Taos Charter School 4th Grade Class

-It's been an excellent year. I've really enjoyed working with all the creative, diligent, kind-hearted, smart kids in this group. I'll miss seeing you all every day! Please email me a schedule of your plays and baseball/ softball games (mbonner@taoscharterschool.org), and I'll come see them if I can. Over the summer, keep your reading skills sharp and get ready for 5th grade by continuing the D.E.A.R. habit of reading for at least 20 minutes every day. Your accounts at Lexia, MobyMax, IXL Math, Spelling City, and Typing Web will all remain open and available for you to use any time during summer break. So be sure to take advantage of your memberships at those sites when you have time.

-Thursday is Field Day for grades K-4 at Kit Carson Park from about 10:30 a.m. to 1:45 p.m., weather permitting . Students should dress for outside PE and bring a snack and a water bottle. Parents are welcome to come down to the park and join the fun! Lunch will be provided to all students by the Friends of Taos Charter School. Parents can meet us at the park and pick kids up by 1:45. Otherwise, we'll return to school on the bus and dismiss at 2:50 as usual. Final progress reports will go home with kids on Thursday. -Career Project thank-you letters and emails were sent out today. If you're hand-delivering yours, don't forget to actually drop it off to the person who you interviewed to thank them for their time and energy. -Missing Library Books: The following students are missing books that they checked out from the TCS Library: Talia, Rafa, Mariana, Diego, Sierra. Final notices went home with students today. Please return those books on Thursday or bring in payment to

-Career Project: Be sure to have a mailing or email address for the person who you interviewed. You'll be writing a Thank-You letter in class. -Bring in a couple of cloth or paper grocery bags to carry home your leftover supplies and belongings.

-Talent Show: Find and write down a few jokes that we can practice in class on Monday. Groups who are singing songs should be practicing their performances! The Talent Show will be Tuesday at 1:00 pm in the gym, and parents are welcome to attend.

-Students should be at school ready to go before 8:15 a.m ., and we’ll return by 5:00 p.m. It should be hot and sunny out there on Friday, so wear a light-colored t-shirt, shorts, and sturdy sneakers. Don't forget to bring a hat, sunglasses, sunblock, backpack, 2 water bottles, lunch, snack, and $5 or so for our DQ stop on the way back home. -MAP Test Results: Students have their results from this year's MAP assessments in reading and math in their take-home folders. I was very impressed with the level of improvement and achievement that this class showed from the fall to the spring. Please contact me if you have any questions about the scores.

-Spelling: Written work is due for the archeological term list. Study for the quiz!

-Students got their final reminder slips for overdue library books today. Please locate those and get them back to our library by Thursday to avoid a $25 per book replacement fee.

-Math: Complete p. 923-924 in My Math. -History: Check out some of the articles, photos, and videos in the links to learn more about Ancestral Pueblo people and Bandelier National Monument. -Parents, please fill out the field trip permission form that went home today. Send that back in to school on Tuesday or Wednesday with $8 cash or check for the bus fee.

1. Anasazi 2. Ancestral Pueblo 3. cliff dwelling 4. viga 5. artifact 6. cistern 7. petroglyph 8. kiva 9. cavate 10. pottery sherd/ shard 11. archeologist 12. pueblo (village, small town) 13. mesa (table, or flat-top landform) 14. Don’t cry over spilled milk. ** This week's list is uploaded at Spelling City. Use your account to practice spelling and definitions.

-On Friday, May 13, the fourth grade class will be taking a hiking field trip to Bandelier National Monument, near Los Alamos. During the morning, we’ll take a 2 ½ mile loop hike on Tsankawi Mesa to tour Anasazi cliff dwellings. In the afternoon, we’ll have a picnic lunch, and then hike down the Frey Trail into Frijoles Canyon about 2 more miles to explore the main ruins. Students should be prepared for the elements and wear sturdy sneakers or hiking boots, and a hat to block the sun. They should also bring a small backpack with sunscreen, at least one water bottle, and their own lunch (if they don't order a school-provided sack lunch). The trip will cost $8 for bus transportation. Please send cash, or a check made out to the school. We were granted an educational waiver from the National Park Service for this visit, so there is no charge for our group to enter Bandelier. If we have time, we’ll stop for ice cream at the Dairy Queen in Espanola our way back to Taos, so kids should

-Career Project: Continue working on Step #7 on the green checklist - putting your posterboard together and planning your presentation. They'll begin Monday afternoon at 2:00, but students may present on Friday if they're ready to go. Students may dress up, or even dress like the career they chose to present, but it's not required. Parents are invited to attend the presentations, which will continue at 2:00 on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. Please mail me at mbonner@taoscharterschool.org if you'd like to attend, and we'll plan on it! -Math: Complete p. 915-916 in My Math if you didn't finish that work in class today.

-PARCC Test Grand Finale!: On Thursday, the class will be taking the final session of the PARCC assessment. They've been conscientious about the testing, and kept very positive attitudes throughout the process. I think we'll see some great results in the fall when they arrive. Thanks for all the support and encouragement they get at home -- it really helps!