April 18-22

 April 18-22

NWEA and M-STEP Testing

NWEA testing begins this week on Wednesday April 20. Here are some things you can do to help your child prepare for testing:

-Ensure that your child gets a good night's rest before testing.

-Make sure your child eats a healthy breakfast on the morning of the testing day.

-Help your child remain positive and calm. Staying calm and encouraging during this testing window will help your child stay calm. If they get nervous about the test or are likely to experience anxiety during the test, help them practice some relaxation techniques that they can try once they’re taking the test.

-Lastly, remember that these test scores do not tell us everything there is to know about your child; like how special and unique they are! It doesn’t tell us about their unique talents, their kindness towards others and the many other amazing things about them that cannot be shown on a test.

Below are our testing dates:

Wednesday April 20: NWEA ELA

Wednesday April 27: NWEA Math

Tuesday May 10: M-STEP ELA

Thursday May 12: M-STEP Math

 

Water Bottles and Snacks

This is a friendly reminder that students should come to school with a full water bottle each day; while students can fill their water bottles at the bottle fillers, the water fountain remains off.

Students are also encouraged to bring 2 healthy snacks each day, one for morning recess and one for afternoon recess.

 

Mileage Club

 

 

Lansing

We will be heading to Lansing on Thursday May 19th. You will need to have your child to Brown between 7:00 AM and 7:15AM. Please drop your child off at the NORTH DOORS (this is the entrance closest to the 4th grade classrooms). The bus will leave around 7:30AM.

 

Please make sure your child has a filling breakfast on the morning of the trip. Here is a list of a few things your child will need to bring with them:

• 2 small snacks. One for the trip to Lansing and one for on the way back

• A healthy sack lunch – please pack in a sack so that it is all disposable. We won’t go back to the bus and the less to carry the better. Also, don’t over-pack that lunch!

• A jacket for the weather

• Comfortable shoes

 

Here are a few extras your child may want to bring (optional):

• Camera

• Money for the gift shop ($20.00 MAX)

• ONE electronic game and/or a book.  These things SHOULD NOT be passed around the bus.  This is at your discretion.  Teachers will not be responsible for lost or broken items.

All of these items should be in a backpack with their lunch and snacks. Students will have to carry their pack with them all day, so it should not be too heavy. Students are personally responsible for all of their belongings!

 

We plan to be back to school before the busses leave so your regular departure routines should be fine. However, in case we get delayed, you and your child should have a plan B. Be sure they know what number they should call to get a ride home.

 

We will need chaperones for this trip if you are interested! We do not have room on the bus for parents; if you are interested in chaperoning this field trip, you will need to make your own transportation arrangements.

 

All chaperones must have a current volunteer background check on file with the office for the 2021-2022 school year. If you have not already filled one out and submitted it to the office, you can access the form here: VOLUNTEER CONSENT FORM

 

Chaperones may only take THEIR OWN CHILD home from Lansing.  For instance, if a chaperone and another parent chaperone carpool together, the ONLY children that may go home in that vehicle are the chaperones’ respective children.  NO OTHER STUDENTS may ride home with a non-parent, even with a written note.

If you are interested in being a chaperone (1 parent/guardian per family, without siblings), please sign up on the document below by Friday April 29 so I can get a count of how many people are interested in going. Beyond Monday April 25, I will not be able to take any more requests. Please click on the following link to sign up as a chaperone (you can arrange to carpool via the document as well): CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

 

Computer Charging

We've unfortunately been getting a little lax about charging computers and students are not prepared for the day's learning. We appreciate your support in reminding your child that computers are to be charged in the evenings at home every night.

 

Change in Swimming Dates

There has been a slight change in the dates for swimming due to maintenance happening at the high school swimming pool. The NEW dates for swimming will be: May 4, May 18, May 27 and June 1.

 Homework Reminder

Homework each night consists of reading 20+ minutes at home (this can be a library book, magazine, newspaper, online book, etc) and practicing multiplication and division facts 1 through 12. Mastering multiplication and division facts is vital to our learning this year. Students can also work on Lexia Core 5 and on IXL (NWEA Skills).

 

Mrs. Bawks' Brown School Family Blog:

Please don't forget to take a peek at Mrs. Bawks' Brown School Family Blog each week. CLICK HERE to read it.

 

What we are learning this week:

Math:  This week, students will take their Unit 5 assessment on Tuesday (on Monday we will review and complete our study guide to take home). We will then move on to unit 6 where students will multiply and divide multi-digit whole numbers using partial products and partial quotients strategies. They will then apply this understanding to solve multi-step problems using the four operations.

You can view some materials to help you support our child's learning during unit 6 by CLICKING HERE.

ELA: We will finish our study nonfiction text features and will begin our study of figurative language including similes, metaphors, personification, hyperbole, idioms, alliteration, onomatopoeia and more.

Writing:  We will continue our  work on the study of Greek and Latin roots.

Science: Many people know on some vague level that muscles are responsible for the body’s movement… but what *exactly* do the muscles do?  As your child will discover this week:  the muscles work by pulling on bones at the joints. The muscles do this via strings called tendons. Your child will create a paper model of a finger based on their understanding of this process.

 

Any visit to the grocery store is an opportunity for you and your child to observe exactly what muscle looks like! The meat on display at the grocery store--whether chicken, fish, pork, or beef--is the muscles of those animals.

Social Studies: We will begin our study of government where we will study the question: Why do we need government?  We will look at the following ideas.

• The United States has a constitutional form of government. The Constitution, a written document, establishes the powers and limits of government.

• The United States is a republic. It is based on the idea of popular sovereignty – that the people hold the power of government in the United States.

• Since it is impractical for everyone to make decisions in government, people give representatives authority to make decisions for them. This means we have a representative government.

• In a representative democracy like the United States, the emphasis is on values and principles such as liberty, rule of law, popular sovereignty, and the common good.

P2: We will study the appreciation of beauty and excellence. You notice and value the world’s beauty and people’s skills. You don’t take things for granted. CLICK HERE to check out the P2 for Families site to build a P2 routine at home, too. [Password: P2]. It's an excellent resource for guiding important character conversations at home. 

 

Important Upcoming Dates:

Mon. 4/18-Fri. 4/22 - Book Fair in the Media Center during the school day

Tues. 4/18 - Book Fair Family Night in the Media Center 5:30-7:30pm

Wed. 4/20 - Late Start (school begins at 9:20am), NWEA ELA assessment

Tues. 4/26 - Sharing our Stories Cultural Celebration Night

Wed. 4/27 - Late Start (school begins at 9:20am), NWEA Math assessment

Mon. 5/2-NO SCHOOL (K-5)

Wed. 5/4- Late Start (school begins at 9:20 am), music make-up day and first day of swimming!

Fri. 5/6 -Track Meet

Tues. 5/10 - M-STEP ELA assessment

Wed. 5/11 - Late Start (school begins at 9:20 am)

Thur. 5/12 - M-STEP Math assessment