A Few Changes for the New Year . . .

As of January 4, 2010, a few changes will take place in our classroom:

• We WILL continue to have "Brain Fuel" at 10:30 each day, but parents and Mrs. Hill will NO LONGER be supplying the snacks. Students are encouraged to bring their own snack each day if they wish to enjoy some midday fuel.
• Reading and math contracts WILL still exist, but they may look different and have different expectations. Look for more information on that in the new year!
• Our new class motto, "Zip it or Flip it!" will be in full force. Parents, ask your child about this for an explanation!
• All student names MUST be written in cursive at ALL times!

Winter Party Time!

A note from our room parents:

It's winter party time and we are in need of donations. We are planning
to have Walking Tacos and other items that the room parents will need
to purchase.

We are also hoping to give every student a gift card instead of all
the little STUFF that usually gets tossed.

If you are willing to donate any sum of $$$ and/or help us out the day
of the Party (Tuesday, Dec.22 @2:45), please contact Angela Falcone @ angela.falcone5@gmail.com.

If you would like to send a monetary donation, please send it in with
your child in a sealed envelope marked Angela Falcone/Winter Party.

We will accept donations starting this week.

Any questions, feel free to e-mail Angela Falcone at the above email.

Poetry Cafe Rescheduled

We are rescheduling our Poetry Cafe for this Friday, December 4 from 2:30-3:00 in our classroom. We will enjoy drinks and a healthy snack while we enjoy listening to our newly published poets read a poem of their choice from their own collection!

Poetry Parade Cancelled

We are not getting as far as I had hoped with poetry due to the shortened weeks over the last few weeks and technology issues. Therefore, the original plan to celebrate our published poets on Wednesday, November 25 at 2 p.m. will be postponed. I will reschedule the celebration on the blog as soon as I can.

Supplies Running on Empty . . .

We are running short on the following supplies we need for successful days:

• Quart size ziploc bags
• Snack size ziploc bags
• Hershey Kisses
• Miniature Reeses Cups
• Snacks for "Brain Fuel"
• Pink, blue, purple, orange, and green highlighters

If you are able to pick up one of these items over the next few weeks for our classroom, the fourth graders and Mrs. Hill would greatly appreciate the donation!

Reading and Math Contracts

We WILL NOT have an official reading and math contract this week that would have been due Monday, November 30. However, I am offering extra credit in both areas for those that continue to read and practice math, log their reading and math practice, and write me a letter about their readings and math practice times. If a student chooses to ONLY complete a reading contract this week, that student will receive extra credit in readingt ONLY! Same for math.
Enjoy the holiday break! We all deserve a little extra family time!

Movie Night: Friday, November 20

The Hannah Montanta movie will be playing in the Brown cafeteria on Friday, November 20. Information about times and prices went home in last week's Barker. You can access that link here: http://www.brownsburg.k12.in.us/brown/newsletter/BR2009-11-13.pdf

Hope to see you there!

BEERP: "BURP" for Eyeglasses

We kicked off our BEERP program again this year (yes, it is pronounced "burp" and the kids love it) with the Brownsburg Lions Club (Brown Elementary Eyeglass Recycling Program)! We, as a community, collected almost 1,500 glasses, lenses, pieces for recycling eyeglasses, cases, etc last year and hope to get close to that goal again this year. In fact, we learned of a man that finally saw his little girl's smile clearly for the first time because of the eyeglasses we collected!

We will be doing this collection until spring, so please save all glasses, lenses, frames, cases, etc. We will take everything!

Our 4th graders thank you for your contribution and the gift of sight you're giving to someone through your donation!

Spelling and Friday Folders

We will not have a formal spelling list this week or next week. However, we are practicing fourth and fifth grade word wall words each week.

We also will NOT send home Friday Folders this week or next week. Therefore, please be sure to check Power School for your child's grades that I update each Monday by 4:00PM and your child will bring home his/her Friday Folder on Friday, November 20.

Parent/Teacher Conferences

I believe, in my 11 years of teaching elementary students, that it is very important for the students to be involved in the decisions and goals that are being discussed about them. Therefore, I'm inviting all students to attend the parent/teacher conference with their parent(s) on the scheduled date and time. I realize some conferences are during the student's special class time, so the student will need to make a decision as to whether or not to attend.

I will be sending home reminder notes with students on Thursday this week. Please look for those tomorrow.

"Dreaming of a Bully-Free School"

Friday, October 30 will be a pajama day for Brown Elementary. We've been discussing creating a bully-free environment in which to learn and learn at our best! All students are encouraged to wear their favorite jammies and slippers on Friday!

Lyrics

As we begin our study of poetry, we're relating the music/songs we love to the art of writing poetry. Poetry and song lyrics share rhythm, stanzas/verses, meaning/emotion, and sometimes rhyming. Here are a few sites where you will find song lyrics to print. Each person must bring at least ONE song's lyrics by Friday, October 30.

***BE sure to include the artists/musicians of the song, the title of the song, and the source in which you retrieved the song.

http://www.lyricsfreak.com
http://www,geocities.com/islandlyrics
http://www.sweetlyrics.com
http://www.lyricsty.com
http://www.lyricsmania.com
http://www.elyrics.net
http://www.sing365.com

"We Don't Like Those Bullies" Link

http://www.teachertube.com/files/music/41bfd20a38bb1b0.mp3

Enjoy the tune to keep a bully-free school!

Ice Cream Experiment-Due 11/5

A relevant-to-real-world science experiment went home with the students last week. Each child will complete one of a few options using the scientific method we've discussed thoroughly in class. The project information is located inside your child's homework folder, and the project is due by Thursday, November 5. Presentations to Joe, the Ice Cream Man, will take place that afternoon since there will not be school on Friday, November 6.

I have also attached the information to our class website which can be accessed at www.brownsburg.k12.in.us/brown. Go to the staff list and locate our link.

Play-dough project

During the first week of November, we have a special project planned for social studies—making salt dough maps! Students will create dough maps illustrating each of the three regions of Indiana using different colors of play-dough. In order to do this, we need each student to bring in one container of colored play-dough. If you can send in more than one container, that would be greatly appreciated! Thank you so much!

Mrs. Hill

"How many of me" website link

http://howmanyofme.com/search/

Mrs. Hill gets a flu shot . . .

We're all doing our part to stay healthy this season!

Garmet Sales End Wednesday

The Garment Sale ends Wednesday, October 21. Please access the following website to print an order form if you plan to purchase any items. Send the form to school by tomorrow.

http://www.brownsburg.k12.in.us/brown/schoolforms.asp

Red Ribbon Week October 19-21

Monday begins our week for a drug free life! Red Ribbon Week will begin with an exercise theme on Monday, so wear your comfy clothes to "get fit" with being drug-free! Tuesday is a purple and white bulldog day and Wednesday is a red day . . . wear as much red as possible to celebrate being drug-free!

Arrow Book Club Order

A book club catalog/order form went home today with all students. We will be placing this book order on Monday, October 19. If you wish to purchase books from the club, please send a check (made out to Scholastic Books) or cash for the total amount of the items you wish to purchase. All book purchases will go toward receiving NEW books for our classroom since Scholastic is offering some really great deals for teachers with this month's orders.

***If you wish to purchase any items for the upcoming holidays, please seal the envelope and indicate this within so that I can contact parents when the order arrives. I wouln't want to ruin the surprise!

Upcoming Events

Wednesday, October 14 is the last day of the grading period. All grades will be updated by Friday for these nine weeks' report card.

Wednesday, October 21 is the day that all report cards will be able to be accessed online for families and students.

Wednesday, October 21 is also our Fall Party day! Mrs. Falcone, Mrs. Lee, and Mrs. Preda are working very diligently prepare for the party. Please send in all donations as soon as possible! The party will begin at 2:45 in our classroom, Room 218.

Thursday and Friday, October 22 and 23 are Fall Break days off of school! Head to the pumpkin patch, go to a festival, or hang out in some other way with your family at least one of those days! Make it special, kids, for your parents, too!

Singing in Science!

We discovered a new song today about the Scientific Method! We've been singing it (or maybe it's just Mrs. Hill singing) all morning to learn that the Scientific Method is just a way to solve a problem (or question)!

Follow this link to hear the song and sing along with your family! Just remember PHP-OAC!
http://www.lyricallearning.com/songs/scimethod.mp3

McDonald's Monopoly Game

We have decided as a class that we'd like to play the Monopoly game with the game pieces, just for fun, as a class. We will have a game board here at school in which to apply the property stickets. If you DO NOT plan to play along at home, we'd really appreciate all of the properties we can collect! We will keep everyone updated as to our progress of getting as many properties as we can before it's too late . . .

Open House BIG THANKS!

We had 100% of the students in attendance last night at Open House! I appreciate everyone taking a look at their child's work and scavenging around the room and the building for your child! I also had 100% of the parents sign up for a conference time and you have no idea how much I appreciate that--it saves me a lot of time so that I can spend it with your children!

I am looking forward to sitting down with parents in November to discuss each child's individual goals, academics, and any other areas we wish to discuss. Enjoy your weekend!

Open House & Art Fair

I'm looking forward to seeing all of your smiling faces again tonight from 6:30 to 7:30 at our Open House and Art Fair. Please be sure to sign up for conferences in November!

Fuzzy Dice for T-Shirts

Since we're the DICESQUAD, we thought we should show up "in-style" for our Survivor Teamwork Challenge next Friday. However, we've been in search for the pink dice iron-on patches (see picture) to iron onto our shirts and we're coming up short. If you are out at Michaels, Wal-Mart, Jo-Anns, or other similar stores, and you happen upon these patches, would you please pick them up and you WILL be refunded? Send them to school as you can! Thank you!

Survivor Teamwork Competition Volunteers

The Dicesquad needs you and so does Ms. Franklin! She is in need of volunteers for Survivor, Friday, October 9! Please contact her at extension 1177 or rfranklin@brownsburg.k12.in.us as soon as possible! Thank you!

Sept.28 WBRO Begins!

Our class will have 15 minutes of fame all next week as we are the STARS of WBRO! See the schedule for your task each day. All sports casters MUST bring a sports cast with them on the day they are scheduled. All anchors will receive a script one day before they are to anchor. Let Mrs. Hill know if you have any questions!

H1N1 Information

From Central Office:
H1N1 Consent forms will be sent home Thursday, Sept. 24th and are due Tuesday, Sept. 29th. All forms must be returned, even if you choose NOT to have your child vaccinated. That date and schedule for vaccinations at Brown will be sent to parents when we have received confirmation from the Health Dept. Please call the school office if you have any questions. Thank you.

Book Exchange

We have quite a lot of readers this year that, like their teacher, love a GREAT book! Therefore, we discussed having a Book Exchange in the classroom. These need to be books that you no longer plan to read, but enjoyed thoroughly and can't wait to share with your friends!

How will it work?

1. Bring in a book (if you want) to place on the Book Exchange shelf.
2. Write your name on the inside cover so the new reader knows who to come to for questions, comments, or reflections.
3. Grab a book from the Book Exchange shelf if you need a good suggestion on what to read!
4. Enjoy reading and bring the book back to the shelf when you're done.

Survivor Preparations: White T-Shirts

Our annual Survivor team competiton will be held Friday, October 9 from 9:00-12:00. In order to be a team on that day, we also need to look like a team, too! We are the Dicesquad this year and would love to tie-dye t-shirts for the event. We will use the shirts for field day and field trips for a unified look!

Please send a white (new or old) t-shirt that can be tie-dyed to school by Wednesday, September 30.

Yummy . . . Thanks!

Many thanks to all families for the sugar-free gum, Hershey Kisses, and snacks/drinks donations! These little incentives get us a long way!

Spelling Change--This Week ONLY!

Instead of knowing how to spell the words on your word list this week, your job is to understand what the words mean, when they would be used, and their importance. I will spell the words on the test for Friday.

No pre-test on Thursday.

Handout received today with all of the words listed is due Friday, too.

Update from the Dicesquad: September 17

Kudos to the Brown PSG for an amazing Dog Dash last Friday! Thank you to all that were able to donate, attend, run/walk, and/or support your child!

Happy Belated Birthday to Devon--he turned 10 on Monday, September 14 along with Mrs. Hill's little boy, Camden, who turned 2!

Happy Early Birthday to Blake who turns 10 on Thursday, September 24!

Reading and Math contracts are due each Monday. 90 minutes for reading a week and 60 minutes for math practice per week. Please be sure to write your letters on the reverse side of the contract as well as log your minutes.

We are slowing decreasing our "incentive" supply of sugar free gum and Hershey Kisses. If anyone is willing to donate these items to our classroom, we would all be so grateful.

Enjoy the beautiful weekend! It feels like fall outside . . . We love it!

Friday Events

Here is a schedule for tomorrow since it's a little different than most school days. I also want everyone to be prepared with appropriate clothing, games, etc.

9:00 Receive DOG DASH t-shirts
9:15-10:10 NWEA Language Usage computer assessment
10:10 to 10:40 DOG DASH
10:45-11:25 Spanish
11:30-12:30 Math-opoly stations
1:35-2:30 Favorite Game Board Friday (connection with our novel, The War with Grandpa)
2:30 DOG DASH convocation--silly sock award for 4th grade! Who will it be?

So wear your sneakers, your silliest pair of socks, bring your favorite board game, and SMILE! It will be a wonderful ending to a fabulous week!

New Art Class Blog--Check it out!

http://mrsconnersartroom.blogspot.com/

WE ARE GOING TO GET HUNGRY!

Our snack supply is depleting as we speak . . . Many families have been so generous to send in snacks for the class to enjoy as "Brain Fuel" before the kids head to specials. Thank you for the donations. We are in need of a few more donations, however. Below are a few remindres for snacks to meet all the needs of our classmates:

NO RED DYE snacks (including fruit snacks)

NO TREE NUT snacks (including animal crackers and peanut butter items)

Thank you again for offering these snacks to our class.

DOG DASH--Sept. 11

DOG DASH information is going home today in Friday Folders . . . It will be Friday, September 11 @ 10:10 for our class. Please come join us on our walk that day to raise money for our school! Our individual goal is to raise $25 per student in order to meet our school goal this year. I DO NOT encourage kids to go door-to-door to ask for donations, but rather to ask family, friends, and other well known people instead.

Math & Reading Contract

Our first math and reading contracts were due yesterday (August 31). Many students did an excellent job logging their reading minutes and math practice minutes. Each child is required, for a weekly grade in both reading and math, to:

1. log reading and math minutes on the given handout
2. reach the class goals (90 minutes for reading and 60 minutes for math).
3. write a short letter to Mrs. Hill that relates to their readings and math practice. (Suggestions for topics to discuss in letters should be located in each student's Math and Language Arts folders.)
4. Bring the handout on the first day of the school week (Monday usually).

NEXT CONTRACT DUE TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8

Leaf Project Information

Leaf projects are due Wednesday, September 9. Binders were sent home with students to use for the project. I have colored copy paper/construction paper for students to utilize for the projects and a three-hole puncher.

Students DO NOT need to purchase anything for this project!

Crown Pointe Cemetary on E. 38th Street has a Leaf Walk that classifies leaves for the students. Eagel Creek Park does, too.

Here is a link for an excellent site to classify leaves: http://www.phyplt.ipfw.edu/GROUNDS/NativeTreesOfIndianaRiverWalk/NativeTreeListByCommonName-Page1-Test.htm

Homework through Monday, August 31

Friday:

• Writing Timeline due: Each student needs at least 10 activities throughout his/her life to show he/she has been a writer forever.
• Spelling post-test tomorrow for all students receiving minus one or more on pre-test today. Pre-tests are going home with students along with a list of the words and a chance to write each misspelled word five times each to prepare for tomorrow's test.

Saturday-Sunday: A great opportunity to spend quality time with your family while collecting leaves and classifying them for your leaf project. Due Wednesday, September 9!

Monday:

• Reading contract letter due: Each child is required to read at least 90 minutes per week inside or outside the classroom and must also write a short note/letter to Mrs. Hill about what was read. This letter is to be written on the back side of the Weekly Reading Contract Log.
• Math contract letter due: Each child is required to practice math facts at least 60 minutes per week inside or outside the classroom and must also write a short note/letter to Mrs. Hill about how math was practiced. This letter is to be written on the back side of the Weekly Math Contract Log.

A note from Mrs. Wieder . . .

Textbook rental is now due. If you have not already paid your child's, please do so as soon as possible.

Homework for Week of August 24-31

Reading: Contract due August 31

Writing: Artifacts (examples of your writing throughout your life) due Thursday, August 27

Spelling: Pre-test over "Donovan's Word Jar" Lesson 2--Thursday, August 27

Math: Contract due August 31 (individual teachers might assign additional assignments--check your assignment notebook)

Long Term Projects: Science: Leaf Collection due September 9

Thursday Hearing Screenings

Following Indiana State Guidelines, fourth graders have their hearing screened to make sure each student is able to hear and learn in the classroom. Hearing loss may be caused by birth defects, earwax, middle ear infections, viral infections or prolonged and repeated exposure to loud noise. Students in this class will complete the screening on Thursday, August 20. Only those students who do not pass the screening will receive a letter to take home to their parents. Hearing screenings can be conducted upon request by the teacher and parent.
Please contact Mrs. Winings by phone (852-1498 ext. 1127) or by email at cwinings@brownsburg.k12.in.us

Homework 8-19

Baby pictures were due today. If you did not bring a picture, please bring one on Thursday.

"What's Your Bag?" project is due Thursday. Information about this project went home in your homework folder on Tuesday.

All handbook/acceptable use policy handouts are due by Friday. We will use the laptops all day Friday, so this is an absolute MUST if you'd like to begin using them with us!

Parent Night

Thank you to all parents/family members that wer able to come to Parent Night last evening. It was very enjoyable meeting all of you. I'm excited to get to know your child and anxious for the year to really begin!

If you were unable to come last night to Parent Night, your child will bring home a folder of information today. Please look through the information with your child.

I will always send home more thorough information before we start a big project, assignment, etc so be sure to require your child to share his/her G.A.M.E. Binder with you daily.

Thanks again!

Supply Drop Off

How fun to see all of the school supplies awaiting my arrival on Friday morning! I am so glad so many of you were able to see our room and have a chance to get excited about the new year! See you on Monday!