Our Week in Review

What a week it was! It took us a little while to get used to being back at school after such a wonderful vacation, but we did adjust! We had many hands on projects to share this week, and Mrs. Merten took photos of all of them. We hope you enjoy!

The Home Stretch

From the Teacher's Desk


Welcome Back! I hope you all had a wonderful vacation with your families. I had a great vacation, and am ready for the last leg of fourth grade. This time of year is always a challenge for the children. Sports activities start up again, the weather is warmer, and it is light until much later, pushing bedtime off. As a parent, I do understand how difficult it is to manage all of this.


I have noticed that over the last few weeks (before vacation and this week), completing and returning homework has become less consistent for the children. Please keep this in mind, and help your child to develop a plan to manage this homework, as well as long-term assignments. I also want to remind you that I provide a study guide sheet for each math test. This is an optional assignment, however I have often discussed with the children the value of completing this. The sheet is modeled after the test, and completing it is an excellent way to study. As you know, the added bonus is that the students receive a 5 point bonus on the test!


I am sure you are excited that US Regions projects are almost over. Many families breathe a sigh of relief when that last project is turned in. The US Expo is on May 27th. This is the students' opportunity to showcase their work in a formal way. I know you will be proud of your child's porfolio! I hope to see you on the 27th.


Thank you for all of your support this year. I know our working together will make the end of this year a great success!

Katie Merten

Rock Poetry Day & Our Week In Review

Today we celebrated Rock Poetry Day. While we listened to everyone's songs, we drew pictures of what we were visualizing. Look for our journals over vacation, they are coming home today!

Students were able to sit in the tall chair and share their answers to all of the Rock Poetry questions. Everyone did a great job. We all enjoyed watching Mrs. Shepherd dance, and listening to Mrs. Merten sing!

Earlier this week we started learning about symmetry and lines of reflection. Students created objects out of multilink cubes, and then partners created the image of the object. This was a fun math activity.

We also had a quiz on clouds and wind today.

The Strange Case Of Origami Yoda

Dear Class,
I just finished reading The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger. I loved this book!

Something that I found interesting in this books was that it was actually a journal of events from the lives of some 6th graders. Each chapter is told by a different kid who had an experience with "Origami Yoda". There were doodles in the margins of the books, and little 'notes' made by the characters, too. This made it really interesting to read.

While I was reading this book, I laughed out loud in places. I loved finding out what happened to Tommy and Dwight. I know you will too.

I will bring this book to school tomorrow and you can read it if you like!

Your teacher,
Mrs. Merten

Our Week In Review

This week it was very HOT!

On Monday we had library and we learned about the World Book Encyclopedia. Reed presented his project about the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri. We finished working on our Midwest Posters, and we presented them to the class on Tuesday.

We started learning about the West in SS. In Music there is only ONE MORE WEEK to test out for Recorder Karate. In art we are drawing Ancient Greek Pottery. We are using what we know about mythology and freize patterns. We'll learn more about freize patterns in math after April vacation.

We read The Llama's Secret , an Peruvian Legend, and we are writing summaries for this story. We will write our final copies in a triorama, and we'll be able to illustrate them.

In Science, we will have a quiz on Clouds and Wind NEXT FRIDAY. Mrs. Merten gave us a study guide. Today we started learning about the Jet Stream. We learned that it moves West to East with the Earth's rotation. We also got to watch a power point presentation on the National Parks. We learned about Mount Rushmore, the Everglades in Florida, and the Grand Canyon. We saw a couple of gross pictures of an alligator eating a snake. (it was really cool actually).

We also had our ICE CREAM party yesterday. It was so yummy!

We started book groups this week. Some students are reading Tucker's Countryside (the sequel to The Cricket in Times Square) by George Selden, and some are reading The Castle in the Attic by Elizabeth Winthrop. Others will be able to participate in groups as they are interested.

From the Teacher's Desk

With the warm weather, spring fever has really hit us in Room 24. This is one of the hardest times of the year to stay focused and to maintain the strong effort the children have shown. Please help the children remember that maintaining a regular routine for homework and projects helps to make completing everything doable, especially during the beautiful spring days. I know all of the children are looking forward to vacation. Just one more week!

Katie Merten

Sundae Thursday

Sundae Thursday

Today we used all of our points (25) to have our ice cream sundae party. I can't thank you all enough for the generous donations of sundae toppings, bowls, and other paper goods. The children had a wonderful time!

If there was anything left over that could easily be sent home, I sent it home. The children thought that they might like to vote for another ice cream party at the end of the year. I kept the extra spoons and sprinkles in my closet. If you would like me to send these items home though, please just tell your child and I will send them home tomorrow.

I hope you enjoy the photos below of the kids and the treats!

Thanks again for all that you do!
Katie Merten