Janice Earnest

May 11, 2009

We had such a fun time Friday for field day.  A big thanks to those who came and volunteered and helped out. The older I get, the more help I need.   It was a great day.  A big thank you to Mrs. Leatherwood for the delicious "homemade" snacks and Mrs. Warren for the drinks. 

Please keep looking for changes in dates over the next few days.  With these last two weeks, things get a little hairy and dates change unexpectedly.  I will send you notices in your child's agenda with any changes.  So please check their agendas daily.

If you have any library books at home, please send these in ASAP.  I still have a couple of parents who have not sent back Pictures/Picture Money.  Please send this in ASAP.  Last but not least, don't forget to send in a self addressed stamped(2) envelope.  If you need to send any of these items in, it will be written in your child's agenda.  Another reason to check your child's agenda daily.

Auction is Wednesday, May 20.  Thank you for the donations already sent in.  If I could get all donations by Monday, May 18 that would be great!  Thanks.

The last week of school 4th grade will have some fun by wearing -

• Monday - crazy sock day
• Tuesday - Twinkie Day (dress like a friend or friends)
• Wednesday - inside/out day
• Thursday - wear your favorite jersy
• Friday - class t-shirt

Upcoming Tests:

• Tuesday, 5/12                         Wordly Wise Vocabulary
• Friday, 5/15                            Sitton Spelling Test

Dates to Remember:

• Thursday, 5/14                      Gym Dedication, 8:00 AM
• Friday, 5/15                          Hat Day
• Monday, 5/18                        Chick-fil-a Biscuit Fund Raiser
• Monday, 5/18                        Stevie B's Night

May 4, 2009

Happy Mother's Day!

Three more weeks!!!!!!!!!!  That is hard to believe.  I say this every year, but time really does fly.

Sad to say there was no field day today.  It has been rescheduled for Friday.

We are getting ready for our end of the year auction.  Please help us out by sending in "cool" stuff for the children to bid for.  I am donating a Game Stop gift card.  Gift cards are a huge deal.  At first it is hard for the children to realize they are exchanging paper money for real money, but they catch on quickly.  We have also already received some really cool toy items.  Anything will be greatly appreciated.

I am going to update your child's agenda tomorrow with correct dates of specials, events that are coming up here at Still, upcoming tests, etc.  With the craziness of the end of the year, it will be good for the children to have important dates listed in their agendas.

Today was the last day to take AR tests.  We worked really hard this year and I am proud of my class.

It is time for the self addressed envelope with two stamps on it.  Please get this in ASAP.  The children earn CAKE cash for turning these in on time.  Everyone earned CAKE cash for the registration forms!  Way to go class!

Important dates:

• Tues, 5/5                                Chick-fil-a Night
• Fri, 5/8                                   Field Day, Hat Day
• Mon, 5/11                               Chick-fil-a Biscuit
• Thurs, 5/14                             Gym Dedication, 8:00 AM
• Wed, 5/20                              Class Auction

Tests this week:

• Tues, 5/5                             Wordly Wise #12 Vocabulary
• Thurs, 5/7                            Grammar Test
• Fri, 5/8                                Wordly Wise #13 Spelling

April 27, 2009

CRCT's are done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!    We made it!  I was very proud of my class.  They seemed alert and focused.  We have four weeks of learning left so let's make the most of it!

We finished George Washington's Socks in reading and I will be finishing my read aloud, Tales of the Fourth Grade Nothing.  These two books will help with AR points.  I asked the class to try and read a chapter book during testing to add more points to their pot.  Please make sure you are encouraging your child to read nightly. 

Field Day is next week on Monday!!!!!!!!     Be ready for fun and sun!!!!!!!!!       When I get more details, I will let you know.

Progress Reports will come home tomorrow, 4/28!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We have a few important dates to remember this week and as usual, we will be back to normal testing in the classroom.  The dates are listed below.

Upcoming Tests:

• Friday, 5/1                               Wordly Wise #12   Spelling Only
• Tuesday, 5/5                            Wordly Wise Vocabulary

Dates to Remember:

• Friday, 5/1                              Spirit Day
• Monday, 5/4                           Chick-fil-a Biscuit
• Monday, 5/4                           Field Day 4th and 5th
• Tuesday, 5/5                          Chick-fil-a Night

April 20, 2009

I only have four letters CRCT!!!!!  I sent home a letter on Friday with notes on the back of it.  We wrote down what subjects were on what day this week of the CRCT.  If you haven't seen your child's letter, ask for it.

Please be sure to send your child with a snack and #2 pencils already sharpened.  We will eat snack before and after the CRCT and the children need more than one pencil sharpened in case their lead breaks during testing.

Pictures are due by April 30.  Please send pictures you are not purchasing along with money for pictures you are purchasing by this date.

Graded papers will come home tomorrow.  I wanted to go over the Grammar Quiz with the class (including Target) since the English section of the CRCT is Wednesday.

We will not have any tests this week and I will not be giving any homework.  Homework will be to play, read and any last minute reviewing with worksheets that I send home.  Today I sent home a figurative language packet as well as a main idea and context clue worksheet.  Tomorrow is reading so these were just a few things I reinforced today.

Tomorrow look for grammar worksheets and quizes.

March 23, 2009

TWO WEEKS UNTIL SPRING BREAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Can you believe it?  We only have 8 weeks of school left.  I really stressed to my class that they have 8 weeks to work hard and take a great report card to 5th grade.  They have 8 weeks left to do their best in 4th grade! 

Grammar quizzes Friday went pretty well.  I am asking that each child bring theirs back tomorrow so we can discuss them in class and help them better prepare for next week and the CRCT.  Please make sure you return these in your child's Monday Folder.

We only have two quizzes this week.  We will have the Wordly Wise spelling on Thursday, 3/26 and the Wordly Wise Vocabulary on Friday, 3/27.  Please remember to check the gray box on the last page of the Wordly Wise because this is where your bonus question comes from.

Our novel study is George Washington's Socks and our read aloud is The Tales of the Fourth Grade Nothing.  Both of these are worth valuable AR points!

Remember your child needs paper and pencils for school.  I still have a few that do not have paper or pencils.  With the budget, we are using notebook paper more and pencils seem to disappear.  So please remember while you are out to pick these items up.

March 16, 2009

In your child's Monday Folder you will find an AR update.  Please sign and return this in your child's Monday Folder.  We all took a test on Hatchet Friday afternoon.  Almost all the children added 6 points to their AR total.

Report Cards will come home on Thursday, 3/19.   Any grades in this week's folder have been averaged in to the report card you will see on Thursday.  Please sign the signature card and return it in the tan envelope on Friday, 3/20.

With the cut backs we are experiencing, it is very important that your child have notebook paper and pencils everyday.  Many of the students do not have paper or pencils on a daily basis.  Please remember the next time you are out to pick up these items for your child.  Thanks.

We just finished Wayside Stories as our read aloud.  The class is now composing their own book of Earnest's Excerpts.  Each child will have their own chapter to our book (including myself).  I will put it all together to keep out in my room for years to come.

We will be starting new math classes tomorrow.  This will be the last class formed this school year.  Can you believe we are starting our last nine weeks!!!!!!!!!!!

The only test we will have this week is Wordly Wise Vocabulary on Wednesday. 

Dates to Remember:

• Monday, 3/16                              Stevie B's Night  (magic word is sausage)
• Monday, 3/16                             Still Night at Hillgrove Baseball, 5:55 PM
• Thursday, 3/19                           Sparkles Skate Night,  Hiram
• Friday, 3/20                               Hat Day/Spirit Day
• Monday, 3/24                             Chick-fil-a Biscuits  AM

March 9, 2009

Happy Gorgeous Weather to all of you!!!!!!!!!  Can you believe we went from snow to sun in one short week?  As a born and bred Georgian, nothing suprises me here!  In high school, it snowed my spring break!

This is the last week of this nine week grading period.  This means we only have one nine weeks left this school year!!!!   Yikes! Where has the time gone!  CRCT's are right around the corner!  I know sports have started back up and we are running here and there and everywhere, BUT we must remember school work is of upmost importance and keep studying until the end.  Please help me remind the children to keep giving 100%!

I would like to congratulate our Terrific Kid, Jacob Warren.  Jacob's kindness is a welcomed bonus in our classroom.  He is polite and helpful to all.  Way to go Jacob

This week:

• Math - finish unit and Post test on Thursday, Pretest for new unit
• English - prepositions, with continued review
• Reading - Hatchet, Wordly Wise #10
• Spelling - Wordly Wise #10
• Science - Ecosystems
• Soc St - finish up Colonial Times

Upcoming Tests:

• Friday 3/13                 -   Wordly Wise Spelling and Grammar
• Friday, 3/13                -  Social Studies, Colonial Times Test
• Wednesday, 3/18        -  Wordly Wise #10  Vocabulary

Dates to remember:

• Tues, 3/10                  Chick-fil-a Night
• Thurs, 3/12                 Spring Pictures
• Fri, 3/13                     Hat Day\
• Fri, 3/13                     Talent Show, Lovinggood Middle School, 7 PM  -  9 PM
• Mon, 3/16                   Chick-fil-a Biscuit
• Mon, 3/16                   No Target
• Tues, 3/17                  In School Target Field Trip

March 9, 2009

Happy Gorgeous Weather to all of you!!!!!!!!!  Can you believe we went from snow to sun in one short week?  As a born and bred Georgian, nothing suprises me here!  In high school, it snowed my spring break!

This is the last week of this nine week grading period.  This means we only have one nine weeks left this school year!!!!   Yikes! Where has the time gone!  CRCT's are right around the corner!  I know sports have started back up and we are running here and there and everywhere, BUT we must remember school work is of upmost importance and keep studying until the end.  Please help me remind the children to keep giving 100%!

I would like to congratulate our Terrific Kid, Jacob Warren.  Jacob's kindness is a welcomed bonus in our classroom.  He is polite and helpful to all.  Way to go Jacob.

This week:

• Math - finish unit and Post test on Thursday, Pretest for new unit
• English - prepositions, with continued review
• Reading - Hatchet, Wordly Wise #10
• Spelling - Wordly Wise #10
• Science - Ecosystems
• Soc St - finish up Colonial Times

Upcoming Tests:

• Friday 3/13                 -   Wordly Wise Spelling and Grammar
• Friday, 3/13                -  Social Studies, Colonial Times Test
• Wednesday, 3/18        -  Wordly Wise #10  Vocabulary

Dates to remember:

• Tues, 3/10                  Chick-fil-a Night
• Thurs, 3/12                 Spring Pictures
• Fri, 3/13                     Hat Day\
• Fri, 3/13                     Talent Show, Lovinggood Middle School, 7 PM  -  9 PM
• Mon, 3/16                   Chick-fil-a Biscuit
• Mon, 3/16                   No Target
• Tues, 3/17                  In School Target Field Trip

February 23, 2009

Tomorrow will be our last day to gather information for our Revolutionary War paper. The children will finish up any notes that need to be put on index cards. Remember this is an in school project so if for some reason your child doesn't finish his/her notes tomorrow then he/she may print off copies of information at home and bring them in to copy onto their note cards. Most children have already finished, this is just a heads up for the few who are a tad behind. 

We will be starting up with Wordly Wise on Wednesday this week.  Our tests on Wordly Wise will not be until next week. 

Next Monday, 3/2 is Dr. Seuss' birthday.  We will be celebrating by reading a Dr. Seuss story and reading for an hour that day.  Be sure to have a good book to keep you interested for one hour!  No half point books, chapter books.

Study Guides will be given tomorrow for the space test in science.  We will fill these out in class and the test date will be written at the top of the study guide. 

Academic this week:

• Math - reviewing unit 3 (decimals, fraction, units of weight)
• English - Adverbs, writing Revolutionary War paper
• Reading - Hatchet, Wordly Wise #9
• Spelling - Wordly Wise #9
• Soc. St. - Revolutionary War, review of economics vocabulary
• Science - finish up Space and test:

Upcoming Tests:

• Friday, 2/27                                       Grammar Test
• Tuesday, 3/3                                      Science test

Dates to Remember:

• Mon/Tues, 2/23-2/24                        Talent Show Tryouts
• Friday, 2/27                                      Spirit Day
• Friday, 2/27                                      Cosmic Bowling  6:15 PM - 8:30 PM
• Monday, 3/2                                     Dr. Seuss's Birthday
• Tuesday, 3/3                                    Early Release Day (dismiss 2 hours early)

February 17, 2009

I hope you all had a wonderful little break.  I enjoyed all of my Valentine goodies.  I gave each child $50.  We are started back up with money and fine slips.  Some are started to slack off a little and I want to stress the importance of staying strong until the end. 

The next couple of weeks for Language Arts/Social Studies your child will be working with a partner from Mrs. Kay's room on a Revolutionary War report.  This will be done in school and will be two seperate grades for both Language Arts and Social Studies.  We made our folders today (which is one grade) and will be going to the Media Center and Computer Lab to research information on the person from the Revolutionary War.  Once the folders are completely finished, then the children will write their papers.  With this in progress, we will not have Wordly Wise this week.  We will continue with Wordly Wise in the next couple of weeks.

Please make sure your child is reading daily!!!  Twenty to thirty minutes a day will make a huge difference. 

Notice there are a few changes in test dates this week:

• Friday, 2/20                          Grammar Quiz

• Thursday, 2/26                      Science Test on Space

Dates to Remember:

• Friday, 2/20                       Spirit Day/Hat Day
• Monday, 2/23                    Chick-fil-a Biscuit AM
• 2/23 - 2/24                       Talent Show Try Outs 2:15 - 5:00