Ms. Cronin's Blog

Greetings!

A quick reminder that tomorrow is a SCHOOL WIDE PAJAMA DAY! They are requesting no slippers  with the pajama fashion.

Sincerely,

A. Cronin

Hello All!

A few reminders about next week:

Monday, December 5- All school PAJAMA DAY! Please no slippers.

Friday, December 9-HAIGH SPIRIT DAY! Wear your Haigh shirts or something with an owl!

Also, I hope everyone marks their calendar for our fourth and fifth grade concert. The concert is at 7:00 PM at Bryant Middle School.

I hope to see you there!

I want to say that our family history project has been exceptionally rewarding…for me and for my students. A great big thank you to all of you who have been able to join us at school. I can see in the student’s faces how important your words are to them. Thank you for helping at home with gathering information and pictures. It is so meaningful for these students to learn first hand what their families went through to make their lives here a little better.

Sincerely,

A. Cronin

Greetings Parents and Students,

I hope everyone was able to celebrate this holiday with family and friends. I was able to enjoy dinner with one of my sisters and my brother and his family. My other sister was not near but still dear in our hearts.

I would also like to give thanks to each of YOU-the families of my students. I truly have a wonderful group of young people to work with every day. So I thank you for all you do for them and in turn for our class.

Also, many thanks to the parents who are able to join our class from time to time. We enjoyed a modern day popcorn feast before our break. Home room moms Lena Harajli and Natasha Batha coordinated our popcorn party. They set up the goodies that each of you sent in and the kids created their own mixes. Thanks to YOU we had a  very fun afternoon.

Another part of our afternoon involved our first parent who came to talk to the class about their decisions to move to the United States. Eloise’s mother, Mrs. Pernot, came to our class. She and Eloise discussed through a series of questions and answers her parent’s decision to leave France and come to the United States. It was wonderful and the kids loved it!  I know some of you are planning to come and we are looking forward to hearing your stories. Thank You, Eloise and Mrs. Pernot,  for being the first presenters.

Well, here we are at the end of November. Almost another year has passed. Another busy month ahead of us. I look forward to 2017 with my very wonderful……smart……fun….and kind class.

Sincerely,

April Cronin

Hello!

Thank you for your support and cooperation during conferences. It really does make a differences when teachers can work with parents to help their students succeed.

This first report card represents one of four card markings. The card also includes the NWEA test results. As always, please contact me if you have any concerns or questions. I can arrange to talk with you in person or on the phone.

What’s Next?

Friday, November 18-Canned Food Drive ends-so far our class has collected 182 cans!! We are very excited to help and perhaps win the contest for most cans brought in-stay tuned for more details.

Tuesday, November 22-Popcorn Bar-each student has selected a treat to bring in for our popcorn party. Students will make their own mix with all of your donations.

Wednesday, November 23-27-Thanksgiving Break

Wednesday, November 30-PBIS Celebration-Dearborn High Jazz                                                        Band

Thursday, December 1-Family Research Projects are DUE!

(Each student has already started this project by asking questions. The answers to these questions will be turned into an informational research paper/presentation. We would love to invite anyone to our class who has a story about immigrating to the United States. Students are excited to discover and learn more about their families.)

Many thanks for you support and cooperation!

Sincerely,

A. Cronin

School districts in Wayne County have placed a proposal on the November 8^th ballot to provide added funding for our schools. It is the “Regional Enhancement Millage Proposal.”

If approved by the entire county, the 2 mil proposal will generate approximately $6.2 million from Dearborn but the District will receive $7.8 million in additional funding for our schools.  Money would go to local schools starting this year and the millage expires after six years.  Read the rest of this entry »

School districts in Wayne County have placed a proposal on the November 8^th ballot to provide added funding for our schools. It is the “Regional Enhancement Millage Proposal.”

If approved by the entire county, the 2 mil proposal will generate approximately $6.2 million from Dearborn but the District will receive $7.8 million in additional funding for our schools.  Money would go to local schools starting this year and the millage expires after six years.  Read the rest of this entry »

Greetings Everyone!

I thought I would take a few moments of your time to tell you about our next social studies unit. The unit is the second half of our Geography unit entitled “Human” geography. This unit takes a closer look at how people have affected our environment. We look closely at migration and immigration. This year I would like to extend our learning by asking students to look at people in their own family in the past who took risks. Students will explore their state and family history by answering the driving question,

“What makes people take a risk?” 

Using examples of risk taking from personal and state history, taken from a variety of literary contexts, students will create their own Choose Your Own Adventure interactive stories. They will combine family histories with those of two other students and develop outcomes based on historical probability. Student teams present their adventures in an interactive presentation with an audience of parents and other students.

This project is designed to teach state history to 4th graders in a manner authentic to their own lives and experiences. The aim of this project is for students to learn more about the motives that brought settlers to our state or country, and to explore decisions that were made and risks that were taken in the process. In teaching this project, there is an intentional connection to the students themselves and the risks that have been taken for them and also the risks they have taken and would like to take in the future

We will begin working on this project next week.  We will begin by reading various stories of immigration and identifying risks associated with each move. We will discuss risks students have taken. Students will do background research  about immigration in their family and identify the risks taken in that process. This will involve each student writing a family history based on an interview. This will lead us to the Adventure books and an invitation for you to join us to share what we have learned.

Please let me know if there is anyone in your family who would like to come to our classroom and  share a part of their experience with our class. We would also like to see any artifacts: photographs, books, or  important  personal items that traveled with your family.

Again, many thanks for your support and cooperation.

More information on the project will follow.

Sincerely,

A. Cronin

     Greetings Everyone!

By now all of you are aware that there were some water issues in our hallway. I was absent but I wanted to let you know that our class was very cooperative and responsible during our relocation.  I received two excellent reports from the substitute. This is always wonderful for a teacher to hear, especially under these circumstance, that the class was so well behaved.

This 1/2 day signifies the end of our first card marking. Most teachers are finalizing their grades and entering them into the grade book program. Report cards  will be printed on Tuesday (Election Day). I will be discussing report cards, NWEA results and fourth grade expectations at our conference time. I have sent home reminders or have arranged a time to meet with most of you. However, I want you to know that I am available most days before or after school to discuss any concerns you might have about your student.

Sincerely,

A. Cronin

Good Evening Parents!

Tomorrow will

be our first PBIS celebration. The theme is a Fall Festival. Students will rotate through three different stations-a maze, sack races and cider and donuts.

Students will be outside for about 45 minutes-so please dress warmly-hats, gloves and a coat are suggested.

All students in my class will be participating.

This afternoon I was with a small group of teachers, Mr. Short and some friends and family. We spent about five hours at Haigh building the maze under Mrs. Bunting’s direction. It is AMAZING! If you have time please stop by and take a loo. It is located in the back of the building closes to the teacher’s parking lot.

Greetings Everyone!

Here are a few important dates to keep in mind:

Friday, October 28-All School Halloween Parade-9:30

Classroom Party-12:45

Friday, November 4-1/2 day, dismissal at 11:45

Tuesday, November 8-No School-Election Day!

                  Parent-Teacher Conferences

Thursday, November 10-Conferences-4:00-7:00

Wednesday, November 16-Conferences-4:00-7:00

Thursday, November 17-Conferences-4:00-7:00

I will be sending home conference reminders to parents who signed up at Open House. I will assign times for other parents. I can always find time before or after school to talk with you about your student. Report cards will be given out at the conference. Report cards will be available after November 8.

Sincerely,

A. Cronin