Mrs. Koontz's Newsletter
April 12, 2016
Important Notes
Here are a few important reminders:
- If your child will go home a different way than usual, you will need to write a note. If I do not have a note saying they will go home a different way, I will send them home their normal way.
- Please, please make sure your child has a supply of pencils and a dry erase marker (black works best).
- The fourth grade will go to Pinecrest to watch a performance by the North Carolina Symphony on April 20. There is no cost for this field trip for students. A permission slip went home last week. Please sign and return that as soon as possible if you have not done so already.
- Please remember, our day starts at 7:35. Students switch classes at 7:45. We have a high number of tardies in some classes. Every minute of our day is precious. Please make every effort to get your child to school on time. Thank you.
Science Notes
We are well into our light unit. So far, we have learned about radiant energy and where visible light falls within that spectrum, how we describe light (as waves and photons), and different sources of light. We will now move into the fun stuff when we discuss the spectrum of visible light (ROYGBIV), reflection and refraction, and transparent, translucent, and opaque materials. We will do a lot of fun investigations. Our goal is to finish this unit in the next week or two so we can move on to phases of the moon and day/night.
Math Notes
We are 3/4 of the way through our largest module, fractions. We have learned a lot about fractions. Our focus is on the "why". Yes, it is very easy to just teach an algorithm, but we want our students to know why they are doing these steps so that when they need to complete more difficult problems in later years, they will have a strong foundation to lean on. As we end our module, we will focus on converting improper fractions to mixed numbers and vice versa, adding/subtraction fractions and whole numbers, and identifying fractional parts of a set (ex. 2/3 of 15).
If you are still wondering about the terms we will use in this module, here is the link, again, to the module 5 parent letter. This can be a valuable resource to help you help your child with this module. Once you load the link, click on the parent newsletter tab at the top. It will take you to the newsletter.
Important Dates!!!
April 18 - 22 - County benchmark testing for Math and ELA
April 20 - Fourth grade trip to Pinecrest for the NC Symphony
April 21 - Spirit Day/Chic Fil A night
April 27- PTA Booster- Thon Pep Rally
April 29 - Early Release for students
Contact Me!
Here are some ways to contact me throughout the day. Remember, I will not get phone messages until after school.
Email: tkoontz@ncmcs.org
Website: www.ncmcs.org/sfles
Location: Sandhills Farm Life Elementary, Farm Life School Road, Carthage, NC, United States
Phone: (910) 949-2501