B.Y.O.D.

Starting tomorrow, students who have a signed and returned Bring Your Own Device permission form are welcome to use their electronics for instruction! We are very excited to start and I know using these interactive tools will help learning throughout the day. If at any point you feel like you would like your child to bring in his/her device, please contact me. I'll be happy to send home the district policy and permission form again.

2015-2016 Walk Thru!

Well, another Teacher Walk Thru on the books! It was lovely to see so many excited faces; some new, some familiar. A few of our friends took advantage of my selfie stand while exploring the classroom. Check it out!

Summer Reading List

This website is a great resource for appropriate summer reading! Make sure to curl up with a great book. :)

Morning Message

We made the news! Here is a link to our morning message to share with friends and family. :)

Summer Reading Programs

Here are the links to the different summer reading programs we've been discussing at school. Make sure to get the most out of your summer reading and join!

Capital Communications - $3 per book

Barnes and Noble -  Free book

Clifton Park - Halfmoon Library - A lot of fun events and activities

Summer Reading Challenge - Certificate of Participation signed by Assemblyman James Tedisco

June Newsletter

ELA

Reading:

Ø  Students are beginning our last unit in Journeys! The format stays the same for our lessons but we’ll be using magazines and a chapter book titled Phineas L. MacGuire…Gets Slimed!

Ø  We will not be having any reading logs during the month of June but I ask you still have your student read 30 minutes a night.

Writing:

Ø  We’ll finish our autobiographies and write some informational text for next year’s 4^th graders.

Assessments:

Ø  We will still have our spelling and reading assessments Friday mornings as usual. 

Math

Getting Ready for 5^th Grade:

ü We will continue with our exposure lessons to 5^th grade material. Many students have commented how excited they are for 5^th grade math because they can do it already!

ü Mrs. Schram, our district math coach, will come in to teach a lesson on toilet paper area and perimeter

Reflex:

ü  Our class logs on to Reflex math fluency twice a week. For maximum benefit they should do another 20-30 minutes at home. Many math skills are dependent on fact knowledge!

Social Studies

Chapter 5 American Revolution

v Students will learn the important dates and events of the American Revolution and how it affected NYS.

Chapter 6 NYS Government

v Students will find out how New Yorkers take part in their local and state government

v Students will find out what it means to be a US citizen

v Students will learn how NYS was effected by various water ways and means of transportation

Reminders

6/1 – NYS Science written exam

6/5 – Junior Achievement

6/11 – Mabee Farm trip

6/12 – Flag Day assembly & 11:00 dismissal

6/16 – field day

6/19 – 4^th Grade picnic 9:00-11:00

11:00 dismissal

6/24 – Last day of school ~ 11:00 dismissal

I'm back....

Dear parents,

I am so happy to be back teaching your amazing students. I missed them dearly while I was out snuggling my little ones. If you didn't hear I had a little boy named Noah. :)

While I was out Mrs. VanDeCar did an amazing job keeping the routine and structure of the classroom the same. She also did an excellent job keeping pace to make sure all topics could be covered by the end of 4th grade (all this without  the advantage of shadowing me like we planned).

The end of the year is coming up quick. May and June are very busy times. Please keep an eye on the blog (http://mrscushmansclass.blogspot.com) and my newsletter for important dates.

As a reminder:

5.19 - Budget vote / Celebrate Reading Night
5.20 - Science performance test & PTA meeting in library 6:30
5.22 - No school
5.25 - No school
5.26 - District level achievement test (ELA)
5.27 - District level achievement test (math)
5.28 - Albany field trip ** this is a change in date!!