Ms. Cronin's Blog

Greetings Parents,

Our fourth grade is in the process of creating a student council.

This activity has generated a lot of interest. Interest in student government and interest in making our school even better.

Each classroom has elected two representatives. Our two reps  are Finn and Malek. On Friday four students from our class will compete with twelve other fourth graders to become the fourth grade student council  President and Vice President. Each candidate will give a speech. After the speeches the students will vote. We will announce the two top candidates on Friday before we leave-Friday is a half day of school!

Also we will have a meet and greet the Presidential candidates tomorrow morning. Mr. Short will stop by during this informal gathering to talk with each candidate.

NWEA NEWS-Students will be taking the math portion of this test on Wednesday and Thursday with Mrs. Izbicki. Our class will be finished testing by Friday, 1/27. Students have worked hard on these tests. I am very proud of their efforts. The results of the FIRST NWEA scores will be on this second card marking. The tests we have just taken will appear on the THIRD card marking.

Valentine’s Day-Tuesday, February 14

I have met with two room parents and we have started to make some plans for this next celebration. Students will be bringing home a class list next week so they can work on Valentines.

Sincerely,

A. Cronin

Greetings-

We will be eating lunch in our class tomorrow so that we can watch the presidential ceremony on television.

Thanks!

A. Cronin

Greetings parents!

Our fourth grade is organizing a student council. Our new Social Studies unit is US Government and we will soon witness another peaceful transfer of power when Mr. Trump becomes our new President on Friday. These two events have inspired our four 4th grade classes to organize a student council through class elections. Everyone is VERY excited! This is how it will work:

-each fourth grade class will elect two representatives; students who are running will give speeches on Friday-each fourth grade class will vote for their own representatives.

-next, there will be one President and one Vice President who will be elected by all four 4th grades; there are so many students interested in this spot that we need to have a primary election-on Friday our Presidential candidates will give speeches to their own classes-then each class will take the top four vote getters  to establish our candidates in our election on Friday, 1/27 . On this date, 1/27,  the 16 Presidential candidates will give speeches and then all four classes will vote by secret ballot to determine the winners. And YES, I will have an election committee to oversee the election process and count the votes and announce the winners.

-once our student council is in place, we will have 8 representatives, one President and one Vice Preident-this group will meet every other Wednesday, at lunch with me or Mrs. Greco to create a list of ideas which would  make our school a better place for students and for our community.

Hopefully this experience will provide students with an opportunity to work together on important school issues as well as learning the value of participation and the democratic process.

So in the words of the great Martin Luther King, Jr.

” Life’s most persistent and urgent question is,  ‘What are you doing for others?'”

Sincerely,

A. Cronin

Greetings Parents!

Just a quick note-on Monday, January 16 The Henry Ford is offering FREE admission to the museum. This is a wonderful opportunity to take the whole family and enjoy the many exhibits at the museum.

Sincerely,

A. Cronin

Greetings Parents!

Here is a reminder concerning a few important dates on our school calendar:

 Monday, 1/16/17-Martin Luther King Federal Holiday

(No School)

 Friday, 1/27/17-End of the 2nd card marking-1/2 day of school

(Students are dismissed at 11:45)

 Wednesday, 2/1/17-Report Cards are sent home

 Thursday, 2/9/17-Fourth Grade Field Trip to the Dearborn

Performing Arts Building-All fourth graders

in the Dearborn Public School attend a                                                      special concert by the Dearborn Symphony.

This concert is free to our students.

Sincerely,

A. Cronin

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a wonderful end to 2016. We have spent the first two days of our new year reviewing routines and getting back to work. I wanted to let everyone know that NEXT Tuesday we will start the NWEA testing. This is the second of three times during the year that this group of tests  will be administered. The tests  include READING, MATH, LANGUAGE AND SCIENCE. The students take these tests in our classroom on chrome books. I will be sending home practice sheets in math. All fourth graders need to know their multiplication math facts! This is an essential skill. Also, students can practice sample math test questions at home by logging onto the NWEA student practice page.

In class we are reviewing and  practicing reading strategies. Students are given multiple reading genres on this test and are expected to answer a variety of questions. One strategy we practice is to first look at the questions. Looking at the questions is one way to focus our reading. This strategy gets us ready to read with those questions in mind. Again, students can sample reading questions at home by logging onto the NWEA student practice page.

Social Studies-we are starting a new unit on United States Government.

Science-we continue with Physical Science-MATTER-characteristics of solids, liquids and gases.

Writing-Opinion Writing-the issue we are researching and forming opinions about are the pros and cons of driverless cars.

Reading-Informational Reading-we are focusing on articles about government and current events.

Math-two digit multiplication

Please contact me with any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

A. Cronin

Season’s Greetings!

Tomorrow is our winter/holiday party! The party is from 9:00-10:30.  Students can wear pajamas. Also, students can  bring slippers and wear them in our classroom for the party.

The party includes breakfast treats, a craft and a reindeer game or two.

We will be playing BINGO and exchanging our Secret Santa gifts in the afternoon. However, we do have GYM from 1:40-2:25.

Many thanks to all the parents who are helping. Lena Harajli(Jenna’s Mom) and Natasha Batha(Connor’s Mom) have organized the party and will be here to help tomorrow.

You are welcome to join us tomorrow.

Sincerely,

A. Cronin

Season’s Greetings!

We will have a very busy week ahead of us.

Wednesday, 12/21-4th and 5th grade concert-7 pm at Bryant

Thursday, 12/22-Our PBIS Celebration-Movie Theater-1:30

Friday, 12/23-Classroom Party-9:00-10:30

Our classroom party will start in the morning. Students are encouraged to wear their Pajamas. We will serve up some breakfast treats-bagels, cream cheese, nutella, fruit,  cheese pies along with chocolate milk and juice. The party will include making an ornament, a few games, and  cookie decorating. If you would like to join our celebration please contact Lena Harajli at 313-588-5329.

Lena is coordinating activities and food.

Many thanks for all that you do!

Sincerely,

A. Cronin

Greetings!

Last week our class discussed  and decided to have a “secret Santa” activity. Each student picked out a name from a hat. We agreed the amount of each gift should be between five dollars and ten dollars.

Each student should wrap the gift and include a gift tag. Their own name should not be on the package. Hopefully it will be a secret until we exchange gifts. We will be decorating our classroom next week. I will be bringing in a prelit tree.  Students can start bringing in their gifts after December 19.

I’m not sure when we will exchange the gifts…perhaps Thursday or Friday of that week.

Also, I will be meeting with two room moms on Tuesday after school. We will be discussing plans for a winter holiday party. We will let everyone know what the plans are and when the festivities will take place.

Once again thanks for your support and cooperation!

Stay warm,

A. Cronin