The Lost City and CSPN Drive

Caldecott Honor-winner Ted Lewin takes readers on a thrilling journey to the wilds of Peru in this story of Hiram Bingham, who, in 1911, carved a treacherous path through snake-filled jungles and across perilous mountains in search of Vilcapampa, the lost city of the Incas. Guided the last steps by a young Quechua boy, however, he discovered not the rumored lost city, but the ruins of Machu Picchu, a city totally unknown to the outside world, and one of the wonders of the world. 

DON'T FORGET TO SUPPORT OUR CLASS BY DONATING TO THE CSPN FUND RAISING DRIVE! NO DONATION IS TOO SMALL!! I WOULD LOVE FOR OUR CLASS TO BE THE FIRST TO REACH 100% PARENTAL SUPPORT!

Because of Winn-Dixie and Our First Field Trip!

   
Our first week of reading Winn-Dixie has been a success.  Students activities, aligned with the Common Core Standards, directed them to make inferences, determine the theme of the story, develop character analysis, and summarize the texts.  We will close out our studies by watching the movie in class so that students can compare and contrast the different versions and explore various points of view.

 Fourth graders having been learning about the living cell and how to differentiate between plant and animal cells. To culminate our studies, we will be traveling to the Pink Palace Museum and exploring their  Cell Structure and Microscopic Technique lab.  A blurb from the teacher's guide is included below:

Take a “closer look” through the lens of a compound microscope.  View slides of plant and animal specimens. Develop observation and note-taking skills while being guided through the process of scientific investigation.

     We are so excited about our trip and can not wait to blog and post pictures about our being there experience.

Because of WinnDixie, Study Island Info and Lunch Account Numbers

From Publishers Weekly

DiCamillo's debut novel, a 2001 Newbery Honor Book, percolates with heartfelt emotion and eccentric Southern color as superbly performed by Tony Award-winning actress Jones. Ten-year-old Opal, lonely in the Florida town where she has just moved with her preacher father, instantly takes a shine to a scraggly stray dog she encounters in the local Winn-Dixie supermarket. The pooch, named for their meeting place, becomes a trusted companion with whom Opal can share her thoughts and fears, and her hurt, confused feelings about the mother who left the family when Opal was three. Winn-Dixie is soon helping Opal in other ways, too. The dog's "smile" and sweet temperament act as ice breakers that allow Opal to meet a whole new group of friends who grow to be an unusual extended family. Jones imbues her depiction of Opal with a tone of youthful, hopeful wonder and skillfully transforms her voice to distinguish the other older, life-weathered characters. A Tennessee native, she never sounds hokey as she adopts a Southern accent, and she effortlessly slips into a compelling storytelling rhythm. This is a top-notch treatment of an award-winning tale. Ages 8-up.

A blue ribbon is earned when a student scores 70% or better on the questions they answer.  Sometimes, this can take multiple sessions.  If your child does poorly on a session (let's say 40%), and subsequently scores an 80% on the next session, the computer will average the two together and your child will receive a 60%--which will not give them a blue ribbon.  However, I have the ability to go in to the program and delete the lower scores.  Therefore, if this happens to your child, THEY DO NOT HAVE TO KEEP REDOING THE LESSON.  As long as they have at least one session at 70%, they can receive credit.  I will update these daily to ensure your child does not complete unnecessary work.  I wish the system self-corrected, but it does not.



The correct web address for SCS Nutrition’s MyPaymentsplus system is https://www.mypaymentsplus.com/default.aspx. For assistance with your account, you can contact the Campus School cafeteria manager at 678-4038, or SCS Nutrition Services at http://www.scsk12.org/uf/nutrition/leadership.php.

YOUR CHILD'S STUDENT ID NUMBER WAS WRITTEN DOWN ON THE FIRST PAGE OF THEIR STUDENT PLANNER TODAY.

Weekly Happenings

Please make sure to check your child's blue folder this weekend. Several items in the registration packets were left blank.

The students have math, reading, and social studies assignment in Study Island this week!

Upcoming Dates to Know

August 12-September 6

CSPN Support and Volunteer Drive

August 30 (Friday)

Teacher Appreciation Lunch

hosted by 5th grade

11:00 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

Teachers’ Lounge

September 2 (Monday)

Labor Day

No School

Study Island, Registration, and Open House!

STUDY ISLAND HOMEFUN

The majority of the homefun this year will be computer based. Study Island is the first program we will use. The students used this last year, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It contains math, reading, social studies, and science content. I will assign topics electronically for the students to complete. This week I am only assingning math as the students get used to exploring the program again this week.

ALL ASSIGNMENTS ARE DUE BY 8:00 AM FRIDAY MORNING. Students are allowed to use the computers in the classroom during th week from 7:00-7:30 to complete assignments. They can complete as many assignments at a time as they choose. Assignments will be posted by Friday, so the students can complete work over the weekend if they choose to do so.

I will go over all of this with the students in class as well!

HOW TO LOG ON:

1. Visit  http://www.studyisland.com/web/index/ 

2. Username: your child's FirstNameLastName-umcs (example- AarenMitchell-umcs)

3. Password: tigercub

4. Click 4th Grade

5. Click assigned Content (Math)

6. The first assignment is the Pre-Test. 

• REGISTRATION PACKETS were sent home Thursday, August 1st. Please complete these by Thursday, August 8th.
• Open House will be held Thursday, August 8th from 6 pm-8 pm. I hope to see all of you in room 105 - our classroom;-)