Mark your Calendars!

**February 11^th, next Tuesday at 9:00am in the lunchroom—4^th graders will perform some percussion music.  Please have your child dress nicely for the program.

**Progress reports will come home Wednesday, February 12^th.

**Next Friday is Valentine’s Day, February 14^th. Students can bring cards and decorated mail box is optional. If your child does not bring a box, I will provide a bag he/she can decorate.

**School will be closed on February 17^th for E-Day Learning.  Many students have already turned in their completed assignments.  Once your child completes the required assignments for that day, please send it in to me.  I am keeping track of who has completed the tasks.  These will be for a grade.  I have already hear so many fun stories of what families have done together to complete these projects.

**Our yearbook staff has requested the following:

FOURTH GRADERS ONLY!!!!!!!

We need baby pictures by FEB 21st for the yearbook!!!!!! Due to the tedious and time consuming task of layouts, late submissions will be at the discretion of the yearbook staff and school administration and may or may not appear in yearbook.  Anyone who wants their child's baby picture (4th grade only) featured in the yearbook, should submit a baby picture to the e-share website according to the guidelines that were sent in an email a few days ago. No actual pictures sent to school will be accepted. Thanks!!!

**Here are some ideas for dressing up like one of the famous people from the Revolution era. Directions went home, let me know if they did not make it to you, and I’ll email you a copy. First of all, please don’t go out and spend a small fortune.  Just use things from home.  Ask friends of students who have already been through SSC 4^th grade.  Visit the local thrift store or garage sale.  Please don’t feel like you have to do all of these.  They are simply suggestions.

Boys:  Dad’s jacket, shoes with buckles made from construction paper and foil, A vest, Pants tucked into long white socks (baseball and football pants, or sweatpants work great!), Dad’s white shirt, or better yet mom’s ruffled front, white blouse, White wig with pony tail-cotton balls and/or sheet of cotton glued to a shower cap.  Tie the ponytail with a ribbon or bow, Tricorn hat-3 pieces of black construction paper attached into a triangle

Girls: Apron, shawl, carry a parasol, Mom’s long skirt or dress, lace collar and cuffs (use handkerchiefs, cloth napkins or tissue attached with pins), mom cap (handkerchief, cloth napkin or piece of material cut into a circle.  Put slits around the edge and thread with a piece of ribbon)

**Yearbook Photos-Now is the time to begin submitting your photos to be used in the yearbook.  Have you been on a field trip, at a class party, etc.? We need all class parties, field trips class activities, lunchroom etc.  Attached to this email is an information sheet with all the instructions you will need to submit your photos.  The deadline to submit photos is Friday, February 14^th.  Also, if you are interested in working on the yearbook next year, please contact Holly Church.  Holly’s contact information can be found on the bottom of the instruction sheet (jchurch@bham.rr.com)

**In the classroom we are continuing to work on our multiplication, division, subtraction, and addition strategies.  We will begin learning more about fractions next week.  In social studies we have declared our independence from Great Britain and are now learning about America’s experience of writing a Constitution and creating our Branches of Government.  We hope to go to American Village on March 31^st for our next field trip.  More information will follow once the paperwork has been completed.

**Family Fun Fair-Mark your calendars for Friday, April 25, 2014 for the SSCE Family Fun Fair.  Each class will be responsible for a booth and volunteers to man the booth from 3:00 PM – 8:00 PM.  Booth details to follow at a later date.  The class will also be responsible for securing a sponsor for their class.  There are two sponsor levels, Silver and Gold.  Silver level sponsors include anyone donating $200-$399.  Gold level sponsors include anyone donating $400 and above.  Each sponsorship level will get their names on the Family Fun Fair T-Shirt and on the school website.  We will accept cash, checks made payable to South Shades Crest and gift cards.  An electronic sponsorship form will be sent soon for you to send to your parents.  Please remember this is SSCE biggest fundraiser of the school year. This year’s goal is $25,000!

**Cell Phones and Box Tops-Please send in used cell phones and ink cartridges.  For the month of January and February there will be a competition between the classes to see who can bring in the most box tops.  We take Campbell’s and Tyson Chicken Project A+ labels. Thank you to all who have sent them in so far!

**Thank you so much for all you do to support your child.  I love each and every student I have appreciated the stories they share with me.  Learning with your child is truly exciting!

Upcoming Events!

Dear Parent(s),

            As part of our American history unit, each student will independently research a specific famous person from the Colonial, Revolutionary or Westward Expansion time period. Each of these famous people played some part in the birth of our nation.

            Each student was given a name of a person to research. Research will be conducted at home AND in class. (The Public Library has lots of books on this topic). From conducting this research, the students will learn about the different personalities and lives of unique individuals who helped in creating our nation.  As research is conducted, students should take notes to help in organizing all information collected. I gave them questions they need to research and find answers to, they should keep this note sheet in their BEE books at all times.

            The students will create a journal AT HOME from their research. After the research and journal has been completed, the students will then begin working on their Wax Museum presentation. Each student will have to draw their famous person’s face as best they can.  Our art teacher is going to help them do this during Art, but they may need to complete it at home if they do not get done during art class. We will then glue it to a background (I already have these) and display it in the school. They will also begin working on a short speech to say about their person. Their speech should only be about 10-20 seconds and should explain who they are and why they are important. *I will let them know when they need to begin working on their speeches .Each student will present his or her journal to the class on March 5th.

            The entire fourth grade will dress up as their person and do a Wax Museum on famous people on March 12^th. Parents will be invited to come and walk through our museum and learn about each person. Children will need to dress up as their person might have dressed.  These attires should be created from clothing found at home and are not expected to be elaborate. The costumes are in addition to the presentation and will make the Wax Museum seem realistic and authentic. Creativity is very important and encouraged in this project. Your child will need to act as though they ARE their person.

I intend for this experience to be a memorable ending to our study and an enjoyable way for the students to get to know the individuals they have been reading about while studying the founding of our country.  The students should have fun in this learning experience.  If there are any questions or problems, please do not hesitate to ask. Thank you for your continuous support.

Tanya Constantine

** Mark your calendars for Wednesday, March 5th, journals are due and Wednesday, March 12th, Our class will be having a Wax Museum of Famous People.