Hello Parents,

We're taking a few minutes this afternoon to talk about what we've been learning and working on this week.

First of all, Mr. H-A goofed! When he printed the Edmodo password labels yesterday, he put the wrong passwords on them. Corrected labels have replaced the incorrect labels. In general, the Pathfinders have two passwords for all of our different logins, either their birth date or their name with three digits following. When in doubt, try those two first. Sorry about the inconvenience of trying to login last night!

Second we'll give the Edmodo Home Reading Log a try again this weekend. When your student logs into Edmodo they should see "Home Reading Log for the weekend of September 20, 2013." Then they click "Take Quiz" to fill out their Reading Log.

Third, THANK YOU to the parents who came out last night for our 4th grade Parent Night. We hope you learned lots about being a fourth grader.

Now, here's what the Pathfinders have to say about their week here:

•  In Math we've been working on rounding. Rounding is when we take a number and see if it will go up or down depending on the place value to the right. It also helps with estimation.
• In Social Studies we've learning what geographers do. We've been learning about directions: cardinal (N, S, E, & W) and intermediate (NE, NW, SE, and SW). We've also been talking about location - both absolute and relative locations.
• Scientifically speaking, we've been talking about the needs of plants and animals for survival: food, shelter, water and air. We have a fresh water habitat in our classroom that contains dwarf African Frogs, snails, and guppies. This morning we even witnessed a snail eating a dead frog! The food web in action!
• We've also been reading and writing a lot. We'll be sharing personal narratives soon! Right now you can check out our Kidblogs for some of our shorter writings.
• Also, we have had to take a bunch of tests this week: Discovery Reading and Math and the Delta Math test.

Thanks for reading. Please ask us about all that we're learning this weekend!

Fourth Grade Parents

Please save the date

Thursday, September 19, 2013

6:00-6:45pm

4th Grade Parent Night

Roosevelt Elementary Media Center

Mrs. Chamberlain & Mr. Holland-Anderson will be sharing information about fourth grade expectations and ways to help our fourth grade readers and mathematicians at home.

We hope to see you there!       

The following letter is going home today with our first book orders of the year.

_______________________________

Dear Pathfinder Parents,

            Attached is our first book order of the year.  Scholastic Book Clubs are a great way for students to get new books at a reasonable price.  Plus, our classroom earns bonus points for each book purchased which can be used to purchase new books for our classroom.  Last year I was able to add 10-15 new books to our classroom library each month thanks to Book Club purchases. 

            If you are interested in ordering books for your son or daughter, simply complete the attached order form and return it to school with cash or check payable to Scholastic Book Clubs.  Book orders will always be due on the following Friday (September 13th this month).  Books usually arrive about two weeks after the order is placed.  Don’t forget to write your name on the order form!

            Also, you can now place your Scholastic Book Clubs orders online!  Browse all the great monthly Book Club selections at low prices and order online. Plus, our class earns a FREE book every time a parent orders online. Also, parents receive a $5 Free Book Pick to be used on a future book order.

Here’s how it works:

• SIGN UP at www.Scholastic.com/bookclubs. On the parent page, click the "Don't have a User Name and Password?" link, then register for your own username and password. When prompted, enter the one-time Class Activation Code: GNG4M. This code ensures that your order is sent to me.
• SELECT the books you'd like to order from over 500 titles available online...and take advantage of online-only specials and discounts.
• SEND your order to me online by the due date. Books will be delivered directly to our classroom, as always.

Ordering online is the most convenient way to use Scholastic Book Clubs. You can order anytime, right up until the online order due date. You’ll also get instant access to over 500 additional titles plus online-only specials and discounts.

And don’t forget: Every time a parent places an order online, we earn a FREE book for our classroom library!

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Mr. H-A

If you did not have an opportunity to fill out the Parent Contact Information form at Open House, you can use this link to do so.

Please help the Roosevelt PTO help our students by participating in our annual fundraiser!

Fundraiser paperwork is due September 23rd.

Thanks!

If you're willing and able, our classroom would be happy to accept donations of:

• pump bottles of hand sanitizer
• black dry erase markers
• boxes of Kleenex

Thanks!

Roosevelt is once again collecting pop can tabs to help raise money for the Ronald McDonald House of West Michigan.

Last year our school collected about 36 gallons of pop can tabs. Let's see if our team can help collect more than that this year!

Here's Mrs. Sharp dropping off last year's collection at the Ronald McDonald House.

We'll be sharing our learning and updates from our classroom using a variety of methods this year.

Our class website: http://mr.hollandanderson.net - specifically on the Blog.

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/PathfinderTeam (Like our page)

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/roopathfinders

Text (via Remind101):
Follow the instructions on the image at the right to get signed up for text reminders. (I promise not to flood your phone with reminders and you're welcome to unsubscribe at any time.)

“Life is either a daring adventure… or nothing at all.”  - Helen Keller

Dear Parents,

Welcome to a new school year!  It was great to meet most of you at Open House and during the first few days of school.  I thought I’d take a moment to introduce myself.  My name is Kip Holland-Anderson, but my students call me “Mr. H-A.”  This school year will be my eighteenth year as a teacher (WOW!  Where do the years go?). 

I was born and raised in Minneapolis, MN and graduated from North Park College in Chicago, IL where I student taught in a 4th grade classroom.  Upon graduating I was offered a position working with 8th grade students.  After my wife and I moved to Holland, MI, I continued teaching 8th graders at Creekside Middle School where I taught for nine years.  In 2006 I requested a transfer to 4th grade and this year will be my eighth year at Roosevelt. My wife teaches 4th grade part-time at East K-7 in Holland Public Schools where our three kids attend school.  

I chose the theme of the Pathfinder Team for our classroom because I believe that learning is a journey and an adventure.  As the quote above states, life is a “daring adventure.”  I like to extend that to education and learning as well.  Learning is a daring adventure in that sometimes it is picturesque, easy-going, and feels great.  Other times the journey is difficult, challenging, and possibly frustrating.  Sometimes it will take risks to step out and try new things.  Yet, as with all great adventures I believe that when we reach the end of the school year we will look back and be amazed at how far we’ve traveled together and how much we’ve learned.

If you ever have a question or comment, please feel free to contact me either by phone, e-mail, or by sending in a note (contact info. is at the bottom of the page).  I’ll get back to you as soon as I’m able!

Happy Trails!
Mr. H-A

Odds and Ends

• Starting today, your son or daughter will begin bringing home his or her Homework Folder with a “Homework Log” inside.  This record sheet will be our way of communicating about homework for each night.  Students are expected to get a parent signature on it each night and return it to his or her folder.  
• If a student forgets to return an assignment or to get a parent signature, they will be bringing home an “Oops!” form.  It is my way to keep track of how many times they have forgotten items and it reminds them to be responsible.  Consequences will be given on a case-by-case basis if too many Oops! forms are accumulated by an individual student.
• In addition to any homework listed, students are expected to read for 20 minutes each night, six days of week (they can choose one night to take off) and should record these minutes on the back of their Homework Log.