New Year Grab Bag Party!

To celebrate the arrival of 2018, the Heathcote fourth grade will be having a grab bag party for the recess cabinet on Friday, January 12th. Students are asked to bring gently used games and puzzles that have all their pieces to be donated to the fourth grade wing for indoor recess during the winter months. These games should be wrapped, so that everyone who participates by bringing in a game will get to open a game “present”. Then, the children will end the afternoon by testing out their new recess games.

It should be a lot of fun and will help keep the wing a fun and happy place during indoor lunch recess!

Best Wishes for the New Year!

Welcome to 2018! Happy New Year!

As we look to get into the swing of a new year and new week of school, our class will spend some time reviewing reading goals and strategies. We will be having individual reading conferences to reassess reading strengths and to identify areas where students might benefit from further instruction.

As always, our goal continues to be an improvement in every facet of student learning, and there is no better way than to address critical English language arts skills in the curriculum. As I did in September, I will meet with every student to inform my instruction and identify appropriate levels of text using Fountas & Pinnell Benchmark Assessments.

Based on these assessments, each child will be receiving suggestions for just-right books at independent reading levels. Selecting and reading some books from those suggestions will allow students to practice skills introduced during the reading workshop effectively, and at the appropriate level. Over the next several weeks, please encourage your child to select independent reading books from those suggested or assigned. These choices include a wide variety of topics and genres. There is truly something for everybody, and of course, a varied reading diet allows for growth and development.