First Glimpse of Steam Day-Spider Webs Everywhere

Miss Safelle's First Graders and Roberts' Fourthies paired once again for a creative day of studying spiders and replicating their webs.  Along with this, the girls had a little geometry lesson.  Make sure to ask your daughter how many triangles they managed to make.  One group had a really large number.  Along with that, Amelia made a pledge to her partner that if this group made this really large number she would not talk for the rest of the day!  Okay, folks, it's11:45 and Amelia has not said a word!

Happy Spring Break!

Calling all Fourthies! Play Information

Hi Everyone,
 Your daughters should have given you the hard copy yesterday, but just in case.....

Happy Spring Break!  Remember that pick-up today is 12:00!



March 3, 2016

Dear Parents,

There is currently a lot of excitement and energy in Grade 4 music and dance classes as we

are working hard to prepare for our upcoming performances of the Grade 4 musical, The

Jungle Book! We will present our performance for parents and family members on

Wednesday, April 6 at 2:30 p.m. and our performance for lower school and the senior class

on Thursday, April 7 at 9:45 a.m. With performance dates fast approaching, we are working

to assemble props, set pieces and costumes for our production. I am requesting that parents

please assist with this effort by providing the basic pieces of your daughter’s costume.

Please see the reverse side of this letter for a list of costume requirements by character. All

costume pieces should come in to school no later than Wednesday, March 30. Thank you!

At school, students are busy rehearsing for the production in their music and dance classes,

with full cast rehearsals in McVey beginning on March 29. I hope that your daughter is

working on memorizing her lines and practicing the songs at home as well! To support and

facilitate the home rehearsal process, there is a link dedicated to The Jungle Book on the

Fourthies web site. Your daughter will find information relevant to our production, including

music and song lyrics, on the web site under “Everything Else.” The direct link is

http://mcfourthies.weebly.com/jungle-book.html. Please visit this page on the website with

your daughter and encourage her to use it as a rehearsal tool.

I would like to send out a big thank-you to Mandy Jernigan and the other parent volunteers

who have already donated their time and talents to assist with our production! That said,

volunteer opportunities are still available. If you can help with props, costumes, or with make-

up application on the afternoon of April 6 and/or the morning of April 7 please let me or

Mandy know. Alternately, if you would like to assist with hanging the set for the production,

please contact Claire Berry, long-term substitute teacher in Lower School Art. Her email

address is cberry@st.catherines.org.

Thank you for your support of your daughter’s participation in this very special St. Catherine’s

tradition. If you have questions about costume requirements or any other aspect of the

production, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me. I look forward to seeing you and

your family in the audience on the afternoon of April 6!

Sincerely,

Rebecca Merrick

LS Music Teacher

rmerrick@st.catherines.org

 

Costume requirements for each of the characters are the following:

Please note that accessories may be sewn, painted, or glued onto costumes; we ask that you

please only send in articles of clothing that may be altered/embellished. Thank you!

Jungle Chorus

 Prickly Pears & Flowers: Solid green long-sleeved T-shirt (kelly or hunter green preferred),

matching green leggings.

 Trees: Solid brown long-sleeved T-shirt, brown leggings.

 Rocks: Solid gray T-shirt, gray leggings.

 Wolves: Solid gray T-shirt, gray leggings/pants, white gloves.

 Bees: Solid yellow T-shirt (bright, not pastel), black leggings.

 Vultures: Gray, tan or beige long-sleeved T-shirt, matching leggings/pants.

Coconut Tree: Solid brown long-sleeved T-shirt, brown leggings.

Kaa the Snake: Solid green long-sleeved T-shirt (kelly or hunter green preferred), matching

green leggings.

Colonel Hathi & Elephants: Solid gray long-sleeved T-shirt, gray leggings or pants.

Mowgli: Khaki shorts, white tank top.

Baloo: Oversized blue-gray long-sleeved T-shirt or sweatshirt, gray or navy/blue-gray leggings.

Bagheera: Dark gray long-sleeved T-shirt, gray leggings (ideally in a matching shade of gray).

Shere Kahn: Bright orange T-shirt, black leggings, white gloves.

King Louie & Monkeys: Brown long-sleeved T-shirt and brown leggings/pants.

All Characters

Required footwear: Jazz or ballet shoes (if you own a pair) OR lightweight thin-soled flats (such

as TOMS). We have dance shoes in various sizes available for those girls who need shoes. If

your daughter will need to borrow a pair please let me know and include her shoe size.

Reminder: Caritas Snacks

Just a reminder!  If you have not sent in  non-perishable lunch items for Caritas, you still have a couple of days to participate.  Suggestions are applesauce, dried fruit, chips, napkins,  plastic utensils, and bottled water.  These should be snack size, as they are going in lunch bags for the guests we will be hosting.

Thank you so much for helping us to welcome our Caritas guests!

We're Headed for Broadway, but first....we have to divide....

A great week of learning for the Roberts' Fourthies!  The girls are perfecting the division algorithm, I am happy to say.  They are doing so well, and they are relieved to know what to do when working word problems.  Knowing "when" to divide is crucial, and now they understand the value of having a shortcut!  Don't worry, we will practice this a lot, and I am available to give a little one-on-one whenever someone needs it.  On the days I don't have recess, I have extra time!

The girls are learning to take advantage of the Monday Study Hall.  I am so proud of them because most of them are finishing their vocabulary cards at school!  The biggest difference I see is that they are learning to plan ahead and start studying earlier for a test.  What a leap!

Don't forget to use the Fourthie Website.  The resources on it are exceptional.  The girls know all about it and use many parts of it at school, but much of it is great for practice. For example, this week they were required for homework to access the grammar section and choose an activity on Nouns.  A lot of them loved Grammaropolis or Flocabulary. Everyone has a different learning style, and for some girls this is it!  Also, many of you have completed Xtramath.org, but others have not.  Please continue to use this highly intuitive site for 10 uninterrupted  minutes every night.  It helps with those facts!

The play parts are out!  The practices have begun!  The excitement will build and build until the performance for the Senior Class.  These girls will all feel like they are on Broadway!  It will be sensational!

EARLY SPRING BREAK GIFT!   No Wordly Wise or Spelling this week!

Prep Work

Hi Everyone,

I hope everyone had a wonderful President's Day, albeit a snowy one!

This week I'm changing my schedule a little.  The girls already know, but I thought that I would clarify it.

Wordly Wise Lesson 14 will follow its usual schedule, with the exception of when the girls take the test. They may take it on either Friday or next Monday.

Spelling  -  Concentration is on contractions, Unit 3, List 15.
No cards this week.
The girls have specified activities to complete on Spelling City.  These are listed on their individual Spelling Page on the site.  Girls have access to words on Spelling City site.
Practice Test Thursday
Final Test  Friday

That's all for now!

Valentine Fun

This group of girls is pretty amazing.  They work just as hard on decimals, multiplying, all kinds of writing, reading and researching as they do on making  the most creativeValentines.  They had so much fun yesterday in class, and today they presented their Decades Valentine's boxes.  We started in the 1500s(yes, really!) and went all the way to the 2000s! They were allowed to make their own choices. I think your decade, basically the 80s, was well represented.  Learning is alive and real in the fourth grade.  Make sure to ask your daughter all about it!

Padlet Fun!

Click here to add pictures of your Snow Vacay!