Grade 4 2016-17

Meet your child’s teacher! Mrs. Annette LaPresti Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from California University of Pennsylvania Graduate of Latrobe, and attended Baggaley as well! 7th Year teaching at Baggaley Elementary School Contact Information: Email – annette.lapresti@glsd.us Phone – (724)539-4531 Available between 11:25 and 12:00 / 3:45 and 4:15

New to Baggaley . . . Mrs. Renee Gyory – Full Time Secretary Mrs. Mary Koluder – Part Time Secretary Miss Leah Stas – Autistic Primary Support Starting in 4th grade, parents have access to Greater Latrobe’s Home Access Center (HAC) Your user name and password will be provided by the district Social Studies Series – Coming Soon! PM Car Kid Procedure – 7:30 meeting in the café. Student Teachers Miss Ellenberger Miss Scroggins

A year of transition . . . Fourth grade is a year of great transition. Students, for the first time, have different teachers for different subject areas. Now a part of the “intermediate” grades, and will face high expectations. During the first quarter especially, many parents observe their child working harder on homework, spending more time preparing for tests, and encountering more challenging academic material. Please know that this is normal. As teachers, we are doing our job to prepare your student for success, and this means holding each of them to a high standard for organization, responsibility, and effort. Your support is important as students learn what is expected in the upper elementary grades, and how to be more independent learners and workers.

When children are absent from school, upon their return they must have a written statement providing: (a) the reason for absence, (b) the date(s) absent, and (c) parent’s signature. A written statement (excuse) concerning your child’s absence must be brought to school within 3 school days of returning or the absence will be marked unlawful.

Dismissal can be a busy time Dismissal can be a busy time. If your child has alternate arrangements for dismissal such as riding a different bus than usual or being picked up by a parent, please send a detailed note with your child in the morning. The procedure for PM car kids has changed this year. If your child is a car kid, please attend the meeting with Mrs. Stewart at 7:30 in the cafeteria.

In 4th grade, we have three simple rules: -Respect others -Take responsibility for your actions -Take pride in all that you do We believe that if students maintain these three guiding phrases, we will create a positive environment in which to learn. Each 4th grader, along with his or her parents, signed a contract to show understanding of, and agreement with, our rules and their consequences.

In addition to our rules, we have created a positive behavior reward system. Each student in 4th grade has received a “Positive Paws” punch card. Teachers can award a punch for exceptional displays of respect, pride, responsibility, kindness, and cooperation. Full punch cards are placed into a drawing, and a winner is chosen. The winner receives a special prize. In my classroom, I also have a ticket system. Students are able to earn tickets for positive behavior and work toward prizes of their choice.

A Excellent 92-100 B Above Average 83-91 C Average 72-82 D Below Average 61-71 F Failing 60 or Below O Outstanding S Satisfactory N Needs Improvement

Parents & Teachers are partners in a child’s education! Home/School Connections: Take home folder Homework assignment book Remind Teacher websites Email (www.glsd.us)

1)Select a school (Baggaley) Teacher Websites www.glsd.us 1)Select a school (Baggaley) 2)Click “Teachers” 3)Choose a teacher page Includes teacher lesson plans and learning objectives Displays teacher contact information Links of interest

Your online resource for math, reading, science, and social studies Think Central Your online resource for math, reading, science, and social studies www.thinkcentral.com Electronic versions of student textbooks and workbooks Audio reader to read aloud to your child Animated math models Access to printable homework pages

Technology Updates Back to School Forms SchoolMint - Parents/Guardians will be receiving information and instructions on the first day of school along with an access code. (paper form)   Email registered with GLSD, parent will receive this information through an email.   If a parent does not wish to complete the information online, we will provide them the opportunity to request printed forms. District Mobile App / District Website Makeover (appearance and function) FCC Ruling - will not longer permitted to send broadcast e-Alerts Anticipated within the next month

Fourth graders can expect homework to be assigned Monday – Thursday Fourth graders can expect homework to be assigned Monday – Thursday. Homework should take, on average, 40 minutes to complete. Incomplete assignments will result in a “strike.” Students will be expected to complete the work during recess. Five strikes will result in a morning detention.

Teachers – Mrs. Frescura & Mrs. LaPresti Language Arts is broken into two parts. Large group - Main part of our time where we work together toward our goals for the day. Small group - Shorter period of time where just a few students and a teacher work on specific skills that meet students’ individual needs Students will utilize a binder for organization and weekly lesson packets in place of workbooks Reading tests will be given bi-weekly

Spelling tests will be on Wednesdays Spelling and Language are a combined report card grade Homework will typically be assigned on a daily basis, and students will be required to keep record of this in their assignment books Expectations (writing conventions in all subject areas)

This year we will be exploring reading through the use of our Harcourt Storytown reading series. We will work with different genres to learn the skills necessary to be good readers. We will also grow as we work to improve our fluency. Practicing at home is a big help!

Writing will be a focus this year, and we’ll work to learn to write narratives, expository pieces, and persuasive pieces. We will write different things daily which will give us practice in being good spellers and in perfecting our capitalization, punctuation, and grammar skills. Mrs. LaPresti will challenge us to make our writing the best it can be!

Teachers- Mr. Reno & Mrs. Ulishney Go Math! is our math series and is aligned to PA Core Standards --> Shift in instructional focus Targeted Areas of Instruction: Numbers & Operations Measurement Geometry Algebraic Concepts Data Analysis & Probability Think Central Expectations (math facts, homework, showing work on assignments/tests)

Units of study: scientific process, animal studies, space, electricity, weather, land & water – We will be utilizing our new series, Science Fusion. Resources are available at www.thinkcentral.com Very academic—Science is a letter grade this year, and we also take the Science PSSA. Expectations: Content—lots of nonfiction reading Assessments—a lot of content Homework—Will have homework some evenings Projects—Following directions imperative Test/Quiz corrections—1/2 credit back for corrected answers, MUST BE RETURNED THE NEXT DAY, students must choose to do them—no teacher prompting to do/hand in

We have a brand new Harcourt Social Studies series coming soon equipped with a ThinkCentral component! We will visit each region of the United States, so pack your bags!

CLEARANCE FORMS ARE DUE BY While the fourth grade team does not utilize parent volunteers for our holiday parties, we do count on parents for a few of our field trips. We also welcome parents who can spare some time and would like to volunteer with us to help with tasks such as copying, filing, laminating, etc. Baggaley’s volunteer policy requires ALL parent helpers to have clearances. If you are interested in volunteering at ANY time throughout the 2016-2017 school year, please stop in the lobby to fill out the clearance forms. CLEARANCE FORMS ARE DUE BY SEPTEMBER 30th .

Thank you for attending Thank you for attending! If you ever have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me! Together we will make it a successful and productive year for your child!

Before you go, did you . . . sign up for “Remind” cell notifications Check bus information Write your child a note Meet Mrs. LaPresti  Visit the bookfair