Week of August 27- 30

Grade 4 Weekly Newsletter

August 27-30

Curriculum

Reading:

Students will be exploring how to read stronger, longer, and faster while keeping meaning in mind. They will be awakening themselves to the text, making sure they are not reading on autopilot, but giving full attention to the text, imagining the action as it unfolds, using gestures, pauses, and emphasis to demonstrate they understand the import of words. Students will be encouraged to stop and jot about parts of the book that stand out to them. If meaning breaks down students will be encouraged to try out two strategies. One, read on looking for details while asking, ‘What is going on?’ Two, go back and reread.  

Lesson 5: Awakening Ourselves to the Text

Lesson 6: Holding Tight to Meaning

Lesson 7: Welcoming Books

Essential Questions

How can I take charge of my reading life? 

What strategies best support and strengthen reading comprehension?

Writing:

This week we will immerse ourselves into our realistic fiction writing unit. Students will reflect on everyday events for story ideas and think about how they can embellish these ideas to make their characters and stories come alive. Students will learn to develop believable characters. They will expand on their character’s external and internal features, and ask themselves:

• Do these different features make sense within one person? 
• Do they fit together in a believable way? 
• Are these traits here for a reason?
• What exactly does this word, this trait, mean for this particular character?
• What is the downside of this trait? How does this characteristic help and hurt the character?

This week’s lessons:

Lesson 2: Imagining Stories We Wish Existed in the World

Lesson 3: Developing Believable Characters

Lesson 4: Giving Characters Struggles and Motivations

Essential Questions

How can I write long and strong and with independence?

How can I write a fiction story that is similar to published short stories and picture books?

Mathematics:

We are continuing Module 1 in Math. This module is where students extend their work with whole numbers. They develop their understanding of place value and number patterns of ten times. 

Here is the LINK to the Growth Mindset video we began to watch at Back To School Night. We suggest you watch it with your child and discuss what might create a positive math classroom at school. How can you build a positive math relationship with your child?

The lessons are as follows for this week:

Topic A: Place Value of Multi-Digit Whole Numbers

Parent Tip Sheet 

Lesson 1: Read and write multi-digit numbers using base ten numerals, number names, and expanded form.

Topic B: Comparing Multi-Digit Whole Numbers

Parent Tip Sheet

Lesson 2: Compare numbers based on meanings of the digits using >, <, or = to record the comparison.

Lesson 3: Find 1, 10, and 100 thousand more and less than a given number.

Science:

This week in our magnets and electricity unit we will take a closer look into magnets. We will do labs that examine why magnets can attract and repel. We will also look at the types of materials that are attracted to magnets and those that are not. We will then look at magnets that appear naturally in nature - the lodestone. 

Essential Questions:

• What is magnetism?
• What is electricity?
• What do scientists do when working in a lab?
• How are magnetism and electricity related?

Grade 4 Homework:

Daily homework tasks will be written into student planners each day. Tasks may include reading for 20-30 minutes per night, writing for 10 minutes per night along with additional mathematics work. Homework may differ according to teachers and students. Any mathematics homework that students find challenging please advise their homeroom teacher so they can progress accordingly. Homework is not meant to be impossible, challenging for students to grow their brains, but not impossible!

Thank You!

Back to School Night/Parent Day

Thank you for attending BTSN and Parent Day, where we shared with you the learning and development your child will be receiving this year. It was exciting to learn about your children individually during our Parent Day meetings. We look forward to building your child’s strengths and setting goals to continue this learning partnership.

Upcoming Events 

• Aug. 29 Assembly, 7:55am - House event (parents welcome)
• Eid Al Adha (subject to change) Aug. 31 - Sept. 4 Students return Sept. 5
• Sept. 6th will be a Sunday schedule. Please help your child be prepared.
• ES Photos Week of Sept. 10-14 (more information coming)
• September 28th - Student health records due. If records have not been received students cannot attend school on September 22nd.

News

CAC Service Talk: Help 4 Refugees

Jordan Hattar (August 28th & 29th)

We are happy to announce to our students, parents and the CAC community that we have a guest speaker, Mr. Jordan Hattar, who will be offering an inspirational talk about “The Syrian Refugees Crisis” to students.  The objective of these sessions is to help us understand the difference one person can make, the importance of finding/following one's passion, fearlessly creating one's own path in life, and how persistence and never giving up would change our path.

Following one’s heart is an important advice. But how does anyone do it? Follow Jordan Hattar’s story, which took him from southern California to South Sudan, from university in California to the Syrian refugee camps, and from studying genocide intervention at the University of Cambridge to interning with United States First Lady Michelle Obama in the White House last fall. Jordan's presentation brings a human touch to humanitarian efforts in the Syrian crisis, motivates students to follow their hearts, and encourages students to fearlessly create their own path in life.

For more information about the speaker and the event, check this document.

Division	Date	Time	Location
Elementary School Grades 3,4, 5	Monday 28th August	12:50 - 1:50 PM	ES Hall

 
This resource might be helpful and if your kids have more questions or inspiration, please guide them to the Service Learning Coordinator at CAC, Ms. Mariam Hassan or contact me at mhassan@cacegypt.org .

Guidance News
Dear CAC Families,

Welcome to the new school year! I hope you had an enjoyable and restful summer with your families.

I am excited to be teaching the Grades 3-5 Guidance classes again this year. Guidance is a weekly, social and emotional class period that takes place within the regular classroom. The goal of the guidance program is to build your child’s self-esteem and social skills by giving him/her strategies for solving personal and social problems. Lessons during Guidance focus on community building, learning skills, empathy, friendship, emotion management and problem-solving.

We will begin with community building and learning skills. During these units students will be encouraged to:

• recognize and appreciate personal characteristics and contributions to the class and school community;

• discover the unique characteristics in others and how those differences enrich the class and school community;

• focus attention and learn specific ways to be good listener;

• communicate assertively in order to get personal, academic and social needs met.

Please contact me if you have any suggestions or questions about the guidance curriculum. Be on the lookout for Guidance updates in the classroom blogs.

Warm Regards,

Carey Harris

Guidance Counselor Gr. 3-5

charris@g-cacegypt.org

After School Activities

Schedules will be sent to parents Tuesday September 5 at the end of the day. ASAs begin from Sunday, September 10th and run to Thursday, November 9th.

CAC’s School Store is Being Taken Over By The Booster Club!

CAC’s Booster Club is pleased to announce the NEW  Booster Spirit Store.  This will be THE place to get your new PE uniforms, school supplies, and CAC spirit wear. Located behind Café Greco, you will find a new and larger store with parent volunteers happy to assist you in finding what you need for a fresh new start to school 2017-18!

August Store Hours: Aug 16 - 30  7:45 AM - 12 noon; 2:30 PM - 4:00 PM  (no weekends)

Expect great new things from the NEW Booster Club Spirit Store next school year!  (Wanna be a volunteer? Find a link in your school newsletter!). As we are in a year of transitioning over to our new Physical Education uniforms both will be able to be worn for classes this school year.

New HOT LUNCH Vendor!

We are very excited to welcome Richoux to serve our elementary students a nutritious hot lunch four days a week in the ES Lunchroom from Sunday to Thursday for LE 38 & fresh juice LE 7 except for MONDAYS. Mondays  alternate  between Koshari and juice for LE 25 and Pizza  1 slice 20 LE, 2 slices 25LE, 3 SLICES 30 LE WITH JUICE AND COOKIE. Cash only on Mondays, other days lunch cards must be purchased.

Parent/Student Handbook
Our revised parent/student handbook will be online beginning August. The handbook has been updated and it is the place to go to if you have a question and if you cannot find the answer then please contact the ES Office at 2755 5202 or 2755 5203, or email our executive assistant: mgreiss@cacegypt.org

Student Leadership Team
This year’s Student Leadership Team will be coordinated by Ms. Ereeny, Mrs. J, and Mrs. Kasal. We will have 2 representatives (one male and one female) from each class for the first half of the year (Sept-Dec) and 2 different reps for the second part of the year (Jan-June.). If your child is interested, please read the LETTER and fill out the APPLICATION form. All applications are due by Thursday, Sept. 7. Students will also need to prepare a 1-2 minute speech for your class. Interested applicants will need to present the speech and each class will vote between Sept. 8th and Sept. 14th. Each class will need a team representative and alternate for each semester.

From the Health Office

Please remember to complete an updated Annual Student Information form for 2017 - 2018 school year. If you have more than one child attending CAC, please complete a form for each. Students entering grades 3, 6 and 9 also require a medical examination completed by a physician.

 All forms are due the first week of school in August.

Please find the Annual Student Information Form 17-18: HERE and the Student Medical Exam Form 2017/18: HERE.

You can also pick them up from the Health Office.

Lost & Found
Lost and found is displayed on tables outside the Playground Monitors office. Valuables are held in the Activities Office 7:30 am to 3:30 pm. You may email egergess@cacegypt.org if you have lost something valuable (phone, jewelry, glasses, etc.). Unclaimed items will be donated at the end of the school year. Please ensure that your child’s belongings are clearly labeled.

Part of educating students at CAC is encouraging independence through increasing responsible behaviors. When an item is lost, we encourage students to do the following:

• Look everywhere
• Ask others
• Ask parents to report to the lost and found link - LOST AND FOUND Report LINK
• Use the same link to report when the item is found

House events
The house system brings students from different grade levels together to create a sense of unity across and within grade levels. House events are organized during Tuesday assembly time, when students work together in a variety of cooperative games and activities. Students earn house points in a spirit of friendly competition, embodying our core values. Students will also have an opportunity to join the middle school students twice per year. Leadership opportunities are provided for students in fifth grade to be house captains. A plaque is awarded to the winning team at the end of the year.

Parents are welcome. Our first house event Aug. 29th at 7:55am on the ES Lawn.

ES Musical Announcement

It has certainly been a busy week! Thank you for coming to the Parent Information Meeting regarding this year’s ES Production. The Auditions are now complete and the Directors and I will be completing the casting over this weekend. The Cast List will be posted on Monday, August 28th at 3pm on the Drama Newsboard - outside of the Activities Office. As one of my students said in Drama today - “Even if we don’t get the role we wanted, at least we are in the Production!” I love this. The rehearsals will begin September 6th. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Ms. Dolly - ES Production Director

dshalaby@cacegypt.org

Student Leadership Opportunity
Students who are in grades 2 through 5 have an opportunity to apply for ES Student Leadership.  This is a great way for them to show their leadership skills and support the community.  If you feel that your child would be interested in applying please read this Letter and have them fill out the Application and return it to their teacher by Thursday, September 7th.

From the ES Library
Welcome back from the library!
It’s been great to welcome back returning students to the library and greeting new ones. We’ve been hearing a lot about what students have read this summer -- it helps that we have been giving out popsicles after school to students who come to tell us about their reading this week. We are sneaky librarians, muaa ha ha

Library bags

All students need a library bag to transport books home and back to school. The bag must be made of cloth, be large enough to fit at least 2 books and must be labeled with the child’s name. Please please please, keep library bags and materials away from swim bags and water bottles. If a student turns in a water damaged book, he or she will need to pay to replace it.

Parent orientation to the library, August 30
We welcome new and returning parents to our library orientation session on August 30, from 8:30 to 9:30 am, in the Cairo Room of the MHS library. Come to learn about all the resources we have to offer CAC families. Keep up-to-date with the latest news and information about the ES library.

Like us on Facebook   Facebook.com/CACESlibrary

Subscribe to the ES library blog    caceslib.blogspot.com

Follow us on Instagram@CACEgyptLibrary

Hello from Aquatics
PE Swim Class
We are off to a good start in our PE swim classes. A quick reminder to make sure your child is fully prepared for class. This means suit, towel and swimming goggles that fit! We also request that students with longer hair either have a hair tie or swimming cap to keep their hair out of their eyes.

Age Group Swimming
All swimmers must sign up through the ASA link! If you are a new swimmer to the Age Group team, you should indicate that on the ASA signup link and prepare to be at tryouts Monday, August 28.

The water log has additional information about this season! We look forward to seeing a strong team in the pool!

Tuesday Swim School

Tuesday Swim School will begin on September 12. We teach American Red Cross levels 1,2 & 3 as well as offering classes in springboard diving! This is not only a great place to get more practice and time in the water, but also can help bridge the gap between what we work on in PE swimming class and our expectations to join the swim team! More information can be found here. To sign up, please use this form.

Pool Rental

The Hassan/Webb Aquatics Center is available for your event. If you are interested, please email Matt to schedule. A quick reminder that any rental needs to be scheduled around open swim and CAC program times.

Matt Lautenbach

Aquatics Director

mlautenbach@cacegypt.org

MAP Assessment Information

Dear CAC Parent:

At the beginning of the year, teachers spend important time learning about their students.  One feature of this is gathering data about your children’s instructional level for reading, mathematics and language.  

During the weeks of September 5 – September 28, CAC will administer Measures of Academic Progress^® (MAP^®).   At CAC, all students in grade 3 – 9 participate in MAP.  Three tests are taken:  reading, mathematics, and language usage.  Each division coordinates which days testing will take place for their students to ensure minimal classroom disruption.  This year, testing will take place after Eid.  

At CAC, we administer the MAP in the fall and spring.   Teachers use MAP tests to provide additional information about the student’s instructional level and to provide one measure of academic growth throughout the school year, and from year to year.  Students take the tests on a computer.

MAP tests are informational; they are not a graded assessment. Teachers will use the information provided by MAP to support instructional needs for individual students and the class as a whole.  Fall scores are baselines for a student’s growth; growth will be determined after the spring tests that take place in May.  It is important that students child approach each test seriously, well rested, fed and focused.  Nonetheless, it is not something about which students should be overly stressed or worried.

MAP tests are unique in that they adapt to be appropriate for the level of learning of each student.  As a result, each student has the same opportunity to succeed and maintain a positive attitude toward testing. Following both testing periods, parents will receive a report showing their child’s performance.  All prior testing sessions while at CAC will be included.  Unfortunately, MAP does not include testing session from other schools to be included.

For more information on resources for parents, download the Parent Toolkit at www.nwea.org >> Partner Support.  Please let me, your principal or your child’s teacher know if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

David Chadwell  (dchadwell@cacegypt.org)

Director of Teaching and Learning

Cairo American College