Because of Winn Dixie

This coming week we are reading “Because of Winn-Dixie” by Kate DiCamillo. We will focus on the vocabulary words found below. It would be helpful if you will reinforce the meaning of these words at home with your child.

Vocabulary Word	Meaning
memorial	monument
selecting	choosing
prideful	vain
peculiar	strange
recalls	remembers
positive	certain
grand	wonderful

Here are our spelling words for the week. Please practice these words at home as well. Let’s have a great week!

Spelling Words: admire, magnet, contest, method, custom, rally, soccer, engine, sudden, finger, accident, mitten, intend, fabric, flatten, rascal, gutter, mammal, happen, cannon

Homework time

National recommendations are that students have 10 minutes of homework for each grade level that they are in.

The best way to improve as a reader is simply to read, and regular reading is vital. Fourth graders need to have 20 minutes of nightly reading, at the very least to succeed. Please help your child set aside a time to read as often as can fit into your schedules. It is so important. The more the read, the better they will read!

It would be an excellent idea to spend another 20 minutes working on spelling and math skills, as well as any other area your child needs work on.

Back to School Night

We are having a Back to School Night Tuesday, August 30th, beginning at 6:00pm! I will have copies of class policies, etc. ready to give to you at that time. I will send packets home on the 31^st to anyone who is unable to attend. This information will be in an folder that you need to return.

Water Bottles at School

It gets very warm in our classroom. From past experience, twenty six students leaving each desk to get drinks is quite disruptive and takes away from our needed class time. I recommend that all students have a water bottle at their desk.

The water bottle must have a good top on it that can be tightly sealed, so that, if it should get knocked over, it won't spill all over someone's papers. Also, the ONLY THING ALLOWED IN THE WATER BOTTLES IS WATER! These water bottles need to be filled before school, at the BEGINNING of recess, or during free time – NOT AFTER RECESS.

Beginning after Labor Day if a child asks to get a drink during class, I'm likely to say no, except in the case of an emergency, such as choking or coughing uncontrollably. Otherwise, they will have to wait until the next recess or lunch. It is hot and I know the students need water. With a water bottle handy, they can drink more often during the day without making disruptions to our class.

First Day pictures!

I have 26 students. Here are photos of the students that I have permission to post pictures of. (Six have NOT given me permission as of tonight.)

We will have a "Hopping Good Year!"