Marcus News

Remember, our Barnes and Noble Night is this Thursday (26th) from 5:30-8:00 at the B&N in Muskegon. Come support Holmes! A percent of sales goes to support literacy at Holmes Elementary. You can even shop online using code #10575538 at checkout. The code is good all weekend! Our Holmes Choir will be singing at 7:00 and many students will be sharing their writing. I hope you can make it!

Also, remember to keep selling chocolate for our Chicago fundraiser. Bars are $2 each, and checks can be made to Holmes Elementary.

It was great to see the 4th graders faces back at school after a long break. One of the things we did last week was talk about resolutions for 2012. The fourth graders brainstormed resolutions for school, home and the world. After brainstorming 3 resolutions that were important to each of them, they each chose 1 resolution to share. Turn up the volume and enjoy!

Our Resolutions for 2012 from Julie Marcus on Vimeo.

Happy New Year to all! I hope you have had a wonderful and restful break.
I included our group photos below of our tie-dye fun!
I’m looking forward to seeing everyone on Tuesday! Enjoy your last two days off!

To go along with our current read aloud, Schooled, we tie-dyed shirts today with Mr. Z. The story is about a boy named Cap Anderson who lives in a community that practices the beliefs found in the 60s, but finds himself enrolled in a middle school of the current time. We had a great time designing our t-shirts! I went home with blue hands–wash and repeat!

Thank you to Mr. Z. for directing this project, and to the helpers that stopped in: Miss Ashley, Mrs. Stewart, and Mrs. Smith. We are planning to all wear the shirts on Friday so I can take a “groovy” photo!

Last week we had Mrs. Elder’s class visit. They shared the narrative stories they wrote and we gave them compliments on their writing. The 4th graders also shared their story mountains for our fiction stories we are working on. Below are some photos of our sharing.

On Tuesday, we made “Thundercake Cupcakes” based on the book Thundercake by Patricia Polacco. We used the book to focus on the main story elements in fiction: setting, characters, conflict and plot. Overall, students gave our creation a 4 star rating. The recipe went home Tuesday as well.

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends. Below are photos taken by our 4th grade “photographers”!

Today we had our second day of swimming. Next Friday will be our final swimming class for this fall. Friday is our early day with the bus picking us up at 8:50. I tried to catch the 4th graders in action as they swam like fish!

Thank you for meeting with me to discuss your child’s progress this year and set goals for the rest of 4th grade. Together, we can make this journey a great one!

Recently, the 4th graders wanted to do something special for Fire Safety Week. The boys and girls in Room 15 used creativity to share fire safety tips and advice. They pulled together as a team and created the video below. Turn up the volume and watch our Super Stars in action!

Fire Safety Week by Room 15 from Julie Marcus on Vimeo.

The rain cleared up, we had great costumes, and were able to parade! Thank you for joining us today. Here are a few snapshots!

Thursday was a day for illusion, monsters, and more!  During the day the fourth graders were treated to an amazing presentation by master illusionist, Tom Coverly. Students were amazed as knotted loops of rope magically hooked together, three colored balls appeared to reorganize themselves in a tube, wedding rings disappeared and reappeared tied to shoes, quarters appeared in pop cans, and even a sword somehow passed through the neck of one student. You can check out more of Tom Coverly at:
tomcoverly.com

At night, monsters, zombies, pricesses, pirates, and all the scary and fun creatures walked the halls of Holmes looking for candy, and they even danced in the gym. The Monster Mash was great fun!