October 7-10, 2024

le 7 au 10 octobre 2024

Upcoming Dates

  • Friday, October 11 – NO SCHOOL

Please ensure that you email BOTH TEACHERS when you communicate with us.

(kincaid_j@4j.lane.edu and hopper_s@4j.lane.edu)

Please Keep Fidgets and Toys at Home

Students have been bringing squishy toys and fidgets that are not conducive to focusing on work. We have had “squishies” pop and make a gluey mess and a few have gone missing. Please do not send toys or squishies to school. If your child needs a fidget tool that helps him/her/them focus, please let us know. We have some that work great and are far less distracting. A fidget is meant to help a child focus attention, so we reserve the right to ask students to put them away when they are more of a distraction to themselves and/or others.

Mme Jana, French & Science teacher kincaid_j@4j.lane.edu

Le français

Students did pretty well bringing their homework back and forth last week. If homework is not turned in on Friday, it must be turned in the following full school day, normally Monday. We had our first vocabulary quiz, and 65% of the class missed only one or none, so well done. The mean of the two classes was 71%, but the mode was 100%. If your child scored below 71%, it is a sign that he/she/they didn’t prepare for the quiz and/or didn’t speak up when he/she/they didn’t understand the sentences because the quiz was essentially the same as the homework.

Student goal:  I can name, write, and order the days of the week in French.

We continue our cursive writing instruction, and this week, we’ve gone back and written a lot of letter combinations in nonsense order so we can concentrate onthe forming of the letters. We work on alphabetizing up to the fifth letter on Wednesdays, and salthough most students are becoming skilled, some students don’t seem to know their alphabet yet. If you know that applies to your student, you could work on fun alphabetizing activities at home to help support your child.

Student goal:  I can find grammatical and punctuation errors in sentences in French.

Student goal:  I can form all the lowercase letters correctly in cursive. 

We conjugated the verb faire (to make or do) last week, and will conjugate the verb  aller (to go) this week, then we’ll move on to verbs that end in -er, which is 90% of the verbs in French. 

Student goal:  I can alphabetize words up to and beyond the fifth letter.

Student goal:  I am learning to quickly and efficiently use a translating dictionary.

We have completed the speaking evaluation, with a few exceptions, and our formal French assessments are complete  until January. 

Les chèvres

We began our writing curriculum this week,  called “J’observe…” We looked at a group of goats and wrote about them as a class. See the photo we used at right.

We continue the “Moi!” project which is all about them… in French.

Les sciences

We began our first science unit, Soils, Rocks, and Landforms (La terre, les pierres, et les formes du relief) this week by discussing what students already know about the subject. This week, we’ll begin our first experiment (une expérience)by exploring the components (les composants) of soil (le sol ou la terre). Next, we’ll discuss what is in each layer once we add water to our containers and let them settle. Then we’ll move into physical and chemical weathering (l’usure physique et chimique) with some fun experiments.  

Mme Shelli hopper_s@4j.lane.edu English & Math teacher


Math this week

There IS homework this week.

We will begin to discuss multiplicative comparison problems this week. These multiplicative thinking problems may require either multiplication and/or division. For fourth graders, there’s work in the conceptual understanding here; often students jump to picking numbers and multiplying without first understanding the concept of the problem.

Examples:

Joe has 8 marbles, Mary has 4 times more. How many does Mary have? (8×4 =m)

OR

Joe has 16 marbles. This is 8 times more than Mary. How many marbles does Mary have? (16=8 x m OR 16÷8=m)

In class, students continue practicing multiplication fact fluency as they play games, draw arrays, and look for patterns in multiplication equations up to 100.  At home, you can help your child become fluent x1 through x12 facts. The hardest ones for students to remember are the x 4, x 6, x7, x8s. Maybe make a game to play in the car?

English

We wrap up our exploration of the non-fiction text, The Circulatory Story, this week.  Students are rereading portions of the text to gain a deeper understanding. Then they will write a brief outline to understand the main ideas and details and then will summarize one section of the text.
 
For a final writing project, students are putting the final touches on their first four-paragraph essays about how the author of the text uses figurative language to convey meaning in The Circulatory Story. These essays are in a 4 page booklet and will come home early next week.
 
 
 
 
 

 Dr. Johnson, pediatric cardiologist, Visits

Last week, we enjoyed a wonderful presentation about the human heart and circulatory system by guest speaker, Dr. Eric Johnson (Miriam’s dad.)  Below are some pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Park Ranger Visits

A few weeks ago we welcomed my daughter, Amanda, to share about her work as a park ranger on Mt. St. Helens. This week, we will have a park ranger from Cape Perpetua tell us about National Parks and the Every Kid Outdoors Program. They will be giving each child an annual National Park Pass for your family!

 

PE & Recess

Please help your child wear clothes and shoes appropriate for running and jumping on their PE days. Closed toed shoes such as tennis shoes would be great; sandals or boots do not work well for PE.

Blue Class PE & Library days: Monday & Thursday

                      Red Class PE & Library days: Tuesday & Friday
 
At recess, students will be outside even in drizzle. So please have your child wear layers and a jacket or hat during rainy, cool weather.

 

Building and Field Trip Volunteers

The school will be requiring that folks who would like to volunteer at the building or on field trips complete a Volunteer Orientation before beginning their support of the classrooms and our students. In 4th grade there are opportunities to volunteer at recess, in the library, and on field trips. Our first field trip will be in December. Later in the year, there may be classroom volunteer opportunities, too.

If you would like to volunteer, please contact the office for the date of the next volunteer training.

Once you have completed the video orientation and District  Volunteer Background Check we will ask that you sign a Charlemagne Confidentiality Agreement at the front office on your first day.

September 30-October 4, 2024

le 30 septembre au 4 octobre 2024

Upcoming Dates

  • Friday, October 11 – NO SCHOOL

Please ensure that you email BOTH TEACHERS when you communicate with us.

(kincaid_j@4j.lane.edu and hopper_s@4j.lane.edu)

Mme Jana, French & Science teacher kincaid_j@4j.lane.edu

Le français

Well, I was out sick all week with Covid. So, everything we were meant to do this past week, we will do this next week.

The big news is….French homework begins this week! Students will come home on Monday with a lavender sheet of French homework. Students should bring this homework home and back to school every single day. They turn it in to me on Friday, the same day as the vocabulary quiz. We’re beginning with the days of the week. Each night, students complete one section of the homework. I have gone over each category, and they should have an example written in each section. They are meant to ask an adult to initial the homework each night. Initialing the homework simply tells me that you see your child has done the homework, not whether it is correct or not. I prefer that parents NOT HELP with homework. We’re really just trying to establish routine and responsibility. If your child loses the homework, you can print off a copy here:  jours de la semaine sept 2024 Vocab

Me reading and spelling the words:

Me reading the words with time for students to write the words:

Student goal:  I can name and order the days of the week in French.

We will continue our cursive writing instruction, and we’ll go back and do a lot of words that use the letters we’ve already learned, which helps with understanding how to attach the letters and their relationship to one another. Also, we are working on alphabetizing and on learning how to use a translating dictionary. 

Student goal:  I can find grammatical and punctuation errors in sentences in French.

Student goal:  I can form all the lowercase letters correctly in cursive. 

We will conjugate the verb être (to be), and in upcoming weeks, we will conjugate the verbs faire (to make or do), and aller (to go), then we’ll move on to verbs that end in -er, which is 90% of the verbs in French. We began our French typing program called “Tap’Touche” which teaches students how to type with accents. We  continue to spend time learning about dictionaries, particularly translating dictionaries, and how to use them. We will continue to work on dictionary use, which includes learning about parts of speech. I’ve noticed that a number of children are not very solid with alphabetizing beyond the first letter. We are doing it once a week, but if you can do some alphabetizing at home, that would be great. Put the cereal in alphabetical order or the names of all the family members in alphabetical order. We use dictionaries daily in my class, and not knowing alphabetical order is a limiting factor.

Student goal:  I can alphabetize words up to and beyond the fifth letter.

Student goal:  I am learning to quickly and efficiently use a translating dictionary.

We still have to complete the speaking evaluation, and a few kids are still catching up from absences, then that will be it for these formal French assessments until January. 

2023-24 student Tubes art

We will begin our writing curriculum this week, and it is called “J’observe…” We look at a curated photo and describe what we observe. 

We continue our first art project this week which involves concentration and fine motor control. It takes a few weeks, but you’ll be seeing those lovely projects soon as we hang them up on our walls. They are called “Les tubes. We will continue the “Moi!” project which is all about them… in French.

Les sciences

With one of my guest teachers, the students made lists of what they already know about soils, rocks, and landforms. I’ll review those, and then we will begin our first science unit, Soils, Rocks, and Landforms (La terre, les pierres, et les formes du relief) this week. 

Mme Shelli hopper_s@4j.lane.edu English & Math teacher


Math this week

No math homework this week.

Students continue multiplicative thinking work as they build array models to show factor pairs for numbers 1-36. Students will identify prime and composite numbers. At the same time, students are practicing multiplication fact fluency for x 1 through x 12.  At home, you can help your child become fluent x1 through x12 facts. 

See this page for an overview of the unit. You can learn more about our Math Curriculum pilot here. For your reference, here’s an overview of the math standards for 4th grade.

English

We read through the complex non-fiction text, The Circulatory Story,  last week. This week, as students read through sections of the text a second time, they will learn strategies for reading complex text.  The focus will be on determining main idea and details in each part of the text. They will create a simple outline which will aid the students in writing short summaries. This text includes a lot of figurative language, so we’ll be identifying and discussing meanings of similes and metaphors in the text as well.
 
This week we will welcome an parent and guest speaker, Dr. Eric Johnson, pediatric cardiologist, who will talk to us about his work with the heart and circulatory system.
 
Here’s an overview of the entire year of 4th grade in our Wit and Wisdom English curriculum.

 

PE & Recess

Please help your child wear clothes and shoes appropriate for running and jumping on their PE days. Closed toed shoes such as tennis shoes would be great; sandals or boots do not work well for PE.

Blue Class PE & Library days: Monday & Thursday

                      Red Class PE & Library days: Tuesday & Friday
 
At recess, students will be outside even in drizzle. So please have your child wear layers and a jacket or hat during rainy, cool weather.

 

Building and Field Trip Volunteers

The school will be requiring that folks who would like to volunteer at the building or on field trips complete a Volunteer Orientation before beginning their support of the classrooms and our students. In 4th grade there are opportunities to volunteer at recess, in the library, and on field trips. Our first field trip will be in December. Later in the year, there may be classroom volunteer opportunities, too.

If you would like to volunteer, please contact the office for the date of the next volunteer training.

Once you have completed the video orientation and District  Volunteer Background Check we will ask that you sign a Charlemagne Confidentiality Agreement at the front office on your first day.

September 23-27, 2024

le 23 au 27 septembre 2024

Upcoming Dates

  • Monday, Septmeber 23 – First night of homework (see Math below)
  • Wednesday, September 25 – Picture Day!
  • Thursday, September 26 – Curriculum Night (6:00-7:00 pm) PLEASE COME!
  • Friday, October 11 – NO SCHOOL

Please ensure that you email BOTH TEACHERS when you communicate with us.

(kincaid_j@4j.lane.edu and hopper_s@4j.lane.edu)

Mme Jana, French & Science teacher kincaid_j@4j.lane.edu

Le français

We continued our cursive writing instruction this past week with the letters u, i, y, and j. Next, we’ll go back and do a lot of words that use the letters we’ve already learned, which helps with understanding how to attach the letters and their relationship to one another. Also, we are working on alphabetizing and on learning how to use a translating dictionary. My expectation is that they will get a dictionary as they get into class and use it to determine spelling and meaning. We will begin our writing curriculum this week, and it is called “J’observe…” We look at a curated photo and describe what we observe. 

Mme Wolfe assessed the students individually for oral reading fluency and comprehension, and nearly everyone has completed the writing and listening French assessments, so in the next week, we’ll complete the speaking evaluation, and that will be it for formal assessments until January. 

2023-24 student Tubes art

We are continuing our first art project this past week which involves concentration and fine motor control. It takes a few weeks, but you’ll be seeing those lovely projects soon as we hang them up on our walls. They are called “Les tubes.This past week, we began a “Moi!” project which is all about them… in French.

Les sciences

We will begin our first science unit, Soils, Rocks, and Landforms (La terre, les pierres, et les formes du relief) this week. We’ll talk about what the students already know about soil and rocks, and then we begin to break down the components of soils.

Mme Shelli hopper_s@4j.lane.edu English & Math teacher

                                       Math Homework

Nightly math homework begins this week. Math and French  homework alternate weeks. The goal of homework is to help students to practice being responsible for their materials AND to practice concepts we’ve learned in class. Also, you as parents can see what we are doing in math and French class.

Homework should not be stressful or time consuming. If your child doesn’t understand a concept, they can try their best or leave it blank and ask me for help the next morning during our welcome time in class. Parents or  tutors do not need to help teach the concepts on the homework. It is good information for me when a student asks for help. Homework should take no longer than 10-15 minutes. If it is taking longer, please send me a note or email.

Students will have 3-4 math problems per evening. Students will bring their homework to class each day. They may work ahead and do subsequent pages, but the Monday homework will be discussed and corrected on Tuesday. That night’s homework is due at the beginning of class the next day.

Math in class this week

Last week, students learned four models for multiplication (arrays, area models, number lines and ratio tables.) This work continues this week week as students choose the models that work best for themselves in solving both multiplication and division problems. Mid-week, students will determine whether numbers are prime or composite.

We are in Unit 1 of Bridges Math called “Multiplicative Thinking.” See this page for an overview of the unit. You can learn more about our Math Curriculum pilot here. This month, we are focusing on Multiplicative Thinking. At home, you can help your child become fluent x1 through x10 facts. For your reference, here’s an overview of the math standards for 4th grade.

English

In our English unit called, “The Great Heart” last week, students read biographies, annotated the text, and wrote an organized informative paragraph about why the person might be considered “greathearted.” These paragraphs will come home in folders by the end of this week. The goal of this assignment was to use evidence from a text to support a thesis (topic) statement in an organized informative paragraph.
 
This week, students will begin reading a complex non-fiction text called “The Circulatory Story.” Students will be learning about the circulatory system in the human body and will be learning strategies for reading complex text. This text includes a lot of figurative language, so we’ll be identifying and discussing meanings of similes and metaphors in the text as well.
 
Here’s an overview of the entire year of 4th grade in our Wit and Wisdom English curriculum.

 

PE & Recess

Please help your child wear clothes and shoes appropriate for running and jumping on their PE days. Closed toed shoes such as tennis shoes would be great; sandals or boots do not work well for PE.

Blue Class PE days: Monday & Thursday
Red Class PE days: Tuesday & Friday
 
At recess, students will be outside even in drizzle. So please have your child wear layers and a jacket or hat during rainy, cool weather.

 

Building and Field Trip Volunteers

The school will be requiring that folks who would like to volunteer at the building or on field trips complete a Volunteer Orientation before beginning their support of the classrooms and our students. In 4th grade there are opportunities to volunteer at recess, in the library, and on field trips. Our first field trip will be in December. Later in the year, there may be classroom volunteer opportunities, too.

These will be offered once a week on Wednesdays in September from 6-6:30pm via Google Meet.  

To join the video meeting, click this link:  https://meet.google.com/nyt-vivo-hhx

The September dates will be  9/11, 9/18 and 9/25. Once you have completed the video orientation and District  Volunteer Background Check we will ask that you sign a Charlemagne Confidentiality Agreement at the front office on your first day.

September 16-20, 2024

le 16 au 20 septembre 2024

Upcoming Dates

  • Wednesday, September 25 – Picture Day!
  • Thursday, September 26 – Curriculum Night (6:00-7:00 pm)
  • Friday, October 11 – NO SCHOOL

Please ensure that you email BOTH TEACHERS when you communicate with us.

(kincaid_j@4j.lane.edu and hopper_s@4j.lane.edu)

Mme Jana, French & Science teacher kincaid_j@4j.lane.edu

Le français

This pas week, we began correcting what I call the “horrible sentences.” I create a sentence with errors, and the students do their best to correct on their own or with a partner, then we go over the corrections together. This has multiple grammar lessons in it, and the students learn how to use editing marks.

We began our cursive writing instruction this past week with the letters c, a, d, g, h, t, p, e, l, and f. We’ll go through all lowercase (minuscule) letters, then progress through all uppercase (majuscule) letters. French assessments, which include writing, speaking, comprehension, reading, and listening will happen during the next three weeks. None of the assessments are very long, and I don’t put them all on the same day. 

We also began our first art project this past week which involves concentration and fine motor control. It takes a few weeks, but you’ll be seeing those lovely projects soon as we hang them up on our walls. This coming week, we’ll begin a “Moi!” project which is all about them… in French.

Les sciences

We will begin our first science unit, Soils, Rocks, and Landforms (La terre, les pierres, et les formes du relief) in early October. 

Mme Shelli hopper_s@4j.lane.edu English & Math teacher

                                       Math

Last week, we started a daily calendar routine looking at patterns of base ten thinking in the Egyptian number system. Students organized their math journal with a table of contents and started their first notes about multiples of 2, 6, and 11. They looked for patterns in multiples and should start to have strategies to quickly multiply one digit numbers. This is a review of 3rd grade math standards which will build strategies that tie into 4th grade standards.

This week, we start unit 1 of Bridges Math called “Multiplicative Thinking.” See this page for an overview of the unit. Students will model multiplication of one and two digit numbers using number lines, ratio tables and area models. These structures will be used later when they demonstrate how to multiply multi-digit numbers.

 You can learn more about our Math Curriculum pilot here. This month, we are focusing on Multiplicative Thinking. AT home, you can help your child become fluent x1 through x10 facts. For your reference, here’s an overview of the math standards for 4th grade.

English

We began the English unit called, “The Great Heart” last week. Students defined characteristics of a figurative great heart as kind, generous, encouraging, hard-working, and brave.
  We began to read a short biography of Clara Barton, learning to annotate the text for key details. This week, students will read one of several biographies of people such as Harriet Tubman, Cesar Chavez, Malala Yousafzai, Marley Dias and others. They will read, annotate the text, and will write an organized informative paragraph why the person might be considered “greathearted.”
 
Here’s an overview of the entire year of 4th grade in our Wit and Wisdom English curriculum.

 

PE & Recess

Please help your child wear clothes and shoes appropriate for running and jumping on their PE days. Closed toed shoes such as tennis shoes would be great; sandals or boots do not work well for PE.

Blue Class PE days: Monday & Thursday
Red Class PE days: Tuesday & Friday
 
At recess, students will be outside even in drizzle. So please have your child wear layers and a jacket or hat during rainy, cool weather.

 

Building and Field Trip Volunteers

The school will be requiring that folks who would like to volunteer at the building or on field trips complete a Volunteer Orientation before beginning their support of the classrooms and our students. In 4th grade there are opportunities to volunteer at recess, in the library, and on field trips. Later in the year, there may be classroom volunteer opportunities, too.

These will be offered once a week on Wednesdays in September from 6-6:30pm via Google Meet.  

To join the video meeting, click this link:  https://meet.google.com/nyt-vivo-hhx

The September dates will be  9/11, 9/18 and 9/25. Once you have completed the video orientation and District  Volunteer Background Check we will ask that you sign a Charlemagne Confidentiality Agreement at the front office on your first day.

September 9-13, 2024

le 9 au 13 septembre 2024

Upcoming Dates

  • Wednesday, September 25 – Picture Day!
  • Thursday, September 26 – Curriculum Night (6:00-7:00 pm)
  • Friday, October 11 – NO SCHOOL (Veterans Day)

Please ensure that you email BOTH TEACHERS when you communicate with us.

(kincaid_j@4j.lane.edu and hopper_s@4j.lane.edu)

Mme Jana, French & Science teacher kincaid_j@4j.lane.edu

My name is Jana Kincaid, and the students call me Mme Jana. I have been teaching at Charlemagne for 19 years, this is my 20th, and I love teaching fourth grade. I teach French language arts, sciences, art, cursive, French keyboarding, and some social studies, i.e. geography & a large francophone study we do in the spring. I”m sorry that I will be absent this coming Friday. Your children may have told you that I broke my foot, and I’m hoping I’ll be told I can get out of my stormtrooper boot. Debra Gelzer will be my sub.

Blue homeroom kids will continue to start the day with me on Monday, September 8, and Red homeroom students will start with Mme Shelli. We will switch next week.

Le français

Thank you for completing the parent survey (homework) the students received last Thursday. If you haven’t seen this form, have your child ask me for another copy. We find them very helpful. I think we had a great short first week. We mostly went over school and classroom routines those two days. We also did a getting-to-know-one-another activity. We prepped our French journals with tables of contents and numbered the first 20 pages. They  did an alphabetizing evaluation which allows me to see what work we need to do there. We began a logic packet called “Problèmes de logique,” which many students enjoy. It’s a French logic packet that they can work on when they have finished class work. 

This coming week, we will begin correcting what I call the “horrible sentences.” I create a sentence with errors, and the students do their best to correct on their own or with a partner, then we go over the corrections together. This has multiple grammar lessons in it, and the students learn how to use editing marks.

We will begin our cursive writing instruction this week with the letters c, a, d, and g. We’ll go through all lowercase (minuscule) letters, then progress and work through all uppercase (majuscule) letters. French assessments, which include writing, speaking, comprehension, reading, and listening will happen during the next three weeks. None of the assessments are very long, and I don’t put them all on the same day. 

We will also begin (or just began for one class) our first art project this week which involves concentration and fine motor control. It takes a few weeks, but you’ll be seeing those lovely projects soon as we hang them up on our walls. This coming week, we’ll begin a “Moi!” project which is all about them… in French.

Les sciences

We will begin our first science unit, Soils, Rocks, and Landforms (La terre, les pierres, et les formes du relief) in early October. 

Mme Shelli hopper_s@4j.lane.edu English & Math teacher

Hi. I’m Mme Shelli. I’ll be teaching English, Math, and some Social Studies this year. I’ve been at Charlemagne for 12 years as a teacher and longer as a parent. I’ve taught grades 1-7 in several types of programs in Oregon and abroad.

I enjoy being outdoors hiking and paddle boarding. I also love teaching and planning fun learning opportunities for students to do in school.We look forward to seeing you all at our curriculum night on September 26th.

                                         Math

This year, both 4th and 5th grade classes are piloting new math curricula. This week we delve into review of 3rd grade multiplication strategies and make connections to 4th grade standards using the Bridges Mathematics Program.  You can learn more about our Math pilot here. This month, we are focusing on Multiplicative Thinking. Students should become fluent not just in basic multiplication facts of x1 through x10 and will demonstrate their thinking in a variety of ways. I’ll update in more depth here each week about what is happening in math. For your reference, here’s an overview of the math standards for 4th grade.

English

We are starting our first English unit called, “The Great Heart” this week. Students will define what a great heart is both literally and figuratively.  To begin, students will discuss “greatheartedness” as having traits such as kindness, perseverance, courage, or helpfulness. Over the next two weeks, they will read several short biographies of people who have shown greathearted traits through their words and actions. Students will work in small groups to write an organized paragraph to describe these “greathearted” people.
Here’s an overview of the entire year of 4th grade in our Wit and Wisdom English curriculum.

 

PE & Recess

Please help your child wear clothes and shoes appropriate for running and jumping on their PE days. Closed toed shoes such as tennis shoes would be great; sandals or boots do not work well for PE.

Blue Class PE days: Monday & Thursday
Red Class PE days: Tuesday & Friday
 
At recess, students will be outside even in drizzle. So please have your child wear layers and a jacket or hat during rainy, cool weather.

 

Building and Field Trip Volunteers

The school will be requiring that folks who would like to volunteer at the building or on field trips complete a Volunteer Orientation before beginning their support of the classrooms and our students. In 4th grade there are opportunities to volunteer at recess, in the library, and on field trips. Later in the year, there may be classroom volunteer opportunities, too.

These will be offered once a week on Wednesdays in September from 6-6:30pm via Google Meet.  

To join the video meeting, click this link:  https://meet.google.com/nyt-vivo-hhx

The September dates will be  9/11, 9/18 and 9/25. Once you have completed the video orientation and District  Volunteer Background Check we will ask that you sign a Charlemagne Confidentiality Agreement at the front office on your first day.