Dotun, Corrionna, Katie, Abel, Emily, Ashlee, Samari, Jaylin, Chelsea, Ryan, Brenden, Indira, Skylir, Mary, Sara, Joel, Drew, Casey,, Christoper, Alexander, William, Jacob, Nadine, Sydney, Jamie, Dylan, Nancy, Mahrysa, Zach, and Jadyn

Get ready for a great year!

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Who: This will be a project for Room 130 fourth graders and families.

When: Thursday, June 10, from 5-8pm will be our Garden Work Day. We will also need students and families to help tend the garden over the summer and to harvest the produce in the fall.

Why: Our class feels we are capable of planting a garden because we have learned about what plants need to live. Also, we will be growing this garden as a community service. The produce we harvest will be donated to Carriage Town Mission or other area food banks. We want to put our knowledge to work to help others!

What we need help with:

Our class is using a $100 minigrant to purchase top soil, plants, seeds, lumber, and hardware. We have enough top soil for the three boxes and all the vegetables and seeds (donated by Walker Farms). We also have some composted manure that has been donated. We still need help with a few items.

• Family volunteers to help build the boxes, till the soil, fill the boxes and plant the vegetables.
• A rototiller that we could break up the grass with.
• 12, 40-lb bags of peat moss to help hold in the water over the summer (or a donation to purchase some peat moss). We will have 8, 40-lb bags of topsoil for each box. It would be nice to add 4 bags of peat moss to each box.
• A power drill (cordless or powered with an extension cord) to assemble the boxes. We will be using 1/4” hex head screws. I have a hex head bit.
• Help with assembling the boxes.
• Rakes, shovels and hand shovels to use for the day.
• A truck to use to go pick up the lumber (9, 2×6’s).

Can you help us on our Garden Work Day on Thursday, June 10? Post a comment about how you can help, or just contact me.

• When: Tuesday, December 8, 2009
• Time: Meet at McGrath at 7:15 am for 7:30 departure. Back to McGrath at or before 3:00 pm.
• Where: Michigan Capitol Building and Historical Museum in Lansing
• Cost: No cost for students or parents, except for souvenirs
• Permission Slip: Download the permission slip for this trip here
• Lunch: Bring a sack lunch with disposable containers
• Chaperones: We are looking for chaperones for our field trip. We’ll even throw in a free bus ride! Our school asks that you have a Volunteer Information Profile on file with the office.

  Would you or a family member like to chaperone? Just fill out the form below:

Who: Room 130

What: A Hawaiian Beach Bash!

When: Friday, October 30, from 9:30-11:45a

Where: McGrath Small Gym

Why: It’s our Halloween party, with Hawaii and beaches instead of ghosts and goblins.

How: We’ll all wear beach-type clothes (shorts, t-shirts, Hawaiian shirts, sunglasses, leis, grass skirts, hats, etc.). We’ll decorate the small gym in an Hawaiian beach theme. Students will play crazy, Hawaiian beach-themed games, and then we’ll have Hawaiian pizza and fruit kabobs!

Can you help?

We need families to help in these ways:

• To donate towards our Hawaiian pizza
• To donate supplies, beverages or fruit
• To help with setup, games or cleanup

Would you like to help? See our volunteer donation list or add your name to the guest list if you are coming.

Please contact me if you have any questions.

You cannot allow your children to remain indifferent about their homework. If they develop such an unmotivated approach to learning, they are likely to have problems handling the “real world” as well.

The quote above, from the book Homework Without Tears, reminds us of the importance of homework.

If your student is having a problem with completing work, you may want to consider one of the suggestions from this book: to set up a Daily Homework Time.

The idea is to have students expect to work for 40 minutes every night, even if there is no “official” homework. When no homework is assigned from school, students work on other academic activities to practice, extend or enrich their studies in school, such as practicing cursive, working on math facts, or exploring the Internet to find out more information about the current science topic. When students understand that they will work for 40 minutes on homework every night, they will be less likely to argue, procrastinate, or “forget” their work.

And what happens if students refuse to do their work during Daily Homework Time, choosing just to sit there or work slowly? Well, the student has a choice. He can complete the work, or sit at his desk without TV, music, video games, computer, phone or any other privilege. Once he knows that you mean business, the work will get done.

Find more information about homework and missing assignments on the Homework Policy page. I also have copies of Homework Without Tears if you would like to borrow one.

End of the Year 2008-2009 from Christian Howd on Vimeo.

Fourth grade with Mr. Howd, McGrath Elementary, 2008-2009.

Thanks to all the families that brought a dish to pass, helped with food preparation and cleanup, and helped with the games.

I wish everyone all the best over the summer and into fifth grade!

Here are some memories from our fourth grade year:

• Grand Rapids Academic Summer Program (GRASP). This is a program for reading and math. The cost is a very reasonable $61 for both subjects. I highly recommend this program due to it’s inexpensive cost and easy-to-use format.
• Grand Blanc Schools Summer School Program, June 22-July 22. This program offers instruction in reading and math. The cost is $150 per class. Enroll in the McGrath office.
• University of Detroit Mercy Summer 2009 Reading Skills Programs for Children. The class meets at Mott Community College once a week for five weeks, and costs $269.
• The Learning Center of Southwest Flint Summer Program. This is a one-on-one tutoring program.
• Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge. Resources for parents and students to get them reading this summer. Research says students need to read 5-6 chapter books over the summer to keep their reading skills fresh going into the next school year (students who don’t read over the summer usually experience a drop in their reading level).
• McFarlen Library Summer Reading Program. Stop by to enroll, or visit the website to check out upcoming events.