Ms. Cronin's Blog

Greetings Parents and Students!

I am very excited for school to start on Tuesday, September 6.  This is a half day of school. We will spend part of our half day together getting to know each other.

I will be sending home on Tuesday many different items from the Haigh office. However, our special schedule will be a “work in progress” during the first two weeks. When we have a permanent special schedule I will send home a paper copy and also add it this blog. The special schedule will include- Book check-out, Technology, Art, Music and Gym.

Look for two personal letters to come home on Tuesday: one from me and one from all three fourth grade teachers.

I hope everyone has a relaxing Labor Day weekend.
See you soon!
April Cronin

Welcome to my blog. I hope that you will find this site a place to visit each week to find out what’s happening in Room 4.

Plaese take a moment to subscribe with your email and you will be notified anytime a new post has been added to the blog.  This is a very quick and easy way to receive communication concerning 4th grade assignments and activities.

I look forward to meeting all of you on Tuesday, September 6th for the first half day of school. See you soon!

Sincerely,

Ms. Cronin

Greetings!

The school year is quickly coming to an end.

      Here are a few very important upcoming events:

*****April 22, 4th Grade Market Day, from 12:30-3:00

Please join us on this very fun day. Parents, grandparents, friends of the family,  will each get 25 play dollars to spend at this event. All four fourth grades will be open for business. Your student is part of a company. Each company will be selling homemade products and/or services.  I hope to see you there!

*****NWEA testing begins for the fourth grade during the beginning of May. We are given three weeks to complete these four tests. We will be practicing in class,  however, your student can practice at home with the NWEA student practice sites. Please work with your student at home and support them during this testing period.

*****M-STEP testing begins May 16. Again, students can practice at home with “smarter-balanced” testing sites provided by the state of Michigan.

Many thanks for all of your support and cooperation!

Sincerely,

A. Cronin

Greetings!

I wanted to let everyone know that our PTA is running a book fair next week to celebrate March is Reading Month. Our class will be going on Monday at 2:00.

Wednesday, March 9, is our Field Trip to the DNR Outdoor Adventure. However, all activities are indoor.

We will be leaving around 9:15 and returning by 2:15.

All students must bring a bagged lunch. There are many things to see and do so please wear comfortable shoes!

FYI: We have finished our federal government unit in Social Studies. The unit on economics is next. This unit culminates with a very fun experience called MARKET DAY. If you have older students who went to Haigh then you know what a wonderful day this is. Our market day is scheduled  for Friday, APRIL  22, from 12:30-3:00.

Students will be forming companies and creating products to sell on this day!  Families are invited to come and shop! More information and details will be coming soon!

Sincerely,

A. Cronin

Greetings!

Tuesday is March 1! Our school is planning many fun and educational activities to celebrate reading. I hope you can be apart of the celebration. Please come in to read to our class! Our schedule can accommodate most times. Please send me a note with your student or an email. I will put you on our calendar.

Speaking of calendars, all students will be bringing home a March is Reading Month calendar. Take a look and enjoy!

FYI: This week our class will be taking a Social Studies test on Wednesday. It is on the Federal Government. Students have a study guide to review before the test.

In MATH we are looking at angles. We are identifying and measuring.

Our field trip is NEXT Wednesday, 2/9/16, and everyone has turned in their slips and money. Many thanks for your support and cooperation!

Sincerely,

A. Cronin

Tonight’s homework-look for math, spelling and word meaning worksheets. We continue to practice multiplication and division.

All students worked on Front Row today in class. This is a great way to get in individual math practice. Students can also  do this at home.

Spelling-here are this week’s words:

-grateful, kindness, beautiful, respectful and wilderness.

-Content Area words: citizen, veto, vote, independent

and democracy.

Word meaning-using and understanding a glossary-students should be able to do all of this work independently.

There is another PTA popcorn sale this week. Please send in .50 cents for a bag of freshly popped popcorn on Friday.

On Monday, February 29, is our PBIS celebration. It is a “camp out” in the gym. Kids can bring sleeping bags, flashlights, and books! I will send home more information with your student on Friday.

FYI-Our field trip in Wednesday, March 9, 2016. Most of you have sent in your permission slips and money. Many thanks!

Also please think about reading to our class during MARCH. We can choose a book for you or you can bring in  your own.

 Coming home today with your student is a permission slip for a field trip to the Detroit Outdoor Adventure Center. This center is run by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. If you go to their website you can watch a video that  highlights their facility. The cost of the trip has been reduced thanks to a generous donation by ACE Insulation Company. They donated 200 dollars which we used to pay for transportation. This was arranged by one of our homeroom parents, Susan Lock.

     The cost of admission is 4 dollars for students and 2 dollars for adults. 

Also coming home is a math worksheet on long division. We started this before the break. Please help your student with this math concept. Most students are struggling with the process. Also, a reminder that if they still do not know their multiplication facts they can not move forward with division.

In addition is a worksheet on multiple meanings of words. A significant  number of fourth graders performed badly on this task on the NWEA test.

Looking forward, I would like to encourage you to read to our class during March. The school celebrates “reading” in a variety of ways. One way is by  inviting guest readers to the class. You can choose a time at the beginning of our day or at the end of our day. You can choose a book that is a  family favorite or I can have books here for you to choose from. I do not have a calendar for this yet. However, I know your schedules are busy,  so please pencil us into your calendar and  join us next month to celebrate READING!

     Many thanks for your support and cooperation,

A. Cronin

Greetings!

We will have a Math test tomorrow (2/2/16). I am sending home a study guide. We did all of these problems today-with our white boards and as a whole class. We did NOT fill out the answers on the study guide. They should work on these at home-some students will need your help.  These 8 questions represent the content of our test. We will review the study guide before the test.

Please continue to encourage your student to practice their math facts. Our next unit is primarily on division. 

Also, on Wednesday, we will have a U.S. Government quiz. Students will identify the three branches and list one  or two duties of each branch. There will be one short answer question: Why did the writers of the U.S.  Constitution separate the government into three branches?

FYI: Our Valentine Party will be on Wednesday, February 10. 

Mrs. Robinson will be making candy with our class. This also coincides with us finishing the book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

I have sent home a class list and would like each student to bring in Valentines for their classmates.

Many thanks for your support and cooperation,

A. Cronin

Greetings Everyone!

I am sending home a paper copy of the following friendly reminder:

Our field trip to the Cranbrook Museum is tomorrow. We will be leaving school between 9:00 and 9:15. The museum has asked that students bring their lunches in a paper or plastic bag. NO LUNCH BOXES OR BACKPACKS! We will be eating at the museum around 11:30. Also, there is a lot of walking so please wear comfortable shoes.

While we are there we will be part of two different courses. The first one is called Bats of Michigan. The second is the Origins of the Great Lakes. They both sound very exciting.

If you are one of our seven chaperones there are vending machines at the museum and a very nice gift shop.

We will return to school around 2:30.

FYI: Friday is a half day. It is also our PBIS party. This party allows students to bring board games, cards or electronics from home. We will join other classes in the gym and the cafeteria to play these games.

Students will be dismissed at 11:50 on Friday.

Sincerely,

A. Cronin

Greetings Everyone!

A reminder that tomorrow (Wednesday, 1/20) is a late start! School will start at 9:35.

FYI:

*Last week we performed two plays for our Kindergarten buddies. We will perform one more on Friday. All students participated in some way and it was a big hit with our buddies. This was part of our genre study.

*This week students will be working on a writing assessment. The district’s common assessment is an opinion piece. Students worked on a rough draft of this assignment today.

*This week in math we will be working on double digit multiplication. Look for math worksheets to come home regarding basic math facts. Please continue to practice with your student at home for 10-15 minutes each night! 🙂

*In Social Studies we continue to learn about our Federal Government. Students will be working in small groups to determine which  laws or type of government they would determine fair and just for their imaginary country.

*Next Thursday (1/28) is our field trip to Cranbrook! Everyone has turned in their permission slips and money. Many thanks for all your support and cooperation.

Sincerely,

A. Cronin