Welcome To 4 th Grade Open House Welcome To 4th Grade Open House Mrs. Appel

Student Planner Planners should be taken home, initialed by parents, and returned to school daily. It is the student’s responsibility to see that this is done. Please check the folder for pertinent information as well All homework is written on an identical planner in the classroom. I try to list homework on my class webpage daily. The planner is another communication tool.

Monday Folders They include student work, Tiger Times, a behavior sheet, field trip forms, book orders, and any other items that need to be sent home. On Tuesday, the folder is returned empty except for the SIGNED behavior sheet. Your signature lets me know that you have seen all of the information which will include all graded work. There is a comment spot available for us to communicate.

Snacks Please send your child to school with a snack each day. We eat lunch at 11:06 and students will need a little more fuel for the mind before that. The snack should be: –Healthy and nutritious –Non-messy –Finger food You may also send your child to school with bottled water. Two water bottles are preferred since we are outside of the building and do not want to waste any instructional time.

Birthdays You may send or bring in a birthday treat if you wish. The treat will be served during recess by the birthday child. Please make it simple and easy to serve. (Pre-cut or have individual servings for the entire class.) Birthday party invitations should be distributed outside of school unless the entire class is being invited.

Dining Room Come enjoy lunch with your child! First, sign in at the front office and get a visitor’s pass. Then, meet us inside the dining room for lunch. Please follow lunchroom rules to set an example for our students. No fast food allowed. You and your child must sit at the table provided for visitors. You may not bring another child to that table with you

Doctor’s Appointment/Absence Early Release Days (October and Feb 2),Teacher Workdays (November 2 and March 18), and Breaks (Sept 20-24, Nov 22-26, Dec 20-Jan 3, Feb 21-25, and April 4-8) are wonderful opportunities to schedule appointments. When your child is absent, please send in an absence excuse upon his/her return. If your child is absent for more than 2 days, you may call the office in the morning and I can get homework ready to be picked up in the office after 2:30. Make-up work is required only for excused absences. I will give students the work they missed upon their return if the absence is unexcused. It is the student’s responsibility to get missed work.

Tardies Please have your child to school by 7:50. It would be even better if they could arrive by 7:30. It is very beneficial for your child to arrive early. This enables your child to get unpacked and settled for the day which is very important at this age. There are a few things that need to be taken care of in the morning and it helps when students have time.

Conferences Please send me a note or an to request a conference. Conferences may be held in person or by phone/ . Conference appointment times and/or dates will be discussed upon request. Conference week will be October 18-22

Homework Students are held accountable for their homework through the use of homework slips and the work/study habits section of the report card. The homework slip has the assignment information. I put the slips into the Monday folder. Please look for the slips. They should match the number of missing assignments as noted in the Mon. folder. Missing 0-2 assignments = O (Outstanding) Missing 3-5 assignments = S (Satisfactory) Missing 6 or more assignments = N (Needs Improvement) Please be aware of the above grading scale. If your child receives an N on the report card in the Work/Study section, he/she will not be on the Honor Roll. (This applies to behavior as well). It does not apply to handwriting.

Book Orders Book orders are a wonderful way to motivate your child to read as well as contribute to the class. They are not required. IMPORTANT: –Books must be ordered online and paid for with a credit card. I cannot accept cash or checks for book orders. –The book order link can be accessed through the class webpage. –Book order forms are sent home in Monday folders. Instructions will be included the first few times.

Field Trips There will be a few field trips this year. Some of these will be in-house, but lots of fun, never-the-less. 1.High Touch High Tech -Simple Machines (11/29 and 11/30) 2.Fire Safety Village (12/1) 3.Nature in a Nutshell- Stars, Constellations, Solar System (2/17 and 2/18) 4.Cobb County Youth Museum (1/24 and 1/25) 5.American Village- Alabama (3/11) Tentative trips are as follows: 1.Tiger Flight (Nov/Dec) 2.Captain Sadlers Living History Camp- performing arts (Nov) 3.Zoo To You- Ecology (May) 4.Fernbank Museum

Field Trips Cont’d Our BIG field trip will be The American Village in Montevallo, Alabama. This is an interactive field trip teaching about the American Revolution. The date is March 11th. Due to the economy, we’d like parents to know ahead of time that the cost will be around $60. This should allow you some time to prepare.

Social Studies Economics Map/Globe Skills Native Cultures Early Explorers Colonization American Revolution The New Nation –3 Branches –Constitution –Bill of Rights Westward Expansion Reform Movements

Math We do a lot of daily math practice. In the mornings, students complete Drops in The Bucket activities that review many different skills. In math, students will be moving from multiplication to long division. Division will be even harder without basic multiplication facts down. I can not stress this enough. Please practice multiplication facts nightly. Students should practice 5-10 min a day.

Math Units Place Value from hundredths to millions Algebra Data Multiplication and Division Measuring Angles Analyzing 2-D Figures Decimals Fractions Weight Data Multiplication and Division of fractions and decimals Geometry

Spelling Students are given a pre-test on 24 words in order to determine what their words will be for the week. Students will have a total of words. If they don’t miss 5 on the pretest they will be given some challenge words from our curriculum Students will write their words in their planners Children will have lessons during school that focus on specific patterns and rules for that week’s words Spelling test will be given on Fridays Students will have weekly spelling homework. Homework is due on Friday. I will list all of the possible words on our class web page under spelling. The weekly homework is also available under resource study guides.

Reading Reading Skills –Sequencing –Compare/Contrast –Inferring –Determining Importance –Cause and Effect –Making Connections –Questioning –Synthesizing –Visualizing Narrative Text Traditional Literature Informational Text Book Buddies

Writing Narrative Writing Response to Literature Informational Writing Persuasive Essay 6+1 Traits of Writing –Ideas –Organization –Voice –Sentence Fluency –Word Choice –Conventions –Presentation

Science Water Weather Force and Motion Light Sound Stars and Star Patterns Earth, Moon, Solar System Ecosystems Protective Adaptations

Health Emotional and Mental Health Personal Health Nutrition/Growth and Development Disease Prevention Alcohol, Tobacco, and other Drugs Fire Safety

Bullying Bullying is unfair and one-sided. It happens when someone keeps hurting, frightening, threatening, or leaving someone out on purpose. Bullying is: Intentional and purposeful, not an accident A pattern of behavior over time, not just a one time incident An imbalance of power or strength A feeling of injury or discomfort by the person being bullied

GRADES Here at East Side we use formative and summative assessments. –Most class work and all homework are considered to be formative assessments and should not be used to determine grades. Formative assessments are used to help students improve by providing practice for students and guidance for instruction. –Summative assessments are used to measure student achievement and determine grades. These assessments should be marked “summative” to inform you that the grade will be used towards the average on the report card.

Technology I plan on integrating technology throughout the curriculum by using different programs and many web resources. We have two Mac computers. I have an LCD projector an iBook, and now a Dell Laptop. We have access to laptop computers with wireless internet. Our New Smart Boards..that I am currently being trained on how to use.

My Information ntary/appelhttp://teacherweb.com/GA/Eastsideeleme ntary/appel East side Phone #

It is going to be a great year!!! Thank you for your support! Your homework is to sign up for class news on the class webpage!