E-News

Thought for the week:
         When you come out of the storm you won’t be the same person that walked in. That’s what the storm is all about.          ~Haruki Murakami

• Pencils-I think the kids are eating them! We are completely out, please send in 2 boxes of sharpened pencils on Monday to replenish our supply. Thanks
• Earbuds-Please ask your child if he/she has an extra set of earbuds for the computer lab, if not, please send in a pair on Monday.
• Books-Be looking around the house for a new or gently used, good 4th grade book! We will play a book swap game for one of our holiday activities.
• Literature Discussion!-I will be sending a SHORT book for you and your child to read and discuss together. I think you will really enjoy this time together with your child. The book I chose is Stone Fox. More information will be coming home as soon as I get the books in from Scholastic.

Thanksgiving Holidays are November 24 to 28.  There is no school this entire week.  Enjoy the break!!

Feast-Please send in your child's item next Thursday.

Classroom Spelling Bee - Tuesday, December 9th.  Your child will have the opportunity to participate in the classroom Spelling Bee on December 9.  We will determine who will represent Mrs. Constantine's class at the South Shades Crest Spelling Bee in January.  Word lists are provided for students to study.  Participation is optional.  

Young Authors Week Is Next Week :)

November 17-21 will be Young Authors Week.

During this week our daily schedule will be different.  We will have PE, but not other special classes like art, library, etc.

We will borrow the time from special classes, because we have many very special authors visiting our school.  I am so happy my class gets the opportunity to learn from such great writers.  Information was sent home about book purchasing opportunities. 

Please see the schedule below in case you are making plans for checkouts. 

Monday November 17:

Roger Day 4th grade 10-10:45 Sack Lunches will be served at our regular lunch time.

Fine Arts Night- 6:00

PTO silent Auction and Art Show/Sale, student writing display 5:45-7:00

Roger Day Concert 6:30-7:30

Tuesday November 18:

Michael Finklea 4^th grade 9:30-10:00

Wednesday November 19:

Ken Burg 4^th grade 9:30-10:30

Thursday November 20:

John Archambault 4^th grade 9-9:50 Sack Lunches will be served to 4^th grade at 11:40.

Friday November 21: 

Long planning & Professional Development Day for teachers.

4^th grade Specials in lunchroom 1-2, PE 2-dismissal.  Sack lunches will be served to 4^th grade at 11:30.

Silent Auction Donations 

The PTO will be asking parents to donate items for the Silent Auction.  If you would like to donate, please contact the PTO.  Also, if anyone as an individual or business would like to donate please contact the PTO.  All proceeds will go back to the school!!!  All items should be received by November 11, to allow time to organize.  If you have questions, please call the school (439-3000) and ask for a contact person with PTO fundraising/silent auction.

City of Hoover’s Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony

South Shades Crest has been asked to be the school who sings and lights the tree at this year’s ceremony. Mark your calendar for Monday, December 1, 2014 5:00 pm, Hoover City Hall (Municipal Lane). 

Signed papers came home this week with yellow folders. Below are the strategies the kids are using if you want to help with missed problems in multiplication and division. PLEASE, don't show them traditional algorithms for these two operations yet. The best way to help is to see what they have done, and help to figure out where they went wrong. Once we have a good grasp of the concept then you can show them the trick we learned.  It will just confuse most of them at this point. We will start on the BIG 7 strategy for division tomorrow. One of the videos is a Khan video, very good resource! Thanks for your support!

Multiplication Strategies

Late September early October
Strategies with 2 digit by 2 digit numbers where one number is still small. (12 or less, Big Array Small Array)
http://replaynote.com/notes/MjYzNA==
Mrs. Constantine-Multiplication Strategies 2 Don't Split both factors yet!
http://replaynote.com/notes/MjYzNQ==

Mid to late October
Strategies with 2 digit by 2 digit where both numbers are large like 48x76 and you need to split both numbers to solve.
Rainbow Strategy

Division Strategies

Multiplying UP

Partial Quotients Or the Big 7 strategy.

Partial Quotients Power Point

Partial Quotient on Khan Academy

Reading Club Order Due Date: November 21
Shop Online: scholastic.com/readingclub
One-Time Class Activation Code: GRZHL


Please remember to place your Reading Club orders by November 21!

You can shop and submit your order online or return the printed order form with payment directly to me. No matter how you order, every purchase you make earns FREE Books and educational supplies for our classroom.

The arrival of the book box is always a highlight-thanks for making it happen! 

Happy reading,



If This Is Your First Time Ordering Online:
- VISIT scholastic.com/readingclub
- ENTER the one-time Class Activation Code (top of this letter)
- SHOP from a carefully curated selection of the best books, value packs, and Storia eBooks
- SUBMIT your order and earn FREE Books for our classroom
- All book orders will be shipped to our classroom so we can celebrate the joy of reading together!


 *Check our calendar for other important dates.

Happenings

Dear Parents,

We are flying through the school year, and the rest of 2014 will come and go before we know it!  I wanted to send you information on many upcoming events. 

**Schools are closed next Tuesday, November 11, 2014 in honor of Veteran’s Day.

**SSC Fine Art’s Night will be November 17, 2014 where we will be pleased to have a FREE CONCERT from award winning singer Roger Day in the SSC lunchroom from 6:30-7:30 PM.  There will be a PTO silent auction in the gym.  Bidding begins at 5:45PM and ends at 7:00 PM.  Items up for bid include a gift basket from a growing tree, a skating party at Skate280, a bowling package from Vestavia Bowl, hotel stays, a Mary Kay basket, SMP baseball registration, Hoover Rec membership, and much more!  Come early and bring your checkbooks! PTO will also have Birmingham Enjoy the City coupon books for sale for $20 each.  There will be a 3^rd and 4^th grade art show in the gym. Student artwork will be framed and sold for $25 to help support the SSC Art program.  Student writing displays will be in the front lobby.  Popcorn and water will be sold in the lobby.  This will be a wonderful event for all!!!

**November 19^th-Progress Reports come home—PLEASE remind your child to continue to work hard and do their best.  This is the time of year that many students become lazy and not do their best.  I often see grades dropping and assignments incomplete.  Our first report cards were very high, and I would love to see this again, however I am already noticing some grades dropping.  I appreciate all you do at home to help develop what we are discussing in the classroom!

**I sent home with your child a Six Flags Read to Succeed reading log.  For any student who completes 6 hours or 360 minutes of reading, outside of the normal nightly reading, and who logs and returns this form to me by the end of February, will receive a free admission ticket to Six Flags theme park.  This is a wonderful program I have used each year.  Although this is optional, I highly recommend all of my students to participate.  The tickets usually arrive around May, and those who do not participate are usually very upset they did not complete the forms.  Let’s shoot for 100% participation this year!  All forms should be turned by the end of February, but you can send them in sooner.

**Schools will be closed November 24-28 in honor of Thanksgiving.

**Hopefully by our next newsletter I will be sending information on our Holiday party, as well as a Poetry Presentation from our class TO YOU!  Students will be memorizing poetry, preparing props, and wear simple costumes to go with their poems.  Students will then share and celebrate with you!  More information to come!  I realize it may seem early to begin our Holiday planning, but it really will be here before we know it!

**Schools will be closed December 22-January 2 for a Winter break.

I appreciate all you do!!!  Learning is exciting in 4^th grade!!!