2. Morning: Guided Reading, Rocket Math, Science and/or Social Studies, Math, Specials and Read Aloud Recess/Lunch: 12:45 – 1:25 Afternoon: Writing Workshop, and Guided Reading

3.  A Day – P.E./Music  B Day – Literacy/P.E.  C Day – Computer  D Day - Art  E Day – Music/P.E.  Library

4.  Balanced Literacy: Shared Reading, Guided Reading,—(Read to Self, Read to Someone, Writing, Word Work).  CAFÉ—Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency, Expanding Vocabulary  Lucy Calkins – Units of Study in Reading  Grammar and Skills  Teacher Read Aloud and Global Read Aloud

5.  Each student will have a goal of reading 40 books this school year!  Students will read from a variety of genres.  There will be no reading logs for you to sign!  Each student will have a booklet to keep track of all books finished.

6. Biography Autobiography (3) Fantasy (3) Historical Fiction (3) Humorous Fiction (4) Informational (4) Mystery/ Suspense (3) Poetry Anthologies (3) Realistic Fiction (4) Science Fiction and/or Action/Adventure (3) Traditional Literature (3) Graphic Novels (2) Bluestem Award Nominees (5)

7. Word StudyHigh Frequency Words Individualized words to meet the developmental needs of each student. No memorization—words follow a pattern In school These are words that ALL students should know how to spell before leaving elementary school. These are commonly misspelled words that generally need to be memorized. Practiced at home. Test every two weeks.

8.  Writing Workshop (Lucy Calkins) – Units of Study in Narrative, Opinion and Expository  Writing celebration after each unit  Writer’s Notebook will go home occasionally for writing entries.  Grammar  Poetry

9.  Inquiry Circles – Inquiry is a process of learning that encourages kids to ask questions, to work together to solve problems, to discover knowledge, and to construct their own meaning, with guidance, rather than lectures, from teachers. http://youtu.be/klVPk7q6Kww http://youtu.be/klVPk7q6Kww

10.  Genius Hour - Coming soon to Room 203— Genius Hour! Genius Hour is time spent creating and developing your own genius to share. http://www.geniushour.com/ http://www.geniushour.com/

11.  Everyday Math– aligned to common core standards.  8 Mathematical Practices  Beginning (B) skills, Progressing (P), Developing (D) skills, and Secure (S) skills  Homework—each night  Will flex group quarterly  Computation Practice  Math Journals stay at school  Daily Time Tests (Rocket Math) to practice basic facts

13.  National Geographic Books  Prairie  Illinois  Regions of the United States  Each student will learn to identify all 50 states and capitals on the U.S. map

14.  FOSS Hands-On Science  Earth Materials  Structures of Life  Ideas and Inventions  Dissect Owl Pellets  Engineering  Health

15.  Learn about engineers and what they do  Construct pasta cars and spaghetti bridges  Practice problem solving  Save a shoebox for February

16.  Edublog – students will have their own blog.  Twitter – will be tweeting from the classroom.  Skype in the classroom.  Technology Project at the end of each Social Studies unit.

17.  Handwriting—students will be writing completely in cursive by second semester.  Assignment Books—required in fourth grade, assignments written at the end of each day. Parent signature is unnecessary unless there is a problem with homework completion.  First and last name on all papers in cursive.

18.  A healthy morning snack is fine—please don’t send anything messy or that needs a utensil.  Birthdays—Even though the birthday policy is that there are no treats at school, we still celebrate birthdays in the classroom. Your child may bring a non-edible “treat” if he/she would like.

19.  Math—homework - each night and additional computation practice frequently  Practice High Frequency Words  Independent Reading  Writing homework (sometimes)  Occasional Social Studies or other work not finished in class  Tonight’s homework (for Wednesday)  bring in book to read  write down your top 10 favorite books of all time. Please write down the title and author of each book.  bring in pictures, etc. to decorate your writer’s notebook.

20.  All work from the week comes home in the Friday folder.  Folder needs to be signed and returned on Monday

21. Be Ready Be Respectful Be Responsible

22.  Flip a card  Behavior Slip sent home to be signed  Recess privilege will be lost per teacher discretion.  Rewards—Whole class and individual

23.  No students will receive letter grades  The report card will consist of a checklist for each subject  Skills are assessed as Beginning, Developing, Progressing, or Secure

24.  Will be taking one field trip this year. The time and location of this trip is still in the planning process. This information will be shared when available.

25.  Email: shanna.piccony@kaneland. org shanna.piccony@kaneland. org  Telephone: 630-897- 1961 ext. 203  Twitter: @mcdole203