Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Post 4 Full of Spirit

Full of Spirit

     Please join us for the School Picnic on the Green, Thursday, October, 1st at 6 pm, to celebrate St. Catherine's School's 125th Anniversary. Don't forget to wear the school colors, gold and white!

     Students have chosen individual presidents for their online research studies and will begin the fact-finding process using the Lower School Library encyclopedia libguide.  

     Please sign up to join us for Fourth Grade Parent Technology Night on Thursday, October 8th. This information will familiarize you with the many sites your daughter will be accessing throughout the school year. Look for an email about this!

     The girls will be coming home with completed/graded assignments. Please remove them from your child's binder and look through them together. They do not need to be returned. However, all tests should be signed and returned to the teacher for the student's classroom file.

     Come by to see student silhouettes and beautifully watercolored inscribed squares on our class bulletin board! Students have been honing their skills using rulers and compasses to create geometric works of art. They have also filled their silhouettes with adjectives that describe themselves.

     The girls are developing both good computer and navigational skills and are engaging in greater creativity in computer usage that links with fourth grade curriculum.

     






Monday, September 14, 2015

Post 3 Getting the Hang Of It

Getting the Hang of It

After two short weeks of school, students are happily getting the hang of the schedule and fourth grade routine.
Things are settling down and we will have plenty of time for days filled with the love of learning.

Thank you for coming to Parents' Night. Feel free to contact me if you have questions concerning your child or the curriculum. You may either email me or contact me by phone through the school directory. I am always happy to answer your questions.
Please sign up for a Fall Conference to discuss your child's progress.

Student binders should be looked through and cleared out once a week. Tests and quizzes are sent home on Mondays and graded student work is most often sent home on Tuesdays.
Students took their first Spelling Test on line this past Friday and did an excellent job. Their work and scores are recorded and your daughter should be able to show you where it is located on the Spelling City website for easy access.

Our Social Studies Unit 1 will focus on the Three Branches of Government and how it works. We will begin our first (in class) research  project on the Presidents.
Our first field trip will be to Mount Vernon, on November 3rd.

The girls are completing their "Who am I?" paragraphs on their google drives, to put together with their computer pixilated avatars, for their first technology projects.






Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Post 2 Great Beginnings

What's the Buzz ?



















The Fourthies have had a wonderful start to the new 

school year 2015-2016! The girls have spent time 

organizing materials, getting to know each other, and 

learning new routines. The week went by quickly and I look

forward to the coming weeks with such a wonderful class.






       Students are being introduced to websites that will be
used consistently throughout the school year. They have a 
page in their binders which has all their user names and 
passwords in one easy location. I have asked the girls to 
always keep it in their binders!

     Fourthies shared a beautiful Opening of School Chapel on the "Green" to cheer on the new school year. It was a glorious day!

     The girls enjoyed an "ice breaker activity" called Saving Samantha and made avatars on the computer. They are working on the first math unit, which is geometry: learning about lines, segments, and rays. 

      The first classroom "read aloud" will be Wonder, which I will read to the students. The first classroom novel for literature will be All of a Kind Family by Sydney Taylor.
* The Secret is to Keep Everything Simple *



Sunday, August 2, 2015

Post 1

Welcome to Mrs. Cavallo's 
Fabulous Fourthies Blog!


I hope you have had a refreshing summer and that you are as excited as I am, to begin a new school year. 
This is Your Year! 
You will have many new experiences and opportunities as a Fourthie, that you only dreamed of in years past.


While on explorations this summer, if you happen upon a shell, or find something interesting like unusual beach sand, (only a few tablespoons), or some small pieces of coral, algae, sea grass, or anything from the beach with an interesting shape or color, you may want to save it to contribute to a class project .

Please make sure to bring some of your supplies to Orientation on August 31, any time between 1 and 2 p.m. They can be placed in your classroom cupboard. You will not need to bring everything.


Have a special spot at home, where you keep school supplies, so throughout the year, you have easy access to them, when needed.
Here is what you should bring:
Science Binder: organized and replenished
Foreign Language Binder: organized for two languages
Class Binder, lined paper, subject separators  labeled: Homework, Notes Home, Language Arts, Mathematics, Social Studies.


6 Pencils and an Eraser
Colored fine point Markers
Crayon and Colored Pencil Twistables
Scissors, Watercolors Black Sharpies Fine and Extra Fine
1 Highlighter (any color)
1 Highlighter (yellow)
Composition Books
Tissues/Paper Towels
Personal Mini Hand Sanitizer
Fanny pack
2 glue sticks
earbuds/headphones


     
       My Story



Mrs. Cavallo
I was raised in La Jolla, California and taught at a private, independent school in San Diego, for nineteen years. I love anything that is related to the sea. My family and I packed up and moved to Richmond, Virginia to take on a new adventure. I found this beautiful and brilliant school, where I happily teach fourth grade girls. I adore reading, gardening, watercolor painting and learning to use new technology.




I look forward to a magical year with you!