March 15, 2010

Dear Parents,
WOW! Your children were wonderful talking about their projects last week. They truly are becoming the strong communicators and confident kids that our SPARCCLS proclaim. They really felt proud of their work and I was proud of them, too. Thank you for coming to our Science Fair and for all the guidance and support that you provide to your children to allow them to be so successful. This week your children will put finishing touches on paragraphs in which they reflect on what they have learned while doing their Science Fair Project. These will be displayed in our classroom toward the end of the week. Please feel free to drop by to see them.
In Religion your children continue on their path to grow closer to God by performing simple acts of kindness every day and writing reflections in their Lenten booklets. In our classroom we have a big image of Jesus on the crucifix. Each time that your children reach out to someone in a special way, they cut out a “Body of Christ” which is added to this image of Jesus. This Jesus is becoming a beautiful rainbow of color and shows us how together, we all make up the “Body of Christ” and how together, we can let God use our hands to do his good work.
This week in Math your children will begin learning about decimals and their relationship to fractions. There is a letter in this packet providing some ideas about how you can help your child at home. The chapter 18 Math test is in this packet. Please review it with your child.
Last week we began our Gold Rush simulation. They formed their mining companies and prepared to set out for California. In Science this week, we will begin to explore how the Earth’s surface can change very suddenly with landslides, mudslides and floods.
Lastly, I would like to thank all who will be coming to our last fourth grade BINGO Night on Saturday, March 20. Hopefully we will be able to earn a little money to help out with all of the fun fieldtrips in fourth grade. Not only does your participation provide for some wonderful fieldtrips and learning experiences for your children, you also help to strengthen the bond between the parish and the school. If you have not returned your BINGO survey from last week, please do so tomorrow. I look forward to seeing many of you there. By going to BINGO on February 20 our class earned $845. It is so, so generous of the Holy Name Society to share their profits with us.
Today your children have Scholastic Book orders in their homework folders. All orders will be due by next Wednesday. Remember, you can use the form and send a check made out to Scholastic Books to school (please do not send cash) or you can order on line using the following information. You can also find a link to the Scholastic website by going to my website (http://sjcschool.org/blogs/grade4/).
http://www.scholastic.com/bookclubs
User Name: sjcgrade4
Password: grade4
I would like to thank all of you for your support, especially this last month with our Science Projects. If you have any questions or concerns please drop by, or e-mail me at triciaheis@aol.com.
Sincerely,
Tricia Heissenbuttel