Back to School Night Agenda

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Going into fourth grade is an exciting time for both you and your child. It is what we call a “transition year” as they have now left the primary grades and entered the intermediate grades. If you have experienced this transition with an older child, you know from that experience that fourth grade differs significantly from the grades of 1^st-3^rd. In fourth grade, your child will be expected to work more independently on class assignments and projects, be responsible for their own materials and writing down important due dates as well as daily homework, and be expected to be organized and manage their time on all assignments given.

In order for your child to be successful, they will have to turn in all of their work on time and study for all quizzes and tests that are given. Many times, students who have earned “good grades” easily in the primary grades may not find it as easy anymore and those students who struggled in the past will have to work all that much harder to be successful. That is why it is so important that your child remain organized and in class everyday, that they have a well – lit and comfortable place to do their homework on a nightly basis, and that we work together to establish goals that will guarantee the success that every child deserves. It is an exciting time and as we enter the school year, we will be looking forward to many exciting and challenging activities. 

To ensure that all students work to their full potential, daily and weekly procedures have been established.  Please take a moment to review these with your child.

 

Ø      Homework:  Homework is assigned Monday through Thursday night for Math (Lesson reviewed in a take home practice book), Spelling Activity (found on the back page of their Reading Center Packet) and reading (20 minutes) with an accompanying writing assignment (reading log notebook). Please confirm that your child’s homework (including the 20 minutes of reading and reading log) is complete and accurate by signing their planner nightly.

 

Ø      Behavior Plan:  We have a lot of fun and interesting topics to cover this year, so it is crucial that we work together to ensure that your child is receiving the maximum benefit of instructional time.

 

 

Rewards: Students receive tickets for following classroom rules and being on task and helping others.  Each week, tickets will be drawn from the jar for students to select from the treasure chest. In addition to individual rewards, we also have class points. When the class fills up the marble jar, there will be a class celebration.

Consequences: Students who do not follow classroom rules are given a warning. After the second warning, they are asked to sign their name in a book and they subsequently lose recess and are asked to fill out a Behavior Think Sheet.  If a student receives three warnings in one day, a parent will be notified. 

 

Oak meadows Elementary wants to ensure the emotional and physical safety of all students.  Therefore, the Not At This School policy has been adopted to remind students that they are expected to use appropriate language and have positive, non-violent interaction with schoolmates and school staff.

 

 

 

Listed below are several activities to challenge students who are ready for more advanced work. 

 

Spelling Contracts:  Students who receive at least 18 out of 20 correct on the weekly spelling pretest work on a spelling contract where they get to choose their own spelling list for the week.

 

Vocabulary Test Out: Students have the option to take the weekly vocabulary test on Monday.  If they get a 95% or better they are “test out vocabulary” and have an alternate list of words to learn that week.

 

Small Group Instruction: Students participate in small group instruction to increase their skill levels.  Flexible grouping is used for reteaching and challenging students. 

 

Math: Early finishers have the opportunity to work in math centers or on a challenge activity.  There are a variety of centers that include; Versa tiles, graphing, flashcards, geometry, dazzling math art, Read it! Draw it! Solve it!, card games, Marcy Cook Tiles, Math Bingo, and logic problems.

 

Math Tests – Math tests are given each Friday.  When graded and returned to the students, the problems that are missed may be corrected and turned in to the teachers.  Each problem that is corrected accurately earns the students an extra ½ point of credit.

Throughout your child’s 4^th grade experience, they will be exposed to many different avenues of learning.  All learning styles (visual, kinesthetic, auditory) will be woven into daily lessons.

Houghton Mifflin offers a very balanced approach to reading instruction (shared, guided, and independent reading; spelling and vocabulary; grammar and writing process).  Reading and Language Arts Standards will be addressed through 6 themes, each lasting approximately 4 weeks.

1.       Journeys

2.     American Stories

3.     That’s Amazing!

4.     Problem Solvers

5.     Heroes

6.     Nature:  Friend and Foe

 

·        Student textbooks and other materials include:

Ø      Houghton Mifflin Anthology

Ø      Houghton Mifflin Practice Book

Ø      Houghton Mifflin Grammar/Writing Skills Reading

Ø      Writing Notebook

Ø      Mountain Language - 10 min daily review to reinforce concepts learned

         

·        Formal Assessments after the completion of each story include:

Ø      Spelling Test

Ø      Vocabulary Test

Ø      Reading Comprehension Test

·        Ongoing Assessments:

Ø       Writing Process (weekly writing prompts)

Ø      Observation: teacher’s anecdotal records of student’s listening skills and oral responses to literature.

Ø      Portfolios (examples of student’s work in class)

Ø      Reading Logs/Journals

Ø      Projects and activities assigned to accompany the story

·        Quarterly Assessment:

Ø      Multiple choice and written response

Ø      Writing assessment

Ø      Oral Running Records (to identify student’s independent, instructional, and frustrational reading level).

 

 

Student textbook and other materials include:

Ø      Harcourt Brace Math Textbook

Ø      Math Journal -  Each day, students will record the following in their Math Journal:

Key Math Vocabulary

Teacher modeled examples and strategies

Guided Practice Problems in book

Independent Practice Problems in book

 

Math Homework:  Students will need to show their work and thought process on the worksheet in the practice book or on scratch paper provided.  Showing their work entails circling key words, labeling numbers, drawing a picture, checking their work, and writing a sentence to explain their answer.

 

Assessments: Again, students will need to show their work on all assessments.

          Formal Assessments:

Daily quizzes from the concepts learned the previous day

End of Chapter Tests

Cumulative Review Tests

         

          Informal Assessments:

                   Discussion/Participation

                   Independent Practice

                   Problems worked on their white boards

                   Mountain Math

                    

 

Student textbook and other materials include:

Ø      Scott Foresman “History-Social Science for California- Our California” workbook

 

Assessments:

          Formal Assessments: 

Chapter Tests and Quizzes

Writing Assignments (narrative, expository, journal entries, letters, newspaper articles)

In class projects/activities

Group Projects

                   Informal Assessment:

                   Oral Presentations

                   Study Guides and Lesson Notes

                   Discussion

                  

 

Throughout the year, there will be various projects taking place. You child will be expected to write down all due dates and get signatures from you on all paperwork to ensure that we are all on the same page.

 

 

Student textbook and other materials include:

Ø      Harcourt Brace Science Textbook

Ø      Each science chapter, or unit of study, will begin with a science experiment that will use the Scientific Method. Students will be expected to take notes during each lesson and turn the notes in at the time of the test at the end of each month.

 

Formal Assessment:

                   Chapter Tests and Quizzes

                   In class activities/projects

                   Group Projects

                   Experiments

 

          Informal Assessment:

                   Discussion

                       Study Guides and Lesson Notes

Weekly quizzes in math will take place on Fridays. The quizzes include concepts from that week.  If a student receives a D or lower I will send the quiz home with a space for a parent signature.  Please review the test with your child, make needed corrections, sign it and return it back to school.  This procedure ensures that parents are aware of their child’s progress in all curricular areas. 

 

Language Arts tests come at the end of each story and include a vocabulary, spelling, story and grammar quiz. These will be given on a 7 day cycle and therefore will fall on different days of the week. It is extremely important that your child stay organized and write down in their planners when these quizzes will take place so that proper studying can be done well ahead of the quizzes being handed out.

Science and Social Studies Tests are at the end of each month.  Students will be given a study guide to work on in class throughout the chapter.  As a class, we will review the study guide.  Your child is responsible for taking home the study guide and reviewing it days prior to the test.  Study guide review will be posted on the homework board along with the test dates.

 

 

Homework Tips: 

--Have a well-lit desk for homework, reading and writing assignments.
Have quiet environment, too: no television, no people coming in and out and no distractions of any kind.
Make sure the desk contains only the material that is being worked on-nothing else!
Set times: Have your child do his/her homework at a set time and not spread throughout the whole day. Set aside extra time for big projects (weekends, for example).
Do the same things that your child does: s/he reads - you read, too. They are writing an essay, you do the same writing task, and so forth.
If help is required, render the guidance not the answers to homework questions. And help is always welcome by you. Do it plentifully!
However, if 'no help' is needed - don’t do it. Stay away from your child’s work.
Stay on top of your child’s tasks and homework assignments. Be informed always.
Begin with the difficult tasks first thing, then move to the easy ones. It’s psychologically easier, because light work will seem to go faster when the brain becomes tired.
Having troubles concentrating? No problem! Take a break for a little while. It’s healthy and refreshing for the brain. While breaking, go for a walk or eat a little something. It’ll keep you going.

And last: Give your child a little tap on the back from time to time. Take him/her to the park, play ball or go to the movies, if the homework is completed. It makes them feel rewarded for the hard task, and reinforces their efforts of doing the homework assignments

 

 

 (951) 246-4210 EXT. 2321

 

Again, thank you for taking the time to participate in Back to School Night!