Welcome Back to School!

Dear 4th grade friends and families,

Mr. Steffens, Ms. Adimoolah and I would like to welcome you to 4th grade!  Be prepared for a wonderful year of learning and growing together as a community.  We look forward to seeing you Friday, August 19th, between the hours of 11am to 1pm, for our "Meet the Teachers" event.

Our first day of school is Monday, August 22nd.  The first bell begins at 8:00am, and students are considered tardy after the 8:05 bell.  Don't forget to bring your school supplies with you, too!  You can find a copy of our school supply list on our 4th grade PK Yonge webpage.  Please let us know if you have any questions.

Warmly,
Ms. Geiger, Ms. A., and Mr. Steffens

4th Grade Community Service Project Presentations

Dear Families,

We'd like to invite you to our 4th Grade Community Service Project Presentations on Monday, June 6th, from 10:00-10:50am. Please come to view the students’ presentations, and feel free to stay and have lunch with your child afterwards (at 11am).  

Space Camp Checklist

Hello, Families!

Here’s a list of items that students and chaperones should pack for our galactic adventure! Remember to pack light because YOU have to carry everything you bring with you until we are able to set it down by our sleeping area:

*NO ELECTRONIC DEVICES ALLOWED! - THIS INCLUDES MP3 PLAYERS, WALKMANS, NINTENDO DS, GAMEBOYS, ETC…

1. Sleeping bag and/or air mattress (air mattress recommended)
2. Warm pajamas (it gets very cold where we sleep!)
3. Blanket
4. Pillow
5. Toothbrush
6. Toothpaste
7. Any other necessary toiletries (NO SHOWERS)
8. Money for souvenirs
9. MONEY for LUNCH on FRIDAY
10. Camera
11. chapter book (for the bus)
12. deck of cards (for the bus)
13. comfortable shoes!
14. Change of clothes for Friday morning
15. A stellar PK attitude! (most important!)

DEPARTURE: We will be leaving promptly at 1:oopm on THURSDAY, 5/26. So chaperones must be here between 12:20-12:30pm! NO EXCEPTIONS!!!

RETURN: We expect to be back at PK on FRIDAY, 5/27 at 5:30pm. Please be prompt to pick your student up on Friday, May 27.

Update for May 13th

Dear Parents,

Here are a few reminders/announcements for 4th grade:

Community Service Essays

      All students should have completed the rough draft of their Community Service Essay by today, Friday, May 13th.   Final versions should be finished by the end of next week (May 20th) at the latest. 

      Next week, we will begin our Powerpoint Presentation lessons.  Students will not be able to begin working on their presentations until they are finished with their essays.  If your child took photos of his/her Community Service experience and would like to possibly include them in his/her presentation, please help your child add them to his/her flashdrive so that they'll be available to use.

Math Unit 11 Progress Check:

This end-of-unit test will be held this Tuesday, May 17^th.  FYI - Unit 12 will be our last Math Unit for this year.

T-shirts: 

Please don't forget to get a blue PK Yonge t-shirt for Space Camp from Mr.

Steffens.  They are $12 and we have adult and youth sizes available.  Our field trip is scheduled for May 26 and May 27.

Space Camp:

We'll be departing school at 1pm on Thurs., May 26.  Students should not worry about bringing their backpacks, planners, etc. to school. However, they do need to bring their overnight items (air mattress/pillow/etc…). 

If you are attending as a chaperone, your students does not need to bring their items that morning to school, since you'll be following our bus, later.  I would put all items in a roller bag/duffel/suitcase, as it will make it easier for the students to transport.  Remember, no coolers will be allowed, so please leave those at home.   More information will be coming out next week, but in the meantime, if you have any questions, please email Ms. A. @ aadimoolah@pky.ufl.edu.

We were informed yesterday that there will be NO background check emails sent out.  Apparently they've changed their security requirements for the Overnight Adventure.

Thank you for your continued support!  We hope you have a great weekend!

Community Service Essay NEWS

Dear Families,

We've included a copy of the revision and editing checklists that the students have been using to review their community service essays under the PARENT FILES section of our 4th grade website.  For this essay, students are required to self revise/edit, and then get a peer to do the same before coming to conference with their teacher.  

You can be the “peer revisor" and "peer editor" for your child, too!  This is a great way to assist your student with his/her essay at home.

Here are some important upcoming deadlines:

·         The Community Service portion of this project should be completed in full by Monday, May 9^th.

·         All five paragraphs (rough draft version) of the essay are due by Friday, May 13^th.

April 25th Update

Greetings to all!

Spring is in the air, and we have definitely been enjoying the wonderful weather here at PK Yonge!  Thank you to all the parents who donated snacks and drinks for FCAT testing.  Our students truly benefited from the extra energy boost!  It made them go into testing feeling satiated and confident. 

We have some important announcements for upcoming events:

• This Weds., April 27th, is our last Wacky Wednesday of the year.  Please make sure your child comes to school dressed comfortably and  in sneakers, since PE is one of the possible rotations.

•  All Kennedy Space Center field trip forms and money (for both students and chaperones) are due by Friday, April 29th.  This is an awesome trip and we hope to see you all there!  If you are planning on not attending, please notify your child's teacher so that our field trip coordinator can make the appropriate arrangements. All parents and students attending the Space Center field trip must wear a blue PK Yonge t-shirt, which can be purchased for $12 from 4th grade - Mr. Steffens.

•  PK Yonge Elementary's annual Z to A countdown will begin on Monday, May 2nd.  This is a fun tradition which the students enjoy, as we count down the last 26 days of school.  We start with the letter Z (doing activities that start with Z) and end our last day with activities that start with A.  Look for a letter home in Friday Folders with more information.

•  Teacher Appreciation Week is Monday, May 2nd through Friday, May 6th. 

• Our Everyday Math Unit 10 Progress Check is scheduled for Tuesday, May 3rd.  This is short Unit (six lessons long) which covers concepts of reflections, rotations, and translations and the skill of adding negative and positive numbers together.

• Students have until Monday, May 9th to complete the Community Service Project portion of their Government Project.  After May 9th, students will then work on finishing their reflective essay, and create their powerpoint presentations afterwards.

  Thank you for your continued support!  We will keep you updated with the latest here in fourth grade.  We hope you have a great week!

April News

Spring is in the air and there are many new happenings in 4th grade!  First of all, we hope that everyone enjoyed their Spring Break.  The students came back refreshed and ready to learn!  Our Scholastic Spring Book Fair was also a great success, thanks to our lead parent coordinator - Donna Moore - and the many parent volunteers who donated their time to make it all possible.  We thank you for your support!

This week has kicked off with FCAT testing.  Fourth grade has Reading Comprehension for the first 2 days (Monday and Tuesday), and then tests in Mathematics for the next two days (Wednesday and Thursday).  This Friday, April 15th, is reserved for any make-up testing.  Please make sure your child comes to school on time, well rested, and having eaten a healthy breakfast this week.  We've also set up a Doodle survey for parents to volunteer to bring in snack items for before FCAT testing.  The students really enjoy getting that extra "boost" before they delve into those challenging questions.  Whatever snack item for which you sign up, you may bring in for that specific day (we ideally need three of each item - one for each class of 22 students).  Here is the direct link: http://doodle.com/7f4nxxdktp8b7ub4 .

Due to FCAT testing this week, there will be no homework - no Study Links or Home Reading Logs to be due the following week.  We would like for students to continue reading just-right books at home, but they do not need to record them.  We will progress forward on our Government Unit, and move closer into "project mode."  Last week, students found an issue which was important to them (homelessness, poverty, sickness, pet overpopulation, senior citizens in need; etc...) and chose/designed a community service project which could help address their issue.  Some fourth graders have chosen to do out-of-school activities with local organizations, which will require parental approval and assistance.  Some students have opted for service projects which can be done in-school and at home.  A Government Project Folder has been created as a resource for parents on the 4th grade PK Yonge Website, which can be accessed in the Parent Files section.  Due to the nature of this project, students are required to complete a Proposal describing the plan for their community service activity, which must then be signed and approved by their teacher and parents this week.  It is important that you talk to your child about his/her project and ask about the Proposal (which you should see coming home sometime this week).  Please contact your child's teacher if you have any questions - we'll be more than happy to assist you.  Thank you for your continued support!