Mrs. Goniwiecha's 4th Graders 2020-2021

Thank you for an amazing year! We have all grown and changed so much this year and were so lucky to be able to be together since September!! We celebrated our NWEA growth with pizza today. Thanks to all those who sent things in or helped transport the pizza! Kiwanis Day is tomorrow from 1:00-3:00. Please make sure your child dresses for the walk and the weather. There is a chance of rain now. We will be cleaning our lockers and cubbies when we return. Tuesday is our Lansing Tour and should be almost as great as being there in person.  It will definitely be a bust last week!! Monday - P2 Shirts, Art, Kiwanis, and Exercise Day Tuesday - Music, Lansing Zoom Capitol Tour, and Drawing Day Wednesday - Media Center and Crazy Hair Day Thursday - Half Day, Staff/5th Grade Kickball Game, and Blanket/Book Day Friday - Half Day, Last Day, and Appreciate a Great Year!

  This is definitely not a true picture of me in my free time but only a hope for someday in the future!! I can't believe we are in the last two weeks of school. This has been a very different year and I am so grateful that we were able to stay in person all year!! These kids have grown so much, despite a lot of different circumstances. To celebrate all our growth, I would like to have a pizza party on Friday, the 4th in the afternoon, and was wondering if anyone is willing to pick up the pizzas from Little Caesar's in St. Joe? The time can be flexible! Please let me know if you can help. We are done with all our testing, phew! This Wednesday is the last late start of the year. Keep sending water bottles please! Hope you enjoyed the nice long weekend!! Monday - No School/Memorial Day Tuesday - P2 Shirts, Music, and Ice Cream Day Wednesday - Late Start, Media Center, and Hat Day Thursday - SEL and Game Day Friday - PE/Field Day, Pizza Party in the PM, and Flashlight Day Upcoming...

We are almost done testing! Woo hoo!! I hope to finish up tomorrow with make-ups throughout the week as needed. With the warm weather, please make sure your child has a water bottle each day. Our water fountains have been off all year.  There have been many uncharged computers and kids forgetting computers needing to borrow from the Media Center. Please make sure your child has a charged computer and signed planner every day. Thanks for all your help and support!! Monday - P2 shirts, Art, & New Name Day Tuesday - Music and Music Day Wednesday - Late Start, Media Center, & Lights Off Day Thursday - SEL and Kickball Day Friday - PE and Joke Day Upcoming Dates:  May 31st - No School for Memorial Day June 2nd - last late start June 7th - Kiwanis -no parents this year:-(  June 8th - Hot Dog Lunch and Lansing Zoom Tour June 9th and June 10th - Half Days

  Since we have finished our spring NWEA math & reading tests, I have asked the kids to bring home their green conference folders to share new data. Please have a "spring conference" with your child discussing the growth they made from fall to spring and compare where they scored to the 4th grade goal for each subject area. There is a place to sign inside the front cover of the folder when you're finished. I will be  planning a pizza party to celebrate all of their hard work...date TBD!!  Mostly everyone has finished the M-STEP math test and we will start the reading test on Wednesday. Gum or suckers are allowed for this test too. It will likely take them through Friday to complete. Thanks for all your help and support! Field Day will take place during the next three weeks of PE classes on Friday. Kids should be prepared to be outside and wear appropriate shoes to participate. The co-teacher will be with them during this time.  Have a great week! Volleyball Camp ...

  Thank you so much for all the generous gifts last week!! I sure felt the love! We are going to take one more day to prepare and will start the math M-Step test on Tuesday. Kids can bring in mints, gum, or suckers again for testing. Kids are also allowed to bring in one snack a day. It was starting to become a problem, so we had to cut back to once a day. Also, please don't send bags of unpopped popcorn anymore.  As a class, we decided to have an ABC countdown to the end of the year. We are still completing this together but have Monday's choice ready to go. I will make sure they're simple - no need to go out to buy anything special! I will update the blog once our list is complete and each day's topic will be written in planners nightly. Have a very Happy Mother's Day! Volleyball Camp Link Monday - P2 shirt, art, and wear yellow or bring a zoo stuffed animal Tuesday - Music Wednesday - Late Start & Media Center Thursday - SEL Friday - PE(Field Day Activities B...

We will continue to complete NWEA tests this week. Students reached their big reward so we will plan on celebrating on Friday. They will vote and record what they chose in their planners. Please continue to sign planners nightly and make sure devices come fully charged. Have a great week! Monday - No School - Teacher PD Day Tuesday - P2 shirts & Music Wednesday - Late Start & Media Center Thursday - SEL Friday - PE Upcoming Dates: May 12, 19, & 26 - Late Starts

We will begin testing this week. Please make sure that your child gets a good night's sleep and eats a good breakfast every day. It is so important that kids bring charged computers each day. They can also bring gum or hard candy(mints or Jolly Ranchers are perfect) to eat during testing, so please send in what you feel is appropriate for your child. If you are willing to send extra to share, that would be great too! This week we will take math NWEA first and then reading. We will test in the mornings, so please try to avoid absences, tardies, and appointments if possible. Make-ups will be next week. MStep testing will begin May 10th. Thanks for your help!  Monday - P2 shirt, NWEA math, and Art Tuesday - NWEA math and music Wednesday - Late Start, NWEA reading, and Media Center Thursday - NWEA reading and SEL Friday - NWEA make-ups and PE

We will begin NWEA and MStep testing this month. Please try to avoid absences/appointments in the mornings if possible. This is a tentative schedule, but more exact times will be written nightly in student planners. NWEA will start the week of April 26th and MStep will start the week of May 10th for 4th graders. Thanks for your help with this!  As we look ahead to the end of the year activities, we are trying to keep the yearly traditions as much as possible. More information to come. Have a great week! Monday - P2 shirts & Art Tuesday - Music Wednesday - Late Start & Media Center Thursday - SEL Friday - PE

Welcome back! Hope you all had a relaxing spring break!! We are in the final stretch now. Just a few reminders: computers should come back fully charged every day, all kids need headphones or earbuds, check the weather to make sure kids are dressed appropriately for outdoor recess, and sign planners daily.  Monday - P2 shirts & Art Tuesday - Music Wednesday - Late Start & Media Center Thursday - SEL Friday - PE

We will take a math test on partial quotients, measuring angles, and multiplying whole numbers by fractions on Wednesday.  Have a wonderful break! Monday - Art & P2 shirts Tuesday - Music Wednesday - Late Start & Media Center Thursday - SEL Friday - No School/Spring Break Begins Upcoming Dates: 4/5-4/9 Spring Break

With the weather warming up, kids may need layers for recess. It's usually much cooler at first recess than the afternoon one. They can also bring games/toys for recess on rainy days. The P2 trait this week is identifying and appreciating the good in others. We will be working extra hard to do this in class. Hopefully, you will be seeing your child make an effort to do this at home too! Monday - P2 Shirt & Art Tuesday - Music Wednesday - Late Start & Media Center Thursday - SEL Friday - PE Upcoming Dates: 3-31 - Late Start 4-2 - No School 4-5 - 4-9 - Spring Break

We have had a lot of behavior conversations lately. Between the boy/girl feelings starting and a lot of time together, there have been too many conflicts during specials/lunch and recess. I have tried to build a team-building activity into every day, but that doesn't seem to be enough. Please talk to your child about this and ask him/her what he/she can do to make our classroom a safe, positive learning environment.  My last conversation was simply: use kind words and actions at all times.  Since we keep running out of snacks, I have limited our snacks to once a day. I am hoping that everyone at least brings one snack from now on. Eating the snack has been a problem during our learning time anyway due to the masks being off and the distance required. Thanks for making sure your child brings a snack, a charged computer, and a signed planner every day! Monday - No School/Staff PD Day Tuesday - Music & P2 Shirts Wednesday - Late Start & Media Center Thursday - SEL Friday ...

We have two new students joining us tomorrow from virtual learning. This will bring our new class total to 24.  Report cards will go home Wednesday or Thursday. Please reach out if you have any questions. As you review the NWEA scores, make sure you celebrate the growth your child has made. The projected spring score is also listed, so we can make goals for the rest of the year.  We watched the movie Inside Out for our paperclip reward. It led to many great discussions about the Positivity Project and Social Emotional Learning! Monday - P2 shirts & Art Tuesday - Music Wednesday - Late Start & Media Center Thursday - SEL Friday - PE & Dress as Your Favorite Book Character Day Upcoming Dates: Monday, 3-15 - No School/Teacher PD Day Friday, 3-19 - Half Day 3-17, 3-24, & 3-31 - Late Starts

     I can't believe that we will already be starting the 3rd trimester in a week. The kids have been working hard to correct any weak areas before their report cards go home the week of March 8th. Please check out your child's IXL Diagnostic levels. They should start in the 400s. If the scores are lower, extra time is needed to fill the gaps in math before 5th grade. Also, Lexia scores for 4th grade are 16-18. At this point, they should be close to or on level 18. If your child is below, extra time would be so helpful. If kids need to replace the 20 minutes of reading at home with IXL or Lexia, I am ok with that. Another idea may be to work on the IXL or Lexia in the morning, especially on Wednesday late starts.        With the weather starting to warm up, kids may need to bring different clothing for recess. The morning recess tends to be colder and the ice was slippery this week. By the afternoon, they want to take their coats off and run aroun...

This is a regular week! Please remember P2 shirts tomorrow. Also, Mrs. Richards would like the kids to use towels on their buckets for drumming during music to mask the noise in the classroom. They can use the same one they're using for lunch or bring in another, smaller towel. We will be finishing our biographies for Black History Month this week. Ask your child to show you what he/she learned! Monday - P2 shirts & Art Tuesday - Music Wednesday - Late Start & Media Center Thursday - SEL Friday - PE Upcoming Dates: March 1 - Kickoff to Reading Month March 3, 10, 17, 24, & 31 - Late Starts March 5 - Half Day/End of 2nd Trimester March 15 - No School for Kids March 19 - Half Day

Hope you're enjoying all this snow & had a nice Valentine's Day!  We have been working in IXL for 15 minutes a day and are seeing such amazing progress in missed math skills. Ask your child to show you his/her progress in each of the six areas. The goal is to have a score in the 400s to be at the 4th grade level. Extra practice time at home would be beneficial for those well below the 400 goal. Due to the shortened week this week, extra Lexia time at home would also be beneficial to those requiring 16 units a week. These are the kids at risk of not being at grade level by the end of the school year, but Lexia is available in the summer too! Monday - No School/President's Day Tuesday - Music & Half Day Wednesday - Late Start & Media Center/Return or Renew Books Thursday - SEL Friday - PE Upcoming Dates:  February 24 - Late Start

 Happy Snow Day!! Since Friday was supposed to be our reward day, students are allowed to bring an electronic to school tomorrow instead.  We will likely be indoors for recess this week due to the extreme cold, so they may also bring a board game or small toy to school for indoor recess all week. No electronics for recess, please! We will be starting reader's theaters plays for Black History Month. Ask your child what he/she learned about these amazing people! Monday - P2 shirts & Art Tuesday - Music Wednesday - Late Start & Media Center Thursday - SEL Friday - No School for Kids Upcoming Dates: Monday, Feb. 15 - No School/President's Day Wednesday, Feb. 17 & 24 - Late Starts

I can't believe we've made it to February in-person learning! There are no new updates for this week.  Monday - P2 Shirts & Art Tuesday - Music Wednesday - Late Start & Media Center Thursday - SEL Friday - PE Upcoming Dates:  Late Starts - Feb. 10, 17, & 24 Feb. 12 - No School for Kids Feb. 15 - No School for President's Day

Hello! There is not a late start this Wednesday. Thursday and Friday are both half days, so please send a larger snack on both days. I will be reaching out to those I would like to conference with at the end of the week. I am not planning to have any conferences on the upcoming half days but plan to schedule them in February after school instead. If you would like to schedule a conference with me, please send me an email with available days. Right after school works best for me since we will have to meet virtually! I will have kids share their NWEA scores in their planners this week. Thank you! Monday - P2 shirts & Art Tuesday - Music Wednesday - Media Center Thursday - SEL & Half Day Friday - PE & Half Day  

Thank you so much for all the snacks donations! We have finished NWEA and will now be making academic goals based on the data. There have still been some situations where computers need to be charged in the classroom. Please help your child make sure his/her computer is fully charged in the morning before leaving for school. Thanks for all your help with planners too! We are discussing as a staff the need for Valentine's Day celebrations since it falls on a Sunday. The kids have the Friday before and the Monday after off school as well. Since our Positivity Project character trait that week is LOVE, we may just do the activities from P2 for each grade level instead of a party/card exchange. I was wondering your thoughts on that? Is it a relief to take something else off your plate or would your kids be disappointed? Please let me know your thoughts because I'm torn on this. Have a great week!!  Monday - No School/MLK Day Tuesday - Positivity Project Shirts & Music Wednesday...