October 4 Newsletter

Dear Families,

Good afternoon!  I hope everyone has had a great week. Our week was very exciting, especially with the start of our Missouri Regions projects. If fact, we were so busy, I realized I forgot to take any pictures! However, I was very excited to see some of our pictures on the banner on our school's website.

Next week in reading we will focus on effectively summarizing what we have read, and in writing we will finish and publish our personal narratives. In math, we will be creating surveys and collecting data, and in science we will be drawing conclusions from our erosion research in order to make a plan to help stop erosion on our JTSD playground.

Reminders:

• Next week is the last week of first quarter. Friday, October 11 will be a half day for students, which means we will dismiss at 12:30.
• Parent/teacher conferences are coming up October 15th and 17th! If you have not signed up for a parent/teacher conference yet, you can sign up by clicking here.
• Our school is collecting coats for kids in need this winter. If you have a gently used coat in any child size that is no longer being used, please consider donating it at the JTSD front office.
• The JTSD Book Fair will be taking place in our school library the week of conferences (the week of October 14). 
• Please note: students do not need to work on their Missouri Regions project at home. That is a school project. However, they should be working on their book reports at home. Book reports are due October 31.
• Please have your child download the app CloudOn from the app store. It is a wonderful free app that will allow students to create Power Point presentations on their iPads! For a complete list of recommended and required apps, click here. Remember that only free apps will be required.
• Please encourage your fourth grader to always bring his/her iPad to school. Students miss out on a lot when they don't have their iPads with them. This includes remembering to bring them from home and not forgetting them in other classrooms. 
• Thank you so much for encouraging your fourth grader to complete his/her morning work at home on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights.  Thanks to this approach, we were able to save classroom time and get more accomplished, and several students were able to get additional support from their families to clarify math concepts. I am so proud of my responsible fourth graders! We will continue doing this each week. Your support for your child's learning at home is greatly appreciated. 
• Please visit the JTSD website for school-wide information and dates.

Important Dates:

• October 11-Last day of first quarter, dismissal at 12:30
• October 14-18-JTSD Book Fair
• October 15 and 17-Parent/Teacher Conferences
• October 22-Fall Picture retakes
• October 25-No School
• October 31-Fall Parties, Book reports due

Thanks again and have a wonderful weekend!