Hawthorn Elementary North

Thanks for visiting my blog page, I invite you to leave a comment!! Make sure to sign up for conferences on November 24th or 25th. I look forward to meeting with you and discussing your child's progress. Students are working hard in all subjects and their assessments show steady growth. You should be receiving my frequent class home notes about the research behind my lessons, specific concepts students need to know for upcoming tests, and ideas on effort. Please contact me anytime with questions or concerns...we are a strong team when we work together! I believe in your child and their abilities. As I stated in a recent home note, Vince Lombardi said "The dictionary is the only place where success comes before work". At first, the students struggled with the deep meaning in this quote. Now, they understand what it means and it's a life lesson I revisit in a different way each and every day!! My direct school phone number is 847-990-4577 and my e-mail address is alberts@hawthorn73.org.

Click below to see pictures from Mrs. Albert's classroom! Students have been busy writing letters to soldiers overseas. We also made a poster to welcome home our returning local marine. Enjoy the pride and joy in your child's face!

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0KbtWLdo5YsJG

Well, the end of 2007 is rapidly approaching. We had a wonderfully productive first half of the school year. Your child has met the challenges of fourth grade! Please spend some time over the winter break reading and "thinking out loud" with your child about the many meaningful moments you are sure to experience together. Sharing your thoughts, impressions and feelings, and asking your child about theirs, can turn an ordinary event into a meaningful and memorable one! Happy New Year and have a fun and relaxing break. I would love to hear from you or your child so e-mail me at:

alberts@hawthorn73.org

Thank you!
Mrs. Albert

Happy Thanksgiving! It was nice to see many of you at conferences to discuss the progress of your child. I invite you to contact me any time with questions and comments. You are an important part of your child's education and are valued as such. Have a great break with your child! Remember teachable moments are all around us...if you're watching a movie or show you can ask your child what they would do in that situation or how they might feel-quiz math facts in the car-ask specific questions instead of yes/no-have them make predictions about endings of stories or movies-estimate grocery total or figure out change-dictate your to do list as an organizational model-have them brainstorm the order in which you'll get everything done! You probably do most of these things without realizing you are reinforcing life skills!

Keep up the good work!
Mrs. Albert

Thank you for visiting my page!
The school year is off to a great start. We have already accomplished so much! In writing, we have made 5 W stories in preparation for learning about Narrative writing. In reading and spelling students are learning to "tap out" sounds to decode and encode words. Our first spelling in context assessment is tomorrow. We learned about scooping out sentences for fluency and comprehension. We applied our 5 W knowledge to understanding each scoop that we read, then the students took turns being the "who" and acting out the action (the "what" happened) in the sentence. Ask your student to teach you some of these strategies. This will help to confirm their understanding and give them the ability to use the strategies independently. Students have been on Read Naturally and are working on hundred's charts at home and during free time. One student is already on 800!!! In math we are moving on to rounding from place value. We will use the familiar phrase "high five" to determine if we should round up or not. MAP testing, our district wide assessment began and will continue next week. I will be sending home a graphic organizer with your chid to help them write their cereal box summary.
If you have any questions, I invite you to call or e-mail me. I look forward to meeting you on back to school night.
Mrs. Albert
847-990-4577