Monday, Dec. 1, 2014

Next week Monday we will have Personal Safety class by Amanda DeSua our School Counselor:

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Your child will begin the “Personal Safety” lesson soon. The lesson

includes the following themes:

• Physical Safety and Respect

• Private Body Safety and Respect

• Safety Regarding Strangers and Others

• Respect for Bodies and Gender

• Internet Safety and Respect (5th grade)

At the end of each lesson, children will be encouraged to talk with

family members and other adult caregivers about the concepts. Talking

with your child about these topics can enhance his or her ability to

avoid or deal with potentially harmful situations. If you have any

questions about this curriculum topic, please feel free to call.

Sincerely,

Amanda DeSua M. Ed. NBPTS School Counselor

District Elementary Guidance and Counseling Services 262-970-3013

adesua@waukesha.k12.wi.us

World Hello Day

Hello! Bonjour! Hola! Konichiwa! Ni-Hao!

Today was World Hello Day and Ms. King's class celebrated by researching 24 countries and learning how to say hello in 24 different languages!  The students enjoyed using their resources to research countries around the world.  They learned many unique things about the different places!

All classes explored different ways to say HELLO during reading, so ask your child this weekend to greet you in a different way!

Ms. King

Science, Social Studies and Spelling Update

Science- We have concluded our studies of Earth Science focusing on soil, weathering and landforms with a creative opportunity to come up with some solutions to rapid changes in landforms. Each student made a booklet in BookCreator to show their new ideas to help deal with problems caused by floods, volcanoes and earthquakes.  Ask your child to share theirs with you.

Social Studies- Maps and globes have been our focus these last few weeks.  We are learning how to use latitude and longitude to locate places on our Earth.  We shared our Travel projects using technology to travel anywhere in the world. Today was a summative assessment. Tomorrow we will begin work on a summative project.

Spelling- Tomorrow we will have a posttest on week 10 words. We continue to work on different spelling patterns each week. We sort the various words by patterns, share our understanding of their meanings through pictures, definitions and sentences. Each week children can use the Spelling City app or website to practice the weekly words with tests, practice and games.

Writing- After completing a personal narrative, we are now working on a new narrative based on a circle story format, to show our understanding of the skills we've been studying. These fun stories are patterned after the If You Give a Mouse a Cookie... series. Watch for soon to be published books!

Family Information- As teachers we appreciate the support from home that our students receive. We realize that there is quite a bit of new technology that is involved for those attempting to do this! Besides keeping an eye on assignments and grades posted in Infinite Campus, please use the BlackBoard district site to stay updated on your child's activities.  Our 4th grade assignment notebook is posted here daily.  If you click on Word Work you can find Spelling weekly lists.  The Social Studies button will link you to projects, assignments and many practice opportunities including videos and games. The Science button will show vocabulary words, focus questions, and links to audio recordings of the science book. To see some of the work your son or daughter hands in that is not in paper form, you can have them show you their Showbie account.  We use this format to distribute and collect some electronic assignments. Please feel free to contact me if I can be of assistance with any of this.

Last week Friday we had a great time sharing Reading time with our First Grade Buddies.

Thanks,

Mrs. Johnson

Math Update

Dear Fourth Grade Families,

In Math, your children have completed a summative unit assessment. They tracked progress from the pre-assessment to formative assessment to the final summative assessment using a radar chart. We also took time to reflect on the progress made during the unit through a written reflection. The children were asked to sit down with you and discuss their progress and next steps. Reflection of the learning corresponds to our Habit of the Mind, Thinking about our Thinking. I was pleased to see those boys and girls that took the time to think critically about their learning habits and how it affected their progress through the unit! Many of the reflections included amazing insight!

We are quickly moving to understanding multi-digit multiplication. In fourth grade the method of solving multi-digit multiplication is through an understanding of place value and of the properties of operations, especially the distributive property. This method varies greatly from the standard method of multiplication that most adults learned. There are many advantages to student learning and deeper understanding when they become proficient with multi-digit multiplication using the "new" methods.

I have started to upload our mini-lessons on bb9 for student and family use. The students have found this helpful to review information at home using the exact lesson examples and information. This will also provide families with a resource for gaining understanding and for staying up to date on what we are learning! I hope that you take advantage of this resource. Another way to stay informed on the current learning is to ask your child to go through their Math Thoughtful Logs with you. The strategies section includes learning targets and strategies for solving problems. Most of the children are doing a fantastic job of keeping this resource organized well and full of great learning! I will post some examples of proficient Log entries coming up.

As always, thank you for the support at home.

iPads being disabled with District Banned Apps

App Name	Icon	Approved Alternative
Snapchat		Email/ iMessage
Instagram		Email/ iMessage
Kik		Email/ iMessage
Oovoo		Email/ iMessage
Opendoor		None
Pufin	Puffin and Puffin Free Banned	Puffin Academy is Approved
Yikyak		None
Whisper		None

Consequences for Banned Apps

If a student has one of the Banned Apps (see list above) installed on their device the system will automatically Impose the following sanctions on the device .  

1. You will receive an icon on your iPad that looks like this
2. You will be blocked from installing apps
3. Your Web Browsing will be restricted to only district sites like Blackboard and Google.
4. Your Camera will be disabled

Once the offending apps have been removed the system will re-scan the device ( may take up to 24 hours) and remove the restrictions.

 

4th Grade Students Teach Empathy and Flexible Thinking

Oct. 15th

Dear Fourth Grade Families,

Thank you to all the families that attended our listening conferences on the 2nd and the 8th! It was great to hear about our children’s strengths and learning styles. In math, we have been working on place value concepts during our first math unit. Place value is an important building block on our way to understanding using the mathematical operations in a meaningful way. I have enjoyed getting to know your wonderful children during our first math unit and look forward to seeing their progress throughout the school year.

I wanted to update you on a few math items. Bethesda has been asked to pilot the math program TenMarks. Many Bethesda math teachers used the complementary version of TenMarks in the last couple of years. With the pilot, there are additional features to help personalize learning as it is a paid version. Since our building is getting the paid version, we have not been given student access to IXL. for 4th graders. TenMarks provides question types that are more aligned to the Smarter Balanced assessment that is replacing WKCE.. Smarter Balanced includes multi-step problem solving and questions that require students to explain their thinking. TenMarks will support student preparation for this type of assessment and increase their proficiency with the 8 Common Core Mathematical Practices.

Your child was given their login and password information for TenMarks and started working on the 4th grade pre-assessment. Most students have completed this assessment and are now working on assignments and personalize sessions based on the information from the pre-assessment. You should also receive the TenMarks parent letter today. TenMarks can be accessed through their website or an app available in the app store.

Math Facts

I had many conversations with families about deciding what works best for you and your children for practicing math facts. Some families like to practice using a set program, some like to use flash cards and others have personalized practice systems., so we will be doing a combination of those. The fourth grade teaching team has been recently introduced to a new online resource, Mobymax. This resource includes an online math fact practice component that includes progress updates and teaches strategies.  The feedback about the math fact practice that I received from our students was positive and we are going to use it as one math fact practice resource in class and on some nights for the 15 min. math fact practice. On the days that Mobymax is not assigned for math facts, then your child may do a choice math fact activity.

Thank you for being a part of your child’s progress in math this year and for your support at home!

Mrs. Driscoll

Oct. 1

Conference Sign Up Reminder

Dear Families,

Please remember to sign up for your listening conference time online. The link for this, along with directions, is in the Bethesda Friday News email from Sept. 19th under Conference Sign up.  I look forward to meeting with  you.

Mrs. Johnson

Mrs. Driscoll

Ms King

CONFERENCE SIGN UP

Parent/Teacher Listening Conferences are from 3:45-7:15 on Thursday, October 2, and Wednesday, October 8.  Please click on this link http://www.waukeshaschools.com/bethesda/.  Scroll down the main page of the Bethesda School website until you see Parent Teacher Conferences; click on those words to get directly into the sign up page.  Please remember to leave a 15 minute break between each conference, and sign up for one conference with your child’s HOMEROOM teacher only.

A Listening Conference Questionnaire form came home with your child last Monday.  Please take a moment to fill this form out and return it to your child’s homeroom teacher.

If you are unable to sign up online, please call our school secretary, Mrs. Rauchle, at 262-970-1305.

Sept. 26th

September 26, 2014

Dear Fourth Grade Families,

We wanted to let you know that next Monday and Tuesday, the 29th and 30th of September, the 4th grade classes will be taking their MAPs fall tests in Reading and Math. We ask that you help prepare them to do their best by having them get a good night’s rest the night before, and a good breakfast on those mornings.  

We’d also like to take a little time now to share about our curriculum now that you and your child are settling into the routines of the new school year. We chose to share this information with your now rather than at open house to give you and your child have time to adjust to a new school year!

Spelling

Spelling will be taught by Mrs. Johnson for all homerooms. This year for Spelling we will be using the Scott-Foresman word lists for 4th grade.  We focus on spelling patterns each week. Mondays usually include a self-pretest, then we sort our words by patterns and then work with them as vocabulary, considering their meanings and usage.  Thursdays will normally be a game review and Friday’s a test. Students will keep track of tests in a Book Creator book for Spelling tests. I plan to adjust the lists for some students who appear to need more a challenge These words will be taken from our curriculum areas.  

Sciences

For Science we are using the Foss Science program. We will do many hands on activities in class to let students discover science concepts.  To keep track of our Science learning we’ll use  Book Creator Science logs. The vocabulary are often available on quizlet.com under mrskmj for students to practice, and the student book is available with a few other resources on fossweb.com .  The class is:  Grade4ScienceBethesda, class login: bethesda4science2014   password: bobcats4.  Our topics of study this year will be:  Soil, Rocks and Landforms,   Motion, Force and Models, Energy and Electromagnetism, Living Systems, and our Lapham Peak work..

For Social Studies we will study Government, Economics, History of Wisconsin, and Geography. We are planning to visit the Capitol and museum in Madison in April!

Writer’s and Language Workshop:

Writer’s workshop will be taught in homerooms this year. Writer’s workshop begins with the children gathering together for a mini-lesson. During the mini-lesson, students are given explicit, focused and direct instruction on specific skills. Students discuss, have guided practice, or look at models based on the minilesson skill focus. Students then have an opportunity to apply the skills independently in their own writing. Writer’s workshop allows students to have choice in their writing topics and to get individual small groups conferring time with the teacher. The Common Core State Standards writing focuses on three main areas of writing in  4th grade. Those areas are narrative writing, informational writing and persuasive writing. Language will be taught and practiced through our writing block and through the content areas. Vocabulary development and writing conventions will be a part of our work on language. We look forward to the development of your children in writing.

Math Workshop:

Students will have well over an hour for Math this year. Math is taught using the workshop model. Using the workshop model allows instruction, guided practice and individual application of skill to be based on student need. Student will gather for a short focused lesson and guided practice. Students will then work in cooperative learning groups, with thinking partners and individually to develop a deeper understanding of the skill introduced during the lesson. Students will gather again to reflect on learning, explain reasoning, justify solutions and write about math.

State and district math standards have changed with the adoption of the Common Core Math standards. Math skills and content will reflect these standards. The Common Core standards focus on understanding math processes and math reasoning. Students will have the opportunity to develop understanding of concepts in order to apply their knowledge to more complex problems.

When Math homework is given it is purposeful and is given to practice a skill, apply a skill independently, deepen understanding or develop background knowledge. Most of the time, if math homework is coming home, it is due to work not being completed by your child during class time. Homework is checked in class and students have an opportunity to ask questions and have problems modeled in class. Completion of homework is important in order for students to move forward the following day. Homework is checked for completion and used to help give information regarding student understanding. This information helps to differentiate students based on their need. It is important to be sure that work is completed on time.

Students will be pre-assessed to determine background knowledge and proficiency with skills. The pre-assessment gives information to differentiate students based on level of understanding before instruction begins in a new unit of study. Formative assessments are given to check for understanding and track student progress. Formative assessments are graded assessments. Summative unit assessments are given after much practice. Summative unit assessments will also be given to celebrate our learning and to be sure of skill and concept mastery.

Fluency with Math facts is a focus for fourth grade and is an essential part of understanding patterns with numbers and applying them to higher level problems. It is expected that Math facts will be practice nightly in order to develop fluency. More detailed information regarding Math facts and resources to help at home will come home with your child.

Reader’s Workshop

Students will have 70 minutes of Reader’s Workshop per day this year.  Reader’s Workshop will consist of a whole group mini lesson, small group guided instruction and independent application of strategies and skills.  Some of the independent reading rotations will be listen to reading, reading games, independent practice, Versatiles and read to self.  The varied stations provide the students with the opportunity to practice and apply strategies in a differentiated setting.

Common Core has caused Waukesha School District to change the Literacy Curriculum over the past few years to meet the standards.  During Reader’s Workshop we are building comprehension, accuracy, fluency and expanding our vocabulary.

For homework, the students are asked to read 30 minutes every night. The additional practice outside of school will help reinforce strategies learned throughout the day as well as instill a love of learning and reading!  During the school day, students are asked to complete a Thoughtful Log after reading independently.  When students write down their thinking in their Thoughtful Log, they are working on making their learning visible.  Our Thoughtful Logs are currently being organized in Notability on our iPads.  All homework has a purpose and is provided to help the students achieve proficiency in reading.

Technology

Technology is integrated into all aspects of our daily lives. Technology is used in the classroom to engage students, enhance instruction and provide tools for productivity and information. Students will access information using websites, applications, create multimedia presentations and create and save work electronically.

With our integration of WaukeshaOne to Bethesda being in its second year,  students, teachers and families will have an exciting tool to interact with learning. With any new learning, time, patience and positive thinking contributes to successful outcomes. We are excited to continue to discover new and transformational learning opportunities with your children using the iPad as a learning tool. We appreciate your support with our technology and we will work together to make this year a fabulous learning journey.

We appreciate your support to be sure that your child is bringing their ipad and the school issued carrying bag each day. Helping your child to bring their iPad charged to school each day will ensure they are prepared for each learning opportunity. Occasionally apps will need to be downloaded. Families will be notified as to the app and purpose for review. Making sure that these apps are downloaded and ready for learning is important to ensure your child is equipped with the necessary tools for learning.

Snacks

Children will have the opportunity to have a healthy snack packed from home each morning.  Since they will be working as they enjoy their snack please send items that will not be too messy in order in ensure a clean work space.

Assignment Notebooks & Communication Reminder

This year the fourth grade teaching team will be using a shared electronic assignment notebook to present to students the assignments/notes/reminders that should be written in student assignment notebooks. The shared feature ensures consistency and will allow for electronic student and parent access at school and home. Another feature to this format is that you and your student will have access to previous days and weeks in case of an absence or an appointment.. Students will be able to access this information with families and make sure that they know what they missed. Soon we will post the link to the assignment notebook to Blackboard 9, SDW’s electronic learning platform. Blackboard 9 (bb9) will give  students and families an opportunity to access curricular resources and communication behind a password protected structure. With the district’s move to Infinite Campus, the online gradebook, it will be a few weeks before family access to bb9 is available. Once it is ready for family access, you will use the same parent username and password for IC and bb9.  Students will learn how to access the student side of bb9 soon and will be able to share that with you. We will also begin to post parent communication on bb9 as well once it is fully functional. In the meantime, communication will be a hard copy. If your family is in need of a hard copy of communication, please let us know so that we can make arrangements for that.

All students will be given time for writing assignments into their assignment notebooks at the end of the day. Students are responsible for writing everything that is included by the teaching team. “If we write it, you write it” is the expectation. At home, you will be an important role in helping your child to stay accountable for being responsible with doing this daily. This will help your child know that when they write it down, they must also make sure they understand, before they go home,  what it is that they need to complete and how to complete it. We encourage students to ask each other and the teaching team to clarify when they have a question. We believe that our students can be responsible for this without the need for a daily teacher signature. Since email is the best way to communicate to the team, we won’t be checking assignment notebooks for communication and daily parent signatures from home. Fourth grade is such a great year of growth in responsibility, we are confident that your children will be able to stay accountable. If there are patterns in unfinished or late work with your child, then we will need to require a parent signature to assist with growing in this responsibility.

Behavioral Expectations

Bethesda students will conduct themselves in a safe, responsible and respectful manner. Students will be expected to display behaviors that reflect responsibility, safety and respectfulness in all areas of our school. These expectations ensure that the learning environments are optimal spaces for all learners. We appreciate your support with helping your child understand these expectations and we are looking forward to our year with your children!

The best way to reach any of the teaching team is through email so please feel free to email with questions or concerns regarding your child’s learning. We are looking forward to working with you!

Mrs. Carrie Driscoll   4th Grade Math/Writing

970-1363  

cdriscol@waukesha.k12.wi.us

Mrs. Kathy Johnson                       4th Grade Sciences/Spelling/Writing

970-1311

kjohnson@waukehsa.k12.wi.us

Ms. Courtney King  4th Grade Reading/Writing

970-1413

cking@waukesha.k12.wi.us

We look forward to working with you to support your child. We are eager to learn more about your children from you at our listening conferences coming up.

Thank you,

The 4th Grade Teaching Team

Sept. 17

Wed. Sept. 17, 2014

Dear Families,

A few things for all to know that are coming up:

Driscoll and King homerooms to Lapham Peak this Friday, the 19th. Be sure to have your child pack a lunch with a drink and dress for the weather. We will most likely go even if there is some rain. (Parent chaperones will meet us at the park.)

Johnson homeroom will go to Lapham Peak on Tuesday the 23rd.

You may receive a notification about a update for IOS 8 on your child’s ipad. Please do not update at this time. Our district will be letting us know when this update should be done.

Thanks,

The Fourth Grade Team

Sept. 5

September 5, 2014

Dear 4th Grade Families,

Your fantastic children have already completed their first week of 4th grade! Wow, we are excited about our year of learning ahead. We wanted to take a moment to inform you about a few important items and give you a little peek into our first week!

First Week

During this first week, we have been so impressed with our new group of 4th graders! As a grade level and in each rotation valuable time has been spent to begin getting to know one another and to build our community of learners. Your children began rotations with each teacher for Reading with Ms. King, Science and Social Studies with Mrs. Johnson and Math with Mrs. Driscoll. We are quickly learning procedures and routines in each rotation and as a group.

Thank you to those who have already turned in the permission slip for Lapham Peak and to those who have volunteered their time to chaperone.. Your help is already appreciated! If you have not yet returned the permission slip, please return it to school on Monday. Remember that if you have volunteered to chaperone, please be sure that your background check is on file with the office or contact the office to arrange to complete one.

Assignment Notebook & Communication

This year the fourth grade teaching team will be using a shared electronic assignment notebook to present to students the assignments/notes/reminders that should be written in student assignment notebooks. The shared feature ensures consistency and will allow for electronic student and parent access at school and home. Another feature to this format is that you and your student will have access to previous days and weeks in case of an absence or an appointment.. Students will be able to access this information with families and make sure that they know what they missed. Soon we will post the link to the assignment notebook to Blackboard 9, SDW’s electronic learning platform. Blackboard 9 (bb9) will give  students and families an opportunity to access curricular resources and communication behind a password protected structure. With the district’s move to Infinite Campus, the online gradebook, it will be a few weeks before family access to bb9 is available. Once it is ready for family access, you will use the same parent username and password for IC and bb9.  Students will learn how to access the student side of bb9 soon and will be able to share that with you. We will also begin to post parent communication on bb9 as well once it is fully functional. In the meantime, communication will be a hard copy. If your family is in need of a hard copy of communication, please let us know so that we can make arrangements for that.

ALL students will be given time for writing assignments into their assignment notebooks at the end of the day. Students are responsible for writing everything that is included by the teaching team. “If we write it, you write it” is the expectation. At home, you will be an important role in helping your child to stay accountable for being responsible with doing this daily. This will help your child know that when they write it down, they must also make sure they understand, before they go home,  what it is that they need to complete and how to complete it. We encourage students to ask each other and the teaching team to clarify when they have a question. We believe that our students can be responsible for this without the need for a daily teacher signature. Since email is the best way to communicate to the team, we won’t be checking assignment notebooks for communication and daily parent signatures from home. Fourth grade is such a great year of growth in responsibility, we are confident that your children will be able to stay accountable. If there are patterns in unfinished or late work with your child, then we will need to require a parent signature to assist with growing in this responsibility.

The best way to reach any of the teaching team is through email so please feel free to email with questions or concerns regarding your child’s learning. We are looking forward to working with you!

Mrs. Carrie Driscoll   4th Grade Math/Writing

970-1363  

cdriscol@waukesha.k12.wi.us

Mrs. Kathy Johnson                       4th Grade Sciences/Spelling/Writing

970-1311

kjohnson@waukehsa.k12.wi.us

Ms. Courtney King  4th Grade Reading/Writing

970-1373

cking@waukesha.k12.wi.us

iPads

An iPad checklist was sent from the office and handed out on the open house night last week. Thank you for taking the time to be sure that iPads are in good condition, chargers are accounted for and carrying bags are being used each school day. If you are in need of another charger, they can be purchased from Mrs. Rauchle in the office for $30.00. If a carrying bag has been lost or damaged, another should be purchased next week for $5.00.

We began having conversations with your children to remember our privilege of using iPads as learning tools and to be sure that we understand our responsibilities to be safe, be responsible and be respectful at all times with devices. Some important points made by the children during our conversations were that iPads must be fully charged and ready for learning EVERY day,  only appropriate apps that help to reach learning goals are on devices, iPads must have student photo on the lockscreen background and passcodes should not be on devices to ensure accessibility to staff at any time. Please take the time to help your child “clean up” their devices over the weekend. We want to start the year off well with our learning tools and that starts with a device ready to use for learning. We appreciate your partnership with the district,  Bethesda staff and your child in your ownership and responsibility for managing apple id’s as your children have the privilege of using district owned devices as learning tools.

Necessary Apps

Listed below are a few important apps that we will begin using soon. We would like to provide you time to download these apps for or with your children over the weekend. We will begin using some of these as early as next week and we want all children to be prepared with the necessary tools. If you need to access internet, you are welcome to do this download here at school on Monday morning to ensure your child is prepared. Free wi-fi can also be accessed at locations like McDonald’s, Starbucks and the public library.

You will need to go to the App Store located on the homescreen and then type the name of each app into the search box. Some of these apps may already be downloaded from last year.

Thanks so much for your cooperation and support at home. We are looking forward to learning with you and your children!

The Fourth Grade Team

Spelling City

ScootPad          

Socrative Student

Showbie

  Baiboard

IXL

QR Reader

Thank you reading through this important information. We know it was a lot, but it will help us get off to a great start. We thank you for your support in advance as we begin our year of learning together with your fabulous 4th graders!

Mrs. Driscoll, Mrs. Johnson and Ms. King