~~ April News 2 ~~

** Please send in empty 2 liter soda bottles to be used in Science Class **

Upcoming Dates:

4/14: Chorus Performance – 7:00 p.m. @ OPRF High School Auditorium

4/22: Family Reading Night (Please check the electronic backpack for more details)

4/23: NO School – Institute Day4/26: Ethnic Festival Assembly at School

School and 4th Grade News:

-The PTO has a new website- www.longfellow-pto.org

-The former paper newsletter of Dolezal’s Desktop as a paper newsletter, can now be accessed at http://d97dolezaldesktop.blogspot.com

-Thursday Packets have been replaced with: Digital Backpack. With one click you can find links to District, Community, School and PTO flyers and events. Check it out by clicking on the Digital Backpack link located on the Longfellow Website.

The PTO is bringing back Ice cream Friday’s. Ice cream will be available after school. We are asking that parents send a check or cash in an envelope marked PTO Ice Cream with their student’s name to start an account. There will be no cash transactions. Students will not be allowed to purchase ice cream for another student. These rules are in place from past experience to ensure no student is begged, pleaded, or bullied into buying another student ice cream. Sales to begin Friday April 16th & run through Friday, May 28. Cost per item will be $1-$2. As always volunteers are needed to make the sales run quickly and efficiently. If you can help out or have questions please contact Marci Battersby: marcibattersby+pto@gmail.com or through the PTO website: www.longfellow-pto.org

Student Council: Fantastic Fridays (some upcoming dates)

Weird Hair Day (April 30)

PJ Day (May 7)

Twin Day (May 14)

Sports Day (May 21)

Curriculum Notes:

Writing: In writing students have been publishing their fictional narratives. Following this project we have spent time focusing on dialogue and how to use it appropriately in stories. Students have learned how to use quotation marks and interesting word choice when creating conversations between characters. We have been studying dialogue in authentic literature, and creating discussions on paper using the appropriate format. Our next genre of writing will be in expository form.

Reading: We are continuing to read stories from the Survival Unit. Please see the attached newsletter pertaining to your child’s story for the following week. The collection of stories in this unit cover a wide variety of genres. Ask your child if he/she just completed a true survival story or a fictional one. To further facilitate an at home discussion, talk about current survival stories in the news or perhaps about something you recently read.

Next week we will focus on using context clues to determine the meaning of unknown words. We will be reminding the students that they should be reading a book with 3-4 hard words on a page to further improve their vocabulary. Following some mini-lessons next week, we will be sending home a reading project where students will independently practice using context clues. The due date will be recorded on the paper.

Please take time to look at the Family Reading Night flier found in the school’s digital backpack. We hope many of our students will donate gently used books, and come to the event to receive “new” books.

Math: Next week students will continue working on Unit 9, Percents. The unit focuses on the links among fraction, decimal, and percent names for numbers, with a special emphasis on percents. Students will practice conversions among fractions, decimals, and percents. They will use grid pictures, the multiplication rule for renaming fractions, memorization of simple conversions, and a calculator for more complex conversions.

Science: Mrs. Ambrosino and Mrs. Sullivan’s students have been observing their model ecosystems composed of plants, crickets, isopods, fish and snails. They have also constructed model ecosystems without animals, and have begun to pollute them with vinegar to imitate acid rain, plant fertilizer to imitate agricultural runoff, and salt to imitate road salt. Along with this students are learning to use pH paper to test the acidity of different liquids.

Social Studies: Mr. Smith and Miss Carter’s classes have their final State Reports due Thursday, April 15. Report requirements and the project timeline were sent home for review, and can also be viewed on Mr. Smith’s blog: http://msmithop97.blogspot.com/

~~ April News ~~

** Please send in empty 2 liter soda bottles to be used in Science Class **

Upcoming Dates:

· 4/26: Ethnic Festival Assembly at School

School and 4th Grade News:

· The PTO has a new website- www.longfellow-pto.org

· The former paper newsletter of Dolezal’s Desktop as a paper newsletter, can now be accessed at http://d97dolezaldesktop.blogspot.com

· Thursday Packets have been replaced with: Digital Backpack. With one click you can find links to District, Community, School and PTO flyers and events. Check it out by clicking on the Digital Backpack link located on the Longfellow Website.

The PTO is bringing back Ice cream Friday’s. Ice cream will be available after school. We are asking that parents send a check or cash in an envelope marked PTO Ice Cream with their student’s name to start an account. There will be no cash transactions. Students will not be allowed to purchase ice cream for another student. These rules are in place from past experience to ensure no student is begged, pleaded, or bullied into buying another student ice cream. Sales to begin Friday April 16th & run through Friday, May 28. Cost per item will be $1-$2. As always volunteers are needed to make the sales run quickly and efficiently. If you can help out or have questions please contact Marci Battersby: marcibattersby+pto@gmail.com or through the PTO website: www.longfellow-pto.org

Student Council: Fantastic Fridays (some upcoming dates)

Blast From the Past Day (April 16)

Weird Hair Day (April 30)

PJ Day (May 7)

Twin Day (May 14)

Sports Day (May 21)

Curriculum Notes:

Writing: In writing students have been publishing their fictional narratives. Following this project we have spent time focusing on dialogue and how to use it appropriately in stories. Students have learned how to use quotation marks and interesting word choice when creating conversations between characters. We have been studying dialogue in authentic literature, and creating discussions on paper using the appropriate format. Our next genre of writing will be in expository form.

Reading: We are continuing to read stories from the Survival Unit. Please see the attached newsletter pertaining to your child’s story for the following week. The collection of stories in this unit cover a wide variety of genres. Ask your child if he/she just completed a true survival story or a fictional one. To further facilitate an at home discussion, talk about current survival stories in the news or perhaps about something you recently read.

Next week we will focus on using context clues to determine the meaning of unknown words. We will be reminding the students that they should be reading a book with 3-4 hard words on a page to further improve their vocabulary. Following some mini-lessons next week, we will be sending home a reading project where students will independently practice using context clues. The due date will be recorded on the paper.

Please take time to look at the Family Reading Night flier found in the school’s digital backpack. We hope many of our students will donate gently used books, and come to the event to receive “new” books.

Math: Next week students will continue working on Unit 9, Percents. The unit focuses on the links among fraction, decimal, and percent names for numbers, with a special emphasis on percents. Students will practice conversions among fractions, decimals, and percents. They will use grid pictures, the multiplication rule for renaming fractions, memorization of simple conversions, and a calculator for more complex conversions.

Social Studies: Mr. Smith and Miss Carter’s classes have their final State Reports due Thursday, April 15. Report requirements and the project timeline were sent home for review, and can also be viewed on Mr. Smith’s blog: http://msmithop97.blogspot.com/

~~ More March News ~~

** Please send in empty 2 liter soda bottles to be used in Science Class **

Upcoming Dates:

• · 3/22 – 3/26 Nourish to Flourish Theme Week
• · 3/19: Student Council Fantastic Fridays kicks off
• · 3/27 – 4/4: Spring Break - No School

Nourish to Flourish Theme: Nutrition and portion size

Next week, we will have:

1. Eat and wear the color of the day.

Mon: blue/purple (ex. eat grapes and wear purple high heels)

Tues: White (eat a banana and wear white leg warmers and tube socks)

Wed: Red (eat a red apple and wear red MC Hammer pants)

Thurs: yellow/orange (eat carrots and wear orange capri pants)

Fri: green (eat celery and wear green Keds/Tretorns)

2. Student activity: record number of fruits and veggies eaten at lunch.

Student Council: Fantastic Fridays (some upcoming dates)

Stuffed Animal Day (March 19)

Mismatch Day (March 26)

Nerd Day (April 9)

Blast From the Past Day (April 16)

Curriculum Notes:

Writing: In writing class students are currently studying fictional narratives. We have recently been reading a variety of stories in class together in order to prepare for this genre. After reading each story, we have dissected the plot into a variety of components including the grabber, problem/challenge, action of the story, solution, and takeaway ending. This week students have been taking their own story topics and mapping out their ideas in a graphic organizer.

Next week we will begin drafting our stories. Writers will continue to use their skills in organization, elaboration, and sentence fluency when drafting. Students will also strive to become more independent when revising and editing their work. We look forward to having these fictional narratives published when we return from spring break.

Reading: Next week we will continue our study of Unit 4, reading the story, McBroom and the Big Wind. In this Survival Unit, the students will read various fictional and true stories about extreme situations. Our discussions with the different stories will center around how the characters stand up to the situations, and how we might respond if we were in their place. Please see the attached reading newsletters for your child’s homeroom, highlighting the upcoming vocabulary.

Math: Students will be finishing Unit 8 (Perimeter and Area) next week. The main objectives of this unit are to review perimeter and area concepts introduced earlier in Everyday Mathematics; to develop formulas as mathematics models for the areas of rectangles, parallelograms, and triangles; and to explore applications of area with the help of scale drawings.

Social Studies: Mr. Smith and Miss Carter’s classes have started their State Reports. Students will research their chosen state and complete a final report to be turned in on April 15. The first Due Date for the report is: completed research forms, due Thursday March 25. Report requirements and the project timeline were sent home for review, and can also be viewed on Mr. Smith’s blog: http://msmithop97.blogspot.com. There are also state research website links available on the blog.

~ State Reports have begun ~

Mr. Smith's and Miss Carter's classes have started working on State Reports in Social Studies. The first check point (due date) is Thursday, March 25. Report research forms should be completed by then. The final project is due on Thursday, April 15. Check the requirements document and timeline for more details. (see links to these documents in the left margin of this blog)