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Mrs. Katie Ulishney Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Seton Hill University Elementary Teaching Certificate from Seton Hill University Master’s degree in Literacy from Indiana University of PA Currently in my 11 th year of teaching 1 year of 3 rd grade in Greensburg Salem School District 3 years of 1 st grade at Mt. View Elementary 7th year in 4 th grade at Baggaley Elementary Contact Information: – Phone – (724) Available between 11:25 and 12:00 / 3:45 and 4:15

New to Baggaley... Miss Ashley Short – long term substitute for Mrs. Brandt (speech) Clearances due October 1 st

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. 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.

In 4 th 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 4 th 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 4 th 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.

A Excellent B Above Average C Average D Below Average FFailing 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 Newsletters (monthly or quarterly) Remind Teacher websites Home Access Center (HAC)

Teacher Websites 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

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

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 New this year – Spelling tests will be on Wednesdays - Spelling and Language are combined

Homework will be daily and will ALMOST always be based on the following schedule: Monday – spelling page Tuesday – vocabulary page / read “paired selection” Wednesday – grammar page Thursday – skill page / study Friday – none Students will also be asked to read their weekly story at home at least once with an adult. Expectations (writing conventions, homework, testing)

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.

Teacher: Mrs. Ulishney Math is now 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 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 are packing our bags and heading across the U.S. this year in social studies as we study the regions. Each time we visit a region, students will complete a packet with various facts about that region. They will also “tour” the region and complete a scrapbook of their findings.

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 school year, please stop in the lobby to fill out the clearance forms. CLEARANCE FORMS ARE DUE BY OCTOBER 1 st..

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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!