2014 First Day Newsletter

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Welcome to Grade 4at Highroad Academy

Welcome to another year at Highroad Academy! I ampleased to take this opportunity to introduce myself and to

welcome your child to Grade 4. A good learning experience isbuilt on a cooperative effort among parents, child andteacher. I look forward to the work and growth we will allaccomplish this year. With your participation both in and outof the classroom, we can look forward to a productive, creativeand enjoyable year. This year will be different in many ways not

only for you but also for myself.

First of all, I am looking forward to working with a new teachingpartner. Mrs. Ediger will be teaching Thursdays as I continue myadministrative role in the Grades 4-6 area. She is a wonderfuladdition to our class and I know you will enjoy the great ideas andlove for teaching and learning she brings to the class.

This year also means a new classfor us as the Grades 4-6 all move intothe newly renovated portables. I amlooking forward to a year full ofcollaboration between the Grades 4-6as we work to build an uniqueidentity and feel to the Grade 4-6area.

Mrs. Ediger and I believe firmlythat all children should have alove for learning and thatlearning does not just happen in

school within our fourwalls. Our goal this year is to help your child build that love for learninginto everything they do and to develop a sense of wonder at the

wonderful creation God has made in His love for us. As part of this, wealso hope to involve you in this goal; whether it is through our class blog,reading with your child as part of our Home Reading program or throughthe family projects that your child will bring home, we want you to be animportant part of this process.

Welcome to Grade 4. Let the learning begin!

IMPORTANT!!!

Our blog is animportant part of ourclass and an extremelyimportant to tool inhelping you be anactive, knowledgablepart of what is going on

in our class. Instead ofone newsletter at theend of the month, our

blog will be constantlyupdated withresources,links, news items,spelling, calendars and

other vital pieces ofinformation. Pleasecheck the blog often forinformation and waysto help your childcontinue their journeyin learning outside theclass! At the end of

this newsletter, therewill be a form you cancut out and put on thefridge to help you get toour blog!

THIS WILL BE

THE ONLY

PAPER

NEWSLETTER

YOU WILL

RECEIVE THIS

YEAR!

This year

will be

different inmany ways!

GRADE 4 - MR. HANCOCK AND MRS. DERKSEN HIGHROAD ACADEMY, CHILLIWACK, BC

NewsletterSeptember 2, 2014

Highroad Academy


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Introducing Mrs. Ediger!

I started working at Highroad Academy in 2010 as a TOC and have been teaching

in the Special Needs Department for the past three years. I attended Trinity

Western University and Simon Fraser University for my degrees and

Professional Development Program. Prior to working at Highroad Academy I

was at home raising my three children. As a young girl my passion was

gymnastics. As an adult I coached gymnastics for ten years prior to goinginto the teaching profession. Nowadays I enjoy camping, hiking and

travelling. It is my dream to travel to Europe someday!

I am very excited about teaching grade 4 this year with Mr. Hancock and

learning more about the adventures of his twin brother Bob!

CORE SUBJECTS

Grade Four is a busy year! With

Provincial Achievement test scheduled

for mid-year, students have a lot of

work and curriculum to cover. However,

Mrs. Ediger and I have a number of fun,

interactive, collaborative, exciting and

challenging projects planned.

For our Language Arts reading

program, we will be focusing on Novel

Studies. We will be starting as a class

and, as the year moves on, transitioningto more student led reading discussions

through the use of Literature Circles.

Poetry and spelling will also be major

parts of our reading program. For

writing, we will be using a mix of the

Six Traits program with the Blended

Style and Structure model. Both

systems are great ways to help students

both aspects of writing: style and

content. Our Math program continues

with the Math-U-See method with this

years focus being Division. As a part of

that program, we will be reviewing

multiplication and looking at fractions.

Daily Math Review and analyzing Word

Problems will also be an important part

of Math as problem solving is always a

difficult area for students. Science will

focus on Weather, Sound and Light and

Habitats and Communities.

Collaborative

Dynamic

Interactive

ChallengingMrs. Ediger will be teaching our Grade

4 Social Studies curriculum with

several fascinating topics to look

forward to. Grade 4 Social Studies

topics include: Geography of Canada,

Living in Canada, Life in Canadas

North and Explorers. Using tools like

GPS, Google Earth and maps, students

will also have fun learning more about

current world views and the various

cultures that make our global societ

the fascinating and dynamic world it i

today.

TECHNOLOGY

Technology will play an important par

in our Grade 4 year. However, it i

important that it is not the focus o

learning. Rather, technology is one o

the many tools we use to make sense o

our world and as a resource to gathe

information from. Our focus will ho

technology can complement oucurricul um in a dyn amic an

interactive way that provides student

with a multi-dimensional sense of

topic. Several tools will be used an

students will be going to the compute

lab at least once a week. We will also b

going through some basics of coding a

a beginning look at how webpages ar

created and structured.

Looking Ahead At Our Year In Grade 4!Below: Mr. Hancocks children: Liam and Siena

Learning does not just happen within the four walls of our school!

September 2, 2014

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Class Blog - Your Gr. 4 Connection

As you may or may not be aware, one of the areas of focus in the Elementary and Primar

department as been communicating through the use of Blogs. Our class blog will be a

important part of our parent/teacher communication. The blog contains lots of interestin

articles, links, videos and resources to help bring curriculum alive and into the hom

where you can share what your child is learning. It is vital that you have the ability t

access our blog on a daily basis! You can visit our blog at:

http://mrhclassblog.edublogs.org/

Spelling and Weekly Bible VerseThroughout the year, students will be involved in practicing spelling words an

memorizing Bible Verses. Students will be given their spelling words and Bible Verses o

Mondays and tested on those words and verses on Fridays. To help you organize and hel

your child, Bible verses will be placed for the year ahead on the Blog calendar. Our clas

also uses a website called Spelling City which allows students to practice spelling words

play games and prepare for their spelling tests. Weekly Spelling Practice will not star

until the beginning of October as we review phonograms and handwriting skills.

Other Important Items...

There are so many exciting things happening this year, it is hard to fit them all in thinewsletter!

Home Reading Program - This year, students will be introduced to an new

way of doing their home reading. Each day, as students complete their readin

for the night, they will fill in their reading log question for that day. Each da

has a different type of question that will help them to think about th

structure and style of literature as well as work on their comprehension. Thi

is also a good opportunity for you to gauge how well your child is engaged with

the books they are reading. More information will be given along with

guidelines on the amount of time expected.

Think! Projects - As part of the Science program in our class, students will b

bringing home projects designed to force students to think outside the box an

be creative. Creativity is an important part of learning and we want to hel

students stretch their creative muscles. Collaboration will be key and parent

and other family members are encouraged to help. These projects ar

mandatory and will be part of their Science mark.

Genius Hour -This is something new that all the teachers in the Grades 4-6

will be starting this year. Google introduced a concept a number of years ag

whereby 20% of worker time was devoted to any project their were interested

This helped promote creativity and passion for learning. We want to build tha

concept into our week as well. We feel that for so much of the school year, we

tell students what to do and learn. This is an opportunity for students to

pursue an idea/concept or project they are interested in and passionate about

To that end, one hour of the week will be given to students to pursue a passio

or interest they have. They will complete a project based on that passion anpresent it to the rest of the class. These projects will be worked on throughou

the term and be presented at the end of each term. We will be using a number

of resources to help us including a free website called DIY.org to help student

gather ideas for projects. We are really excited by this idea and feel that this

will inspire a passion for learning and creativity.

Uniforms -As directed by the school board, the intermediate department wi

be strictly enforcing the uniform policy this year. While we understand tha

sometimes circumstances sometimes make it difficult to adhere to the policy

all parents are required to be familiar with the policy and ensure that thei

child has the appropriate uniform pieces. All infringements will be followed up

on.

COME VISIT US AT HTTP://MRHCLASSBLOG.EDUBLOGS.ORG

September 2, 2014

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http://mrhclassblog.edublogs.org/http://http//MRHCLASSBLOG.EDUBLOGS.ORGhttp://mrhclassblog.edublogs.org/http://http//MRHCLASSBLOG.EDUBLOGS.ORG


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Lets

Get Acquainted!Please fill in the form as completely as possible!1) Childs Name _______________________________________________________________________

2) Birthdate _______________________________________________________________________

3) Parents Names _______________________________________________________________

4)Address _______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

5) Home Phone

_______________________________________________________________________

6)Work Phone _______________________________________________________________________

7) Email: _______________________________________________________________________

8) Name of other family members (including pets):

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

9) List several of your childs favorites, such as a favorite food, TV show, book or hobby:

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10)Your childs strengths:

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

11)Areas needing improvement:

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

12) Educational needs of your child from your perspective: (Feel free to add more info on the back!)

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

PLEASE FILL IN AND RETURN AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!SEPTEMBER 2, 2014

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13) Does your child like to read? Never Rarely Sometimes Always

14) How often does your child read independently?

_____ 0"2 times per week



_____ 8plus times per week

15)As we plan projects this year, we are hoping to gather some information to see what tools may be available for your child t

use. Please check all that apply:

__ Computer __ High"speed Internet __ GPS Device __ digital camera

16)Are you interested in having your child be involved in after school clubs? ____ Yes _____ No

If so, what kinds of clubs would your child be interested in participating in?

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

17) Any thoughts you would like to communicate:

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

PLEASE FILL IN AND RETURN AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!SEPTEMBER 2, 2014

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Highroad Academy

Documents

2014 First Day Newsletter