2010 - 2011 Parents:

  If you are looking at the class web page, we have moved.  Please visit my NEW web page at www.schoolrack.com/melissacastro

Thanks!!

FCAT CRUNCH TIME ... One day at a time!

February 17, 2010

Our class is still working on the tested strands to prepare for FCAT.  This includes, but is not limited to cause and effect, vocabulary, plot and conflict, main idea, chronological order, author's purpose, reference and research and compare and contrast. 

How can you help?

Please make sure your child is completing the Reading Log and FCAT EXPLORER Log Monday through Thursday.  This is collected on Friday's and reviewed by myself.  Every three weeks the entire logs are collected and graded.  This is two major grades, which could be an easy "A" with participation.

If time allows in your household, you could purchase a 4th or 5th grade (depending on your child's level) FCAT practice workbook from Barnes N Noble or any other book store.  These books have each tested strand and give practice along with testing tips.

VOLUNTEER HOURS AND OPPORTUNITIES

Each parent should have completed 15 volunteer hours by January.  30 hours are required by the end of the school year.  Hours can be completed in a couple of different ways:  volunteer in the school, donate $ (pay for the hours), or donate supplies and items to the classroom for your child's use.  Either way gets you the same amount of hours.

THINGS WE NEED INSIDE THE CLASSROOM:

13 (THIRTEEN) COPIES OF THE BOOK: INDIAN IN THE CUPBOARD

GIFT  CARD(S) TO BARNES N NOBLE OR ANY OTHER BOOK STORE

CANDY (INDIVIDUAL WRAPPED)

TREASURE BOX TOYS

FOR EVERY $4 SPENT EQUALS 1 VOLUNTEER HOUR.

As always, please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.  mcastro@somersetmiramar.com

January 19, 2009

FCAT CRUNCH TIME!  FCAT CRUNCH TIME! 

Florida Writes Exam:

Florida Writes is February 9th, which means it is 14 days away!  Please ensure that your child is completing their weekly writing assignments.  Help them by reading over their essays, and using the checklists in their writing binder to check for completion.  Pump them up and get them excited!  It's their time to shine!  Remember that essays need to be on topic, have 5 paragraphs,  be free of spelling and grammar mistakes, have similie's and onomatopoeia's, color words and vivid verbs.  If you don't know what these things are, ask your child!  Have them teach you!!

Attendance:

I can not stress enough how important it is for each and every single student to be present in school each day from now until the second week of March!  Daily, we focus on different strands of Reading and both Expository and Narrative writing.  Just one day absence could mean the one question a students gets wrong on the FCAT exam.  Maybe that question would be the pass or fail question?  Who knows.   PLEASE I encourage you to send your child to school daily!  After FCAT you can vacation till the end of the year!

Events and dates to know:

1/20  Parent FCAT Night:  6 pm

1/20 3rd Quarter Begins

1/22  The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society fundraiser ends.  Send in all your spare change before Friday!

1/22 Spirit Day

1/29 Dress Down Day

Classroom Wish List:  Anything purchased for the classroom (including gift cards) is credited with volunteer hours.  1/2 of your volunteer hours need be be completed by the end of January.

Loose Leaf Lined Paper (We are completely out!)

Dry Erase Markers

Gift Card to Walmart, Target or BarnesnNoble

Scotch Thermal Laminator Laminating pouches (found in school supply isle at Walmart or Target)

Heavy duty clear packaging tape

Candy

Treasure Box Toys

November 20, 2009

BAT testing is FINALLY over!  Horray!!  Today (Friday), both classes are taking a practice writing test on an expository prompt.  This is an exact replica of the FL Writes exam that your child will be taking in February, just with a different topic.  Email me next week if you'd like to see what your child scored.  mcastro@somersetmiramar.com.  Keep in mind that a score of a 6 is perfect and a 4 is the minimum to pass.  (It's different than FCAT).

As an incentive and reward to the students we have an FCAT Pep Rally today in the afternoon.  Students will be pumped up, excited, encouraged and rewarded for all their hard work and effort with their academics.  Keep encouraging your child to do their best and put all their effort into learning and their classwork.

Our class, thanks to the information from Kristopher and his family, will be doing a fun and rewarding "project" starting now until winter break.  Using the website www.anysoldier.com we have chosen a US soldier to support for the holidays.  With your support as parents, I would like to gather items that the soldier and his unit needs in order to survive and make living conditions a little easier.  I will be sending the package approximately two weeks before Christmas to ensure that it is received in time.  This is a great opportunity to give back to those who are fighting for our freedom and defending our country.  If you would like to read more about SSG Jeffrey D. Koegler from the U.S. Army please visit the above website and look for him name on the list located on the left hand side. 

SSG Koegler and his unit is stationed in Afghanistan and is without running water or a PX (a small convenience store for soldiers).  The weather is currently 20 degrees and they are lacking warm items such as socks and hand warmers.  They only get 2 meals a day, and while they do have a small stove, pot and microwave, they have no food to cook.  Things that are needed include:

baby wipes, socks, hand warmers, toilet paper, snacks, drink mixes (the small individual size packets that you pour into a bottle of water), toiletries, and anything non-perishable that you think they could benefit from and enjoy.  Magazine are always a great idea!  Men's choices of course! 

As always, please email me if you have any questions.  mcastro@somersetmiramar.com

November 2, 2009

Whats New In our Classroom?

            The first week of departmentalization went well!  As the teacher, having to only focus on 2 subjects (3 for my homeroom) is a great advantage!  I have non-stop time to teach Reading and Language Arts and can accomplish a great amount without worrying about other subjects.  The students seem to have adjusted well, which is a plus!

            This week we will be switching from Narrative essays to Expository essays.  I will introduce the difference and give examples this week.  Students will be doing many hands on activities to help them grasp the concept of listing REASONS and DETAILS instead of events (in narrative only).  Keep in mind that BOTH types of essays require 5 paragraphs and 6-8 sentences in each paragraph.  A title, transition words, sisimileand onomonomatopoeia e still used and needed. 

            Last week in Reading we worked extensively with drawing conclusions.  Our weekly reading story had many great examples and your child also practiced in class and with their homework through the Florida Practice book.  We also finalized and submitted the storybook reports.  I am very proud to say that everyone did really well and I was very impressed on the amount of time and energy spent on this project!

Upcoming Events:

***Beginning this Friday in Reading we will start a unit project.  Both classes will be reading the book Charlotte’s Web and throughout the book students will complete hands on activities such as a collage of characters and setting.  If you have a copy of the book at home, please send it with your child on Friday’s.

***Tutoring begins this Monday, November 2, 2009.  Please make sure your child attends if they are enrolled.  J  This is a great opportunity for them to get extra one on one help and rise to meet their potential. 

Wish List:  Football and Soccer Ball (for recess).

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Having Carnegie Trouble?  You can call them directly at 888-851-7094 option 3

Parent Volunteers Needed:

Here's a chance to complete some of your volunteer hours.

Monday, October 19, 2009

This month our school and class is celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month.  This upcoming Wednesday (Oct. 21st) our class will have an opportunity to taste different hispanic foods.  For volunteer hours, bring something from your country for the students to eat and taste.  If you have any questions feel free to email me.

Things we will need for Wednesday's Hispanic Heritage Celebration food tasting:  Juice, Napkins, Forks/Spoons, Plates, Food, Pastries etc.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Storybook Scrapbook Report:  will be due the last week of October.  An instruction sheet/ summary page was sent home with each student a week ago.  Students must:

1.  choose a fictional chapter book that interests them.

2.  Read the entire book

3.  Summarize the book in a book report format (instructions on summary page)

4.  Give an oral presentation on the content of the book

5.  For EXTRA CREDIT make a diorama.  I will send home helpful hints and instructions on how to make a good diorama. 

**Due to the fact that our grade will be on a field trip during the storybook parade, our class will not be able to dress up or participate in the parade.  :(  It was a trade off and a tough decision as teachers. 

**Students will be able to chose their book from the library if they have not already picked one. 

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns with the storybook scrapbook report. 

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

It’s a short week!  We need to work extra hard to get everything accomplished in 4 days.

Congratulations to Boris Molina, George Huang and Christine Moya for winning the initial spelling bee competition.  These three students will soon move on to Phase 2 of the oral Spelling Bee Contest.  Stay tuned for the final results…

Weekly Spelling Words:  usual, huge, flute, mood, smooth, threw, afternoon, scooter, juice, cruise, truth, bruise, cruel, excuse, pupil, groove, confuse, humor, duty, curfew.

BOOK IT

Book It starts October 1, 2009.  Every student must participate in the Book It event.  It’s fairly simple…Students will read for a minimum of 30 minutes per night and have a parent sign the  Home Reading Log daily.  Students will also be tested (AR Test) on their books two times per month.   If students complete their daily reading requirements and pass (70% minimum) both AR tests, they will receive a FREE personal pan pizza coupon to Pizza Hut.  This is a monthly event, coupons will be awarded at the end of each month.  Let’s Read, Read, Read!!!

Upcoming events and Information

 **Our end of story test and spelling test will be on Friday, October 2, 2009**

**Field Trip forms are due on October 7^th**

UPCOMING BIRTHDAY"S

9/30 Happy Birthday Carolyn

10/2 Happy Birthday George

10/4 Happy Birthday Jennifer

10/23 Happy Birthday Avery

Classroom Wish List:  broom and dust pan, plain white copy paper (printer paper), treasure box toys (pencils, erasers, small toys), football, hanging file folders (34), slightly used books.

**For every $4 you spend you will recieve 1 volunteer hour**

September 16, 2009

Reminders:

Fundraiser order forms and money is due Monday, September 21st.  Please put everything in the white envelope and fill out the front.

Box Tops contest started!  Please collect and send in any box tops you have.  Continue to collect them....  Our school recieves 10 cents per box top and the class with the most wins a pizza party!!

Current Events are due tommorrow (Sept. 17)  See below for some kid friendly websites.

BAT testing continues until Friday

September 24th is early release day

September 14, 2009

How time flies!!!  We are in our 4th week of school already and things are going great!  Everyone is working hard and learning tons.  In Reading we are studying a fantasy story about a Horned Toad Prince.  In Math everyone is working hard on using mental math to add and subract double digit numbers.  Science is hands on this week!  Has your child told you about our mealworm pets?  We are learning about the life cycle of animals, specifically the Darkling Beetle.  Everyone has a mealwork (larva) and is watching it go through it's life cycle until it reaches an adult Darkling Beetle. 

This week student's will be taking the "BAT" tests in Reading and Math, however our school is using the Diagnostic tests in Reading and Math in replace of the traditional BAT test booklets.  This will take place from 9:30 - 10:30 on Tuesday through Friday.  If avoidable, please do not keep your child home during these days. 

Due to this week's testing I will not be giving the normal amount of homework.  Spelling words, math workbook and the Florida practice book will be completed in class instead. 

Current Events are due every Thurday and are a major grade in Social Studies. 

Check out these sites for kid friendly news articles:

www2.scholastic.com/browse/scholasticNews.jsp

www.timeforkids.com/TFK/kids/news

www.kidsnewsroom.org

 Classroom Wish List:  Football, Dry Erase Markers, Hanging File Folders (34), candy - individually wrapped, treasure box toys and printer paper - plain white.  Remember, for ever $4 you spend you earn 1 volunteer hour!

Welcome Students and Parents!

Welcome to Mrs. Castro's 4th grade classroom.  I am excited to be back to school after a long and fun summer and can't wait to have a fun and successful year!  With that being said, there are a couple rules and expectations that I will adhere to throughout the year.  Please take the time to review these rules and guidelines so that we can create a successful learning environment.

There are 5 rules that I expect each student to abide by:

1. Keep your hands and feet to yourself at all times.

2.  Respect others and share positive comments only.

3.  Walk quietly in the hallways.

4.  Follow directions the first time given.

5.  Be ready for the day.  Enter the room quietly and begin morning work.

Following the rules and having great behavior does not go unnoticed!  I love to reward my students for living up to expectations and performing beyond their call of duty.  Your child will recieve any of the following rewards when caught being good:

1.  Trip to the treasure box.

2.  Caught being good homework pass.

3.  Extra time on the computers.

4.  Positive parent phone call home.

5.  Trip to the candy jar.

Unfortunately, there needs to be set consequences for negative behaviors.  In the event that I need to uphold the rules, the consequences are the following and will be followed in order unless the event brings physical or emotional harm to a teacher, student or the school.

1.  One or two verbal warnings

2.  Change colors ( from green to yellow, blue and lastly red).

3.  Parent note or phone call home.

4.  Parent conference with myself, team leader and ESE specialist or counselor.

5.  Student referral.

Consequences that are given by me are not the only consequences that students recieve.  When students do not participate or pay attention in class they may not comprehend the lesson and consequently fail a quiz or test.  Please encourage your child to stay on task, work hard in class and do the very best they can.  I aspire to see each of my students be successful.

If you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact me!  It is best to reach me via email.  mcastro@somersetmiramar.com and melissacastro17@bellsouth.net are my email addresses.  It is best to email both to ensure I recieve you email. 

*****REMINDERS******                                                                                    -Your child needs to be in the correct uniform with their shirts tucked in every day.  Our classroom is cold!  Please send your child with a school approved jacket. See our school website for more information.

Please send in all the required signed forms by the first week of school along with your child's P.E. and Spirit Shirt order form and Money.                                                                                                                                                                       

I'm looking forward to a great year!!!

Warm Regards,

Mrs. Castro

Some Favorite Links:

• FCAT Explorer FCAT Explorer is a free, online educational program for Florida's students that reinforces reading and math skills outlined in the Sunshine State Standards.
• Dictionary/Thesaurus/Encyclopedia
• Various On Line Reference Links
• Homework Helper
• FCAT Math Practice Tasks
• Interactive Mathematics Activities
• 4th Grade Computer Spelling Game
• 4th Grade Mathematics Fun Practice Games & Online Activities
• Math Worksheets Practice