Deming’s Dialogue

Grade 4 – Room E-5

                                                                           August 21, 2009

 

Dear Parents,

Welcome Back!!   I am looking forward to a wonderful school year with you and your child.  Thank you for joining with me to make this a great year.  Our school time is from 8:30 A.M.-3:15 P.M.

We will be doing some exciting projects and units integrated with Reading, Language Arts, Math, Social Studies, and Science.  You, your child, and I are equal factors in the success of all objectives.  Concepts, skills, and activities that are being learned at school need to be reinforced, reviewed, and discussed as homework at home regularly.

 

CURRICULUM

 

            Reading and writing are areas of vital importance.  Please try to set aside time to read with your child.  I will also be reading aloud to the class at school daily.  Students will be involved in reading at their level and testing on Accelerated Reader or writing a report on non Accelerated Reader books.  Non Accelerated books will need to be approved by me to verify the book’s reading level and points.  A report can then be written to receive those AR points.  We will be using the reading series by Harcourt Publishing titled Storytime, Grade Five. We will also read several class novels,  A Land Remembered, The Night of the Twister, Voyage of Patience Goodspeed (historical fiction), Strawberry Girl, The Talking Earth, Missing Gator of Gumbo Limbo, and The Rats of NIMH,  that we will critique and complete in-depth activities on.  I will also use several titles for our Literature Circle groups.  We will  be reading Junior Great Books curriculum that allows students to interact with thought provoking stories to develop critical thinking skills, vocabulary, and reading comprehension in the context of thinking and reflecting.  Students will be involved in recalling and organizing details from the story, drawing inferences, analyzing characters’ motives, and finding the main idea of a passage or the text as a whole.  Students will develop a sensitivity to language and explore new ideas through writing about it.  Students will be involved in Exploring Literature projects throughout the year.  Twenty-five minutes of Reading will be a nightly homework assignment.  A reading log will note individual student goals in AR, pages read, and time read.  This chart must be logged and signed each night by parents.

            Children will be reading and writing in journals of various content areas and working with vocabulary in numerous ways.  A vocabulary word will be studied each day.  The vocabulary log will then be taken home for parents to initial as students use that word in conversation each evening.  Students will be experiencing the craft of good writing as they learn to hook their reader, focus, organize, elaborate, and perfect conventions while publishing their own works.  Reading and writing will encompass all areas of curriculum and will be integrated through the use of novels and content reading.  Poetry will be a major focus in enhancing writing.  The FCAT writing assessment will take place in February and will allow students the opportunity to demonstrate their proficiency for effective writing in both expository and narrative forms as well as knowledge of grammar and writing structure.

Math is another important area of focus.  Students will be immersed in observing, manipulating, understanding, applying, communicating, writing, and seeing the relevance for math in everything they do.  We have our own class store and checkbook system.  Sunshine and STAR  Math, which are used as extensions of our math curriculum, will be ongoing throughout the year.  The points earned from STAR and Sunshine Math convert to dollars that will be logged in each student’s checkbook.  Students receive various points not only for correct answers, but also for showing their work and justifying their thought process in our class review. Students will then be able to shop at our Class Store as they balance their checkbook and correctly write a check.  We will be using Harcourt Math (Grade 5).  Pre and post tests will determine each student’s mastery and movement.  Mountain Math, which encompasses the skills and concepts of particular grade levels, will also be used to differentiate the needs of each student.  It will include grade 4, 5,6 and pre-algebra.  We will also be working with Algebra through the use of  Hands-On Equations, which is a hands-on game approach to learning Algebra.  There will be ongoing creative and critical activities that promote thinking and explaining that thinking.  Students will be involved in Survival Math projects throughout the year. 

Social Studies is centered around the study of Florida History with stations set up for hands-on learning in the classroom.  Current Events will be an on-going assignment.  The current events notebook is contained in the communication binder and lists the requirements and provides the rubric for grading.  This will always be noted in the Agenda Book one week in advance.

Science is centered around monthly concepts that will cover all science curriculum strands throughout the year. Our study of Social Studies and Science will involve exciting activities and opportunities in stations based on the multiple intelligences that will be enhanced by novels, hands-on lessons, experiments, research, and reporting, Science Fair Engineering projects will begin in the first few weeks of school, and a Social Studies biography report and book authoring will occur toward the end of the school year.

          

HOMEWORK

            There will be regular homework assignments each week.  On Monday homework assignments will be written on the large chart posted beside the white board for students to then copy in their Agenda Book.  The week’s assignments will be given on Monday, so that students have the flexibility of completing the homework on nights around any other commitments they may have.  Assignments will be reviewed and explained clearly to students prior to going home.  Homework will normally be expected for Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.  Wednesday and Friday will be nights for extra reading and/or for working on special long term projects.  Homework due dates will usually be Thursday and Friday as noted each Monday in the Agenda Book.  Special projects will be assigned each month, to include Exploring Literature projects, Survival Math projects, research projects, and Science and Social Studies projects, with advance notice of due dates.  Many regular assignments will be challenges where students are given credit for their critical thinking when more than one answer is acceptable and welcomed.  Thinking creatively is the key!!  Homework is a very important part of the learning program.  Research has shown that homework is positively correlated with achievement.  It also teaches and reinforces responsibility.  Credit will be given for effort and thought.  Most important, I want students to be able to think and rationalize their thoughts and ideas.  They are given extra credit for justifying a result regardless of the intended answer. Daily homework should take no more than one hour per night to complete with 25 minutes of that hour designated for reading.

 

 

AGENDA BOOKS

 

            We will be using Agenda Books each day for homework assignments and correspondence.  The Agenda Book will be contained in the back of the White Communication Notebook.  Please ask to see this important notebook each and every night.  After your child has completed the assignments for that evening, please review them with him or her and then sign the “Agenda Book.”  Your signature is required in the “Agenda Book” each night.  I check it each day.

WHITE COMMUNICATION NOTEBOOK

 

           The White Communication notebook holds the Agenda Book and is also an important notebook to review each night.  In the front of the white notebook will be a Monthly Communication Calendar listing monthly events.  Communication reflecting behavior and compliance to class and school rules will be logged daily on the calendar.  This calendar needs to be signed over each weekend to verify that you have reviewed the week’s notations and have seen my note from Friday.  This notebook will also contain the Special’s calendar, snack calendar, a section for spelling, vocabulary, poetry, a section for reading which contains your child’s AR goal for each month and a sheet to record their reading, both AR and non AR, a section for STAR and Sunshine Math sheets, and a section for the Current Event’s Notebook and Agenda Book. A second section will contain Special Assignments of Survival Math and Exploring Literature.  I will provide the tabbed sections for this notebook. Students should carry this white notebook, along with their Agenda Book, to and from school each and every day.

Red Dot Stickers

           Any papers or tests that come home with a RED STICKER in the upper right corner will signify a paper that I wish to keep on file or display in our classroom.  Please watch for the RED STICKERS and return those papers signed the following day

 

REDO

Papers marked with a RED DOT STICKER and an “R” for “REDO” should be corrected at home and returned to me for remarking and scoring.  It is important that students understand why they missed what they did and be able to redo it correctly for credit.  I regrade the “redo” paper and average the initial grade with the “redo” grade, and that average becomes the student’s final grade on that paper.  Failure to return the “redo” paper results in the student keeping the initial grade.

 

 

TEACHER WEB /SITE

 

          My Teacher Web Page will be available to you, on line, at any time.  It will include a copy of my Weekly News Letter, which you will also receive a paper copy of, Homework Assignments, Calendar of Events, Frequently Asked Questions, Teacher Bio, and Links to helpful Web Sites.  You can access my site by going into www. teacherweb.com and following student directions for “Find Your Teacher” or http://teacherweb.com/FL/FruitvilleElementary/KayDeming .

 

 

 

CLASSROOM RULES AND DISCIPLINE PLAN

 

Classroom rules are posted, monitored and reinforced on a daily basis.  Students will be expected to Respect Themselves, Respect Others, Respect Their Work, Think Smart, and Make Good Choices.

   

 

SNACKS

            We will have a class snack each day.  You will find a snack calendar attached.  We have 20 students in our class at this time.  We will store the snacks in our room and use them as needed.  Please send in snacks such as baked crackers, goldfish, pretzels, popcorn, Granola bars, Nature Valley bars, raisins, carrots, fruit, and anything healthy.  Please send in items that are individually wrapped, so that time passing the snack out is limited.  Please do not send in candy or fried chips.  A new school board policy states that home baked items can no longer be accepted  for consumption in the classroom.  See student handbook for clarification.  Thank you very much for your compliance.

 

 

ABSENCE/EARLY DISMISSAL

 

         In the event of an absence from school, your child will receive a list of all missed assignments when he or she returns to school.  Your child is responsible for all work that he/she misses during an absence.  Many assignments will be cooperative group activities and not pencil/paper activities.  We will work together to review the concepts covered by the missed activities.  Please send in a signed note for an absence to be excused, even if you made a phone call to inform the school or teacher.

         Early dismissal notes need to be sent in no later than the morning of the dismissal.  I will send students to the office to have the dismissal logged for verification.  Please make it a priority to have your child at school on time unless they are ill.  It is impossible to duplicate the concepts through interactive lessons that are covered during an absence.  Many activities are in cooperative and collaborative groups rather than pencil/paper wor

SCHEDULE

            Our schedule for specials and lunch is as follows:

                                    Lunch        11:05-11:35

                                    Specials     1:25-2:20

 (Specials will rotate on a six day schedule to include Art, Science Lab, Music, Computer, Media, and P. E.)  The designated special’s calendar is attached and will also be in each student’s white communication binder.  This will be especially important on P.E. days, so that proper attire can be worn.  We will also have Fitness for 30 minutes each day which will include sports, obstacle courses, varied games, and walking activities which will fulfill the state required fitness instruction each day.  Proper play clothes and walking shoes will be needed each and every day.

                                   

GRADES

            The grading scale is as follows:

A         90-100

                  B         80-89

                  C         70-79

                  D         60-69

 

Grades are weighted as follows:

                                    LANGUAGE ARTS

                                                Daily Work-                            50%

                                                Tests-                                     50%

                                    MATH

                                                Daily Work-                            40%

                                                Homework-                             10%

                                                Tests-                                     50%

                                    READING

                                                Daily Work-                            40%

                                                Independent Reading-               20%
                                                Tests/AR Goal & AR              40%

                                                   percent/Lit. Reports-                       

                                    SCIENCE

                                                Daily Work/Labs-                   60%

                                                Tests/Quizzes/Reports-           40%

                                   

SOCIAL STUDIES

                                                Daily Work/Current Events-   60%

                                                Tests-                                   40%

                                    SPELLING

                                                Contract/Daily Work-             50%

                                                Tests-                                    50%

Participation and effort are figured into every subject area.

FORMS

  I look forward to working with you this year.  If you have an occupation or talent that can lend us materials or enhance our classroom, please contact me.  Please complete the attached Information Sheet, which will be kept confidential in my file; the Media Release (to allow me to take class pictures and video student presentations), and the Volunteer Checklist (to help me know in what areas you are able to contribute to the classroom).  Also included are a Classroom Directory Request, Water Cooler donation form, Snack Calendar, and Before and After School Policy..  Thank you for your attention to these forms.

 

 

SUPPLIES    

 

Thank you for your prompt attention in obtaining the necessary supplies for the classroom.  Please follow the directions on the supply list for which items to label with name..  If there is ever ANY problem with obtaining the supplies requested, please contact me, and we will work together to fill the request.

 

            Please feel free to contact me for any reason or with any concerns you may have throughout the year.  Together we can make this a year of great accomplishment and pride!!

 

            Thank you.

                                                                                    Sincerely,

                                                                                    Mrs. Kay Deming

                                                                                    Grade 4 Gifted

 

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