4th

Important Dates

• Friday, September 20th – 11:30am Dismissal (Aftercare available until 3:00)
• Saturday, September 21st – Boots for Buses Bash! (see information below)
• Monday, September 23rd-25th – School Pictures (see information below)
• Wednesday, September 25 – 4th Grade Field Trip – Wheeling Symphony (see details below)
• Thursday, September 26 – Coffee Conversations, 2:00 PM
• Friday, September 27 – Freedom Friday
• Monday, September 30th – “Book in a Bag” is due!
• Thursday, October 3rd – Grandparents Day (more information to come)
• Friday, October 4th – 11:30am Dismissal for Fall Long Weekend
• Monday, October 7 – NO SCHOOL
• Tuesday, October 8 – Classes Resume – 10:00 AM Start

Thank you for coming to Parent Night! We appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedule to learn more about 4th grade. The students loved their surprise notes from you! They didn’t want to erase them!

Remember to sign up for parent partnership meetings if you still need to do so using the link below. 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1UVtu8jTYcE90bEXnf3L60Po7hpaEVVWBeKjuLyBhr9c/edit?usp=sharing

In ELA we: 

• Continued to work through prewrite steps in the writing process and started our stories! Ask your student what moment they are writing their first memoir about!
• Were introduced to “Book in a Bag” reports. These are due September 30th and will involve an oral presentation to the class. Students may work on them at any time and bring them in at their convenience. We will also be allowing class time to help complete these as well. 
• Continued learning more rules with plural nouns. Students now know 4 different spelling rules for this topic! There will be a comprehensive assignment for all these rules that will serve as a knowledge check. Please continue to check here and the students’ agendas for those dates. 

In Math we:

• Continued with place value using large numbers
• Started rounding numbers
• Took their Aimsweb Math – for those that were absent, we’ll get them on Aimsweb next week
• Got the students logged into their Prodigy account for math

In Brainology we:

• Talked about what the left and right parts of our brains are responsible for and the children took a little quiz to see if they were more right brain or left brain focused. 
• Discussed the importance of “Positive Self-Talk” especially when challenged with something difficult or uncomfortable. 
• Practiced using positive sefl-talk when given a difficult scenario.

In Social-Emotional Learning we: 

• Continued to talk about how happiness affects our bodies 
• Made our very own “recipe for happiness!” These are being displayed in our classroom and will come home shortly after we show them off. 

Important Reminders:

• September 23rd – September 25th: WCDS Student Fall Pictures! Students may wear what they’d like.
  • Sept. 23rd, 1st – 5th
  • Sept. 24th, PS, JK, SK
  • Sept. 25th, Middle School
• Symphony Field Trip – We are excited to announce a Musical Field Trip for the 4th grade to watch a rehearsal of the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra on Wednesday, September 25th. This is a great opportunity for our students to see and hear live music in our local area. We will be using a school bus from Ohio County Schools for transportation, and depart WCDS at 9:15am and return at approximately 11:30am. If you have any questions or concerns, please let us know.  

• Reading for 20 minutes and practicing multiplication facts for 10 minutes are daily homework assignments. Thank you for helping your child develop good reading and math fluency.
• “Book in a Bag” reports may be turned in at any time of the book but the presentation will not occur until September 30th. Please review the packet sent home for guidance on what to complete and how to do so. 
• This Sunday, September 15th, support a WCDS family:

• September 21st, Boots for Buses   6-9pm @ WCDS Main Campus Courtyard

WCDS families get to know one another and our WCDS faculty!

Purchase your event tickets here: https://www.betterunite.com/

Purchase a Meat Raffle ticket here: https://www.betterunite.com/

(Jacob & Son’s gift card: 1st prize $500, 2nd prize $250, 3rd prize $100)

https://www.betterunite.com/WheelingCountryDaySchool-countryroadsbootsforbuses

Have a fun-filled weekend!

Grace and Stella

Some not so serious 4th grade moments:

The kids LOVED their notes from Mom and Dad!

Important Dates:

• Tuesday, September 10th – Parent Night
  • 5:00 – 6:00 pm WCDS Middle School @ Wheeling Park Campus
  • 6:30 – 7:30 pm WCDS 2nd – 5th Grade @ 8 Park Road
• Friday, September 20th – 11:30am Dismissal 
• Saturday, September 21st – Boots for Buses Bash! (See Infomation Below)
• Monday, September 23rd-25th – School Pictures (more information to come)
• Thursday, October 3rd – Grandparents Day (more information to come)
• Friday, October 4th – 11:30am Dismissal for Fall Long Weekend
• Monday, October 7 – NO SCHOOL
• Tuesday, October 8 – Classes Resume – 10:00 AM Start

In ELA we:

• Started learning about Figurative Language and how it helps our writing become more descriptive and interesting. Ask your child about onomatopoeia. The students enjoyed thinking about an onomatopoeia that they would hear around their house. They tried to stump their classmates with that sound. Ding! Ding! Ding!
• Students have put their author hats on and are starting their first writing projects: Memoirs! They are in the prewriting part of the writing process and have outlined their story and even tested their skills with sensory details. 
• The first novel study of the 2024-2025 school year has been completed! Fourth Grade Rats was a great novel to start our year with. Humor, life lessons, summarizing, and comprehension came together to give the students a well-rounded first novel study. Ask your child what they learned from the book and if they would be a 4th Grade Rat!
• Students also are continuing to learn plurals and the spelling rules for them. Be on the lookout for new rules coming next week!

In Math:

• We used our place-value charts to find the place of a digit and the value of a digit.
• We moved on to large numbers, some in the billions! They made the smallest and largest numbers out of a set of digits.
• They wrote so many numbers in word form that their hands were hurting! They also wrote numbers in expanded and standard form.
• Next week, we’ll work on ordering, comparing, and rounding large numbers.

Important Reminders:

• JOIN US for PARENT NIGHT! – Tuesday, September 10, 6:30 PM, in the 4th grade classroom. We are excited to share with you all of the great learning that’s happening in 4th grade.
• September 21st: September 21st, Boots for Buses   6-9pm @ WCDS Main Campus Courtyard: WCDS families enjoy BBQ, beverages, s’mores, games and most importantly – meeting other WCDS families!
• Buy your ticket here and meat raffle tickets(see meat raffle flyer below) here: https://www.betterunite.com/WheelingCountryDaySchool-countryroadsbootsforbuses
• Reading for 20 minutes and practicing multiplication facts for 10 minutes are daily homework assignments. Thank you for helping your child develop good reading and math fluency.

We hope you enjoy the weekend!

Stella and Grace

Important Dates: 

• Monday, September 2nd, – Labor Day- NO SCHOOL 
• Tuesday, September 10th – Parent Night 2nd-8th Grade 
• Friday, September 20th – 11:30am Dismissal 
• Saturday, September 21st – Boots for Buses Bash! Save the Date: Ya’ll are invited to a rootin’ tootin’ good time! Country Roads: Boots for Buses September 21, 2024, 6-9 pm WCDS Main Campus Join us for an evening of BBQ, Boots, and Boogyin’.  It’s the perfect chance for parents to mingle, get to know each other, and kick up their heels! More details to come, so mark your calendars now.  Yee Haw!
• Monday, September 23rd-25th – School Pictures (more information to come)
• Thursday, October 3rd – Grandparents Day (more information to come)
• Friday, October 4th – 11:30am Dismissal
• Monday, October 7 – NO SCHOOL
• Tuesday, October 8 – Classes Resume – 10:00 AM Start

In ELA we: 

• Tried stations for the first time! The tech station was a hit! Please ensure your child knows the passwords to log on to their computer and email. Please email us with any questions. 
• Be on the lookout for spelling words coming next week!

In Reading we: 

• Started our first class novel study, Fourth Grade Rats! Ask your student to tell you a summary of what they have read so far this week or their favorite chapter. 
• Held a book tasting at “Starbooks!” Students were transported to their new cafe to find the book(s) that best suited their taste. We will be choosing a new book every month (or more) for them to read in their spare time. More information will be coming home about the project attached to it as well. 

Brainology 

Brainology class focused on finding ways to grow our brains. We learned that we can help our brains by creating strong pathways and all we have to do is be willing to try to learn new things. We tried writing our names with our opposite hand, with our eyes closed and even with our toes. We talked about how important is to simply try new things, even if it is difficult or frustrating at first. 

In Math we:

• Used place-value charts to listen and write large numbers
• Practiced writing numbers in standard, expanded, and word form
• Worked on understanding what the difference between “place” and “value” of a number. Ask your child to show you “sit” in American Sign Language. We teach the students that where a number “sits” is “place”: ones place, tens place, thousands place. “Value” is how much the number is worth – 1 hundred, 3 thousand, 5 tens or fifty.
• We will include practicing their multiplication facts for 10 minutes a day as part of their homework. We suggest they practice these facts in the car on the way home or make it a game as they practice throwing a football, or while kicking a soccer ball.

Important Reminders:

• Next Tuesday, September 3, we have a 10:00 AM start.
• Next Tuesday, before care begins at 7:30 AM. Drop off begins at 9:45 AM
• Thank you for checking your child’s weekly agenda and yellow folder daily. Please remove any papers from the “Keep at Home” side of the folder. Please continue to initial their agenda on Friday.

We hope you have a wonderful long weekend! 

Grace and Stella

Important Dates:

• Monday, September 2nd, – Labor Day- NO SCHOOL 
• Tuesday, September 10th – Parent Night 2nd-8th Grade 
• Friday, September 20th – 11:30am Dismissal 
• Saturday, September 21st – Boots for Buses Bash! (more information to come)
• Monday, September 23rd-25th – School Pictures (more information to come)
• Thursday, October 3rd – Grandparents Day (more information to come)
• Friday, October 4th – 11:30am Dismissal

We had a terrific start to 4th Grade this week! We are setting up for success by practicing our different classroom procedures and taking the time to learn about how they learn, how much effort they put forth, and how they self-regulate their minds and bodies. We have a great class of twenty-two individuals. We are so excited to work with them this year!

Your child started a class called Brainology co-taught by Mrs. Rutherford and Mr. Rouse. Your child will learn about the parts of the brain and their importance. This week and for the next coming weeks, we will focus on how to have a growth mindset. Please ask your child “What happens to your brain when you try new things or take on a challenge?”

In Government Deep Dive this week, with Mr. Jividen and Mrs. White, we set expectations for our class going forward. We discussed the upcoming election and many of the elements that are less reported on. I look forward to talking about current events moving forward.

In math we:

• Learned how to use our flash cards to practice multiplication facts
• Completed a fun challenge of making up equations to answer facts about themselves. For example, if a student’s birthday is in the month of May, they made up an equation – (5 x 5 – 5) to equal 5 which represents May. See your child’s paper in their yellow folder.

In ELA we: 

• Wrote a short paragraph about our favorite summer memory! 
• Learned how to edit our papers to prepare us for writing workshop next week! 

Important reminders:

• We will be starting the book, 4th Grade Rats, next week. If you haven’t sent in all of the books we requested, please do so next week.
• Please check your child’s yellow folder daily. Any papers left in the “Stay at  Home” side, please remove from the folder.
• Please check your child’s weekly agenda every day and initial. We’ll do this to reinforce their responsibility for homework or important reminders.

We are grateful to have all of you as our 4th Grade Family! It’s going to be a great school year!

Enjoy the weekend!

Stella and Grace

Save the Date:  Ya’ll are invited to a rootin’ tootin’ good time!

Country Roads: Boots for Buses

September 21, 2024  6pm-9pm

WCDS Main Campus

Join us for an evening of BBQ, Boots, and Boogyin’.  It’s the perfect chance for parents to mingle, get to know each other, and kick up their heels!  

More details to come, so mark your calendars now.  Yee Haw!