Thursday, August 20, 2015

Homework info

Dear Life School Parent or Guardian,

Welcome to the 2015-2016 school year! My name is Nicholas Miller, and I will be your student’s 4th grade Writing. We are going to have a very successful and productive year as we continue growing as scholars and as members of this community.

First things first, I’d like to tell you a little about myself.  I graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in Kinesiology. Over the past few years I have developed a passion for working with young people, and I know the value and importance of a quality education. I was referred to Life Schools through Teach for America (TFA), a national organization that partners with school districts across the country to recruit and place teachers in classrooms.  This will be my second year at Life School.

The classroom theme for this year is Going Places. When others talk about your son or daughter I want them to say he or she is going places; in school and in life. I have set high expectations for this year and will give students the necessary skills and tools they need in order to reach those goals.

I believe every student is capable of reaching their full potential. This is possible, but only with our combined effort. I know your schedules may be busy, so I want to extend myself out to you as much as possible. I do not believe my time with your son or daughter is limited to traditional work hours. I am willing to meet in mornings, evenings and even on the weekends. Please remember that I am flexible and willing to work with you to meet your student’s needs.

That being said, I want to establish an open line of communication with you. If there is anything you need, please feel free to text, call or email. Information for remind 101 (a very important notification system) is listed below.

Please Sign Up for Miller’s Remind 101

ALL Parents: Text the message @4b2n to phone number 81010

Parent Name: ________________________        Date: _________________________

Signature: ___________________________        Email: _______________________________


nicholas.miller@lifeschools.net

214-517-3793

goingplaceslife-school.blogspot.com  (Classroom Blog!)

Homework (Two Parts)  Beginning August 24th

Sight Word Work

Every two weeks, students will receive Sight Words. These are words that are important for Fourth Grade students to know how to spell correctly and use correctly. There will be a sight word quiz every other week on Fridays. The Sight Word Homework Includes the following practice for each word.

Write each word using stairstep spelling

ex.

Write each word using it in a sentence

ex. The soldiers were ready to leave for boot camp.

Write the definition of each word

    ex. To be ready means to be available when asked or to be willing.

Write each word five times

    ex. ready,ready,ready,ready,ready

Journal Check

On the Fridays when no sight word quiz is given, students will have what are called journal checks. Students should be using their own journal (which stays at home unless it’s friday) to write EVERY DAY, even if it is only half of a page. The journal check will be based on the honesty system. I will collect a few journals at random. If there are no entries for that two week period, the student will receive a zero for homework.

Thursday, May 7, 2015

End of Year Survey!

Good Afternoon parents!

I've created an End of Year Survey in order to receive some feedback on this year. Please click or copy/paste the link below in order to complete. It will only take a few minutes to complete.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/F7BWV59

Thanks!

Monday, May 4, 2015

Weekly Announcements 5/4 - 5/9

Weekly Announcements May 5-May 9:

Parents, I know with the year coming to a close, keeping students (and teachers sometimes) engaged in continuous learning can be difficult, but I have stressed the importance of finishing strong with my students. Last week we lost two instructional days, but this week we are only losing one to the Paul Quinn College field trip. With that being said, we will have reading logs and sight word quiz scheduled as usual. Reading logs, however, will need to be completed on a piece of notebook paper.

Sight Words:

fur
weather
whether
pour
poor
pause
route
quiet
quite
quit

Texas A&M Field Trip Pictures -- I am currently trying to round up as many field trip pictures as possible and then I will share the google document with anyone who would like to view them.

End of the year party at Kiest park! -- Mrs. Kelley and myself have agreed to host an end of the year party for all students and families at Kiest park. The tentative date is Saturday, May 16. We've worked really hard this year, and we'd like everyone to come out and celebrate that success!

Survey! Parents, I will be sending home a survey next week asking a couple of questions about your student's experience this year as well as your own. It was my first year as a teacher and I need to do a lot of reflection and grow upon my weaknesses. More info to come on this as well.

Progress reports will be sent home this week! 




Paul Quinn Field Trip!

Parents, tomorrow (May 5th) we will be attending Paul Quinn College for our 4th grade field trip. Below are some reminders for the trip. Address: 3837 Simpson Stuart Rd, TX 75241. The students will be participating in a volunteer evvent at the farm where they will learn about where food comes from and how eating healthy foods can help them live a long healthy life. After visiting the farm, they will have the opportunity to explore the campus.

Itinerary:

10:00 AM Depart Life School for Paul Quinn
10:30-10:40 AM: Meet at Adams Administration Building, Introductions
10:40-10:50 AM: History and overview of Paul Quinn College
10:50-11:05 AM: Walk from Adams Administration Building to the WE Over ME Farm
11:20-11:50 AM: Tour of the WE Over ME Farm (interactive, hands-on)
11:50-12:15 PM: Farm activities (weeding, planting, harvesting)
12:15-12:20 PM: Reflections, Q&A
12:20-12:30 PM: Clean up, depart from farm
12:30-1:30 PM:   picnic lunch exploration of campus
1:30-1:45 PM:     Board buses
1:45-2:15 PM: Arrive back at school

Dress attire:
Students will be spending part of their trip working with plants at the farm. For this reason, we request that they wear blue jeans and a Life School shirt.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at 214-517-3793!

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Texas A&M University



Parents, our day for the Texas A&M field trip has finally arrived! This letter includes very important information concerning the trip!
A couple of things the students should/can bring:
  • snacks (in a bag with their name on it)
  • water bottle
  • hat/sun glasses
  • sunscreen
  • umbrella (in case it rains)

Dress attire:
  • shorts or pants (no skirts/leggings/sweat pants)
  • shoes they don’t mind getting a little dirty and that can tie up
  • Texas A&M Field Trip shirt (students must wear this T-Shirt)

Itinerary:

6:30-6:40am Students arrive to Life School Oak Cliff Elementary, Sign in, Restrooms
6:40-6:45am Review Schedule and Field Trip Expectations
7:00-10:00am Bus departs LSOC and travels to Texas A&M University--College Station
10:00-10:15am Students will take a restroom break and prepare for tour of campus
10:15-11:15am Students will participate in campus tour
11:15-11:35am Students will have an opportunity to shop in A&M bookstore/gift shop
11:35-12:00noon Students will load buses and head toward Texas A&M Challenge Course
12:00-12:30pm Students will eat lunch and prepare for activities at Challenge Course
12:30-2:30pm Students will participate in Challenge Course activities
2:30-3:00pm Clean up/depart for LSOC
6:00pm Students arrive at LSOC



In order to receive updates during the trip, please make sure you are signed up with my class on remind101. To sign up, text the message @4b2n to the number 81010.

Sunday, April 12, 2015

One Week Until STAAR!

Parents,


We have ONE WEEK until reading STAAR! Our students have been working extremely hard to prepare for the upcoming Math and Reading STAAR tests. For the most part, we have been reviewing major concepts. The next several days we will spend time reviewing Poetry, Drama, Summary and Making Inferences. Please make sure that students are reading every night this week and continuing to build their stamina with reading for longer periods of time.


Sight words this week.
This is the first week of the last six weeks of school. With that in mind, it is very important that students start off strong by turning in homework and being prepared for sight word quizzes.



astronomer
climber
painter
writer
astrology
biology
geology
study
malfunction
malnourished





Other important upcoming events.
  • Monday -- Challenge Course safety agreement waivers will go home.
  • Thursday @ 6:00pm -- Meet the Teacher Night: Parents and students will have the opportunity to meet teachers for the upcoming grade level if planning to attend next year.
  • Friday, April 17th → Field Trip Waivers are due
  • Tuesday, April 21st → Math STAAR
  • Wednesday, April 22nd → Reading STAAR
  • Friday, April 24th → Texas A&M University Field Trip



Like always, if you have any questions or concerns for what is happening this week, please feel free to contact me. 214-517-3793, nicholas.miller@lifeschools.net.


Remember that you can follow on twitter:       @goingplaces303


Blog: goingplaceslife-school.blogspot.com


Sunday, April 5, 2015

Two Weeks 'til Reading STAAR!

Parents,


We have TWO WEEKS until Math and Reading STAAR. It is very important that students are coming to school every day during the next two weeks prepared and ready to learn. In my class, that will mean having something to write with EVERY day. Students will be reviewing concepts they’ve been learning all year long. This week, from 10:00 til 11:45 every day, students will have Math Camp, where they will receive small group instruction from fourth grade teachers, tutors and specialists.


Field Trip information:


Please remember that Texas A&M University Field Trip forms are due Wednesday, April 8th, 2015. I have to confirm the number of students attending for lunch/catering purposes. Please do not hesitate to ask questions if for any reason you are hesitant about giving permission for your child to attend. We can assemble a car pool for parents who would like to attend but do not feel able to for other reasons. If students need another permission slip, Tuesday will be the last day to pick one up.


For reading this week, we will review the following skills:


sequencing
text features
paired passages
main idea
summary


Sight Word Homework:


Students will need to write each word five times, use each word in a sentence, define each word, and write each word using stair step spelling. Practicing spelling for 15 minutes every night ensures that students will do better on the sight word quiz (which counts as a test grade!)



hopeful
useful
purposeful
thankful
helpless
hopeless
motionless
speechless
precaution
prepaid
prepare
prevent



As always, if you have any questions about anything, please call/text 214-517-3793 or email nicholas.miller@lifeschools.net.


If you would like to make a last minute contribution to the A&M Field Trip, there are still a few days left! Follow the link from the blog: goingplaceslife-school.blogspot.com or retype the following url→




There’s only a few days left!