant Peach -pass out folders and begin story and section 1 vocabulary- first 10 words; Math: Begin Ch. 10-Geometry- “Solid Figures” ; Religion: Ch. 10- People of God; Social Studies: Finish lesson 2 and complete “Rush for the Railroad” worksheet

Thursday: ; Literature –James and the Giant Peach and vocabulary words #11-20 from section 1; P.E., Math: Geometry: “Plane Figures” ; Religion: Ch. 10: “The People of God” – finish and do review; Social Studies: “Identifying Stereotypes”; Science: Finish up Part 1 of FOSS Weathering investigation; Writing: Continue Compare/Contrast essays if time

Friday: Pizza lunch- orders due by Wednesday. Correct Spelling Unit 28 book pages; Spelling test unit 28; Math: Problem solving with partners; Social Studies: lesson 3 “Immigrants Build the Railroad”; Science: finish up Ch. 4 “Slow Changes on Earth” ; Art: finish MARE Kelp Forest animals bulletin board and do music: MARE song

 Upcoming Dates: 

Friday, May 3^rd: Pizza lunch (orders due Wednesday) Free dress for students who turned in registration packets by 4/26.

Wednesday, May 8th- Progress Reports

Friday, May 10^th: Grandparents’ Day and May Crowning Mass – Noon dismissal

Sunday, May 19th- St. Jerome Spring Festival

Friday, May 24th- Noon Dismissal/ Little Olympics

Monday, May 27th- Memorial Day Holiday- No School

What's Happening the week of April 22nd, 2013

Dear 4^th Grade parents,

Our Multicultural Mass was a great success on Friday and the students did a great job! We have had many compliments! Thank you to everyone who came and helped find and create the costumes for the kids! They looked fantastic! We also enjoyed many foods at our Multicultural snack expedition and the students enjoyed getting stamps for their passports.  It was a busy and exciting day.

Tuesday we have another busy and exciting day with our field trip to Sonoma. We will leave by 9AM and head to the Sonoma Mission on the square in Sonoma for a docent led tour of the mission at 10:30-11:30 AM. From there, we will travel down the road about ½-1 Mile to General Mariano Vallejo’s home for a tour from 11:45-12:45. After our tours, we will head back to the town square/park to eat lunch and have some time to stretch and play a little before heading back on the bus around 1:30PM.  We should arrive back at school some time between 2:30 and 3PM.  Please remember to pack a bag lunch with an additional snack for your child that day. We will not be able to purchase hot dog lunch this week. Students should come in full uniform for the trip.

We are coming to the end of many different chapters in different subjects and will have several tests this week. Our Ch. 7 Social Studies Test will be on Wednesday. On Thursday, we will have an end of book cumulative assessment on By the Great Horn Spoon, and a Religion Test on ch. 9. On Friday we will have a test on our English unit 7-Adjectives. We will also do a practice test in Math for Ch. 9 on Friday, and have the final test next Tuesday.

Also, a reminder that there will not be school on Monday, April 29^th!

What’s Happening this Week:

Monday: Daily Oral Language, Daily Geography, Daily Writing; Spelling: Unit 27 this week (suffixes); Literature: By the Great Horn Spoon “Diseases of the Times” worksheet; Math: Division- dividing greater numbers; Religion: 4th week of Easter; Social Studies: Finish and correct Chapter 7 Review; Science: Erosion and Deposition; Library

Tuesday: Sonoma Field Trip!

Wednesday:  Regular 2:15 Wednesday dismissal; Daily Oral Language, Daily Geography, Daily Writing; Literature: By the Great Horn Spoon-finish book; Math: Begin Ch. 9 Review; Religion: Ch. 9 Review: The Good Shepherd; Social Studies: Ch. 7 Test; Science: Review Erosion and Deposition (ch. 4, lesson 2)

Thursday: Correct Spelling Unit 27 book pages; Literature –By the Great Horn Spoon cumulative Test on book; P.E., Math: Continue Ch. 9 Review; Religion: Ch. 9 Test: The Good Shepherd; Social Studies: Begin Ch. 8- Connecting California to the World; Science: Finish up Part 1 of FOSS Weathering investigation; Writing: Continue Compare/Contrast essays if time

Friday: Spring Portraits (free dress); Spelling test unit 27; DOL Quiz; Math: Ch. 9 Practice Test; Social Studies: ”Understanding Newspapers;” English: Unit Test on Adjectives; Art: MARE Kelp Forest animals

 Upcoming Dates: 

Tuesday, April 23^rd: Last day for April book orders and field trip to Sonoma Mission and General Vallejo’s home

Friday, April 26^th Spring photos in free nice dress; Registration Packets Due

Monday, April 29^th- School Holiday/No School

Friday, May 3^rd: Free dress for students who turned in registration packets by 4/26.

Friday, May 10^th: Grandparents’ Day and May Crowning Mass – noon dismissal

What's Happening the Week of April 15th, 2013

Dear Fourth Grade Parents,

Here are the highlights for What ‘s Happening this week in Fourth Grade….

A couple of reminders…..  Fourth grade will be presenting the Multicultural Mass on Friday, April 19^th at 8:45 AM. The school will also have a multicultural snack time after our mass. Students have chosen a country to represent for our mass and created their flags for their country last Friday. A reminder to please look up a simple, traditional costume from the country of their choice and have them come to school dressed in that fashion for the mass on Friday. This does not have to be anything elaborate. Sometimes just simple skirts/pants and white shirts with scarves/sashes can be tied on to create a costume. Here is a list of our students and what country they will represent:

Jordan Aguilar                      Norway                                  

Sebastian Dalvand                Germany

Dominic Fontanilla                Philippines

Gino Garcia                           Mexico

Malcolm Gibson                     Kenya

Tenoch Gonzalez                   Spain

Luis Guzman                           Guatemala

Alexander Hemmila               Ireland

Tanjoon Hwang                      South Korea

Ember Knowles                       Sweden

Natali Mais                            France

Gabriel McCullough               Italy

Kye Stevenson-Hatayama     Japan

Jaeden Tello                          Peru

We have our field trip to the Sonoma Mission and General Vallejo’s Home in Sonoma next week on Tuesday, April 23^rd. A permission slip went home last week and is due by this Thursday. Please make sure your child is on time, in full uniform, and brings a bag lunch (we will not be at school for hot dog lunch that day!) We will return by 3PM.

Also, please remember to turn in your registration packets that went home last week. If you return it completed by April 26^th, your child/ren will receive free dress on Friday, May 3^rd.

Highlights for this week:

Highlights for the Week of April 15th, 2013 

Monday: Daily Oral Language, Daily Geography, Daily Writing; Spelling: Unit 26 this week; Literature: By the Great Horn Spoon and “The Perfect Meal” worksheet, Ch. 13-14; Math: Division- 2 digit quotients; Religion: 3^nd week of Easter/Pentecost, and mass practice; Social Studies: Chapter 7, lesson 3: “The 31^st State”; Library

Tuesday: Hot Dog lunch; Literature: By the Great Horn Spoon Ch. 15-16 and “Colorful Speeches” worksheet; P.E.; Math: Lesson 9-7: 3 digit quotients; Religion: Practice for Mass and read Ch. 9; Science: Physical Weathering activity; English: Unit 7 Check-up-Adjectives; Writing: Step Up to Writing: Compare/Contrast paragraphs. 

Wednesday:  Regular 2:15 Wednesday dismissal; Daily Oral Language, Daily Geography, Daily Writing; Literature: By the Great Horn Spoon Ch. 17-18 and “Diseases of the Times” worksheet; Math: Lesson 9-6 Problem-Solving; Religion: Ch. 9: The Good Shepherd; Social Studies: Chapter 7, lesson 4; Science: Read and review lesson 1 on “Weathering”

Thursday: Correct Spelling Unit 26; Literature –By the Great Horn Spoon cumulative Test on book; P.E., Math: Lesson 9-8: Quotients with Zeros; Religion: Mass final practice in church; Social Studies: Read about Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo; Science: Chemical Weathering/Acid Rain FOSS activity; English: Unit Test on Adjectives; Writing: Continue Compare/Contrast essays if time

 Friday: Multicultural Mass at 8:45 AM- come in costume! Multicultural Snack/learning experience to follow; Spelling test unit 26; DOL Quiz; Social Studies: Chapter 7 Review; Science: Finish FOSS activities; Art: MARE Kelp Forest animals

 Upcoming Dates: 

Wednesday, April 17^th- April book orders due

Thursday, April 18^th- Field Trip permission slips due

Friday, April 19th- Multicultural Mass- 4th grade presents and multicultural food experience for whole school

Tuesday, April 23rd- Sonoma Field Trip (4th and 5th grades) 8:45AM-3PM

Friday, April 26^th Spring photos in free nice dress

Friday, May 10^th: Grandparents’ Day and May Crowning Mass – noon dismissal

What's Happening the Week of April 8th, 2013

Dear Fourth Grade Parents,

I hope everyone had a great Easter Break and the students are rested and ready for the race to the finish line! We are down to the last two months of fourth grade!

A couple of reminders…..  Fourth grade will be presenting the Multicultural Mass on Friday, April 19^th at 8:45 AM. The school will also have a multicultural snack time during the day…. details will go home soon. Students are being asked to choose a country to represent for our mass and will create a flag for their country. Please try to look up a simple, traditional costume for the country of their choice and have them come to school dressed in that fashion for the mass.

Also, we have our field trip to the Sonoma Mission and General Vallejo’s Home in Sonoma on Tuesday, April 23^rd. A permission slip will be coming home in the next week. We will be taking a bus again and leaving by 9AM. Please make sure your child is on time and brings a bag lunch (we will not be at school for hot dog lunch that day!) We will return by 3PM.

Highlights for this week:

Highlights for the Week of April 8th, 2013 

Monday: Daily Oral Language, Daily Geography, Daily Writing; Literature: By the Great Horn Spoon, Ch. 11 and similes; Math: Begin Division Unit, Division with Remainders; Religion: 2^nd week of Easter and mass practice; Social Studies: Continue Gold Rush Unit simulation and Mining Rounds, Decision 3; Library

Tuesday: Hot Dog lunch; Literature: By the Great Horn Spoon Section 3 Questions; Math: Lesson 9-2, Divide multiples of 10, 100, 1,000; P.E.;  Social Studies: Background and Worksheet 7 for Gold Rush Unit; Religion: Practice for Mass; Science: Begin Weathering, Changing Earth Unit; English: Comparing with more and most; Writing: Step Up to Writing: Compare/Contrast. 

Wednesday:  Regular 2:15 Wednesday dismissal; Daily Oral Language, Daily Geography, Daily Writing- Quotes; Literature: By the Great Horn Spoon: Gold Rush prices; Math: Lesson 9-4; estimating quotients; Social Studies: Worksheet 8 in groups and mining round; Religion: Begin Ch. 9: The Good Shepherd, A Scripture Story

Thursday: Correct Spelling Unit 25; Literature – Listen to ch. 12 &13 By the Great Horn Spoon; P.E., Math: Mid-Chapter Check ch. 9; Social Studies: Decision 4 in the Gold Rush Unit simulation; Religion: practice for mass and continue The Good Shepherd ch. 9; English: Comparing with Good and Bad; Writing: Continue Compare/Contrast essays

 Friday: Spelling test unit 25; DOL Quiz; Spanish; Math: Lesson 9-5: 2 digit Quotients; Gold Rush end of simulation Test!; Art: Make flags for multicultural mass

 Upcoming Dates: 

Friday, April 19th- Multicultural Mass- 4th grade presents and multicultural food experience for whole school

Tuesday, April 23rd- Sonoma Field Trip (4th and 5th grades)

Friday, April 26^th Spring photos in free nice dress

Friday, May 10^th: Grandparents’ Day and May Crowning Mass – noon dismissal

Weekly What's Happening and April News- March 25, 2013

Dear Fourth Grade Parents,

Our WCEA/WASC visit last week went very well and we are thankful to be finished. Easter is on its way, with our focus as “Holy Week” this week. Students are creating Holy Week timelines with illustrations to recount the events of Jesus’ last days before his Crucifixion and Resurrection.

We will be having a Quiz on Tuesday about Jesus’ death and Resurrection and about the Stations of the Cross and Lent. These are all areas we have been studying for several weeks.

We do not have school on Holy Thursday and Good Friday this week. Because of the short week, students do not have a Daily Oral Language quiz this week or a Spelling Test. We will be completing a spelling unit 24 Review this week in our books, however.

We will also have a Vocabulary Quiz Wednesday on the words from Section 1 in By the Great Horn Spoon. Students all have been given a Key for this vocabulary section to study from.

Also, they have all chosen a “Saturday Night Activity” that they will present and share with the class on Wednesday for our Gold Rush unit. This is a small activity of their choice from the list in their folders.

I will be attending FOSS (Full Option Science System) training tomorrow (Tuesday) at the Lawrence Hall of Science. Mrs. Hemmila will be substituting for me and I will leave her with complete lesson plans. I will return on Wednesday.  I will be taking over teaching Science when we come back in April! I am excited about that because it is my favorite subject! I have been working on WASC all year while Ms. O’Donnell has taught Science, so I am now able to take over. We will be doing some exciting activities, including participating in the MARE (Marine Activites, Resources and Education) program from Lawrence Hall of Science as a school.  Having started my college career as a Biology major, I am looking forward to getting back to teaching Science!

When we return from Easter Break, it will be April 8^th already!!!  We will have many activities coming up to prepare for in April!

Fourth Grade will be presenting the Multicultural Mass on Friday, April 19^th. I am asking each student to choose one country to represent in our mass. It can be a country that their ancestors come from or just a country they would like to represent regardless of any ties. We will be creating flags for the country of their choice and learning how to say hello in that country’s native language. Also, I would like students to find a simple costume to wear at the mass that resembles the native dress of their country. We will discuss this more in April, but it would be a good idea to start thinking about it over break. Because we do not want to have duplicate countries, I will have to approve their final choice.

Also in April, we will have our Field Trip to the Sonoma Mission and General Vallejo’s house on Tuesday, April 23^rd.  Please let me know if you would like to chaperone on the trip. It will be an all day trip. We will try to leave as close to 8:45 as possible and return by 3. Permission slips will go home when we return from break.

Below is the list of Highlights for the week. Have a blessed Easter and restful break from school!

-Mrs. Gialis

Highlights for the Week of March 18th, 2013 

Monday: No DOL, Reading: By the Great Horn Spoon ch. 8,  Longitude and Latitude; Math: Real World Math- Area; Religion: Review Lenten Trivia, begin watching Ten Commandments; Social Studies: Worksheet 5 in Gold Rush and mining round;  Library

Tuesday: Hot Dog lunch; Literature: Ch. 9, By the Great Horn Spoon and "Having a Butler", "Gold Troubles"; P.E.;  Math: Lesson 8-7- Multiplying greater numbers; Social Studies: Worksheet 6 for Gold Rush Unit; Religion: Lent Quiz, Holy Week Timelines and watch Ten Commandments if time; English: Making Comparisons; Writing: Step Up to Writing: Easter paragraph/essay. 

Wednesday:  Regular 2:15 Wednesday dismissal; Correct Spelling Review unit 24; Literature: Read Ch. 11- By the Great Horn Spoon; Math- Ch. 8 Book test; Social Studies: Share "Saturday Night Activities"; Prayer service at 1:40 in Red Balloon.

Thursday: Holy Thursday- No School

Friday: Good Friday- No School

Upcoming Dates: 

Wednesday, March 27th- "Saturday Night Activity" Due; Vocabulary Quiz; Bring in Rice Bowls 

Thursday, March 28th and Friday, March 29th- No School- Easter Break Begins

Monday, April 8th- School Resumes

Friday, April 19th- Multicultural Mass- 4th grade presents

Tuesday, April 23rd- Sonoma Field Trip (4th and 5th grades)

Weekly What's Happening- March 18th, 2013

Dear Parents,

We welcome our WCEA/WASC team this week, Monday through Wednesday. Our week is a normal school week, with the exception of Friday being a mimimum day (noon dismissal). 

This week and next, fifth grade is still collecting food for the Contra Costa County Food Bank. If you have not had a chance to participate, please send in food with your child for this Lenten service project. Also, please remember to keep collecting coins for our schoolwide "Rice Bowl" Lenten service project for Catholic Relief Services. These are both ways we are being "Contributing Citizens" by "Responding to local and global needs through stewardship." 

In Math, some students are struggling with the new concept of multiplying 2 digit times 2 digit numbers. We retaught today and had practice on a new website, which is bookmarked on our "Links." The website is called "Math Frog" and it takes students through the specific steps of multiplying 2 digit numbers. Please allow your child to practice at home on this site. 

In Social Studies, we continue with our Gold Rush Unit and have begun "mining rounds" in our teams. Students are having to learn to work together if they want to succeed. We are learning outlining skills in our booklets while we read and learn about the Gold Rush. 

In Literature, we continue to read By the Great Horn Spoon and have even found the book on audio, which allows students to also hear the music and sounds of the Gold Rush days. Students will be working on a lot of vocabulary and comprehension questions that go along with the book, and also additional activities on geography, including more latitude and longitude skills. 

Highlights for the Week of March 18th, 2013 

Monday: Daily Oral Language, Daily Geography, Daily Writing; Literature: By the Great Horn Spoon- Chapter 4 and "Sea Routes"; Math: Practice multiplying 2 digit X 2 digit numbers on "Math Frog" website- see link on our web page for practice!; Religion: Read 3rd/4th weeks of Lent and do "Our Lenten Statements"; Social Studies: Continue Gold Rush Unit simulation and Mining Rounds; Library

Tuesday: Hot Dog lunch; Literature: Ch. 5, By the Great Horn Spoon and "Eye Guess" vocabulary game using section 1 vocabulary words; Math: Mid-Chapter Check-up: multiplying multi-digit numbers; P.E.;  Social Studies: Worksheet 3 for Gold Rush Unit; Religion: Read 5th week of Lent and play "Stations of the Cross" game on CTN website; English: Adjectives after the verb "to be"; Writing: Step Up to Writing: outlining paragraphs. 

Wednesday:  Regular 2:15 Wednesday dismissal; Daily Oral Language, Daily Geography, Daily Writing- Quotes and Subject/Verb agreement; Literature: Read Ch. 6- By the Great Horn Spoon and Section 1 "What do You Know" comprehension questions; Math: Lesson 8-5: 3 digit X 2 digit multiplication; Social Studies: Do Decision 2 for Gold Rush unit and assign "Saturday Night Activities"; Religion: Read about Palm Sunday

Thursday: Literature - Read ch. 7 By the Great Horn Spoon and assign Vocabulary for section 2; P.E., Math: Spiral Review; Social Studies: Worksheet 4 (Law and Order in the Gold Rush); Religion: Lenten Trivia Game; English: Using articles "A" and "an"; Writing: Holy Week Timeline

 Friday: Minimum Day- noon dismissal; Spelling test unit 23; DOL Quiz; Spanish;  Stations of the Cross in church 11AM.

 Upcoming Dates: 

Monday, March 18th-Wednesday, March 20th- WCEA/WASC Visit and classroom observations

Friday, March 22nd- Minimum Day- noon dismissal; Stations of the Cross 11 AM in church

Wednesday, March 27th- "Saturday Night Activity" due (to be assigned this Wednesday) - see Gold Rush folders or click below for choices.

Thursday, March 28th and Friday, March 29th- No School- Easter Break Begins

Monday, April 8th- School Resumes

Saturday Night Activities

Weekly What's Happening for Week of March 11th, 2013

Dear Fourth Grade Parents,

This week the 4th Grade will be performing the Stations of the Cross on Friday at 11AM. Please come see us if you can. Friday is also a minimum day- noon dismissal and a free dress day for St. Patrick's Day- Wear green. If students have a part in our Stations of the Cross skit, they may wish to wear or bring some small items or props. 

Each child should have a booklet called "Passport to California" that they were given last Tuesday and is due tomorrow. They should ask their parents or grandparents to help fill in information about where their family came from and how they ended up in California. Students were encouraged to take this home over the weekend to do, however, I have discovered some never worked on it and some lost them. They were supposed to be due tomorrow so that we can put them up for our WCEA/WASC visit next week. Please help them to finish ASAP. Thank you!

I think a leprechaun has gotten into our classroom and eaten the pencils once again! We are down to our last package once again. If you can send any boxes of pencils in, that would be greatly appreciated. Otherwise, students will need to bring their own. I have purchased a couple of boxes, but hopefully we can get a few more. 

Thank you! 

-Mrs. Gialis

Highlights for the Week of March 11th, 2013 

Monday: Daily Oral Language, Daily Geography, Daily Writing; Literature: Begin reading By the Great Horn Spoon; Math: Begin Chapter 8- Multiplying 2 digit X 2 digit numbers; Religion: Present our Cardinal to pray for Pope and practice Stations of the Cross; Social Studies: Choose Mining Team names and create symbols/markers; Library

 Tuesday: Hot Dog lunch; Literature: Continue reading By the Great Horn Spoon section 1 (ch. 1-3) and assign vocabulary;  Math: Lesson 8-2 Estimating products; P.E.;  Social Studies: Worksheet 1 for Gold Rush Unit and begin ch. 7, lesson 2 in text- "Life During the Gold Rush"; Writing: Step Up to Writing: Type Jesus Cinquain poems. 

 Wednesday:  Regular 2:15 Wednesday dismissal; Literature: Choose a Route to the gold fields paper and Section 1 Quiz in By the Great Horn Spoon; Math: Create Area Models; Social Studies: Do Decision 1 and worksheet 2 for Gold Rush unit; Religion: REad 3rd and 4th weeks of Lent

 Thursday: Literature - Begin reading Section 2 (ch. 4-7) and assign Vocabulary; P.E., Math: Lesson 8-4 multiplying 2 digit by 2 digit numbers; Social Studies: Worksheet 3 and read "Saturday Night Activities"; Religion: Play Pope Game if time/ Practice for Stations of the Cross; English: Begin Unit 7- adjectives

 Friday: Minimum Day- noon dismissal; Free Dress- Green for St. Patrick's Day; Spelling test unit 22; DOL Quiz; Spanish;  Stations of the Cross in church 11AM- 3rd and 4th grades to perform.

 Upcoming Dates: 

Tuesday, March 12th- Passport to California due and March Book Orders due

 Friday, March 15^th- Minimum Day- noon dismissal; Free Dress for St. Patrick's Day- Wear Green; 3^rd and 4^th grades perform Stations of the Cross 11 AM in church

Monday, March 18th-Wednesday, March 20th- WCEA/WASC Visit and classroom observations