E-2 Excellence

May 30, 2023

Dear E-2 Families,

It’s finally here! Thanks to Reed family volunteers, tomorrow is GOLD RUSH DAY!!

Please remind your child to:

•Dress for being outside all day.

•Bring a hat, if they have one.

•If your child wears sunscreen, please make sure they have that, as well.

A few students asked if they could dress up. I don’t see any reason why they shouldn’t, unless the costume/outfit is delicate, inappropriate for outdoor activity, or would be regretted if damaged. I leave that to your discretion. 

Please reach out with all of your questions, comments, suggestions, and concerns at sseyan@sjusd.org. 

Warmly,

Ms. Seyan 

May 16, 2023

Dear Families,

A quick update:

–Wednesday, May 17th from 9-12 in the Reed Cafeteria. Your children will show off their BioSITE presentations as well as explore other classes’ presentations and various intriguing science activities.

Your children did an amazing job pulling off presentations quickly. They will use their insights from this process to design another science project for our class’ benefit. Stay tuned!

(PS- I apologize for my error on the Homework cover page: Again, the Science Fair is on Wednesday this week, not Tuesday. The class will have student choice time after they visit their TK buddies tomorrow to make up for any stress I may have caused them!)

–Chocolate fundraiser–you can still join in! 

No money needs to be paid up front.

Money is not due until June 1st.

Chocolate can still be requested: The 15th was a very soft deadline.

Please reach out for more information  if you’d like to support this fundraiser for the 4th graders’ science camp next year.

–I have been thinking lately about how close we are to the end of the year, and wanted to share how much I have appreciated and enjoyed this class. Your children are an outstanding group, and I will miss them!!

As always, please reach out with questions, comments, concerns, or suggestions at sseyan@sjusd.org.

Warmly,

Ms. Seyan 

May 8, 2023

Dear families,

The Reed Spring concert for Upper Grade students will be held in our cafeteria from 9:30-10:10 AM tomorrow, May 9th. 

Please encourage your child to either “dress nicely” or wear their walkathon T-shirt.

We practiced both songs in my class today and during our regular music time. If all of our children stay focused, their performance should go really well!

If you are not able to attend the concert, check Mr Ramezane’s principal’s message at the end of the week for photos of the event. 

Thank you for your attention.

Warmly,

Ms Seyan 

May 4, 2023

Dear E-2 Families,

There’s actually LOTS of news, but this will only be a quick update.

•The 4th and 5th grade Spring Concert Recital will be held in the cafeteria on Tuesday, May 9th, from 9:30 AM-10:15 AM. Families are most definitely invited.

Students have been asked to wear their Walk A Thon T-shirts or simply to “dress nicely”. Student will perform from the risers on the cafeteria stage, so they will be visible! 

•Order Scholastic books in the next 2 weeks to receive them by the end of school. Here is our ordering information:

Scholastic Book Club Information

Shop Our Class Page: https://orders.scholastic.com/Z2VGX

Shop Digital Flyers for Our Grade with Your Child: https://clubs.scholastic.com/grade4

• Class Code:Z2VGX

May 1, 2023

Dear E-2 families,

I can’t believe May is here! I feel like this has been the quickest year ever. ;o)

Just a few updates today:

•CAASPP testing continues this week with the Math CAT on Tuesday and Performance Task on Wednesday. Please remind your child to charge their Chromebook each night, sleep well, and eat breakfast before they come to school. 

The tests are untimed, and students have as many opportunities as they need to complete them. Makeup sessions continue throughout this week at minimum for students who haven’t completed the assessments or who have been absent. 

•Fourth graders return to BioSite on Wednesday, May 3rd (yes, after the Math PT) for their last visit of the year. We do need parent drivers! If you are available and willing, please reach out to me at sseyan@sjusd.org. 

•We started fundraising for next year’s Science Camp with a collaboration with the San Francisco Giants; next is chocolate sales. A message form Mrs. Slaugh:

“4^th grade families,

To get a jump start on fundraising for next year’s Science Camp we are going to sell World’s Finest Chocolates from May 15th-June 1st. We would like your support in this endeavor. We were hoping that each student could sell between 2-4 boxes of chocolate. Each box has 60 bars at $2.00 each. All the money raised will be shared equally and will go towards reducing the Science Camp costs for ALL 4^th graders. We will be sending home a permission slip sometime this week.

Thanks.”

A final note: The Unhomework this week is for information and entertainment purposes and I do not expect it back on Friday! That said, if your child would like me to check it or display the art, they may certainly turn it in!

That’s it for now! Families, please reach out anytime with your suggestions, comments, concerns, or questions. 

Warmly,

Ms. Seyan

Hi E-2 Families,

The Reed Walkathon Fundraiser is finally here!

Tomorrow, April 21st, your Fourth Graders will walk from 10:10-10:50 PM.

They will receive their FREE Walkathon 2023 T-Shirt tomorrow morning, that is theirs to keep.

For their comfort, please remind your child to:

–Wear comfortable shoes.

–Bring their water bottle.

–Eat breakfast (we are walking before recess’ snack break.)

–If you child uses sunblock or wears headgear to protect from the sun, of course encourage them to use that, too.

Questions about fundraising, donations, or receipts may be directed to Hillary Young of Reed’s PTA.

Thank you for your time and attention. 

Warmly,

Ms. Seyan

Dear E-2 Families,

CAASPP Testing starts next week:

-April 25 and 26, 9:15-11:15. English Language Arts CAT and PT, respectively.

-May 2 and 3, 9:15-11:15. Math CAT and PT, respectively. 

Information about these tests for families in English and Spanish can be found at the Starting Smarter website.

Student practice tests that can be accessed at home can be found on the CAASPP site here. 

We are practicing all the routines and procedures around CAASPP testing this week, including putting backpacks to the side of the room, logging in to the correct test interface, and using all the features of the test to support our experience. We will also come together as a class to figure out what will work and what won’t in creating an equitable and positive testing environment for all!

The WALKATHON fundraiser is happening this Friday, with our fourth graders walking from 10:10 to 10:50. 

Please remind your child to wear walking shoes and to bring water, maybe a hat, and if they wear sunblock, bring that too! 

If you would like to donate to the fundraiser:  

https://app.99pledges.com/fund/Reed/addme

If you would like to volunteer:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0b45aaa929aafa7-reed?useFullSite=true#/

We have continued with POETRY month in class. Today we listened to 2 poems by Langston Hughes: “Dream Variations 3” and “I, Too”; find that page on the class blog here.

All of 2020’s Poetry Month selections can be found here.

Last but not least: Today, teachers were able to learn from someone who has already spoken with families here at Reed: Mary Eschen of Parenting Decoded. Mary is a parenting coach with a podcast, seminars on YouTube, classes, a newsletter, and more; her work can be found online at http://www.parentingdecoded.com. Many of the strategies and observations she shared at our staff meeting were relevant to the work we do with children every day and were bolstered by research. 

Many of Eschen’s podcast episodes sound intriguing and I am planning on listening to at least a few. Podcasts can be found on the Parenting Decoded website here.

Episodes recommended to us by Mary Eschen include:  

35 – How to teach kids to apologize

48- Cultivating kindness in kids

19- Creating Calm with Choices

Thank you for your time and attention. I look forward to more communication in the coming weeks as the school year draws to a close. As always, please reach out with your suggestions, questions, or concerns!

Warmly,

Ms. Seyan

April 15, 2023

I am excited to be welcoming you and your child back from Spring Break! 

A couple of reminders and some extra information before students show up to class Monday the 17th by 9:05 sharp:

•COVID tests were dispersed in class just before Spring Break. SJUSD requests that all students and employees test for COVID the day before school resumes after Spring Break, and that if students have a fever or any symptoms of illness, they stay home. 

•If your child was not in class the day or two before Spring Breaks or did not get their free test and you would like to have them test this weekend, please contact your regular pharmacy or doctor’s office.

•We will start our Monday back with a class circle, Social Emotional Skills lessons, updates to classroom jobs and seating, as well as reteaching and practice of class procedures. The first two agenda items will support students with their classroom relationships, communication skills, and managing their emotions, so necessary as we grow and learn with others!

•Look for me to provide you with information and support for CAASPP testing later this week. Students will have ample opportunity to get comfortable with logging in and working through practice test items in class; they will also be provided with information and support for at-home practice. This  “low-pressure” practice eases anxiety and helps students do their best without undue worry or pressure.

•Last but not least, April is National Poetry Month, and we have been reading, listening to, writing on, and talking about poetry during our morning activities. I was gratified to see how many students checked out books of poetry at the school library last Friday! I have also deeply appreciated the quality of discussion the class has held. I enjoyed sharing one of my favorite poems ever, “When You Are Old” by William Butler Yeats. Afterwards, students surfaced ideas about the poem’s symbolism and commented on Yeats’ rhyming scheme.  If you’re curious as to what all the fuss is about, you may find the poem on the class website here: https://msseyan.com/2020/04/03/april-3-2020/. By the way: In April 2020 I created a month’s worth of poetry and activities on the website for distance learning students. Feel free to check out the day-by-day posts, starting here: https://msseyan.com/2020/03/31/april-is-national-poetry-month/

As always, thank you for your time. Please reach out with any suggestions, questions, or concerns!

Warmly,

Ms. Seyan 

March 28, 2023

Dear E-2 Families, 

Tomorrow, Wednesday, March 29th, your fourth grader will attend the BioSite field trip. Please make sure your child wears warm clothing, a rain jacket or windbreaker with a hood, and sturdy shoes that can get muddy or damp. Even if it does not rain, the outdoor site will likely be wetter than usual. In the event  of rain, plans have been made to bring the day’s instruction, all about Macroinvertebrates, indoors to classrooms at Pioneer High School. Reed departure and return times will remain the same, and no more parent drivers are required! We are looking forward to this adventure for sure.

Last week, fourth graders enjoyed another amazing field trip, this time seeing the San Jose Symphony perform selected music at the California Theater on Market Street in downtown San Jose. Attached you will find a letter of introduction from the Symphony, which includes information on the theme of the field trip as well as links to many of the pieces students enjoyed last week. 

These field trips are just a small slice of what is going on in our classroom. Please keep an eye out for more updates over the next two weeks before Spring Break!

Warmly,

Ms Seyan Seyan

Educator

“It’s About Time” Symphony San Jose

Music happens across time, so it makes sense that musicians have a kind of language about time that enables them to read music and then perform it. “It’s About Time” will explain some of this language and help open the door to musical understanding for you and your students.

The emphasis of this concert will be METER – how music is divided up into sections, called ‘measures,’ made up of groups of beats. Meter is represented with a “time signature” that looks like a fraction in math. The upper number tells us how many beats there are in each measure. The lower number shows how long each beat lasts. If a piece has two beats in each measure, its time signature is “2/4”. If it has three beats per measure, then it’s in “3/4” time, and so on.

Marches have two or four beats per measure, and Maestro Jaffe will be playing music by Prokofiev to demonstrate a march time signature. Waltzes are always “in three” or 3⁄4 time, and we will play one, a dance of gypsies by Georges Bizet. But we will open the program with The Star Spangled Banner, also in 3⁄4 time. Maestro Jaffe will enhance these lessons with a rousing rendition of Mission Impossible in 5/4 time, a jazz piece by the legendary Dave Brubeck in 7/4 and even a piece in 9 /8 time by Richard Wagner.  Along the way your students will learn a bit about instrument families, music history and cultural context, but they will be having too much fun to notice!

https://www.naxoslicensing.com/playlist/MzIyNDcyNC03ZWM4ZWY/

Dear E-2 Families,

On Wednesday, March 22nd, Reed’s Fourth Graders will attend an ArtSpark field trip hosted by Symphony San Jose. Here’s more information, that was not on the field trip form:

“Music happens across time, so it makes sense that musicians have a kind of language about time that enables them to read music and then perform it. ‘It’s About Time’ will explain some of this language and help open the door to musical understanding for you and your students.”

The field trip form indicated that chaperones were not needed for this trip-but we can take 15 parents with us. The caveat? Adult family members need to be set up with San Jose Unified School District per SJUSD’s regulations. Read more here: https://www.sjusd.org/your-resources/parent-resources/volunteer/377/

I would love to have five E-2 family members chaperone our trip. It means so much to your children. If you are already a registered volunteer or will be able to get yourself set up before the 22nd, AND would like to chaperone this trip, please get in touch with me ASAP at sseyan@sjusd.org or by calling 408.535.6247 x. 37143. 

Thank you, families!

Ms. Seyan