Dear Families,

Just a reminder that students will be presenting their passion projects this Friday, February 3rd from 9:00-10:00 in the lighthouse 4th grade classrooms. We would love to have you stop by if you are available.  Everyone has been working so hard to complete their research and projects!  We hope to see you there!

Other Dates and Information-

Book Orders- Book orders went home last week and are also available to see online using the link on our class blog.  Book orders are due Friday, February 3rd.

NAEP Testing- All 4th graders will be taking the NAEP test on Wednesday, February 8th.  More information about the test can be found on the MBS homepage.  

Long-term Substitute- Mrs. Alling had the opportunity to come in and spend the day with us on Monday to get to know the kids and our daily routines.  She will also be with us on Thursday and Friday.  I will be working up until I have the baby and then Mrs. Alling will take over while I am gone.  Please see the welcome letter from Mrs. Alling below.

Conferences-  A reminder that I will be on maternity leave during parent/teacher conferences in March and will be unable to meet with you during this time.  Mrs. Alling will not be running my conferences because she will have only been with the kids for a few weeks and will not have enough information to share. I will be available to meet with you in April when I return from my leave if you would like a check in at that point.  I apologize for any inconvenience.

Early Release Day- Just a reminder so you can plan ahead- February 16th is a district wide early release day.  Students will be dismissed at 12:45.

Please email with any questions.  I hope to see you Friday morning!

Mrs. Carney

Dear Parents and Guardians,

I am excited to introduce myself and tell you how much I am looking forward to getting to know all of your 4th graders while Mrs. Carney is on maternity leave.

Since November I have been the long term substitute for Mrs. Marlow's 3rd grade class. My previous teaching experience includes teaching 3rd, 5th and 8th grade in Burlington, Vermont and Miami, Florida. Since 2013, I have been substitute teaching at both Porters Point School and Malletts Bay School. I have a Masters in Elementary Education and I am currently pursuing a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study in Literacy.

In addition to being a teacher in the Colchester School District, I am also a CSD parent to two boys, in grades 4 and 6 and a daughter in grade 8. When not spending time with my family or teaching, I enjoy photography, healthy cooking, reading and in the summer - biking, boating and gardening.

Please don’t hesitate to email me at rachel.alling@colchestersd.org with any comments or questions. I look forward to learning with your children this Winter and Spring.

Best,

Rachel Alling

(aka Mrs. Alling)

News

Hi Everyone!

I wanted to update you on what is happening in the classroom and also about my upcoming maternity leave.

Math- We focused on multiplication for unit 4 and learned to use the area model, partial products and traditional algorithms to solve multidigit multiplication problems.  We also worked hard solving multistep word problems and finding the area of rectilinear figures.  Unit 5 will be our last unit of the second trimester and will focus on fraction and mixed number computation and measurement.

Writing- Students chose topics for their passion projects and started brainstorming background knowledge and research questions. We discussed how to find appropriate sources online and how to use our research questions to guide our search for information.  Students checked out informational texts from the library and practiced using the table of contents and index to guide their research.  This week we will start to categorize our notes into 3-4 categories and will begin the first draft of our informational writing pieces.

Reading- We are still focusing on finding main idea/supporting details and summarizing in informational texts.  We have connected much of our learning of informational texts to our passion projects and are using what we know about main idea and supporting details to help guide our note taking and note organizing.  As we begin writing our first drafts this week, students will continue to practice their summarizing skills.

Social Studies- We are learning about the five regions of the United States.  Over the last few weeks we have been discussing the Northeast Region.  We have read about the land, water, products and natural resources of the region.  This week we will learn about the climate and culture of the northeast as well as which biome it falls into.  Next week students will be in small groups and will be researching a different region of the United States and will share out their learning to the class through a google slides presentation.

DARE- We have had two of our four DARE lessons with Officer Mellon.  Students have learned about being good citizens and making smart choices.  We will have our last two lessons this week and next week.

Upcoming News and Announcements-

Passion Project Presentations- On Friday, February 3rd from 9:00-10:00, lighthouse 4th graders will be presenting passion projects in our classrooms.  We would love to have you come in and check out all of our hard work!

NAEP Test- Reminder that all 4th graders will be taking the NAEP test on February 8th.  An information paper on the test went home a few weeks ago.  Please let me know if you have any questions about this.

Long-term Substitute- Good news....We have found a long-term substitute teacher to cover my maternity leave!  Mrs. Alling will be taking over for me when I go on leave.  She is a licensed teacher and is currently the long-term sub in Mrs. Marlow's 3rd grade classroom.  She has subbed in the building many times before and most of the students already know her.  Over the next few weeks she will be stopping in our classroom for short visits to get to know the kids.  During the week of January 30th, she will be in to shadow me for three days to learn our routines and build relationships with the kids. Mrs. Dousablon is in our classroom everyday and will be a familiar face for the kids while I am gone. I am due on February 12th and plan to work up until I have the baby.

Conferences-  I will be on maternity leave during parent/teacher conferences in March and will be unable to meet with you during this time.  Mrs. Alling will not be running my conferences because she will have only been with the kids for a few weeks and will not have enough information to share.  If you would like to set up mid trimester conference, I have some time available to meet during the week of January 30th before school and after school, unless I have the baby early.   I can also meet with you in April when I return from my leave.  I apologize for any inconvenience.

Early Release Day- Just a reminder so you can plan ahead- February 16th is a district wide early release day.  Students will be dismissed at 12:45.

Please let me know if you have any questions and if you would like to set up a conference the week of January 30th.  kari.carney@colchestersd.org

Have a great rest of your weekend!
Mrs. Carney

Electronic Day Tomorrow

Just a reminder that we are celebrating meeting our class goal with some electronic time tomorrow afternoon!  Students can bring in a device from home or use a device from school.  If they are bringing in a device from home, they are responsible for keeping track of it and must be using it appropriately.  Let me know if you have any questions.

Mrs. Carney

Happy New Year!

Working on our New Year's Resolutions!