1. Mrs. Karlsen’s Classroom Expectations 4th grade (2015-2016) Teacher: Rachel Karlsen Subject areas: Math, Science, Social Studies, and Language Arts (including Spelling, Reading, Writing)

2. D AILY S CHEDULE Daily Schedule, click here.here

3. R ACHEL K ARLSEN ● About Rachel Karlsen About Rachel Karlsen ● Private, public and home school teacher ● Certifications: Special Education K-12, certificated National board standards, certificated Masters in Teaching, K-8 Google Certified Educator ● State level committees: SALT (testing, data review, standards and curriculum advice); SBAC math item writing; creating a Digital Library for SBAC; EdTAG ● Previous District: Google technology Team, Math team, Science team

4. M Y G OALS ● To challenge and give students the academic tools they need to progress ● To provide a supportive learning environment ● To thoroughly enjoy all subject areas ● To assist students in making new friends and discovering new interests

5. L EARNING IS A JOURNEY … ● Math philosophy ● Use of strategies, review facts, practice in context (lab, activities, games), whole group, individual and partner work, regular assessments ● Science philosophy: Inquiry based activities. Balance of Physical, Earth/Space and Life Content ● motion/force/energy, physical and chemical changes, models and designs ● weather, atmosphere, rock cycle, water cycle, layers of the earth, Earth/Moon/Sun ● ecosystems, plant and animal life cycles

6. L EARNING IS A JOURNEY ( CONTINUED ) Social Studies: The history of Cayman Islands. Language Arts, including spelling, reading and writing.

7. H ABITS OF I NTERACTION ● Volunteer ideas ● Ask genuine questions ● Respect own and others’ right to solve problems ● Use private think and work time wisely ● Share challenges and think about thinking ● Listen to understand

8. Bible – Students are introduced to scripture and Biblical truths through Bible stories and study using the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) curriculum. Focus is placed on application of these truths to daily life. Language Arts – This includes oral reading, spelling, phonics, comprehension, grammar, creative writing, and penmanship. Mathematics – This challenging program gives students a solid preparation for higher math in the Secondary School. Social Studies – The social studies curriculum covers the themes of self, family, community, the Cayman Islands, the region, world studies, and US History. Science – An investigative and hands-on approach covering multiple topics to develop skills of research, inquiry and discovery is used. ACSI materials are used. Other – Music, Art, P.E., Computers and Spanish.

9. M ATH AND S CIENCE P RACTICES ●Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them. ● Reason abstractly and quantitatively ● Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others ● Model with Mathematics ● Use appropriate tools strategically ● Attend to precision ● Look for and make use of structure ● Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning

10. C LASS C ONTENT ● Math, Science, Social Studies and Language Arts ● Based on grade level state standards ● Individual, whole group, partner and small group learning ● Assessments include: projects, presentations, journals and traditional tests

11. R EADING /W RITING ● Reciprocal reading technique. ● Predict, clarify, question, summarize ● Pre-teach Science and Math vocabulary, in addition to Language Arts ● Journals ● Restate, bullets, complete sentences

12. H OMEWORK, L ATE W ORK, A BSENCES ● Homework: There will be some homework in most subject areas on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evening. Thursday evening will be reserved for studying for tests on Friday...no other homework will be assigned on Thursday (due Friday). ● Unexcused Late Work: If daily work is late, points will be taken off. Late work will only be accepted for one week. After one week, late work will receive zero points. ● Zero (F) on RenWeb means: ● Not yet turned in ● No Name ● Absences: Check website, parent/sibling pick up work from file in classroom, student pick up work upon return to school ● If a student has an “excused” absence, the missing assignment must be completed and turned in and…. ● Points will not be deducted; “excused” on RenWeb/grades ● Will usually not be scored

13. B Y G OD ’ S GRACE, LET ’ S MAKE IT AN AMAZING YEAR ! Thank you for partnering with us!