Parent Update - 6/14/2009 (Last Update)

Dear Fourth Grade Families,

Well, we've made it to the end of fourth grade with just this last week to go. It's been an honor to be your child's teacher this year and witness his and her growth academically, emotionally and in height. They really have grown since last August!

I want to thank you all for the wonderful gift of the REI gift card I received on Saturday (hand delivered at REI by Alexander Myers). I was completely stunned by your generosity. I appreciate it very much and have already used a portion of it to buy a couple of items for my family's trip to Alaska this summer. It's perfect. THANK YOU!

Here's what the week will look like:

First of all - NO HOMEWORK. (I can hear everyone cheering! - me too!)

Monday we will be finishing up the innovator's project and begin presenting the life-size posters the students have been making. We will take our last math test. This is an "End of the Year" test whose results will go to their fifth grade teacher and not be graded for the report card.

Tuesday will have our class picnic to Lover's Point. Thank you to all who have offered to drive. We will be leaving school just after recess around 10:30ish. We should return by about 1:30. Please be reminded that though the students have free dress, they will not be able to go in the water because we have no lifeguard on duty. Everyone is asked to bring food to share. Those who have not turned in their permission slips need to do so tomorrow.

Wednesday, our class will be singing at the 8th grade graduation. We have been reading buddies with both the 8th grade and Kindergarten this year and this is a way of giving a little gift to their buddies. Thanks to Lisa Wichel-Loomis for thinking of this and arranging the graduation. Ms. Porter, the music teacher, has been working with the class on the songs.

Thursday is field day. Students have free dress. I will go over with the students what they can and cannot wear. I don't have the list with me as I write but they will need to wear clothes they can get wet for the water activities. Swimsuits may be wore but 2-piece suits for girls need to be covered with a shirt. Bring a towel and a change of clothes to school. Sunscreen is a good idea too.

We will be cleaning up and packing up the classroom all week. All school books need to be checked in. Please send any ISM books or our class library books back to school. There are some students that still have library books out from the ISM library. These need to be returned right away. Please check with your child.

Friday is a half day. Dismissal is at 11:30.

I am sure you all already have great summer plans. Here are a couple of ideas to add to your summer fun:

Library Reading Program - All of the local libraries have a summer reading program which has already begun. They usually have weekly prizes and some sort of fun programs throughout the summer and festivities at the end. It's a great way to encourage your child to read over the summer.

As mentioned in a previous email, the Golden State Theater in Monterey has free movies this summer. Check the theater for times and titles. You get the tickets at stores on Alvarado Street. A great deal!

The Forest Outdoor Theater hosts outdoor movies all summer. It's great to bring a picnic dinner and dessert and watch a movie outside. They also have a few plays. Right now, a play that captures a part in our local California history is playing called Bandito. I haven't had a chance to see it yet so, I don't know if it appropriate for children, but it would be a great addition to our year-long study of California.

If you need an idea for a weekend trip, think about going to the Gold Country of California to help your child see some of the places we learned about in class this year. There is a lot of information of where to go online and AAA has some great ideas and resources as well.

Feel free to let others know of activities you know about and share the fun.

I wish you all a wonderful, restful and fun summer.
Thank you for your endless support,
Mary

Mary Cunningham-Welsh
4th Grade Teacher
International School of Monterey

Parent Update - 6/7/2009

Dear Grade 4 Families,

Two more weeks to go. While I am sure the students are ready for summer, we do have a few things to finish up this week and next. Somehow we will try to keep a little focus on school but I'm sure it will be getting increasingly more difficult as the week unfolds.

This week is ISM Spirit Week. Students may wear clothing and hair styles as outlined in the note sent home last week. If the students choose not to participate on any given day, they need to come to school in full ISM uniform. Monday's theme is International Day and students can wear clothes from another culture. It will be fun. (Please refer to note for each day's theme.) On Friday, our class is assigned yellow as the color of our clothing to wear. I know we all at least have the Apple Store shirts we were given on the field trip. I hope everyone in our class can dress out on that day.

We will work on the last of our Electricity unit and complete the Circuit Quiz boards in class. We are still working on our Innovator projects and hope to also have those complete by the end of the week. If your child has a Monterey Public Library card. please have them bring it to school. It can be used to go to the biography section of the Monterey Library website which will save a lot of time in gathering needed information.

We will continue with spelling and math this week as usual. This will be the last week of spelling for the year.

If you haven't yet turned in the field trip form for the class picnic on Tuesday, June 16th to Lover's Point, please do so as soon as possible. We are asking everyone to bring a little food or drink to share. Please see the note attached to the field trip form for suggestions by student numbers of what to bring.

Homework this week:

Monday:
Math: Study Links 12.1
Reading: 20 minutes and record in Planner
Spelling: Sort and write words
Handwriting: one page of packet (will be sent home)

Tuesday:
Math: Study Links 12.2
Reading: 20 minutes and record in Planner
Spelling: Sort and write words
Handwriting: one page of packet (will be sent home)

Wednesday
Math: Study Links 12.3
Reading: 20 minutes and record in Planner
Spelling: Sort and write words
Handwriting: one page of packet (will be sent home)

Thursday
Math: Study Links 12.4
Reading: 20 minutes and record in Planner
Spelling: Study for Test
Handwriting: one page of packet (will be sent home)

Have a great week everyone,

Mary Cunningham-Welsh

Parent Update - 6/1/2009

Hello all,

Well, we are down to the last few weeks of the year amazingly enough. Honestly, it does seem that it was just last month, your children walked into the classroom for the first time. It's surprising how quickly the school year has gone and already I am seeing how many things I will miss not being around this great group of people pretty soon.

I know the students are ready for summer but we still have a lot of things to do. This week we will continue with Unit 11 in math and end the week with the assessment test on Friday. Spelling will resume this week and next. We will also continue our study of electricity with lessons on conductivity and insulators. I think everyone is really having a great time learning about and exploring electricity and electrical concepts. We will also start on our last small project of California Innovators this week, most of which will be done in class. Our book clubs have changed for the end of the year with students working individually or in small groups reading self-selected (and approved) books finishing with a short book review and recommendations for summer reading. I am doing as many reading assessments as I can during class and specials times. So far, everyone has moved up one, two or three levels in reading since the beginning of the year. Hurrah!

We would like to have an end of the year party the last week of school. I do think I need help with this as my energy level is waning a bit. Most classes are having class picnics at various parks or beaches on Tuesday, June 16th. We are hoping to coordinate with Ms. Arnow's class to be together for that day. If any of you have the time and energy to help with this, please let me know and we can decide on a place and the timing of the event.

I will be out of the classroom on Friday for a personal day.

Homework this week:

Monday:
Math: Study Links 11.4
Reading: 20 minutes and record in planner
Spelling: Sort and write words
Handwriting: pg. 90

Tuesday:
Math: Study Links 11.5
Reading: 20 minutes and record in planner
Spelling: Work with words
Handwriting: pg. 91

Wednesday:
Math: Study Links 11.6
Reading: 20 minutes and record in planner
Spelling: Sort and write words
Handwriting: pg. 92

Thursday:
Math: Study Links 11.7 and study for test
Reading: 20 minutes and record in planner
Spelling: Study for test
Handwriting: pg. 93

Best wishes to all,
Mary Welsh

Parent Update - 5/25/2009

I hope you have all enjoyed a nice long weekend this Memorial Day weekend. Although the weather was a bit chilly around here, it was nice to have an extra day of time with friends and family.

Thank you once again to our wonderful chaperone/drivers that helped out on the field trip last Friday to MBARI. It was a great day of science, fun and time together. While I was out on the beach helping students learn about currents, staying dry and looking for beach treasures, everyone had a chance to test the temperatures of the water with the "thermasters" they made and attached to the "ROVs". They recorded their calculations on a graph and also had the opportunity to drive the ROVs. It was a great experience. Thank you to Debra Istenes, Sonia Perez, Kathleen Hill, Bob Brown, Bene Millings and Barbara and Katsuhiro Okamura for helping out. If you see Geoff Wheat, (father of Ted Wheat in Ms. Arnow's class) or Claudia Paul (Joshua's mom) please thank them for all of their time, effort and knowledge they shared in putting this great trip and the class lesson to go with it. They were terrific!

We are down to our last four weeks of school. It's hard to believe how quickly it has gone from the first day your wonderful children walked into the classroom. They have accomplished so much and we have had many great experiences together. They have all grown in so many ways and it has been remarkable for me to witness this along with all of you. I am very fortunate.

This four-day week will be fairly normal. We will take the spelling test we didn't get to take on Friday because of our field trip on Tuesday. We will start the next unit (11) in math on Tuesday. I will return the math tests tomorrow (Tuesday). Most everyone did very well on the assessment. As always, students may make corrections on the test and return it to me for 1/2 credit. This needs to be completed by Thursday.

We will continue our study of electricity this week with a look at motors and how they work. Our final project will be on California Innovators. Students will be doing most of the work in class (to give you all a break). They will be making a life-sized poster of their innovator and presenting some of the major contributions and background of this person. I will be sending a description of the project home this week if students want to do some of the research at home. I hope this will be both a fun and interesting project for all. Everyone has worked so hard this year.

Homework this week:

Tuesday
Math: Study Links 11.1
Reading: 20 minutes and record in planner
Spelling: none
Handwriting p. 87

Wednesday
Math: Study Links 11.2
Reading: 20 minutes and record in planner
Spelling: none
Handwriting p. 88

Thursday
Math: Study Links 11.3
Reading: 20 minutes and record in planner
Spelling: none
Handwriting p. 89

All the best to you,
Mary Welsh

Parent Update - 5/18/2009

Dear Parents,

Thank you to the many parents who helped out on the field trip last Friday to the US. Geological Survey Open House. We couldn't have done it without you. Though it was a long drive, the students all found interesting things to do and learn. My group had fun playing Geopardy, Gold Panning, making their own earthquakes and other hands-on activities. Others also learned what to do in case of an earthquake, saw a bald eagle and other fun things. Please thank Claudia Paul, Leann Ruffin, Glenn Harrell, Barbara Okamura, Debra Istenes and Theresa Curatalo for their help in making the field trip happen.

There are several things going on this week for you to be aware of. Wednesday is an early dismissal day. The students will be out at 11:30 am. Afterschool care is available but you must sign up in advance. Thursday evening is the Spring Arts Festival in the evening. The program starts at 6:30 pm. Students need to meet in the classroom at 6:15. Our class will be singing the California state song as taught to them by music teacher, Sherry Porter. We are still working out what the students will wear. We will determine this tomorrow in class and I will let you know.

Friday is our field trip to MBARI to test our thermosensors made in class with Mr. Wheat and Ms. Paul. I have not received all of the field trip permission slips yet so, if you haven't sent it in, please do so tomorrow. We are still in need of drivers for the trip. At this time, we have space only for 13 students. If you can drive, please let me know. We will be back in time for SEM classes.

Homework this week will be:

Monday
Math: Study Links 10.5
Handwriting: Page 83
Reading: Read 20 minutes and record in planner
Spelling: Sort and write words

Tuesday
Math: Study Links 10.6
Handwriting: Page 84
Reading: Read 20 minutes and record in planner
Spelling: work with words

Wednesday:
Math: Study for test
Handwriting: Page 85
Reading: Read 20 minutes and record in planner
Spelling: work with words

Thursday:
Come to the Evening program
Reading: Read 20 minutes and record in planner
Spelling: Study for test

All the best,
Mary Welsh

Parent Update - 5/4/2009

Happy May! Let's hope this wet weather helps to extend the beautiful wildflower season we have been experiencing.

This week we will begin taking the Star Test, the California State assessment test. Fourth graders will take the test in the mornings on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week and just Tuesday and Wednesday next week. On Monday, we will take a practice test. On Tuesday and Wednesday will be testing in Language Arts. Next week, we will test in math. Please make sure your child gets a good rest each night and eats a good breakfast as usual. The tests will take only about 1 1/2 hours each day. Please also make sure your child comes to school on time as we will be starting the tests at 8:30 each morning.

We will not have spelling this week or next week due to the Star Test. The other subjects will remain the same. There will be some adjustments with Spanish to make up for the time Spanish and the Star Test overlap. We are working out a Spanish schedule with the teachers.

Next week, on Friday, May 15th, we will be heading to the U.S. Geological Survey for their Open House for schools. If your child has not turned in their field trip form, please send it in. Thank you.

We will have an assessment of math unit 9 on Wednesday this week. I promise to not make it too painful given the Star testing overlap.

We will finish up our Migration Projects this week and begin our study of electricity and magnetism. I may be asking for some supplies you may have around as we go through the lessons. If anyone has a broken electric appliance, please let me know. We may be taking some things apart. I have a weed trimmer I will be donating to science (I guess the weeds were just too big to trim – I burned out the motor).

Homework this week:

Monday:
Math Study Links 9.8
Read 20 minutes and record in planner
Handwriting Book pg. 75

Tuesday:
Math Study Links 9.9
Read 20 minutes and record in planner
Handwriting Book pg. 76

Wednesday:
Read 20 minutes and record in planner
Handwriting Book pg. 77

Thursday:
Math Study Links 10.1
Read 20 minutes and record in planner
Handwriting Book pg. 78

Thank you all for your continued support.

All the best,
Mary Welsh

Parent Update - 4/20/2009

I hope everyone had a great weekend and were able to enjoy some of this beautiful and very warm weather. It's supposed to stay hot for the next couple of days so please make sure your child has a water bottle at school this week.

We attended a great Math Festival on Friday in the Multiuse room put on by the Lawrence Hall of Science with the help of teacher, Nikki Madden. We all enjoyed doing math in many different forms and explorations. Thanks to the parents in many grades that volunteered and to Nikki Madden for making it happen.

We have several things going on this week. Wed., Earth Day, we will have an early dismissal day. Students get out of school at 11:30am. Please make sure you pick them up on time or make arrangements for after school care. There will be an Earth Day assembly at 9:00 am in the Multiuse room.

On Thursday, we will be heading to the Monterey Symphony performance in Salinas in the morning with the other 4th grade and the fifth grade classes. Thank you to all of you who have volunteered to drive. We are in good shape with the amount of seats for students. We will be leaving school promptly at 8:30 so please make sure your child is on time. Uniforms are required.

For those of you that have begun your filming for the migration project, I hope it has gone well. The filming will need to be completed by next Monday, April 27th. If you have the filming already completed, your child can bring it to school early.

Next week, on Wed., April 29th, we will be going to the Apple Store at the Del Monte Center to work on learning how to edit our films. I will have field trip forms for this tomorrow. We will just be there for 1 hour (11:00 - 12:00) and will need drivers. We have one more field trip in the works. It is on Friday, May 15th to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in Menlo Park.
They will be holding an open house for schools on that day.

There will be free dress this Friday.

On Saturday, April 25th, the Just Run 3K race for kids (and adults) will be held beginning at 8:00 am. It starts on Wave Street in Cannery Row between Irving and Prescott Streets. I will be at the starting line and hope we can get as many 4th graders as possible there. Unfortunately, I will have to leave just after the start because I have a class to attend at the Monterey Bay Aquarium beginning around 8. Mr. Robby the P.E. teacher will be there and will run with our group. Here is a link to the website.

http://www.justrun.org/Just_Kids_Races_Series.htm

You can sign-up ahead of time. Students are only $5. and adults $20. All runners receive a t-shirt, a medallion and snacks. There is also a prize drawing at the end of the race. It's a ton of fun and a great way to exercise together.

Homework this week:

Monday
Math: Study Links 9.2
Spelling: Sort and write words
Reading: 20 minutes and record in planner
Handwriting: pg. 65

Tuesday
Math: Study Links 9.3
Spelling: Sort and write words
Reading: 20 minutes and record in planner
Handwriting: pg. 66

Wednesday
Do something positive for the Earth!
Math: 9.4
Spelling: Sort and write words
Handwriting: pg. 67

Thursday
Math: To be announced (field trip in morning) Spelling; Study for test
Reading: 20 minutes and record in planner
Handwriting: pg. 68

Enjoy your week,
Mary Welsh

Parent Update - 4/12/2009

Dear Parents and families,

Spring seems to be upon us now with these wonderful green hills and the lupine and poppies making themselves known. I trust you all had a nice weekend and for those who celebrate Passover or Easter, a special weekend of gatherings, good food, egg hunts and such. For those who attended or helped at the ISM Gala, thank you for your support. I hope you had a wonderful time. A previous commitment I had did not allow me to attend this year but I've enjoyed attending in years past. I'm sure it was a big success and I hope our class art project brought in some needed funds.

We had fun doing some Gold Rush activities on Friday afternoon. Hopefully, everyone learned who were the ones that made money during the gold rush and know who Levi Strauss and Mr. Ghiradelli are and how they were able to get some of the gold.

This week should be a "regular" week.

The migration interview questions are due Monday. The students did most of the work in class but were to check with their parents to see how their questions looked. They need to be written neatly or typed to turn in. I do not have much of a count of video cameras yet. Please let me know( if you haven't already) if you have a camera you know will work for the project.

We will have the math assessment for unit 8 on Wednesday as we have one more lesson in Unit 8 for Monday and a day to review beforehand. I will be sending the hard copy of the review home tomorrow and am including it at the end of this note as some folks were not able to open it.

The students will get new spelling words on Monday. The test will be Friday as usual.

Everyone chose new books for the book clubs on Friday and so we are off on a new round of book club activities and seminars. Check with your child to make sure they are keeping up on their reading, roles and word studies for book club. They can certainly read their book club book for their nightly reading time.

On Friday, I sent home the permission slip for the Monterey Symphony trip for next Thursday, April 23rd. Please fill it out and return the form this week. We will need drivers for the 1/2 day trip. We will leave school around 8:30 and I assume we will return by lunch time. The field trip is a no cost trip (except for the drivers).

Homework this week:

Monday
Math; Study Links 8.8
Spelling: Sort and write words
Reading: 20 minutes and record in planner
Handwriting: pg. 60

Tuesday
Math; Study for test
Spelling: Sort and write words
Reading: 20 minutes and record in planner
Handwriting: pg. 62

Wednesday
Math; Parents read parent letter for unit 9.
Spelling: Sort and write words
Reading: 20 minutes and record in planner
Handwriting: pg. 63

Thursday
Math; Study Links 9.1
Spelling: Study for test
Reading: 20 minutes and record in planner
Handwriting: pg. 64

-------------------------------

Math Study Guide - Unit 8


1. Find the perimeter of a polygon.
2. Find the area of a polygon drawn on a grid.
3. Draw a rectangle with a given area and perimeter.
4. Solve number stories involving area.
5. Add and subtract fractions.
6. Predict the outcomes of a spinner experiment.
7. Express the probability of a block-drawing event as a fraction.
8. Use formulas to find the area of a rectangle, parallelogram, and triangle.
9. Use a scale to draw rectangles with given dimensions.


Have a great week,

Mary

Weekly update - 4/5/2009

Dear Parents,

I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend. The weather has been beautiful.

Yesterday, I drove up to Los Altos to pick up the vases with our class artwork for the Gala auction. They are just great. The vases are quite large and the ocean artwork looks great. Some of the students' art are on each vase though inadvertently 3 of our students were missed in the application of the art. If you go to the gala next Saturday, you'll be sure to see them. They are lovely and fun.

Gala 50/50 tickets need to be in this week. Please have your child turn them in to me or you can bring them directly to the wooden mailbox near the teacher mailboxes in the office.

We have a field trip to Colton Hall and the Monterey Library this Wednesday, April 8th. We are taking the city bus. If your child has not yet turned in their field trip form or the $2.00 for the bus, please send them in on Monday. Thank you!

On Thursday, April 23rd, we have a field trip to the Monterey Symphony at Sherwood Hall in Salinas scheduled as part of music class. I will get field trip forms out at the end of the week (one trip at a time!). We will need drivers for this trip and need to arrive at Sherwood Hall by 9:15 am. I assume the program only goes an hour or so but will let you know as soon as I hear.

We have begun working on our unit on Migration. As part of the unit each student will interview someone they know who has migrated to California. The students will write up this interview and we are hoping the students will videotape each of these interviews so we can teach them to edit the film and upload the final draft onto a website called We Are California. I need to know how many families have a digital video camera that they can use to tape the interview. Please let me know as soon as possible. We may be able to partner up and film for one another if agreeable. I will send home the information on the assignment this week. Check out the website: www.weareca.org

This Friday, we will be doing some activities on the Gold Rush with both the 4th grade classes. It should be a fun learning time for all.

Homework this week:

Monday:
Math: Study Links 8,5
Spelling: Sort and write words
Handwriting pg. 54
Reading: 20 minutes and record title, pages and minutes in planner

Tuesday
Math: Study Links 8,6
Spelling: Sort and write words
Handwriting pg. 55
Reading: 20 minutes and record title, pages and minutes in planner

Math: Fact Triangle practice
Spelling: Sort and write words
Handwriting pg. 56
Reading: 20 minutes and record title, pages and minutes in planner

Math: Study Links 8.7
Spelling: Sort and write words
Handwriting pg. 57
Reading: 20 minutes and record title, pages and minutes in planner

Enjoy your week,

Mary Welsh

Parent Update - 3/23/2009

Dear 4th Grade families,

I trust you have all had a fun and restful spring break and are enjoying your last day before we start our last trimester. My family has had a nice break and had a nice driving trip to Colorado to see family. It was stunning driving through the red rock country of Arizona and Utah and lovely seeing the snow on the mountains. It was a nice visit though I am glad to be back and get to see all the fourth graders again.

Thank you all for taking the time to meet with me and your child for the conferences before the break. All of the students did a fantastic job at the conferences and it's so great for me to witness their growth and have time with all of you.

We will start right back into our work on Monday. We do have a field trip to Colton Hall and the Monterey Library scheduled for Wed., April 8th. We will be taking the Monterey Transit Bus to downtown Monterey. I have one confirmed chaperone and have room for two more if anyone else can join us. We will leave school around 8:45 and return just before 2pm. Field trip forms will be coming home Monday or Tuesday. I will also send an application for a Monterey Library card home with your child if they don't already have one. I will need the application back by Tuesday or Wednesday this week to get all of the applications to the library one week ahead of time so the cards will be ready for the students when we arrive.

The ISM Gala is coming soon. It is Saturday, April 11th at the Hyatt in Monterey. It is a fun event and a great fundraiser for the school. Our class has been part of making an art piece for the gala's silent auction. They are two ceramic pieces (vases, I believe) made by an artist in Los Altos. She took ocean images the students drew and put them on the pieces. They will be ready at the artist's studio on Tuesday. If anyone is going to the Los Altos or SF Bay Area this week and could swing by and pick up the ceramics, please let me know. It would be a great help.

In math, we will start Unit 8 this week. Please read the Parent Letter for Unit 8 in your child's Math Study Links book. Unit 8 focuses on Perimeter and Area so there will be a lot of great measuring going on.

We will have new spelling words this week which I hope you will be seeing coming home so the students can practice their words each night.

We will be beginning a social studies unit on Migration this trimester focusing on migration to California. In Science this trimester we will be learning about electricity and magnetism. If anyone has any expertise in either of these two areas please let me know.

Homework this week:

Monday: Math Study Links 8.1
Spelling: Sort and write words
Reading: 20 minutes and record in planner
Handwriting: Page 50

Tuesday: Math Study Links 8.2
Spelling: Sort and write words
Reading: 20 minutes and record in planner
Handwriting: Page 51

Wednesday: Math Study Links 8.3
Spelling: Sort and write words or your choice
Reading: 20 minutes and record in planner
Handwriting: Page 52

Thursday: Math Study Links 8.4
Spelling: Study for Spelling test
Reading: 20 minutes and record in planner
Handwriting: Page 53

Thank you for all you do to support your child.
Sincerely,
Mary Welsh

Parent Letter - 3/9/2009

Dear Parents,

I hope your weekend was enjoyable.
This week is a short week with an early dismissal on Thursday at 11:30am followed by conferences. If you have not yet signed up for conferences, there are still many openings on Friday. Please see the times below for open slots and let me know what works for you. Please remember these are not Parent-Teacher conferences. Although we will meet at the end of the conference time, the intention is for your child to show what they have been learning. If you need to talk about a particular issue with your child, we can schedule another time to meet. The conferences will be just 15 minutes so, please be prompt.

Tuesday night is our Life on the Edge - Ocean night at ISM in the Multiuse Room, 6:30 - 8:00pm. The students from both classes will be showing their food web boards they have been working on. There will also be many hands-on activities such as thinning dune plants, fish printing, interacting with a storm drain model, listening to our conversation with the Alvin submarine, tasting ocean treats, and observing a very old shell collection brought in by a friend of one of the fourth grade families. Please join in on the fun!

Spring break begins this Saturday, March 14th and goes through March 29th.
We will see you all back at school on March 30th.

We will have a field trip on Wednesday, April 8th to Colton Hall in Monterey to see where the California Constitution was signed. We will then walk over to the Monterey Library for a short program on library resources.
We plan to take the city bus to Monterey but we will need a couple of chaperones to accompany us. Please let me know if you are available. Field trip forms will go out when we return to school after the break. Thanks!

There will be a lighter load of homework this week. We will start the next math unit after spring break. Reading 20 minutes and completing handwriting pages will continue. I will let the students know in class about any other assignments.

Parent Letter - 3/1/2009

Dear 4th Grade Families,

We had a wonderful trip to the Seaside Dunes on Friday. The weather was perfect and we were able to plant 100 seedlings to help the dunes in their restoration process. The students did great work planting each of the plants very carefully. Now, let's hope the rain really does materialize this week for those fragile plants. Thank you to all of the parents that assisted with the trip by driving and chaperoning: Barbara Okamura, Sonia Perez, Claudia Paul, Debra Istenes, Glenn Harrell and Stefani Chaney. We could never do these trips without you.

Let me work backward this time. The week after next will be a shorten week with an early dismissal of 11:30 am on Thursday, March 12th to begin conferences. Friday, the 13th, will be a holiday for the students and conferences for parents and teachers. I am attaching my conference schedule. Please sign up for the times that will work for you. I will work on getting a finalized schedule out to you as soon as I can. Students will need to be at these conferences as they will be leading the discussion.

On that note, please check Power School to see if your child has any incomplete work due. I will accept work until March 9th (although full credit will not be available). Students do need to make up missed work during absences.

This week:
Monday is pajama day in honor of Dr. Suess' birthday. Students may wear pajamas but need to have regular shoes on for outside. Robes are helpful and slippers are okay in the classroom. If your child has a favorite Dr. Suess book, please send it in with their name on it. We will read as many as we can with the time allowed.

Tuesday will be the Star test for writing. Please make sure your child has a good breakfast as usual. The test will take from 60 to 90 minutes though it is not timed. Students will be given a prompt to write about for the test.

Wednesday is World Math Day. All of the students have been given their login and passwords and we have practiced once or twice at school. Students should try to practice at home as well so they can be as speedy as possible for Wed. We don't have an opportunity to practice in the Tech Lab before our time allotted on Wednesday. It's a fun and challenging way to practice our math skills against students from around the world.

We are nearing the end of our math unit. We will have (yet another!) math assessment on Friday this week. I will send home a study guide on Wednesday or Thursday. Because of our field trip on Friday, we were not able to have our spelling test. We will have that test on Monday and then one for our new words this week on Friday. It's a crazy end-of-the-trimester testing time!

Homework will be:

Monday: Math Study Links 7.11
Spelling: Sort and write words
Reading: Read at least 20 minutes, write title, minutes and pages in planner Handwriting pg. 38

Tuesday: Math Study Links 7.12
Spelling: Sort and write words
Reading: Read at least 20 minutes, write title, minutes and pages in planner Handwriting pg. 39

Wednesday: Math: Review for test
Spelling: Sort and write words
Reading: Read at least 20 minutes, write title, minutes and pages in planner Handwriting pg. 40

Thursday: Math: Review for test
Spelling: Sort and write words
Reading: Read at least 20 minutes, write title, minutes and pages in planner Handwriting pg. 41

Wishing you an enjoyable week ahead,
Mary Welsh

Parent Letter - 2/26/2009

Dear Parents,

We will be going on our field trip to the Seaside Dunes on Friday morning. It is a free dress day and students will need to dress appropriately for working on the beach. I am not sure of the weather, today's trip for Ms. Arnow's class had perfect weather. Maybe we can get lucky too. Rain will cancel the trip.

I do need to make a correction. I had thought we would be eating our lunches on the beach but we will actually be back at school by lunch time. If your child will be getting the hot pizza lunch that day, there is no need to send them with a sack lunch. I apologize for any confusion.

On Monday, March 2nd, we will be celebrated Dr. Suess' birthday along with the rest of the school. If your child tells you they aren't going to get dressed and go to school that day, you can tell them that's just fine. Everyone is coming to school in their pajamas! Shoes will be needed outside. Slippers are o.k. in the classroom. Robes are a good thing to wear too. If your child chooses not to wear pajamas on Monday, they will need to come to school in the full uniform. We'll be reading some of Dr. Suess' books and enjoying his accomplishments.

Thank you to those who have sent money in for the gala basket. Every little bit helps. If you write a check, it's easiest if you write them to "Christine Colon" who is organizing the basket.

Thank you,
Mary Welsh

Parent Letter - 2/23/2009

I hope the weekend was a relaxing one for all of you. They sure go fast, don’t they?
I had the opportunity to see and hear some of our ISM students play in the orchestra at the Sunset Center on Sunday. I have to admit, I was there for personal reasons as I have two sons and my husband playing with the Youth Music Orchestra and the Orchestra in the Schools groups. But, even so, it was a wonderful experience to see all these fine young players coming together and making a wonderful sound. Our own Alexander Myers was easily visible in the horn section on his trumpet and fifth grader, Jonathan Vu was the concert master for the youth orchestra. It was a great performance.

This week, we have our field trip to the Seaside Dunes for planting our little seedlings to help restore some of the dune areas. It looks like we do have enough drivers now. Thank you to all who have stepped up to volunteer. Let’s hope the rain stays in the clouds while we are out there. As far as I know, we will go rain or shine but I will let you all know if something changes.
There are a few students who do not have their permission slip in yet. Please send those in tomorrow.

We are still collecting money for the class gala basket. We actually have only received two donations so far. Camille’s mom, Christine, will be putting together the basket for us with the theme of “Spa Relaxation”. If you can contribute to the basket with actual items or if you can donate $10 toward the basket contents, I have an envelope in the classroom for the collection.

Next week, on March 3rd, fourth graders will be taking the writing portion of the Star Test.
Please make sure your child arrives to school on time and, as always, eats a good breakfast. I believe the test lasts about one hour.

This week is fairly straightforward. We will continue with our fraction work in math. All of the spelling groups have homophones this week. The students will need to focus on the meanings of the words as well as the spelling. Please check with your child to make sure they are staying on course with their book club roles and word studies. Everyone is doing much better with the book clubs this time around and I assume will keep getting better with practice.

Project Alert! We are starting a group project on ocean food webs. Much of the work will be done in class though you will need to support your child at home to find a picture of their animal and help find some information about them. The description of the project will go home today. The project due date is Friday, March 6th. I am looking for frozen juice can lids for the project if you can save them and send them in. (If you have a can opener that opens cans without the sharp edge, those lids would work too.) We will also need one trifold board or other large cardboard (5 total) for the groups.

Save the Date:
Ms. Arnow and I are putting together a family discovery evening for the 4th grade. There is a small gift for each family that attends. Please join us if you are able.
When: Tuesday, March 10th – Coast Discovery Night
Where: ISM Multiuse Room
Time: 6:30pm – 8:00 pm
What: 4th grade families learning about our coast and students showing their projects to their families

Homework this week:

Monday:
Math: Study Links 7.7
Spelling: Sort and write words
Reading: 20 minutes
Handwriting: Page 34

Tuesday
Math: Study Links 7.8
Spelling: Sort and write words
Reading: 20 minutes
Handwriting: Page 35

Wednesday:
Math: Study Links 7.9
Spelling: Sort and write words
Reading: 20 minutes
Handwriting: Page 36

Thursday
Math: Study Links 7.10
Spelling: Sort and write words
Reading: 20 minutes
Handwriting: Page 37

Best wishes,

Ms. Mary Welsh

Parent Update - 1/8/2009

Dear Parents,

This week will be almost regular but, not quite. There is an early dismissal day on Wed. The students will be getting out of school at 11:30 am. After school care is offered for that day but, you will need to contact Lisa Wichell-Loomis to set it up ahead of time.

Next Monday, Feb. 16th, is a holiday for President's Day.

Saturday is Valentine's Day. I am not planning a party on Friday but, hope that the students might want to share Valentine cards. If your child brings cards to share, we will have a chance in the morning to distribute them.

Spelling will resume this week as normal. The four students who will be taking the written spelling bee test will do so on Wednesday with the other students who have advanced to this level. The oral test will be with the 10 top 4 and 5th graders from this test and take place on Wed. Feb. 18th in the morning.

The math assessment test will be tomorrow morning. Have your child eat a good breakfast or a snack at recess to help their brain stay nourished.

Homework this week will be:

Monday:
Math: Parents read parent letter at end of Unit 6 to prepare for Unit 7.
Spelling: sort and write words
Reading: 20 minutes
Handwriting: Page 26

Tuesday:
Math: 7.1
Spelling: sort and write words
Reading: 20 minutes
Handwriting: Page 27

Wednesday:
Math: 7.2
Spelling: work with words
Reading: 20 minutes
Handwriting: Page 28

Thursday:
Math: 7.3
Spelling: Study for test
Reading: 20 minutes
Handwriting: Page 29
Bring in Valentine's Day cards tomorrow if you want.

Best wishes,

Mary Welsh

Parent Letter - 2/2/2009

Dear Parents,

Yet another beautiful weekend on the Central Coast! I suppose the sweatshirt sales on the wharf are down this week once again. All those tourists are going to think it's never foggy. I'm starting to forget myself!

This week, we are off on a field trip once again. On Wednesday, we will head to San Carlos Beach in Monterey for sandy shore studies followed by a short ride over to the tidepools in Pacific Grove to see what is hiding in the rocky shore for us to discover. Thank you to all who have already returned their field trip forms. I have all but two. Great response everyone! Thank you to all the parents who have volunteered to drive and chaperone. We, once again, have a stellar bunch signed up. Now we just have to hope the weather holds for a few more days. I will contact the drivers separately to give you more details.

The list of words for the ISM Spelling Bee for 4th and 5th grade students went home last Wed. We will have the written test this Tuesday. There will not be any other spelling words from me this week. The top 20 fourth grade spellers from the test will go on to the ISM Spelling Bee the following week. I will let you know the results as soon as we have them.

Math will continue as usual. We are coming to the end of Unit 6 and will be ready for another (!) assessment either this Friday or Monday depending on how the students are feeling about their skills. I will try to get a study sheet out to you beforehand. You can let me know whether the study sheets are helping your child or not.

The poetry and art for the Coastal Commission contest made it to the post office in time. Let's keep our fingers crossed for the students. Everyone did a great job on their poems and art. I also sent out letters all of the students wrote to President Obama. We are hoping for some sort of letter back and even a visit to the classroom (it doesn't hurt to ask!). Again, we will see what happens.

Remember to check Power School and please contact me if you have any questions.

Homework this week:
Monday: Math, Study Links 6.8, Study Spelling Bee words, Read 20 minutes, Handwriting page 22
Tuesday: Math, Study Links 6.9, Read 20 minutes, Handwriting page 23 - Get things ready for field trip: lunch, water, hat, sunscreen, clothes.
Wednesday: No Study Links, work on Fact Triangles, Handwriting page 24, read 20 minutes
Thursday: Math Study Links 6.10, Handwriting page 25, read 20 minutes

Best wishes to all and thank you for your amazing support.
Mary Welsh

Parent Letter - 1/28/2009

Dear Parents.

There are a few things I wanted you to know about that I didn't mention in the last update.

Yesterday, I sent home "Red and Green Hands" certificates with all of the students. We have really been trying to work on decreasing interruptions in class. When a student interrupts or blurts out when either I or another person is talking, they get a red hand and put their name and date on it. If they are attentive listeners and raise their hand to speak, they get a green hand at the end of the week. Some of the students may have brought home several red hands attached to the notice. What we are hoping for, is for the students to decrease these interruptions as a whole and as individuals. I am keeping track of their improvements here at school. We hope to have all green hands going home eventually. I am also hoping to only have
to do this for a few weeks until everyone gets the idea. It helps that they know you will be seeing these and signing the note. So, if your child didn't show you their red/green hand slip, please ask them for it, sign it and return it to school tomorrow. Thanks!

The students brought home two things in their homework folders today. One is the study list of 100 words for the County Spelling Bee. The written test for this will be next Tuesday, Feb. 3rd. I will not send home a regular spelling list next week so everyone can concentrate on the one list. The top 10 students from each of the 4th and 5th grade classes in the written test will compete in the ISM spelling bee in the morning of Feb. 18th. The top two or three students from that competition will be invited to the county spelling bee.

The other note brought home today is for an Coastal Art and Poetry contest our class would like to make entries to. The students have been working on their poems in class and we are planning to have them ready by the due date - January 31 st - this Saturday. Some are also trying to create an art piece for this contest. Some students may not want to send their pieces in and that is o.k. They will still be graded on the poem for writing class.

Thanks to all that have sent in their permission slips for the Feb. 4th field trip to the beach and tidepools. If you haven't sent it in yet, please do so as soon as possible. Thank you to those of you who have volunteered to drive and chaperone. I will be in touch with all of you on the details of our plan as we get a little closer to the date.

Thank you all,
Mary Welsh

Parent Update - 1/25/2009

Dear Grade 4 Families,

I trust you all had a nice weekend and enjoyed some time inside and warm in this damp weather. This week should be fairly normal with full days and a full week. Spelling will be back as usual so look for the words coming home to sort and write and study. We will continue book clubs this week and each group should be finishing up their last seminar and will then begin a book project with their group. The project should be mostly done in class though the students can work on them at home if they choose or if they are behind on their work.

Math will continue with division and begin some work on angles and measurement with protractors.

The book order will go in on Monday afternoon so, if you would like to order, please send in the order with your child or go online to www.scholastic.com to order. Please contact me if you have any problem with this.

We will be gearing up for yet another field trip to the tidepools and beach next Wednesday, Feb. 4th to take advantage of one of the few low tides within the school day. We will be needed drivers (Sorry! I know I must be burning you all out with driving requests!) We will be checking the tidepools in Pacific Grove and doing beach studies in Monterey. It should be a fun exploration for all - weather pending.
Field trip forms will be going home tomorrow. There is no cost for this trip. We had leftover funds for parking from the aquarium trip - due to the generosity and resourcefulness of the chaperones - so we will use these funds for parking in Monterey.

Homework this week:

Math:
Monday: Study Links 6.4 and play "Division Dash" with someone at home.
Tuesday: Study Links 6.5
Wednesday: Study Links 6.6
Thursday: Study Links 6.7

Spelling: Sort and write words, practice words, write into a sentence, practice test

Reading: 20 mins each day (at least).

Thank you to all,
Mary Welsh

Parent Update - 1/19/2009

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!
I trust you all enjoyed a wonderful long weekend with the amazing weather we have been having. It is hard to imagine what cold weather the northeast is facing at this time. We are fortunate in so many ways.

We have a short but exciting week ahead. We start off with watching the Presidential Inauguration on Tuesday morning. Many of the classes will be in the Multiuse room to start the day. I will try to direct the students there as they arrive. We plan to watch the president give the Oath of Office and listen to his speech. We will head back to class after that (just about recess time).

On Thursday, we will be heading to the Aquarium for our field trip. Thank you very much to all who have signed up to drive and chaperon. I will send you all a separate note regarding the day. There are still several permission slips not turned in yet so, please check to see if you have turned it in or not and return it tomorrow if possible. Thank you!!

Due to the short week and the field trip, we will not have spelling this week. Spelling will resume as normal next week.

We will continue with our "Multiplication Road" multiplication facts timed tests. The students are all progressing well. We may have a small reward coming up when all of the students complete their 6 times tables. Everyone is making a good effort on this. Please ask your child which facts they need to be working on for their next test and help them study.

Homework this week will be:

Tuesday:
Math Study Links 6.2, study Fact Triangles Reading 20 minutes and record in planner

Wednesday:
Math Study Links 6.3, study Fact Triangles Reading 20 minutes and record in planner

Thursday:
Study Fact Triangles
Reading 20 minutes and record in planner

Enjoy your week,
Mary Welsh

Parent Letter - 1/11/2009

Dear Grade 4 families,

I hope you all were able to enjoy the beautiful weather we had in the area this weekend. Thank you to the families who came to help with Saturday Work Day. The campus looks brighter and cleaner all around. Thank you to those of you who also helped with the Open House Saturday afternoon at ISM. There were a good number of perspective students and families touring the campus. It was great to meet some of them. Camille and Nikelle were very helpful in touring some of the visitors around our classroom too.

Field trip forms will be going home on Monday. They are all set and ready to go. I was told that the forms usually get misplaced if I send them on Fridays so, I kept them and will get them out to you all tomorrow.

Math Assessment for Unit 5 will be on Tuesday. We will be reviewing math skills on Monday for the test on Tuesday. I will send home a review sheet you can go over with your child on Monday night.

Wednesday is an early dismissal day – 11:30. Please pick up your child then or make arrangements for their care. There is an after school option for childcare at ISM. Please contact Lisa Wichel-Loomis for more information.

Next Monday (1/19) will be a school holiday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Homework this week:

Monday
Study for math test, Fact Triangles
Sort and write words
20 mins reading. & record in planner

Tuesday
Fact Triangles
Sort and write words
20 mins reading. & record in planner

Wednesday
Study Math Links 6.1
Write words in a sentence
20 mins reading. & record in planner

Thursday
Fact Triangles
Study for math test
20 mins reading. & record in planner
Return fieldtrip form

Have a great week,
Mary Welsh

Parent Update - 1/4/2009

Dear Parents,

Happy New Year to all of you! I hope you all had a wonderful break and were able to enjoy the holidays with family and friends.

This week, we will start right where we left off. Students who have not yet presented their Earth and People project/report will be present them starting Monday. I hope to get through all of them by Tuesday so we can move on to our new unit on Coastal Ecosystems.

Book Clubs will continue with the same books the students have been working on. Math will continue in Unit 5. We will have an assessment for Unit 5 on Tuesday (1/13) of next week. Spelling will pick up again this week. Some students have changed spelling groups after our assessment before we left for winter break. Most everyone is improving in their spelling quite well.

I may have to be out for Jury Duty this Wednesday. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will be canceled.

We are planning a field trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium on Thursday, January 22nd. There is "no cost" for the aquarium but I am asking for $2.00 to pay for parking to help the chaperones with the parking fees. I will have the permission slips out to you before the end of the week. I am also hoping to arrange a tidepooling and beach study day on Wed. February 4th. This will also be a "no cost" field trip.

Due to the financial situation at ISM, we have been asked not to have overnight field trips at this time. We had been trying to arrange a Gold Rush study field trip and had also looked into a overnight possibility for studying the ocean and ecosystems but, have had to reverse those efforts. So, at this point and most likely for the rest of the year, there will not be overnight field trips or ones that cost much money.

Homework will be:
Math - Monday Study Links 5.8, Tuesday 5.9, Wed. 5.10, Thursday 5.11
Spelling - sort and work with words (I may add something to this during the week)
Reading - Read 20 minutes (make sure you are keeping up with your book club reading)


Best wishes to all of you,
Mary Welsh

Reminders

Dear Parents,

I want to thank all of the parents who helped transport and support our class today with our trip to the Gateway Center in Pacific Grove. Thank you to Barbara Okamura who set up the visit for us and helped with every aspect of the trip. Thanks to Ming-Chainn Chou, Kathleen Hill, Liza Linsao, Theresa Curatalo, Claudia Paul, Barbara Okamura and Anna Johnson for driving and helping out.
Though it was a short visit, it was very good for everyone, I believe. I am so proud of all of the students for their good behavior, great singing and reading. They were also so kind to the clients of the center. The homemade cards and ornaments were well-received and everyone loved the treats you all provided and the students passed out. All in all, it was a very heart warming experience.

Two other notes:
Tomorrow is the Winter performance. You've already been sent a note from the ISM office. Our 4th grade classes are trying to dress in white tops and dark bottoms. Do what you can with that. I'm not so picky but, clean and no holes in the clothes are a good start. Some of the students said they didn't have white tops and dark pants/skirt. The school uniform could also suffice. I should be in the classroom by 6:00. You can drop your child off anytime after 6. Pick up at the end of the program.

On Thursday (it's a huge performance week for us), our class is hosting the 4th and 5th grade assembly. If you have time to stop by at about 2:40ish, you might catch our skit called "The Baker's Dozen" or singing the Winter Solstice song. The students have been working hard on preparing the skit and song. Please join us if you can.

After that, I will leave you all alone for a while!!! Whew!! Enjoy the break and have a festive and
relaxing holiday.

Best wishes,

Mary Welsh

Weekly Update - 12/14/2008

Dear Grade 4 Parents,

It will surely be a fast week this week with all we have going on. Here's a few reminders:

We have a short field trip to the Gateway Center in Pacific Grove (the permission slip mistakenly says it's in Seaside. Sorry!) on Tuesday morning. There are a few students who have not yet turned in their permission slips for this. Please make sure your child brings it in tomorrow. We still need one or two drivers to do the trip. At my last count, we had seats for about 19 - 20 students. If anyone else can help, it would make the trip possible. Please let me know asap. (Depart around 10am, return at 11:45)

We decided to move the Secret Santa gift exchange to Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday so all could participate. Tuesday is the small treat, Wednesday is something homemade (bookmark?, ornament?) and Thursday a small gift under $5. I have backup gifts if anyone forgets and will try to find a moment to open up my "star store" so the students can purchase the little things I have if they would like for their Secret Santa. I am trying to keep this stress-free for the parents and fun for the students. Let's hope it works.

Wednesday evening is the ISM Winter program. The program begins at 6:30 so, I am assuming the students will need to be at school at 6:00pm. Stay tuned for more details.

Wednesday morning the Earth's Surface and People project is due. We will begin presentations on Wed. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns with this.

Friday is free dress and an early dismissal at 11:30. We have been invited to join our 8th grade reading buddies for a morning holiday party. I hope you saw the note about food requests. I assume the students may not be too hungry at that time but a little snack will be welcome if possible.

Thank you to the families who purchased books from the book fair for the classroom. They are in our class library ready to be read. We appreciate your help in building the library.

Homework:

No spelling
Reading 20 minutes, record in planner
Math: Monday: Study Links 5.5, Tuesday: None, Wednesday 5.6, Thursday 5.7
Wednesday Earth Science project due - 5 paragraphs.

Have a wonderful week,
Mary Welsh

Grade 4 Update

Dear 4th grade families,

Did anyone meet up with Mr. Pearlstein this weekend? I hope some of you had a chance to. It was so beautiful on Saturday. I spent the day at Asilomar Conference Grounds at a math conference. It was inspiring and great seeing all those teachers together for math. I hope to add a few new ideas to our Everyday Math curriculum for the students.

Only two more weeks until the winter break. We have a lot going on in the classroom in the next two weeks. Here are some highlights:

Free dress is only on the last day before the break - December 19th. There was a little confusion about this from a couple of different school calendars out there. December 12th is NOT a free dress day.

The Book Fair is in full swing this week. Our class will be visiting the fair on Tuesday afternoon if you want to send in money for the students to purchase books. You can also visit before or after school too.

We are hoping to be able to pay a visit to Gateway Center or another location to sing a song to the residents and give them homemade ornaments. Room mom, Barbara Okamura, is looking into this. If it works out, we will need drivers for the trip. It will most likely be on Tuesday, Dec. 16th in the morning. Please let me know if you are interested in driving. It will be a short trip but, I think beneficial to all.

The class has started drama last week for the new trimester. They are already working on a short play which we are hoping they will perform at a 4th and 5th grade assembly on Thursday, Dec. 18th around 2:45. If you can, drop by to support the students in their efforts.

The Winter Holiday Performance for the whole school will be in the evening of Wednesday, December 17th. We will be singing a song with Ms. Arnow's class. I'll let you know more details on time as I learn them.

We will begin Unit 5 in math this week. Please read the Parent Letter in the Study Links book just before Unit 5. You can tuck the answers away so you can check your child's work later.

Homework this week:

Math: Monday: Study Links 5.1, Tuesday: 5.2, Wednesday: 5.3, Thursday 5.4

Spelling: Sort words and write them or work with them in some way each night

Reading: Read 20 minutes each day.

Helping Children To Do Their Best Work

At our last meeting of ISM team leaders we discussed non-academic reasons that prevent children from doing their best work in school. Being in school on time is very important to a child's success. In the primary and intermediate grades the first 15-20 minutes of school are used to get students settled and organized for the day. During this time children turn in homework and projects, and teachers ask individual children specific questions that are directed to meeting the needs of each child.

In the middle school grades, attendance is taken and then students are in their first period class, learning within the first five minutes of the school day. Primary, intermediate or middle school students who regularly arrive late do not receive the same quality education as do the students who are in class on time everyday. Children cannot do their best work if they are always trying to catch-up. Their teachers cannot provide the best for your children if they are always trying to help them catch up. Please make every effort to get your children to school on time.

Following the ISM Uniform Policy is also important to a child's success. When ISM was Founded, the decision to initiate a uniform policy was made to help students focus on their learning. By having students wear uniforms peer pressure is lessened and children gain a sense of belonging to the school. At our team meeting it was decided that instead of sending a student who is out of uniform to the office, the teacher will have the student call home from the classroom. If parents cannot bring appropriate uniform attire to the school, the child will then be sent to the office to find appropriate uniform attire. I will then contact parents to request that an extra uniform be kept in school. If you have any questions please call me at 583-2169.


Eric Pearlstein
Associate Director
(831) 583-2169
epearlstein@ismonterey.org

Parent Letter 11/30/2008

Dear Parents,

I trust you all had an enjoyable Thanksgiving and a restful Thanksgiving holiday break. We have so much to be thankful for. I am grateful for the opportunity to be with your children and share the joy of learning with them. They are an amazing group of people. Thank you all for your continued support of your child's education and myself.

Many thanks to Barbara Okamura for her help with our "thanksgiving feast" last Tuesday. She made tortillas and butter with the students followed by "Pilgrim Hat" cookies. Thank you also to Sonia Perez for jumping in and preparing all of the tortillas for pressing. It was a great treat which we shared with the other 4th grade class and they prepared a wonderful tasty compliment which we all enjoyed. Muchas gracias!

We have completed our first trimester and on Monday begin the second trimester of 4th grade.
Report cards will be going out around December 9th. Winter break will be in three weeks
beginning December 20th.

Spelling: This week we will have spelling back again as usual. Look for the student's words to come home and study.

Math: We will have a Unit 4 math assessment on Thursday. I will send home a study guide for Wednesday night study.

Reading: We will begin a new set of book clubs this week. The book club groups will choose a new book from a selection I provide. We will spend the next several weeks on these books.

Science: As we work on finishing our Earth's Changing Surfaces unit, we will also begin a unit on Coastal Ecosystems. In January, we will take advantage of low tides to explore the tidepools and beaches as well as go on a field trip to the aquarium. It should be a lot of fun.

Homework:

Math: Monday - Study Links Monday: 4.9, Tuesday: 4.10 Wednesday: Study for test
Work with fact triangles for 5-10 minutes each night
Spelling: Study words each night, test on Friday Read 20 minutes each night, record in planner.

Best wishes to all,
Mary Welsh

Parent Letter 11/23/2008

It's a very short week this week with only Monday and Tuesday at school and Wed. through Sunday off.

Hopefully, all of the students are ready to turn in their mission projects tomorrow (Monday) and it has been a not-too-painful experience creating the missions. The students will present their missions on Monday and Tuesday this week. I'm looking forward to seeing all of them! I am sure they are terrific.

Camille's mom, Christine Colon has helped to "install" our class's landscape watercolors they made in art at Synchronicity Ceramic Studio at the American Tin Cannery in Pacific Grove. They will be there for a couple off months so, take some time to check them out. Thanks, Christine, for making our first gallery show happen!

Thanks to everyone who sent in Boxtops for the collection at school. You might have heard from your child that we won the contest (by quite a lot)! The prize is an in-class movie and smoothies. This will happen either this week or next. Thanks for making this happen for all of the students, they are very excited about it.

The students will be forming new reading groups this week and start their new books for book clubs after the Thanksgiving holiday. The final book projects they have created in class will finish up tomorrow.

There will be math homework on Monday – Study Links 4.8 Students will also need to read at least 20 minutes and record this in their planners. There will be no spelling this week.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and a restful break. Thank you for all you do on behalf of your child's learning.

Sincerely,
Mary Welsh

Parent Update 11/16/2008

I hope you had an enjoyable weekend with this incredible weather we are having.

Here are just a few things for this week:

Wednesday, Nov. 19th will be an early dismissal day due to a staff development meeting. The students will be out at 11:30. There is after school care available if needed. Please contact Lisa Wichel-Loomis if interested.

The following week, there are only Monday and Tuesday as school days. The Thanksgiving holiday begins on Wednesday the 26th through the 28th.

All but one of the students went home with a 12-inch pizza box this week for the mission building project last Friday. The due date for our class is next Monday, November 24.
Presentations will also begin on that day. I hope the students are having fun with the project and learning a few more details about the missions. Let me know if you are running into great difficulties.

We will have a regular spelling week this week.

In math, we will continue with decimals. We will be estimating decimals for addition and subtraction and working with decimals and money. You can assist their learning by doing any of the "Do-Anytime Activities" on page 69 of their Study Links. Find decimals in the store and compare prices or you can look for decimals in sports statistics among other activities.

Homework this week:

Math: Monday: Study Links 4.4, Tuesday 4.5, Wed. 4.6, Thursday 4.7 Social Studies: work on mission project.
Reading: Read 20 minutes and record in planner
Spelling: sort and write words or other activity to spend time with the spelling words

Best wishes,
Mary Welsh

Parent Update 11/10/2008

Dear 4th Grade parents,

Thank you to all the parents who helped chaperon and drive for last Thursday's field trip to the Cooper-Molera adobe and the Custom House. We all learned a lot in both the hands-on programs and had fun making rope, branding leather, carding wool, making and eating tortillas playing old fashion games and acting in or watching a play. Thanks to Sonia Perez, Barbara Okamura, Janice Harrell, Christine Colon and Merilee Kolpaczyk for their help.

I enjoyed the parent-student conferences on Thursday and Friday. The students all did a great job presenting their work, reflections and goals to their parents. I am very proud of all of them. I will finish conferences this week on Tuesday and Wednesday. The grading period ends on Nov. 25th, just before Thanksgiving. Report cards will be distributed on December 9th.

Congratulations to all of the participants of the Big Sur Just Run foot race last Saturday! We had a nice showing of 4th graders in the event. Everyone did a super job of running and putting out their best effort. It was a fun and well-organized event and the weather turned out just right.

The Food Drive continues this week. On Tuesday, Nov. 11th, we will get 15 points for every can of vegetables brought in. Wed. we will get 15 points for every can, box or bag of soup. Thursday – 15 points for every dessert brought in and Friday 10 points for peanut butter and jam.

Wednesday afternoon, Joey Durrell Canapa from the Beach Garden Project will return to our class to teach the students how to propagate the seeds we collected during our field trip to the dunes a couple of weeks ago. Once planted, she will take them to grow at a greenhouse and we will take them back to the dunes to plants the seedlings in the winter.

There will be a Veteran's Day celebration with the whole school tomorrow, November 11th starting at 9:00 am. The Seaside High ROTC color guard will raise the flags. Congressman Sam Farr will be there to speak to the students and Mr. Pearlstein will unveil and raise the "dream flags" each student at school made. You are welcome to join us to honor our country's veterans.

Grandparent's Day will be this Thursday morning. Grandparents attending the event will go to the multiuse room for a presentation then to the classrooms at about 9:30 am. This will be during Spanish class for our students.

Math: Please read the "Parent Letter" 3.12 in the Study Links book for the upcoming unit 4. Math homework this week will be Tuesday Study Links 4.1, Wed. 4.2 and Thursday 4.3.

The spelling test will be on Friday. The test is on the words the students received last Monday.

Have a great week,

Mary Welsh

Conference List and Field Trip Reminder

I have sent the latest conference times Master List via email. Please check your time and let me know if just if it is a problem for you. I look forward to meeting with all of you.

Tomorrow (Thursday, Nov 6) is our field trip to the Monterey State Parks. Students need to wear their uniforms, bring a lunch, (low-zero waste please), water and a hat. We will return to school sometime between 2:15-2:30pm. Please be on time to pick your student up as conferences will be starting soon after our arrival. Lisa Wichel-Loomis has set up after-school care if you need it. Please contact her.

The Big Sur "Just Run" event for kids is this Saturday (Nov 8) starting near the Monterey Custom House Plaza. Please see the flyer sent home with your child. It's a fun event and kids can participate for $5. (Adults $10.) Mr. Robby will be there to run with as many students as possible. I will be there to either run or cheer you on.

Thanks everyone!
Mary Welsh

Parent Update 11/3/2008

Dear Grade Four Parents,

I hope you all had a nice weekend and enjoyed celebrating Halloween with your family. Thank you to all of you who helped with the Halloween celebration here at ISM. There was plenty of water brought in. Thank you for generosity. If you did volunteer your time, please remember to log in your hours on the PTO.

We're off to another busy week. We've been talking about tomorrow's elections and the history that has already been made at this point in the election process. We are looking forward to seeing how the election plays out tomorrow. This is also a great topic of conversation at the dinner or breakfast table.

Thursday Field Trip: We have our field trip to the Monterey State Parks for the "Mexican-California Program" this Thursday. We will depart school just before 9:00am and return around 2:30pm. Remember this is an early dismissal day for the rest of the school for conferences. Please pick up your child promptly by 2:30pm as the teachers need to get to conferences. Thank you for your help with this.

****I still need field trip forms for Ariana, Cameron, Kareem and Kevin. Please send these in tomorrow.

Conferences begin on Thursday afternoon. If you haven't signed up, please do so ASAP. Hopefully, everyone has the conference times. I will send out an updated master list on Tuesday or Wednesday to include the latest sign-ups.

Please arrive about 5 minutes early for your conference to avoid a late start and delaying others' conference times. Conferences will be about 15 minutes with a 5 minute lead time for the next conference. Students will be leading the first 10 minutes of the conference followed by 5 minutes of parent/teacher discussion.

Friday is a conference day. Monday is a holiday for Veteran's Day. Next Thursday, the school will be celebrating Grandparent's Day. Hopefully, everyone has received the invitation for grandparents to come to school that morning. If not, please see the office.

Pictures are here! I will send them home today.

Thank you for all your support and care of this great group of 4th graders.

Sincerely,
Mary Welsh

Parent Update 10/26/2008

Dear Grade Four Parents,

First of all, I'd like to thank all of the parents who helped to drive and chaperon our field trip last Thursday. We had a great visit to the sand dunes at Seaside Beach and learned a lot about the habitat and restoration. We are looking forward to starting the seeds we collected and going back to the dunes in the winter to plant the seedlings we grow. None of this could have been done without the help of parents who helped us out that day at a very short notice. Thank you one and all!

The 4th grade picnic at Casanova Oak Knoll Park on Friday was a very nice and well- attended event. Thank you to all who came and joined in on the fun and meeting one another. The food and company were wonderful. Thank you all for the birthday card and singing!

We have another busy and fun week ahead. We have our field trip, along with Ms. Arnow's class, to San Juan Bautista Mission on Wed., Oct. 29th. We still need drivers (!), field trip forms and payment for the trip. If you have not sent in your child's forms and money, please do so tomorrow. We will have to cancel the trip if we don't have enough drivers.

Our next trip, the following week, Thursday. November 6th to the Monterey State Parks for the Rancho program, also still needs drivers, forms and payment. Please send this in as soon as possible as well. Thanks for your response!

Boxtops are due on Monday so we can be part of the contest to win a movie and smoothies in class. We hope to be the winners!

Our class will be taking a standardized test in Math on Tuesday morning. This is just a practice test for McGraw Hill Company. Please assure your child the test does not count but we hope they all will do their best. Each class taking the test will receive some money from the company. We will save to these funds to help with field trips.

Halloween is Friday. The ISM Halloween Festival on Friday starting at 1:00pm. Students can bring their costumes and can put them on at lunch recess. Costumes should not be worn to school although it is a free dress day.

Spelling will resume this week. Look for your child's words in their planners and bags to sort and write at home. In math, we will be working on number stories and true and false number sentences, The McGraw Hill test will take place during one of our math periods. In reading we are continuing with book clubs and, in writing, working on writing good paragraphs with topic sentences, main ideas and conclusions.

Conferences will take place next week. Look for a note about sign-up times in your child's homework folder this week. Please remember we are on our field trip to the State Parks on Thursday, Nov. 6th during the early dismissal for conferences so, I am adjusting my times to help that happen.

Have a wonderful week.
Sincerely,
Mary Welsh

Parent Update 10/20/2008

Dear 4th Grade families,

I hope all of you enjoyed a nice two-week break together and had some time to unwind and be together. I certainly enjoyed the time with my family and friends as well as have a chance to read and work.

As you know, we are starting out the next few weeks with a bang. We have three field trips coming up and a 4th grade picnic to look forward to this Friday. Our class will also be hosting the Chinese lunch on Friday as a fundraiser for our class. So, here is an overview of the upcoming events:

Thursday, October 23rd – Our class goes on the Beach Garden Project field trip - 9am – 12pm.
Look for the field trip forms coming home today for this trip and return them tomorrow if possible. Drivers needed!

Friday, October, 24th – Chinese Lunch fundraiser – Thank you to Barbara Okamura and Angela Leavitt for helping to put this lunch on.

Friday, October 24th – 5–7pm - 4th grade potluck in the park. Come to Cassanova-Oak Knoll Park to meet with other parents and families and relax and play together. (Please bring a food item according to the sheet provided before break.)

Wednesday, October, 28 – 8:30am–3:00 pm - Field trip to Mission San Juan Bautista. Tour, interactive game and exploration of historic San Juan Bautista. Cost: $3.50 per student. Drivers needed.

Thursday, November 6, 2008 - 9:00 am – 2:30pm – (It's back on the books unless it is a big problem for all. Please be reminded that this trip is scheduled for the early dismissal day.) Monterey State Historic Park program focusing on life in California during the rancho period. Cost: $10 per student. Drivers needed.

Due to the fact that we will have a guest speaker tomorrow and a field trip on Thursday during our normal spelling time, we will not have a spelling list this week. We will resume spelling next Monday. We will work in our math lessons in the afternoons to keep on target with the math. Math homework will be mostly normal ie. Study Links pages though we may split one of the homework assignments up if we can't do the whole lesson.

We will continue with our science unit and be creating river tables this week. This should go nicely with our work on the dunes too.

I will be going over expectations for the planners with the students again today. I am hoping to help them all be more consistent with using their planners and helping them prepare for 5th grade and middle school. They will be keeping track of their reading minutes and pages as well as homework or any notes needed. I will also be more consistent with collecting and grading them for their "work habits".

Everyone should have a set of "Fact Triangles" at home to help study multiplication and division facts. Students should be working on them every afternoon.
Try covering one of the divisors and see if they can come up with the quotient of a division problem with the fact families. Your help with this makes a big difference with their memorization skills.

Best wishes,

Mary Welsh

Dates of Upcoming Field Trips

Hi, all,

Apologies for all the confusion.

Our upcoming field trips are:

Thursday, October 23 (Welsh) and Tues. 28 (Arnow) to Seaside Dunes (Dune geology and ecology)

Wednesday, October 29 to San Juan Bautista State Historic Park (Mission history and hands-on program)

Thursday, November 6 to Monterey State Historic Park (Rancho history hands-on program) (This is a conference day and an early dismissal day -- we will return about 2:30 p.m. but school lets out at 11:30)

Best,

Laura

Another Change of Plans

Dear families,

After much thought and discussion, we've come up with a plan that may help us salvage our trip to the Rancho program at the Monterey Historic State Park. It involves some stretching by us as teachers and also by you as families. Here is our proposal -- please let us know no later than noon tomorrow if this poses a problem for you or your family.

We will attend the field trip as originally scheduled, returning to school around 2:30. This means that you will need to pick the kids up at that time, even if you've had to pick up their siblings at 11:30 dismissal. For our part, it means we will have to make up the missing conference time by scheduling conferences after school and/or during our planning periods over a longer period of time instead of only the two scheduled conference days.

Please help us make this opportunity work for your kids! Reply by email or leave a phone message at school if this plan won't be possible for you and your child.

Best wishes,

Laura and Mary

Change to Nov 6th Field Trip to Cooper Molera

Dear 4th Grade Parents,

We have one change to our upcoming field trip schedule. Sadly, the November 6th trip to Cooper Molera adobe conflicts with our student-led conferences. On Thursday, November 6th, there is an early dismissal which doesn't work for our planned day-long trip. Therefore, we had to cancel this trip. The other field trips are still on the calendar. The first of these will be next week for Ms. Welsh's class so, please look for the field trip form coming home on Monday and return it as soon as possible.
Thank you again for all of your support.

Sincerely,
Laura and Mary

Upcoming Field Trip Dates

Hi friends,

We've scheduled several field trips which are coming up very quickly after fall break, and wanted to give you a heads-up electronically so you can put the dates in your calendar. These trips became available only the day before the break. Apologies for the late notice.

For science, we will begin a year-long service learning project with a local dune restoration organization, the Beach Garden Project. Joey Dorrell-Canepa will visit both classrooms on Tuesday, October 21, for an orientation to the program. Ms. Welsh's class will make a morning trip to the dunes to explore and collect seeds on Thursday, October 23, and Ms. Arnow's class will make the same trip the morning of Tuesday, October 28. Joey will return to ISM on the 30th for a propagation workshop at our school site. We will continue to work at the Seaside Beach site throughout the year, and hope to continue this work at the Sand City dunes near our new school site in subsequent years. This field trip gives us a chance to observe dunes up close (wind erosion is one topic we are studying as part of Earth's Changing Surface) as well as to begin our study of coastal ecology and to contribute to environmental stewardship of the coast and ocean.

The site visits on the mornings of the 23rd and 28th are from 9:00 to noon, and for each day we will need about 6 drivers. This program is free of charge.

Meanwhile, we continue to study the human history of California. As part of our investigation of the process of colonization, we will be studying the arrival of the Spanish in California and the development of the mission system. On October 29, both classes will travel to San Juan Bautista to explore the last intact mission plaza in the state. Students will attend a ranger-led introduction to the site, participate in a Mission Game in which they design a mission layout, and visit the historic Mission (an active Catholic church). We will need 12-14 drivers for this all-day trip. Admission fees for the state parks program and the donation to the Mission cost $3.50 per student. (If you can round up to $4 it helps us provide funding for students who can't otherwise afford the field trip.)

Our next field trip is on Thursday, November 6th, all day, for both classes to return to the Monterey Historic State Park for an investigation of rancho period life in California at the Cooper-Molera House. This hands-on program, like the Rumsien program we visited a few weeks ago, helps students understand what it was like to live in Mexican California about 200 years ago. We will need drivers for this program, and the cost is $10 per student, to cover the program fees and downtown parking for our drivers.

Many thanks for all your support of our terrific fourth graders!

Laura and Mary

October Break

Dear Fourth Grade Families,

Just a reminder that the 1st grade will be selling fruit popsicles tomorrow as a fund raiser for their science camp trip. Popsicles will cost $1.00.

If you are looking for things to do in town during the break, here are a couple of choices:

The Monterey State Parks and the Maritime Museum are hosting a number of historical events starting this Saturday, Oct. 4th. The events are free and open to the public. Many of them support the learning going on in the class. On Saturday, there are two free events - Lining History and Family Activities from 11am to 3pm at the Cooper-Molera Garden and a Fandango at 7pm and 8pm at the Custom House. (Ccall (831) 649-7109 to RSVP for the Fandango.)


CHILDREN'S HISTORY DAY at the MONTEREY MARITIME MUSEUM - FREE!
October 11th - 11:00 am - 4:00 pm
Monterey Maritime and History Museum presents Children's Day from 11 am to 4 pm. There will be: Pirate Re-enactors, "Tales of the Seven Seas", and events will include Treasure Hunt Adventures, Nautical Lore and Crafts, Walking Tour and Sailor Grub. Visitors will receive a discount on your loot at the Museum Gift Shop.
http://www.montereyhistory.org/100408.htm

The Pacific Grove Natural History Museum is hosting a special exhibit on insects. It's a great opportunity to learn more about these wonderful creatures.

In the San Francisco Bay Area:
DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS A Refugee Camp in the Heart of the City
SAN FRANCISCO, CA October 15-19
This outdoor exhibition will demonstrate medical work in refugee camps around the world, including emergency refugee housing, a food distribution tent, water pump, health clinic, vaccination tent, therapeutic feeding center, and a cholera treatment center. Free to the Public
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/education/refugeecamp/home/

Here's wishing you a very safe and happy two week break.

Best wishes,
Mary Welsh

Parent Update 9/29/2008

Dear 4th grade Families,

I hope everyone enjoyed a nice weekend together. Here are just a few items for the week:

Thank you for getting all of the pre-enrollment forms in last week. Our class has turned all of them in and the office is happy.

The unit 2 Math test should be coming home today in your child's homework folder. Please look at it, sign it and have your child bring it back to school. The students began correcting some mistakes on the test in class. Check with your child to see if he/she still needs to make corrections.

Please read the Family Letter 2.10 for Unit 3 in the Study Links math book tonight and save the answer sheet for yourself if you need it for checking your child's work.

The 1st grade will be selling fruit bars on Friday. Students who want to purchase them need to bring in $1.00 on Wednesday or Thursday to prepay for the popsicles. (This is a fundraiser for the 1st Grade science camp.)

Denim Day is Friday. Ms. Sally Burns, grade 5 teacher, is collecting $5.00 for students to wear jeans on Friday to raise money for breast cancer research. If you would like your child to participate, please send in the form sent home last week (or a note if the form has been
misplaced) with $5 by Thursday.

For all of you who ordered books through the Scholastic book order, our first Scholastic order is on its way. You should have received a second group of book club catalog pages. If you are interested in purchasing any of the great books and/or computer programs available, please send in any book club orders by Friday. We are trying to gain as many points as possible to increase the size of our class library.

Remember to check PowerSchool for your child's scores. I am mostly caught up on grade postings right now. There will be several added to writing by the end of the week. If you have any concerns please contact me.

As you are aware, this is our last week before the October break. School will resume on Monday, October 20th. Wishing you a relaxing and memorable time together.

Best wishes,
Mary Welsh

Parent Update 9/25/2008

Dear Fourth Grade Families,

A big "Thank you!" to the wonderful chaperones who helped to make our field trip to the Monterey State Historic Parks for the Native American program possible. Thank you to Barbara Okamura, Merilee Kolpacyzk, Kathleen Hill, Ming-Chiann Chou, Debra Istenes, Sonia Perez and Claudia Paul for safely driving the students and assisting in many ways during the trip. We all had an enjoyable experience and learned a lot of new information about the native people and the history of Monterey. The students should have brought home a few items they made yesterday. Have them teach to the "Stave Game" with the beautiful sticks they decorated. They all were great participants throughout the day.

I hope you all received an email notice about the re-enrollment form for your plans for your child next year. Please take the time to fill this out and return it by tomorrow. It is a crucial piece of information to help ISM with our school site for the upcoming school year.

The Read-a-Thon ends tomorrow, Sept. 26th. Please have your child bring in their minutes and donations if they participated in the Read-a-Thon. Thanks for helping our school with needed literature!

Our class will have a spelling test and a math assessment for Unit 2 tomorrow. Your child should be bringing home a study guide I gave them today. Please take a few minutes tonight to go over the math skills and spelling words with them.

Fall Break begins October 4th and goes through the 19th. I hope you all are planning a little time to enjoy this time of year together somehow.

Tomorrow is Free Dress.

Best wishes,

Mary Welsh

Parent Update 9/22/2008

Thank you to all of you who have helped gather and purchase supplies for the science classes. It looks like we have most everything needed for the lessons. A special thanks goes to Karen Monahan and Barbara Okamura for creating the list of supplies needed and organizing the supplies and purchasing some of them as well. It all helps!

Another thank you goes out to all who were able to come to the Coastal Beach Clean-up at Del Monte Beach on Saturday. We had several students and parents from both classes who cleaned the beach and played in the sand for many hours. It was great fun. Thanks for helping our oceans and it's inhabitants as well as help our greater community.

Our field trip to the Monterey State Historic Parks is this Wednesday. We are still missing a few field trip permission slips and money for the trip so, please send those in by tomorrow or your child will have to stay at school that day (especially the permission slips). We are planning to depart ISM at 8:30 so, please make sure your child arrives to school on time that day. Each student will need:
- walking shoes
- a zero or low waste lunch
- wear ISM uniform

We will have a Math assessment test on Friday for Unit 2. Many math journals went home on Friday to help some students catch up on their "Math Boxes" and some in class work.

Homework: Read 20 minutes

Parent Update 8/14/2008

Dear Parents,

I hope you all were able to enjoy some time together this weekend. What beautiful weather we had on the Central Coast!

Here's where we are at:

Writing: All students should be finishing their final draft of their name stories and working on their name poem. By mid-week they will start on their birth story for their autobiographies.

Math: Continuing place value work. You can help by having your child say numbers that you write up into the millions. We are starting to collect and analyze data. We will use the book, Martha Blah Blah to work on data collection.

Reading: Continue book clubs and learning the roles of the group members.

Spelling: Everyone will be getting a new word list on Monday.

Social Studies: We will add the California map to our atlases and begin learning about native Californians.

Science: Groups will experiment with gravity as a precursor to our unit on Earth's Changing Surface.

Reading Buddies with the kindergartners is going well. I heard one of the kindergartners say as he walked out the door, "That boy is my best friend!" (speaking of one of our 4th graders). We are all enjoying the time together.

Here are a few things for the week:

In writing, the students should be finishing their final draft of their name story by Tuesday. They will then be writing a name poem and begin work on their birth stories for their autobiographies. In math, we continue work on place value and begin working on data collection and analysis. In reading we will be working on our book club roles with the book, "Fourth Grade Rats". The students will be creating small experiments with gravity as we begin work on our science unit, "Earth's Changing Surfaces". Everyone will have a new list of spelling words on Monday. In social studies, we are working on our maps of California and learning about the native Californians.

Other news from the classroom:

With the help of students Alexander Myers, Scott Brown and Kevin Harrell and the great assistance of Alex's mom, Bene Milling, we "installed" some carpet in our classroom on Saturday. The carpet only covers the area beneath the students' desks but the hope is it will soften the sounds in the room. Starting Monday, we will have a "NO SHOES" policy in the classroom to help keep the sand out of the carpet. Students should be prepared to take their shoes off at the door and put them on again when they leave. The shoes can be stored in the students' cubbies. I would like each student to bring an old shoe box for their cubbies to put their shoes in which should help keep sand and dirt from filtering down to the next cubby or floor.

Thanks to parent, James Moberg, for setting up our class blog. It is now also a link on the school website. I hope all of these forms of communication help you all stay in touch with what is going on in class.

Monday begins the "Read-a-Thon" for the school. I am awaiting details of this event to pass on to the students. It is a fundraiser for the library and classroom books so, I hope we can have all students participate.

Book orders for Scholastic are due on Tuesday, Sept. 16th. I am not certain that the online ordering is up and running yet so, if you haven't ordered, you can send in the order with your child. The more points we earn, the more books we can get for our class library. Please get those orders in.

Forms for our upcoming fieldtrip to the Monterey State Parks have been coming in. I have about half of the forms so far. Please send them in with your student. There is a $10 fee for the trip. Please let me know if there is a problem with payment for this. It looks like we will have enough drivers. I will update you with a list of drivers by the end of the week so you can plan ahead.

The school picture photographer will be back on Monday, Sept. 15 to take pictures of absent students and also take sibling pictures.

The Friday SEM (Schoolwide Enrichment Model) classes start on Friday. I will be leading a class on gardening to help spruce up the school garden. If anyone has time and interest in joining us in the garden, you are more than welcome.

Wish list: paper cups

Thank you,

Ms.Welsh

Parent Update 9/8/2008

Dear Parents and families,

Thank you to all who were able to make it to Back to School night last Thursday night. It was great to meet the new parents and see the returning ones as well. You are a wonderful group of supportive folks and it's great to have everyone part of the ISM community.

Austin's dad, James Moberg, has set up a blog site for our class announcements. As I understand it, you can go to http://www.coastclick.com/welsh/ to check out any information or notes I send out. It may take me a little while to get used to this system, but once we do, it should prove to streamline our communication. Thanks James!

We have already gotten a couple of donations on our class wish list. Thank you to Kathleen Hill who brought in a room fan today. It works like a charm and will certainly help the air circulate on both warm and cooler days. Thank you also to the Perez family (Esme's parents) who brought in tennis balls for the ends of the chairs and another 5 gallons of water for the class. Alex's parents, Bene Milling and Nik Myers have found a piece of carpet that might be coming to our room which will help with the sound if it works out.

This week instrumental music will be starting after school this week. I have just a few flyers I will send home with students who let me know if they are interested. If you need to pick up a flyer, you can find them in the office.

Spelling groups have begun this week. Students should be coming home with their lists of words in their planner and words to sort. I am sending home a list of things the students can do with their spelling words. They should pick one thing to do each night. The tests will be on Friday.

I am still working on getting the grades into Power School and they should be there by the end of the week. You should have your password to check your student’s progress. If you don't have one, check with Lisa Burns in the office.

Homework this week:

Monday
Parents - Read Family Letter 1.9 (you are reading it now.)
Math - Study Links 2.1
Read - 20 mins.
Spelling - Word Sort

Tuesday
Math - Study Links 2.2
Read - 20 mins.
Spelling - Anything from the list

Wednesday
Math - Study Links 2.3
Read - 20 mins.
Spelling - Anything from the list

Thursday
Math - Study Links 2.4
Read - 20 mins.
Spelling - Anything from the list

Thanks,

Mary Welsh

Parent Update 9/1/2008

Dear Parents and families,

I hope you all had a nice Labor Day weekend.! Here are just a few important reminders for the week.

Our fieldtrip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium has been postponed until January 22nd. We had requested a change in the date several weeks ago to take advantage of the low tides around that time of year in order to take the students tidepooling. We were told that the change was very unlikely and so we went with the first date. Of course, the day we sent out the permission slips, we received notice of the change of date. So, our fieldtrip will still happen but at the later date.

We do have another fieldtrip coming on September 24th to the Monterey State Historic Parks for a program on Native Americans. We will need drivers and chaperones for this program. Please look for fieldtrip details and permission slips to come home next week. This program will cost $10 each.

Back to School night will be this Thursday night, September 4th from 6:30 – 8pm. We will all meet in the multiuse room first followed by classroom visits. I look forward to seeing you all at this important event. I won’t be able to meet with parents about their individual student at this time but will be happy to schedule a meeting on a future date.

We will begin Book Clubs this week with the whole class reading, Fourth Grade Rats by Jerry Spinelli. We will continue with learning how to use the spelling program with a new set of words for the class and move to different spelling groups next week after we analyze the spelling test data. Look for little baggies of words coming home to study and sort. In Math we will continue our study of geometry and use of compasses. We will finish Unit 1 by the end of the week. We will continue learning geography and mapping skills as we add pages to our Student Atlases and begin our science unit entitled, Earth’s Changing Surfaces. I also hope to begin working in the computer lab this week to begin working on keyboarding skills and adding to our knowledge of geography.

I hope to see you on Thursday night at Back-to-School Night!

Letter to Parents 8/24/2008

Dear Parents,

We had a nice first full week of school. It's been nice to begin to get to know your children this past week. We topped off the week with meeting our kindergarten reading buddies who we will work with throughout the school year. Thank you for the books some of you sent in and the extra water bottles from Esmeralda’s family. It all helps!

The students have been making good progress with learning our class procedures and expectations. We have developed a credit/gift card system to try to help the students move in a positive way toward these expectations.

Here are a few things for you:
As previously mentioned, our classroom does not have a faucet or sink though we now have a 5-gallon water bottle for drinking. I prefer not to have open cups in the classroom as much as possible to avoid spillage. Many of the students have already brought water bottles to school. If your child does have a water bottle for class yet, please send a refillable water bottle to school you’re your child. Bottles with the "sports top" seem to work best because they spill less if tipped over while open.

Homework is usually assigned Monday through Thursday giving the students the weekend off. The exception to this is if your students has not completed an assignment and can use the weekend to catch up. They should be reading 20 minutes per night which is written in their planners along with a math assignment from their Study Links math book which should be kept at home (pages completed are torn out and returned to school on the assigned day. Sometimes the students will have a small assignment for Language Arts.

Spelling – we have been practicing with simple known words and learning the different methods for the spelling program in class. We will continue working on spelling in class this week and begin in earnest the week following Labor Day. You will see the spelling words come home to be practiced at that point.

We have a couple of field trips coming up: Monterey Bay Aquarium: Wednesday, September 17th. Both 4th grade classes will be participating in a Discovery Lab program called "Kelp Forest Connections" at the aquarium to supplement our upcoming studies of ecosystems. We will need drivers. Please note that the drivers need to be finger printed and proof of insurance. Please see the ISM office for fingerprinting information.

Our class also has another field trip scheduled to the Pacific House with Monterey Historic State Parks on Wednesday, September 24th. Here we will take part in a Native Americans program in which we will learn about the lives of Native Americans including participating in some of the activities they may have experienced such as acorn grinding, game playing, song and dance.
Again, we will need driver/chaperones for this field trip.

On November 6th, both 4th grade classes will be returning to the Monterey Historic State Parks for another program on Ranchos and the Mexican era of Monterey and California.
A note and permission slip will be coming home soon. Please look for these and return them as soon as possible.

Many of you have offered your help in the class. I appreciate this very much and will be taking you up on this offer. I am starting to figure out where the help is needed the most. In general, if you have a little time before school begins, I will sometimes just need some copies made for the day. I am also beginning reading assessments with all of the students. So far, the best time to do this has been first thing in the morning while the students are writing in their interactive journals. If you have 20 minutes at the beginning of the day, you could circulate around the room while I assess the students at the side table. Our math hour, starting at 10:10 is also another time we can use some help right now. Again, this would either be circulating to help the students or to help with correcting papers.

You could also just check in with us at the end of the day if you have extra time to see if there is paper sorting or other organizational work to be done.

Again, we will need your help for the field trips if you can be available. They should be fun and interesting. I hope some of you can join us.

Reminder: This week is a short week! School will be dismissed at 11:30 on Wednesday. Thursday and Friday are days off due to Teacher Professional Development. Monday is Labor Day holiday. September 4th is Back to School night.

Have a nice looooong week-end!

Best wishes,
Mary Welsh