May 8, 2026
Dear Families,
Happy Mother’s Day to all of you Moms out there! I am eternally grateful for all that you do to support your child and me in my classroom. You are amazing! I hope your families treat you like royalty!
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you for all of the wonderful tokens of appreciation you gave me this week! I am honored to be the teacher of each of your children! They make me smile and my “heart pitter-patter!” They are such a joy to teach and thank you for sharing them with me!
We had fun with Missoula Children’s Theater this week for those in the play. As a class we also had a class on mime. The pictures below are from that time!
Please make sure you sign the permission slips for the May 18th Mt. Baker Theater play/dance “Under the Tangle” performance. It is right around the corner!
MAP testing will begin next week on Tuesday morning through Thursday morning. Please help your child get good sleep the nights before!
The last book report of the year will be on a biography! Students will be dressing up like their character and telling about their lives and answering questions in character! Students will be assigned starting May 26th. There will be 6-7 people a day.
Blessings,
Paula A. Martin-Zender
Academics
Religion – Fourth Grade Theologians learned about the Transfiguration and we did a Mother’s Day craft.
Language – We began reading in small groups about one of these famous pilots: the Wright Brothers, Amelia Earhart, and Neil Armstrong. For writing, we are continuing to write a five-paragraph essay on our favorite pet. For Spelling, Unit 31 involved the sh- words and sounds.
Math – Fourth grade mathematicians are working on connecting fractions to decimals. We also worked with money.
Science – These scientists are learning about volcanoes. Students began researching a specific active volcano on earth.
Social Studies – We are learning about Washingtonians lives of today, celebrating the diversity of our state.
Specialists
Art – Fourth grade students learned how using simple, intentional lines can make animal drawings look more realistic rather than cartoon-like. They also practiced avoiding human-like features on animal faces to better capture natural proportions and characteristics.
Spanish – We started a new topic in which we will practice prepositions of place such as: adelante, izquierda, arriba y al lado.
Music – This week in music we are learning to play C7 and F chords on the ukulele and practicing smooth transitions between chords, dancing the Texas folk song Billy Billy, working with partners and taking turns creating movements, and finally we are listening to music by Edvard Grieg and discussing elements such as tempo, dynamics, instrumentation, mood, and articulation.
Physical Education – This week in PE, we kicked off our gymnastics unit! Students got moving with a fun Swork It warm-up video—it’s free and easy to try at home with the whole family. We also practiced traveling across the mat, learned different types of rolls, kicks and cartwheels and explored individual balance skills.
May 11 – Literacy Night 6pm
May 18 – Mt. Baker Theater performance field trip
May 22 – Early Release for Memorial Day weekend
May 25 – no school – Memorial Day
June 2 – Field trip to Marine Park