Dear Team 15,
It has been a pleasure teaching you this year. I hope you learned as much as I did. Each of you brought stories, ideas, and strategies to me that I never knew about before, and guess what, I got a lot smarter because of you.
Most of all, I'm proud of the way that you persevered as a class, and the way that you all developed new skill and knowledge throughout the year. The big accomplishment at the end of the year was the way that you all worked together to create research reports, presentations, and displays. Your collaboration led to wonderful creations--creations that entertained, informed, and challenged me as a learner and global citizen. I want to take better care of the Earth because of the research and learning you presented in your endangered species reports.
I wish you all a wonderful summer. I hope that you will continue the learning with any or all of the following activities.
Khan Academy
I hope that you'll try to complete Khan Academy's fourth grade program with regular study. I am planning on completing Khan's fifth grade program as I prepare to teach fifth grade math and science next year. You could even complete this challenge with a friend. If you finished the fourth grade program, I hope you'll work on Khan Academy's World of Math challenge.
Math Facts
If you didn't meet the math facts expectations of 100 facts in 3 minutes or less, I hope you'll keep practicing using any of the fun math practice sites listed on our class math website.
Writing
I hope you'll write daily this summer. The more you write, the better you get. You can write in an online or offline journal. You can write books, stories, songs, poems, riddles, news articles, or even letters to me. Just email me, and I'll respond. Don't worry about being perfect when you write, just do it, and you'll get better and better. You might also want to write your science stories on our fifth grade science share site.
Reading
I suggest you join the Wayland Public Library summer reading program, and ask the librarian for suggestions for good books. You may want to make visiting the library a regular part of your weekly routine. Also make time for reading every day. Read all kinds of text including chapter books, picture books, magazines, newspapers, Internet articles, and more. Like writing, the more you read, the better you'll get. Also, reading teaches you about all kinds of subjects, and that knowledge helps to make you a brighter, more successful person. Add your summer reading to our class Summer Study list too so we all know about the wonderful books you read. Listing your books will give all of us ideas for new books to read too.
Science and Social Studies Exploration and Investigation
You will learn about all kinds of topics from reading and writing. You can also learn by visiting local museums and conservation areas, watching videos, researching on the web, and talking to experts. The local library has passes to many wonderful museums that you may visit at low cost or no cost. There are also many theaters in our area that offer plays and films about interesting subjects. You may even want to research, write, and act out your own plays or films.
Play
Play is "children's work," so make sure you play a lot--play games, play outdoors, play sports, and more.
Safety
Remember to stay safe this summer by following the safety rules we've talked about all year:
- Stay with others, don't go off alone particularly in new places.
- Don't go off with strangers for any reason.
- Don't play with matches.
- Only play in water or go swimming with a trusted adult nearby.
- Wear sunscreen, check for ticks.
- Eat well, get plenty of exercise, and sleep.
- Wear your seat belt and bike helmets (watch out for sand and slippery leaves too when you bike :))
I wish all of you a wonderful, happy, and adventurous summer vacation. I look forward to moving up with you to fifth grade next year. Stay in touch. Have fun, and be good to your family and friends.
Your teacher,
Ms. Devlin
