Welcome to Mr. Tussey's Class
North Forest Pines Elementary
4th Grade - Track 3
WEEKLY REPORT
Week of November 12
Parents,
Welcome back, I hope everybody had a safe and eventful track out! This part of the year gets real choppy with Thanksgiving and Winter break coming up, so be prepared! We come back on Tuesday, November 12, not Monday.
The Book Fair has been going on during Track Out and we will have one short week of it when we get back. The dates and events are as follows:
November 12 - Open for shopping 7:15 AM - 2:45 PM
November 13 - Tracks 1&3 Family Frontier Stop and Shop Mom's Spotlight! 7:15-8:15 AM
November 14 - Tracks 1&3 Giddy Up with Grandparents 7:15-8:15 AM
November 15 - Tracks 1&3 Family Frontier Stop and Shop Dad's Spotlight 7:15 - 8:15 AM
Family Frontier Stop and Shop and Giddy Up with Grandparents - family and friends can shop with your little buckaroo and have a breakfast treat!
-As the weather changes, we have cold and warm temperatures happening so have your child prepared for any weather at recess each day.
-We will have a celebration and presentation where the parents will be invited to come join us towards the end of December, more information to follow.
-I am updating my website with tests to come, these are tentative dates and might change by a day or so, but will still be pretty accurate.
-We have PE on Tuesday, have students wear proper footwear.
-We have Saturday school on November 16th.
If you have any questions please email me.
Thanks,
Matt Tussey, M.ED.
North Forest Pines Elementary
Fourth Grade Track 3
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Week of October 14
Parents,
Please let me know if you are for sure chaperoning the field trip on Wednesday. I know some people were checking on work. I have two chaperones that have confirmed. If anyone else is planning on going, please let me know. Also, if you bring your child to school, try to be here by 7:30 as we are trying to leave promptly at 7:45.
We have a lot going on this week (per usual)! As we head towards track out we are finishing up Unit 1 in EL, which we have been working with non-fiction texts about animal defenses, focusing on main idea, supporting details, as well as summarizing. We are also finishing our multiplication unit, and will be beginning division this week as well. In science, we are also working on our nutrition and animal adaptations unit.
There is also a lot going on around the school, and our wonderful PTA has been working on some awesome things for the school. Below is a calendar of dates for upcoming events. Think about joining the PTA!
Falcon Flash - Sun Oct 13
Please join us for FALL FEST Thursday October 17 from 5-6:30 PM
From 5 - 5:45 there will be games for the kids, vendor tables and Shana Tucker will be providing music she created with the kids! We will have a costume parade and trunk or treat from 6 - 6:30 PM. This event is free for all NFP Families!
NFP PTA is hosting a SPIRIT NIGHT at PDQ on Thursday October 24 from 4-9 PM! Staff and teachers will be volunteering as Greeters, Servers, Counter staff and on the Drive Thru! Remember to mention NFP when you order and a portion of all sales will be donated to NFP PTA!
Boxtops Classroom Coordinators
Our NFP PTA Boxtops team is looking for classroom coordinators to collect and sort boxtops. Use the link below if you can help out! This is an easy at home task, requiring less than 1-2 hours a month.
BOOK FAIR
SAVE THE DATE: NFP PTA Book Fair Oct 31 - Nov 15 - Western Theme! See key dates below or family and grandparent events, as well as an Ice Cream Social and Shop evening on November 4! All Bookfair events are in the media center
Sign up for 2019-20 PTA Membership!
https://www.nfppta.com
Parents, please remember to renew your NFP PTA membership! The classroom with the largest percentage of signups before Oct 1 wins a party as well as earns $50 gift card for the teacher for classroom!
We would love to have you as a member! Our next meeting will be on Tuesday Nov 12 at 6 PM in the Media Center. Please join us as we discuss upcoming events and hear from Ms Bell / Brower on school activities. The YMCA will provide childcare.
Upcoming PTA Events
Oct 17th - Fall Fest 5:00 - 6:30 PM
Oct 24th - Spirit Night at PDQ 4-9 PM
BOOK FAIR (save the dates). Oct 31 - Nov 15
Oct 31 Parade of Books 8:05 AM - 8:25 AM - dress as your favorite book character
Nov 4 - Read Em and Eat Ice Cream - 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM
Nov 6 and 8 - Family Frontier Stop n Shop Tracks 2&4 7:15 - 8:15 AM
Nov 7 - Giddy Up with Grandparents Tracks 2&4 7:15 - 8:15 AM
Nov 12 - Monthly PTA Meeting - 6 PM Media Center, childcare provided by YMCA
Nov 13 and 15. - Family Frontier Stop n Shop Tracks 1&3. 7:15 - 8:15 AM
Nov 14 - Giddy Up with Grandparents Tracks 1&3. 7:15 - 8:15 AM
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please let me know.
Thanks,
Matt Tussey, M.ED.
North Forest Pines Elementary
Fourth Grade Track 3
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Week of October 7
Parents,
Happy Sunday! This week we have a lot going on as we head towards track out. Tomorrow is wear blue to support the fight against bullying, so remind your child of that. Report cards come home tomorrow. Please sign and return the envelopes as we will use the same one all year. Another note, I have had a lot of students asking to go get snacks from the social worker. If you are able to provide a snack to your child, please do so. The snacks we provide are for students who are unable to have snacks provided from home. I would not deny a student a snack, but I just do not want other students taking advantage of this.
In reading we are working on non-fiction text and taking notes, summarizing, and going back into the text to find details. We are focused on Animal Defenses this quarter and will be researching animals soon. In math we are working on multiplication and division. It is incredibly important for your child to know their multiplication facts fluently. It will be very difficult from this point out for them to be successful without knowing their facts up to 12x12. In science we are also going to be working on animal adaptations.
The next two weeks are our field trips. If you have said you want to chaperone the lake trip, please confirm you are able to and let me know.
October 8th, 2019- Symphony field trip
This field trip does not use parent chaperones or volunteers. We will leave school around 9:30 and return around 12:30. Students will use NORMAL transportation to and from school. We will eat lunch when we arrive back on campus.
October 16th, 2019- Harris Lake Park
If you would like to chaperone our field trip to Harris Lake Park in New Hill NC please let me know. We will be in a class group for the entire field trip but I would love extra sets of eyes and extra hands to assist during the trip as needed. Students will ride on a charter bus for this trip. Parents will need to drive. For this field trip we will leave school at 7:45 and we will return around 1:45 in time for dismissal. Students can use NORMAL transportation for this field trip as well but please arrive to school by 7:30. Buses are usually on campus by this time. Carpool students need to be at school by 7:30. We will all walk down to the charter bus together. For this field trip please have students wear outdoor appropriate clothing. Students may get dirty on the field trip. Students should also wear closed toe shoes. We will be outside for the majority of the trip. If you would like to apply bug spray or sunscreen please do so before school. We will eat lunch at Harris Park around 12:00. Please send a completely disposable lunch. I recommend packing lunch in a ziplock or plastic bag due to the ice in the cooler. For this field trip we will participate in three stations.
Beaver Adaptations- In this rotation students will learn all about a beaver and the it's adaptations.
Camouflage Hike- In this rotation students will go on a camouflage hike and attempt to locate all of the "hidden" camouflaged non nature items. They will then reverse the hike and will be shown all of the items. This rotation will focus on camouflage as an important animal adaptation.
Lake Sampling- In this rotation students will dip into the lake for a sample. They will then discuss the animals found in the sample and their adaptations.
If you have not turned in your money for our field trip or paid online please do so ASAP!! Our grade level needs to collect money to pay the charter bus company.
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For the Harris Lake field trip I will need two coolers for lunches. There is ice in the cafeteria that can be used for the coolers. I would also love for parents to be in charge of the coolers, filling them with ice, packing them and loading them on the bus. Let me know if you have any questions.
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Thanks,
Matt Tussey, M.ED.
North Forest Pines Elementary
Fourth Grade Track 3
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Week of September 23
Parents,
Happy Monday! As we enter the last week of the 1st quarter we have a lot going on. We are finishing up work on our poems and the presentations that go along with them. In math we are getting to problem solving with multi-digit addition and subtraction. In Social Studies, we are learning about North Carolina government.
We will take Case 21 tests tomorrow and Wednesday. Please make sure your child is present if possible, gets a good night sleep and eats breakfast before school starts.
Report Cards will come home the week of October 1st. We do not have school on September 30th, it is a teacher workday. Our Symphony field trip is October 8th, and our Lake Harris trip is October 16th. Please send in field trip money by this Friday, 9/27. It is $22.00. The book fair will begin during our October track out and will continue after we track back in.
If you have any questions please email me.
Thanks,
Matt Tussey, M.ED.
North Forest Pines Elementary
Fourth Grade Track 3
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Week of September 2
Parents,
Happy Friday! Please remember we have a long weekend, do not send your children Monday as there will be no adults here to watch them! We had a very successful SOAR Run today, thanks to all who helped out and donated. You can still donate to help the school up until September 3rd. Please fill out both sides and send in your field trip permission forms as soon as you can. Interim reports will come home in Monday (Tuesday) folders.
In reading we are becoming experts on a poet and learning about their life, their poems, and their inspiration for writing. In math we are beginning our unit of place value. In science we are finishing our earth materials unit and will be moving into social studies after that.
I sent out a sign up for conferences, so please check your schedule and sign up if possible. If none of the dates work for your schedule, email me and we will try to figure out a time that works.
Have a nice long weekend,
Matt Tussey, M.ED.
North Forest Pines Elementary
Fourth Grade Track 3
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Week of August 26
Parents,
Welcome back to school! Sorry for the delayed message, but we had a good week back. We have a lot going on at this time. School wide our SOAR run has kicked off and we have until next Friday to raise as much money for the school as we can. We had our pep rally today, so talk to your children about the run!
In class we are working on a lot as well. In math we began our area and perimeter unit. This can be a tricky unit, especially when solving for unknown quantities, so please help them out at home if possible. They should be bringing their journals home, so that can help you know where we are in class. Iin ELA, we are talking about what inspires writers to write. We just finished a week with our poetry specialist Mr. Beadle, and there is an opportunity in the fall for students to enter a poetry competition. I have info if anyone is interested.
New information has become available about field trips, and there will be information coming home in Monday folders about that. Also coming up, after the SOAR run, I will start holding parent teacher conferences. I will send out an email with more information next week. Let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks,
Matt Tussey, M.ED.
North Forest Pines Elementary
Fourth Grade Track 3
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Week of July 15
Good afternoon parents,
I hope everyone is having a nice (but hot) week. We have been working hard on classroom expectations. We are still getting to know each other and I think they are understanding how they need to behave in 4th grade. Still going to work on the talking though.
In reading we are working in our poetry unit. The students are working on learning characteristics of poetry, writing a summary, and finding a theme with supporting details. In math, we started with a unit on using data to analyze and create bar graphs, line plots, and frequency tables. They have math notes glued into their journals and are able to bring those home to review as needed as long as they bring them back. We are also working at building community with our Morning Meetings and Positivity Project. I want them to leave 4th grade as well rounded children, academically and emotionally.
I added a link on my webpage to the AIG nomination form. It is a PDF on the right side, so make sure you get nominations turned in to myself or the office by August 30th.
If you have any questions or concerns please email me.
Thanks,
Matt Tussey, M.ED.
North Forest Pines Elementary
Fourth Grade Track 3
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