2016 Summer Learning Challenge - Free Opportunities for All Students 

 Montgomery, Ala. - To succeed in school and life, children and young adults need ongoing opportunities to learn and practice essential skills. This is especially true during the summer months. Unfortunately, some youth face having limited or no access to summer educational opportunities¹. 

For Alabama’s students, those months away from school can result in a loss of knowledge and reading ability. The Summer Learning Challenge raises awareness of the summer loss epidemic, shares compelling research on the importance of personalized reading activities and provides access to a variety of free resources to support targeted reading and math summer learning. 

There are FREE ways to keep students engaged and excited about education: 

·         The Lexile-based “Find a Book, Alabama” tool (Lexile.com/fab/Alabama) offers students over 160,000 books from which to choose. This book-search tool enables individuals to build custom reading lists based on their Lexile range and personal interests, and checks the availability of books at the local library. The search tool includes a growing collection of English literary and informational books. 

·         Children, parents and educators can also pledge to read using the “Find a Book, Alabama” tool starting May 1st. All students should be encouraged to pledge to read.

·         The Alabama Summer Learning Challenge also includes a FREE email-based math skills program for children who have just completed 1st through 7th grades. Parents and other summer care-givers can begin registering for the program today.

Starting Monday, June 20, parents will begin receiving daily emails with fun activities and resources to help their children retain math skills acquired during the previous school year. After the program ends on Friday, July 29, parents can print an award certificate to celebrate their child's summer accomplishment! 

·         This summer, Stride is FREE to all students in the state from May 1 to July 29.  Prevent “Summer Slide” with a cool blend of online math, reading and science skills practice, spectacular video games and peer competitions to pass the lazy summer days. Students may access the Stride learning platform online anytime, 24-7, on tablets, PCs and Macs. 

LTS Education Systems offers the Stridegame-based learning program used in many Alabama school districts during and after school hours for fun and personalized learning.

Register and log in atwww.AlabamaSummerStride.com. LTS will provide a dedicated Parent Support Line for the Summer Learning Challenge. Parents can call in to 1-844-855-4023 for help with Stride.

Resources and Materials

“Find a Book Alabama” is offered in partnership with the ALSDE and MetaMetrics, Inc. Choose your reader’s comfort with grade-level material or reading ability for a full list of books to read all summer! In English and Spanish.http://www.lexile.com/fab/alabama.

 Don’t forget to submit your Summer Reading Pledge beginning May 1.

 Print your own Bookmark! 

All Alabama Public Librarieshttp://www.publiclibraries.com/alabama.htm. Visit your public library for book lists and summer reading programs for kids of all ages.

Know the Facts¹ – Research   

How to Beat Summer Learning Loss –Article

Week 33-34 Vocabulary and Spelling Words

*Learn to spell and define these words.

*Vocabulary Test on Monday (April 25) and Spelling Test on Thursday (April 28)

*Words are from The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, Ch. 3-6

1. pursed—shrunk into folds or wrinkles; puckered

She pursed her lips. (p. 34)

2. sarcasm—a sneering or cutting remark

His tiny brain was probably trying to detect sarcasm in my statement. (p. 36)

3. lumber—to move clumsily or heavily

Watching him lumber back toward the apartment building… (p. 36)

4. vivid—clearly seen; full of life; bright

          That night I had a vivid dream. (p. 41)

5. bellow—to roar with a hollow, loud animal cry

…I heard a distant bellow, an angry, tortured sound… (p. 42)

6. cloven—split or divided

          There were cloven hooves. (p. 43)

7. bulging—swelling or sticking out

…bulging biceps and triceps and a bunch of other ‘ceps… (p. 50)

8. coarse—rough-feeling; not soft

Coarse brown hair started at about his belly… (p. 50)

9. newfound—discovered

Newfound strength burned in my limbs… (p. 53)

10. recoiled—drew back in alarm or horror

I recoiled at the taste, because I was expecting apple juice. (p. 60)

Week 31-32 Vocab/Spelling Words

Compound Words
Vocab test on Monday, 4/11
Spelling test on Tuesday, 4/12

1. driftwood--wood that floats on water
2. waterfront--land along a body of water
3. cardboard--stiff, heavy paper
4. junkyard--a place where junk is kept
5. sunburn--the result of too much sun on skin
6. beanstalk--the stalk on which beans grow
7. quicksand--loose sand and water that gives way under weight
8. landmark--a building or place kept to mark an event that happened there
9. gingerbread--a kind of cake or cookie made with ginger
10. textbook--used to learn about a subject

Vocabulary and Spelling

Week 29-30 Vocabulary/Spelling Words

*Learn to spell and define these words.

*Vocabulary Test on Monday (Mar. 21) and Spelling Test on Thursday (Mar. 24)

*Words are from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, Ch. 11-13

1. stale—not fresh; dry or hardened

…the bread…was so stale he could hardly get it down.

2. vermin—small, disgusting animals that are difficult to control

“Speak, vermin!” she said again.

3. gluttony—eating and drinking much more than usual

“What is the meaning of all this gluttony, this waste…?”

4. transparent—easily seen through

Soon the beech trees had put forth their delicate, transparent leaves.

5. schemes—plans or plots, usually underhanded or evil

…something had gone wrong…with the Witch’s schemes.

6. pavilion—a tent or small building for shelter

…they saw…a pavilion pitched on one side of the open space.

7. solemn—serious; in deep thought

…they just caught a glimpse of…the great…solemn…eyes…

8. brute—nonhuman creature; beast

The great brute bowed its head, turned, and galloped away.

9. dispute—argument, debate, quarrel

          In the meantime we will not dispute about noises.

10. traitor—a person who commits treason or betrays another person

“You have a traitor there, Aslan,” said the Witch.

Week 27-28 Vocabulary and Spelling Words

Week 27-28 Vocabulary/Spelling Words

*Learn to spell and define these words.

*Vocabulary Test on Monday (Mar. 7) and Spelling Test on Thursday (Mar. 10)

*Words are from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, Ch. 5-7

1. sulky—moody, gloomy, dull

…Edmund had been feeling sick, and sulky, and annoyed…

2. sightseers—people who go about seeing places and things of interest

…parties of sightseers arrived and asked to see the house…

3. apologize—ask forgiveness for some fault or insult

“I apologize for not believing you,” he said…

4. wrenched—to pull or jerk with a violent twist

The door had been wrenched off its hinges and broken to bits.

5. treason—something done to harm your own government or ruler

…a charge of High Treason against her Imperial Majesty Jadis…

6. enchantment—a magic spell or charm

She has made an enchantment over the whole country…

7. dazzlingly—shining or reflecting brilliantly

…the snow all around them grew dazzlingly bright.

8. beckoned—signaled by a movement of the head or hand

…the Beaver…beckoned earnestly to them.

9. hoarse—making a harsh, low sound

…saying to them in a hoarse, throaty whisper…

10. modest—humble, not boastful

…he now had a sort of modest expression on his face…

Field Trip

Our Groundwater Festival field trip is this Friday! We will come back to the school to eat a sack lunch from the lunchroom or students may bring their lunches just like always.
Students will receive a free festival T-shirt to wear on Friday. It looks like the weather will be chilly, so a long-sleeve shirt under the T-shirt might be a better choice than a jacket (that has to be kept up with).
The trip is short, so we will discourage students from bringing electronics or other toys. Questions? Please comment below.
Remember, this will be just like a regular school day, but we will have a field trip during the day. We're sorry, but parents are not invited on this trip. We will have another field trip later that we will be glad to invite you to participate in.

ELA and Math Update

Lately, in ELA, we have been learning about summarizing text. We are working on matchbook summaries, summarizing each chapter of The Tiger Rising. We are also working on writing personal narratives using sensory details to help our reader see, hear, feel, smell, and taste whatever it is that we are writing about.
Ask your child to summarize a nursery rhyme like "Little Miss Muffet" or "Humpty Dumpty" and you will see what I am talking about.
In math, the students are working with fractions. Yes, this is probably one of the most difficult concepts for fourth-grade students. Mrs. Roberts is using techniques to help the students think through the best ways to tackle fraction problems. One of the key concepts with fractions is knowing the multiplication tables. Your child will be a much better math student if he or she memorizes the multiplication facts.