• 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.

The GRASP program is a nine-week correspondence summer program in math and reading. It is designed for children who have completed Kindergarten to 8th grade. Children receive a packet of material containing all 9 lessons for the summer. The lessons are scored, results recorded, and returned to the children.

Children successfully completing (70% accuracy) at least 7 lessons are awarded a certificate, and those successfully completing all 9 lessons receive a medal soon after Labor Day.

The fees for the summer of 2009 are $37 for one subject and $61 for both subjects for each child. Each child should be placed at the grade just completed in school. If there are extenuating circumstances, order the level that is appropriate for your child. Materials will be mailed in June.

This is an inexpensive and convenient way to keep your student learning over the summer. In addition, your student’s results will be sent to their fifth grade teacher next year so that they can get off to a great start in fifth grade.

More Information:

• View and print an enrollment form
• Frequently asked questions
• Program objectives
• Program Reviews
• Sample Pages

As always, you can email me from this website. And you can call (810) 341-2112 to speak to me in person or leave a voicemail. But here are some new options:

• You can send a text message from your cell phone to (810) 341-2112. You could previously send a message from the website, but now you can text me from your phone.
• Your voicemail messages will get transcribed and sent to my phone, so I will receive them faster.

I can also send you a text message back. This is an option if you are near your cell phone more than your computer, or don’t have an email address at home.

Our piece due March 27 will be our final fiction project of the year. Students will write a novel. You read that right. Each student will write their own novel, with a word goal minimum of 1,500-3,000 words, based on their reading level (each student’s minimum writing goal is equal to their reading level multiplied by 500). The novels will be written in Google Docs (docs.mrhowd.com) to make use of the word count feature. Final novels will be uploaded to lulu.com and published as paperback books, which can be purchased for reasonable prices. So yes, students will actually write and publish their own novels. This project is based on the National Novel Writing Month Young Writers program. Here are more details:

• We will start this project in class on March 9 and it will be due on March 27; however, students can begin early.
• This is our final fiction project; the novel can be any type of fiction story (mystery, science fiction, fantasy, realistic, historical, etc.)
• We will be working in the computer lab most days, using docs.mrhowd.com to type the novel. Students can also work on this from any internet-connected computer outside of school.
• Students might want to start thinking now about how they will use a computer after school if they need to, and if they will go to the library, use a home computer, or use a friend or family member’s computer.
• If friends and family would like to order a paperback version of the book, we will upload the final texts to lulu.com. Most books will cost between $5 and $10.
• A big portion of this grade will be if students complete their own, personal word count goal.