Mrs. DeBusschere's Blog

We will have a spelling test this Friday. This will be our last spelling test this school year. Words were given to your child by the substitute teacher at school today.

Please feel free to join us this Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday afternoon at 12:15 to help us make our 4th grade scrapbooks (May 15th - May 18th). Since I am NOT a scrapbooker, I'd LOVE volunteers to help.

Next Monday, May 21st and Tuesday, May 22nd the students are going to teach the class. Children will choose their topics this week and need to come prepared to teach a 10 to 15 minute lesson on their topic. Children can teach anything that interests them as long as I approve of their topic. Last year we had lessons on everything from soccer strategies to Chinese culture. Children need to come to class with everything they need for the lesson they are going to teach (props, pictures, handouts, etc). I do NOT want students to feel stressed over this assignment. I DO want children to ENJOY getting to be the teacher and share with the class what they love.

Wednesday, May 23rd and Thursday, May 24th are Early Release Days. Students will be dismissed at 12:30 PM on both days. Thursday, May 24th is the LAST day of school for students. Please send me a note if your child's transportation changes. Thanks!

Finally, I want to let you know that I have thoroughly enjoyed working with you and your children this year. I LOVE these students. Even though your children will be IMPORTANT fifth graders next year, I hope you will all come by and visit me. I am going to miss ALL of you so much!

Mr. Phelps' last day was today. He LOVED the class gift the children gave him. Thank you so much for your generosity. A big thanks to Mrs. Palmer, Mrs. Plunkett, and Mrs. Rixom for juice and cupcakes.

We did NOT have our spelling test today as planned. We were so busy saying goodbye to Mr. Phelps. We will have our spelling test on Tuesday instead.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE continue to send in empty cereal boxes. We only have ten. We need nineteen more. We will start on our cereal box book reports at the end of this week.

The week after next we are going to make our fourth grade scrapbooks. Thank you to Mrs. Chighizola for putting all the books together for us. We really need your help!!!! If you are a scrapbooker (I am not), please send me an e-mail or a note if you would like to voluteer to help the children with their pages. This is an extremely BASIC scrapbook, but if you have the funky scissors, stamps, stickers, etc. that scrapbookers use and would like to voluteer to help with this project, I'd be soooooooooo grateful. Also, we would really appreciate donations of any pictures that you have taken of the class throughout the year such as the "Native American" presentations, "Colonial Day", "American Revolution Museum", "Manners Matter" ceremony, etc. You will NOT get these pictures back. They will be used in the children's scrapbooks. So, for example, if you have a class picture of "Colonial Day" and would like to donate 29 copies of the picture, I would give each child one of those pictures to put in their scrapbooks. I am planning for the children to work on these scrapbooks on May 15th through May 18th. We would love any of you who want to come help to come at 12:15 on those days.

Important Dates:
*Friday, May 11th- FIELD DAY....PLEASE come "hang out" with us. Our field day time is the first 80 minutes in the morning.
*Monday, May 14th- Mrs. DeBusschere will NOT be at school. There will be a substitute teacher on this day.

The "Manners Matter" celebration was PRECIOUS!!! The students were true ladies and gentlemen throughout the entire ceremony. Mayor Matthews came, talked to the children, and passed them their gifts. Also, he was so kind to autograph the students' gift bags and take pictures with all of us. Thank you to all the parents who helped make this event happen. We have Mr. Palmer to thank for the awesome ties each boy received. His company, Tom James, donated all the ties. Thank you to Mrs. Palmer, Mrs. Plunkett, and Mrs. Chighizola for all the party food and punch.

Spelling words this week are:
cradle, able, settle, rifle, rattle, bugle, cable, middle, table, bottle, muscle, paddle, bridle, jungle, tremble, single, scribble, sample, battle, handle, scramble.

PLEASE send in an EMPTY cereal box with your child. We are using these for book reports. If you have several empty cereal boxes, we'd be happy to take them off your hands. THANKS!!!!!!!

Mr. Phelps last day is this Friday, May 4th. We will miss him so much!

We will have a spelling test this Friday.
The spelling words this week are:
saddle, total, angel, special, evil, pedal, bundle, cancel, struggle, level, fragile, fossil, angle, signal, stencil, vowel, pupil, council, April, couple, metal, novel, needle, local, journal, jewel.

I will not be at school on Monday, April 30th or Wednesday, May 2nd. The children will be in great hands with Mr. Phelps and a substitute teacher on both of these days.

Our "Manners Matter" ceremony is Tuesday, May 1st at 1:15. Please RSVP by April 26th.

Mr. Phelps' last day with us is Friday, May 4th. He has been a WONDERFUL student teacher. We are going to miss him so much!!!!!!

Looking Back - American Revolutionary Wax Museum

In case you missed our Wax Museum last month here is an explanation of the process and some examples of what we did.

 Download American Revolution VIDEO 

We hope everyone had a wonderful break last week.

We will NOT have a spelling test this week or next week. As you know, the CRCT begins next week. Please encourage your child to get plenty of rest, eat a healthy breakfast, and come to school on time.
For homework this week, your child needs to complete one reading and one math skill daily in Study Island- www.studyisland.com .

Mrs. Chighizola gave every student a set of personalized (with the child's initial) thank you notes the Friday before Spring Break. Children were taught the parts of a good thank you note and how to write one. Thank you sooooooo much Mrs. Chighizola. This Friday we will continue our "Manners Matter" unit with Mr. Palmer talking to us about how to "Dress For Success!" We can't wait!!!!!!!!!!

Mark your calendars for our "Manners Matter" ceremony. It will be Tuesday, May 1st at 1:15. We would love for parents to attend this special ceremony. Your child is expected to dress nicely for this celebration. Girls can wear dresses or skirts. Boys can wear shirts with collars and slacks/pants. Each child is going to receive a very special gift at this ceremony.

There will be an English test and a science test this Wednesday. Children should have the study guides in their agendas. The English test covers the rules of capitalization. The science test covers vocabulary on food chains and food webs. The tests will be multiple choice and fill in the blank (word box included).

Mr. Phelps and Mrs. DeBusschere will not be in class on Monday, March 26th. There will be a substitute teacher on Monday.

Mr. Phelps taught a wonderful lesson today on table manners from our "Manners Matter" unit. We will send home a letter to parents on Tuesday of the "do's" and "don't's" of eating at the table. Don't be surprised if your child asks you to give them soup for dinner one night so they can demonstrate the proper way to eat it. Some of the manners children learned today were where to place their napkin, how to butter bread, and how to cut meat (we used marshmallows). We were VERY impressed with the children.

Spelling Words:
brother, favor, cover, motor, weather, rumor, mother, regular, calendar, doctor, rather, flavor, sugar, silver, popular, harbor, cedar, flower, dollar, solar, mirror, grammar, father, tractor, lunar, after, error.

Please send back the report card signature card and the enrollment form if you have not done so already.

Remember, there is NO school Monday, April 2nd through Friday, April 6th. We hope everyone has a wonderful Spring Break.

REMINDER....Our class is going to Sibley Pond on Monday, March 19th. This is an OUTDOOR field trip. Please encourage your child to dress accordingly. Please make sure your child brings a SACK lunch labelled with your child's name for the field trip if you indicated your child would bring a lunch from home. You may want to include a bottle of water labelled with your child's name. It will help us tremendously if all lunch and water bottles can be disposed of at the field trip site. In other words, we would really appreciate NO lunch boxes, etc.

The children did a MARVELOUS job on their American Revolution Museum projects. Mr. Phelps and I were so PROUD of them. Thank you so much for attending this event. Also, thank you for all your help getting the backdrops ready.

We began our "Manners" unit this past Friday. We learned how to "set the table." Don't be surprised if your child asks you to let him/her set the table this week.....It's part of the students' homework. This Friday, students are going to learn more about table manners. A letter will be sent home to parents listing the "do's and dont's" at the table. Our manners unit will last until the beginning of May.

In science, Mr. Phelps is teaching a unit on SPACE. Children will learn about the planets, moon phases, and constellations.

Report cards will be coming home this week.

"Spring Fever" is very "contagious" in Mrs. DeBusschere's class, and many of us have "caught it." I think everyone, including myself, is ready for Spring Break. Unfortunately, we have 3 more weeks of school until our break. With that in mind, you will see a behavior sheet in your child's agenda this afternoon. Please check this sheet every afternoon. If the sheet is marked, it means that your child struggled with a particular behavior or study skill. I know it only has one place to sign, but if you could initial it each day, I would really appreciate it.

Students are EXPECTED to dress up for the American Revolution Museum. Students will present on BOTH Tuesday, March 13th, and Wednesday, March 14th. Students will quickly change into their costumes after lunch. Presentations begin at 12:30 PM on both days. Students have been working on these presentations for the last three weeks. We really hope you can come to see your child present.

Report cards go home NEXT week. Our field trip to Sibley Pond is Monday, March 19th. Please send a SACK lunch with your child IF you indicated you would on the lunch slip you filled out last week.

Spelling Words:
eleven, woman, gallon, heaven, orphan, curtain, bacon, urban, unison, mission, bargain, ribbon, chosen, slogan, children, pardon, captain, oxygen, organ, fountain, apron, abdomen, certain, villain.

Homework:
Students need to complete 1 reading and 1 math skill in STUDY ISLAND daily.....Monday- Thursday. Thanks!!!

The children are busily working on their American Revolution projects. The papers are typed and hanging in the hallway next to the backdrops. Please feel free to help us with the backdrops today, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this week from 12:15 to 1:30 PM. The children will present on Tuesday, March 13th and Wednesday, March 14th from 12:30 to 1:30 PM. Hopefully, you will be able to come on one of the days to see your child's presentation. Children ARE EXPECTED to dress up in character for their presentation. You are NOT EXPECTED to spend any money on costumes. For example, boys can wear an old blue blazer (if a patriot) or a red blazer (if a loyalist) over a white button down shirt tucked into baseball pants with long white baseball socks and black shoes. Girls can wear long white socks or tights, black shoes, a long skirt, white blouse, an apron made from a white pillow case and yarn, and a pillowcase wrapped around their head. Of course, you and your child can come up with whatever costume works. Last year some children wore vests over white shirts, made wigs from cotton balls and shower caps, created soldier coats by decorating old blazers, etc.

Spelling Words (Test Friday):
rancher, failure, capture, pitcher, mixture, culture, secure, torture, nature, senior, pleasure, future, treasure, posture, stretcher, pressure, teacher, danger, leisure, pasture, obscure, marcher

Our field trip to Sibley Pond is Monday, March 19th from 9:15 AM to 1:45 PM. Please let me know if you would like to chaperone this trip. Chaperones will need to drive themselves and meet us at the location. We would love to have as many chaperones as would like to join us.