Mrs. Guinan's Newsletter
Week 1
by Sara Guinan
August 28, 2007
Mrs. Guinan’s Classroom Newsletter
Many of you have been asked to sign your child’s
assignment notebook this week. Thank you!
In case your child did not explain to you why you
are supposed to do that, here it is!
Every night, your child will bring home their
assignment notebook. It will have any daily
assignments that were assigned in class that day.
This will help them to become more organized and
responsible for themselves. Any homework that
was finished should have a checkmark by it or the
word “done” written next to it. Any work that is not
done should be taken home and finished at home.
The reason for your signature every night is so
that you are aware of what is being done during
the week. You will also see if your child has
homework each night.
If your child is brining home an assignment
notebook that is not filled out, please stress to
them that it is important to fill it out every day so
that you can see what is going on in class. Even if
they don’t have the homework to do, you still need
to sign it. That way, hopefully, there won’t be too
many surprises at PT conferences.
Assignment Notebook
Missouri Valley
Elementary
August 24, 2007
Volume 1, I ssue 1
Spelling
This Week’s Highlights
BACK TO
SCHOOL!
You may have noticed your child’s spelling
book... Usually I will assign several pages
on Monday... they are not due until Friday.
One page a night will keep them up to date.
Also, I have suggested that each student
study their spelling words about 5 minutes a
night, that way Thursday night is not such a
cramming session.
AR (Accelerated Reading)
4th grade will be doing AR again this year. We
took a Star Reading test, which determines
what level your child should be reading at
independently. If you think the level is too
low, don’t panic. We will retake the test to relevel
about 4 times a year. Hopefully, we will
see it go up as the year progresses.
Ask your child about our new AR incentive
program.
Also note that AR books can and should be
taken home several nights a week to read.
• We started a unit on volcanoes and
earthquakes.
• We finished a writing project called The
Mystery of Harris Burdick
• Everyone survived the first spelling test of
the year.
• We learned how to spell our spelling words
in sign language during workstation time
in Guided Reading.
• We learned how to use our planners
• WE MADE IT THROUGH THE FIRST FULL
WEEK OF FOURTH GRADE WITH NO
CASUALTIES!
If you haven’t noticed yet, 4th grade is a big
transition to most kids. Homework is
something that is of great importance. If
your child is using his/her time wisely in
class, they may be lucky enough to have very
little or no homework each night. However,
that may not always be the case. If your
child brings home homework, please sit
down with them and help them. I don’t want
you to do it for them or even write it for
them, but I do want you to give them lots of
support these first few weeks while they are
getting used to it. Homework should take no
longer than about 40 minutes a night. If it is
taking longer than that, we may need to
meet and talk about making some
adjustment. Please feel free to talk with me
at anytime regarding this.
