Room 14 News for the Week of August 31st!

Hello Treasure Hunters and Families,

This week we will be going into our full CORE groups for Math and Science. By now, your treasure hunter should have given you a letter that tells who your child's math teacher will be. If it says Mrs. Fisher, then that will be an AM math class. If it says Mrs. Moricz, that will be a PM math class. If your child is in extended math, there is a permission slip attached that needs to be completed. This will be my AM math class.

In Math this week, students will continue to explore how we can use range, median, mode, and mean to describe patterns and data. We will also do another math mindset challenge. Our goal is to create a learning environment where our kids want to explore math and see that they can be successful when learning becomes challenging.

In Science, we are exploring the properties of water like surface tension. This will be an introduction to our first unit in Science: The Water Cycle. Our class will have Science on Monday and Wednesday. Mrs. VanDeventer's class will be on Tuesday and Friday. If your child is in IDS, he or she will have Science on Tuesday and Friday and join her class for Social Studies on Mondays and Wednesdays. Please keep this in mind as you schedule appointments. Since lessons in both classes are hands on, it is often difficult to make them up when they are missed.

We have also started planning which topics we want to explore for genius hour. Students rarely get a chance to explore learning they are passionate about, but with genius hour, they will be given that opportunity. The first step is to come with an open ended question worthy of pursuing. The questions must be open ended enough that the answer can't be found with a google search. The students will then research information to help them answer their questions before deciding how they will share it out with the world. Stay tuned for more to come!

Hope you have a great week!

This week's news to use!

Hello Treasure Hunters and Families,

We had a busy week last week starting our beginning of the year assessments, finishing our classroom rules, learning about digital citizenship, researching pirates, and creating our pirate me dolls. We have learned several new routines and procedures in class. I am so impressed with the effort each student has put into starting their year off right. Our class continues to earn compliments from the other teachers and staff around Manzanita for modeling great behavior and kindness. I am so proud of the class and all they have accomplished so far this year! We have earned 35 compliments and celebrated our success with new pencils, erasers, and an extra 5 minutes of recess.

This week we will be finishing our math assessments and begin to talk about establishing growth mindsets. A growth mindset is the belief that anything is possible if you are willing to work hard for it. In our class, praise is based on effort and we learn that mistakes are a normal part of the learning process.

Helping your child develop a growth mindset is one of the many ways you can support your treasure hunter this year. I will be talking about the process and our curriculum this week at Parent Night. Please join me in our classroom at 6PM on Thursday. You will also have an opportunity to meet Mrs. VanDeventer and hear her talk about reading.

Did you hear the news? The 40 Book Challenge has begun. Books are flying off the shelves as students dig into reading. I sent our Scholastic Book Order home on Friday in your child's backpack or binder. There are many new books in the order and it is a great way to expand your child's library on a budget. If our class total is $300 or higher, we will earn 10,000 points that can be used to order more books for our classroom. You can place your order online or send in a check with the order form. The final day to order is Friday, August 21st. I will then close the order out over the weekend and it takes about two weeks for the books to arrive.

On Friday, your child also brought home their Treasure Hunter poster to complete for homework. I shared my poster in class and we talked about what goes in each section. Please have your child work on this a little bit each night. This is a great opportunity to set guidelines and routines for homework, especially for long term projects. It is due this week on Thursday, August 20th. When your child is chosen as TREASURE HUNTER OF THE WEEK, he or she will be able to bring in 3-5 items to share with the class. This is a special time for us to continue to grow as a classroom community.

If you ever have questions or need to reach me, the best method is via email at tmoricz@cfsd16.org. I usually check it several times during the day. However, if there is a change in how your child will go home, please contact the front office to let them know. They will buzz into the classroom to pass along the message.

Have a wonderful week!

Parent/Student Handbook

Hello Treasure Hunter Parents!

Welcome to our classroom. I enjoyed meeting many of you at Open House. We are off to a great start in 4th grade. This is an awesome group of students and I can't wait to see how much they will grow this year. To stay updated on events in class, please subscribe to our classroom website. You will also be able to sign up for a parent Edmodo account to see the assignments your child has in class. We will talk more about this at parent night on August 20th at 6PM.

There are a few changes in the parent/student handbook this year that you may wish to review. Please return the front page with your child as soon as possible.

-First, birthdays will be celebrated in class, but students may no longer bring in food or treats. Students may bring in pencils, erasers, or a book for the class if they wish. We will celebrate birthdays once a month and they will be posted on our class calendar on the website. We will celebrate with extra recess time and warm wishes for the students celebrating. 

-Students should leave all toys, trading cards, purses, personal items at home. The handbook even mentions sports equipment. We have equipment at school that the students can use. The goal is to minimize distractions and protect students personal belongings. However, students who are chosen for treasure hunter of the month will have the opportunity to bring in 3-5 items to share with the class. 

-Please review the dress code requirements with your child. Shorts must be longer than the fingertips when arms are at the child's side. Tank tops need to be three fingers wide. If it is smaller, a sweater or other top must be worn with it to cover it. Hats may be brought to school, but must be taken off when your child is indoors.

This week we will be starting to switch classes for math and reading. Students will learn about the 40 Book Challenge, take the Dibels reading test, and begin assessments for reading and math. Homework this week will consist of reading 30 minutes every night and working on their treasure hunter poster. I will be sending that home on Tuesday night and it will be due in class next Monday.

Thanks for all your help and support! I am looking forward to a great year together! If you ever have any questions, email is the best way to reach me.