Week of 9/22 Newsletter

Hello 4th & 5th Grade Families,

I hope this note finds you well! We have a busy week coming up!

Jog-a-thon:
Tuesday, 9/23 at 9AM. Hopefully your child worked on getting pledges over the weekend!

Back-to-School Night:
Wednesday, 9/24 5:30PM. Please meet in our classroom for my presentation about the curriculum that will be covered this year! I'm excited to see you there!

Coloma October 1-3, 2014:
Chaperone Meeting: immediately following our Back-to-School Night meeting, at 6-7PM. If you have not already confirmed with me that you plan to chaperone, please do so immediately - there is a form on our class website under the Field Trips page.
Payment & Permission Slips: Payment and permission slips are due THIS WEDNESDAY so please be sure to send that in to the front office.
Comfort Clues & Behavior agreement: This was sent home with your packing list and information packet at the first meeting regarding Coloma. Please be sure to send it in by the end of the week.
We will be organizing groups and cabins this week, and finalizing the itinerary, which will all be available to you next week.

Matsiko Children's Choir: Friday, 9/24 10:30AM. We are so excited to have the choir back this year! The children will sing and dance and share about their program with our school. They are a choir of 18 orphaned and at risk children from Liberia and Peru touring the US for a year bringing awareness to the importance of education.

August & September Birthday Celebration
We will be celebrating ALL of the August and September birthdays after lunch with a little treat! If your child had a birthday in September or August, please contact me regarding bringing in a little snack.

What we're learning:
Math: Factors & Multiples - check out your child's notes about the concept. It heavily relies on know multiplication and division facts from 0-12 so please work with your child daily.
Social Sciences/Writing: Students are researching a Native American Tribe (with books and online) and writing a research report about it. We will be focusing on formulating informative paragraphs with sentence variety, as well as revising for better word choice. We're looking forward to sharing them with you when they're finished!
Science: 4th Graders are continuing to learn about environments and ecosystems. They've been growing several plants - ask your child about it!
5th Graders are continuing to learn about mixtures and solutions.

Thanks for your help both in class and at home! If you have any questions or concerns, don't hesitate to contact me via email: rhonig@mountainesd.org.

Warmly,
Mrs. Honig

Week of 9/15/2014

Hello 4th & 5th Grade families,

I hope this letter finds you well! We had a fabulous field trip on Friday to Golden State Bulb Growers and you'll see a few photos on Sunday's post. We all learned a lot about how they pollinate flowers without bees, hybridization of plants and how the flower industry works! Thanks to the Brown family for the awesome tour and beautiful bouquets of yellow calla lilies! 

Unfortunately, I have a surgery that was just scheduled for this Wednesday. That means I will have to reschedule my Back-to-School Night presentation for Wednesday, 9/24 at 5:30PM. At that time, I will be sharing with you information about our classroom, what we'll be learning about this year and how you can get involved! I'm looking forward to seeing you all there. If you cannot make it, I will have information packets available to pick up on 9/17 in the front office.

The Jog-a-thon is coming up, Tuesday, September 23, 2014! Envelopes went home last Monday. Mountain Elementary School Arts & Music program is very dependent on fundraisers like the Jog-a-thon, so please work with your child to gather his/her sponsors!

Our next field trip will be to Coloma on October 1-3, 2014. If you have not already received the parent information packet about the trip, you will find some information on our website under the Field Trips page.

Math:
This week we will be learning how to "Approximate & Estimate" and round large numbers. Your child will have "Friendly Notes" in his/her blue math binder that explains the process & purpose.

Science:
4th Grade: Students planted several different types of seeds and will be studying how they grow and determine the "optimal" environmental factors for each plant.
5th Grade: Students are learning about mixtures and solutions.

ELA & Social Sciences:
We will begin reading our first novel as a class, The Sign of the Beaver, by Elizabeth George Speare. It ties in well with learning about Native Americans and the cultural regions of the US. Students will also begin to research about a selected Native American tribe for a report.

Thank you for your support at home with homework and in our classroom! If you have any questions or concerns, please email me at rhonig@mountainesd.org.

Best,
Mrs. Honig

Field trip to Golden State Bulb Growers

Here are a few photos from our field trip. Thanks again to the Brown family for the tour! We learned so much from the experience!

Week of 9/8 Newsletter

Dear 4th & 5th Grade Families,

I hope this note finds you well! Thanks for sending in your contact information last week! We are continuing to work on organizational and study skills which includes nightly homework. I really appreciate your support with homework folders and homework assignments last week! This week the students will be bringing home Homework Planners, with their math binders and homework folders. I’d like you to sit down with your child on Monday night to make a note of any after school activities he/she will have this week. It will be a way that we can plan ahead for the week when I assign nightly assignments. There will be more information about homework procedures and organizational tools at Back-to-School Night next Wednesday.

What we’ll be learning this week:

Math: Place value with whole numbers to the millions (4th graders), billions (5th graders). You will see “Friendly Notes” in your child’s math binder that explains the concept and vocabulary terms.

Social Sciences: Early civilizations of North America in preparation for a research project about a Native American tribe. You can find the vocabulary terms online in the Homework Links page of our class website.

Language Arts: I will be introducing prepositions, and reviewing paragraph writing. We will also begin our first novel study of The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare.

Science: Environments (4th graders), Mixtures & Solutions (5th graders)

Important Dates:

• Wednesday, 9/10, 6-7PM - Coloma Information Meeting - for parents only, in Room 16 - Maria Fahrner and I will share information about our upcoming trip to Coloma (October 1-3).
• Friday, 9/12, 9:45AM-2PM - Field Trip to Golden State Bulb Growers - a green permission slip was sent home on Friday with your child. Please fill it out and send it back in ASAP. If you plan to drive, please be sure to submit the necessary paperwork to Sharon in the front office.
• Wednesday, 9/17, 7-8PM (6:30PM for New Mountain Families) - Back-to-School Night - I’ll be holding 2 presentations about my plan for the school year - 7PM & 7:30PM. Adults only please.

Thank you for your continued support at home and in the classroom! If you have questions or concerns, please email me at rhonig@mountainesd.org.

Warmly,

Mrs. Honig

Week of 9/2 Newsletter

9/2/2014

Dear 4th & 5th Grade Families,

Wow! We had a fantastic first week of school! I’m looking so forward to the school year with your children. We have lots of new and exciting additions to the staff this year at Mountain School! Firstly, I am excited to tell you that we have the fabulous support of our classroom aide from 8:30-noon every day, Shauna Sutton! She & I will be working together to establish a learning environment that promotes creativity, collaboration and critical thinking. We’ll begin by focusing on procedures and developing organizational and study skills while introducing the theme for the year: US History. Secondly, Mrs. Fleming (see her introduction letter in the “Monday Folder”) visited our classroom on Friday and we are all very excited to start PE with her this coming Friday! Finally, the students will begin music with Ms. Conway next week when they will learn to play the ukulele! Below you will find some information about our classroom and upcoming dates to mark your calendar.

Student Supplies: If you have not already gotten binders for your child, please do so this week. We would like to be able to put them together and begin using them as soon as possible! If you need assistance getting any of the materials, please don’t hesitate to contact me, I will do my best to help in any way possible!

Nightly Homework: As you may have read last week, I will be sending home homework assignments each night that is expected to be returned the following morning, completed by the student, initialed by you. You will find a copy of the Homework Policies & Procedures on our class website: www.mountainschool4-5.blogspot.com.

Monday Folders: A clear folder will be sent home with your child on Mondays with correspondence from the office or from me. Please take a moment to look it over and return the empty folder by Thursday.

Upcoming Dates:

Coloma Parent Meeting: Wednesday, 9/10, 6-7PM - Please come to our classroom to find out about the upcoming field trip to Coloma (Oct. 1-3). At this meeting you will find out the details about the schedule, chaperones, etc.

Back-to-School Night: Wednesday, 9/17, 6:30-8PM - Adults only, please. We will have a brief introduction in the PAC room with Ms. M. and then I will hold 2 half-hour presentations about what I will be teaching this year, at 7 & 7:30.

Thanks for your time! I am most easily contacted via email at rhonig@mountainesd.org. Please see the attached page about contact information.

Best,

Mrs. Honig

Mrs. Honig’s Contact Information:

email: rhonig@mountainesd.org

phone: 475-6812 ext. 22

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me and I strive to respond within 48 hours.

Please complete the form below with your contact information. This form was also sent home in the Monday folder on 9/2.

Click here to complete the form online.