Monday, August 19, 2013

Orientation MeetingResurrection 4th Grade

Mrs. Davis & Mrs. Gleason

Message from Mr. Gross

A Blessing for New Beginnings

Leader: This year we come together to continue our journey of faith. We are ready to learn from one another and from our Church community. And so we pray ........

All: God of signs and wonders, be with us on our journey. Show us your love in our world, in each other, and in your Son, Jesus Christ. And help us to be living signs of your love every day. Amen.

CATHOLIC SCHOOLSFaith. Academics.

Service.Dear Parents,

We would like to take this opportunity to welcome you and your child to Resurrection’s 4th Grade. This can be a transitional year for some students. The change from a primary to an intermediate grade level can make this an anxious time for students and parents. It is our goal to help students make this transition as easily as possible.

In the following presentation you will find a basic outline of our program this year. The major focus of each content area is given. We would appreciate your questions and/or feedback as we move along. Only by open communication and by working together can we meet the needs of the fourth graders. Students, parents, and teachers are all integral parts that will create a positive learning

environment and a successful school year.

Resurrection has an outstanding tradition of high academic achievement and student

spiritual development. This is evident in our selection as a 2009 National Blue Ribbon

School. We stress the importance of putting school first. We understand the importance of

extra-curricular activities but feel that students do better when they get sufficient

rest each night. This means limiting student involvement in sporting events, party

attendance and vacations during the school year. Those “extras” are too disruptive of the learning process. Please save the after school

and evening time for homework and being together as a family.

AchievementsBLUE RIBBON SCHOOL

Fall of 2009, our school was honored as a No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon School.

The national program honors public and private schools that demonstrate academic

superiority or dramatic gains in student achievement. We have historically scored in the 90th percentile on national norms on the ITBS tests.

We plan to continue this tradition with the help of you, our parents.

GREEN VISION SCHOOLOur school is well established in the city wide Green Vision Program, beginning

in 2007. Protecting our environment is a specific gospel value. Our focus is pollution prevention, recycling, energy efficiency. and waste reduction.

Since 2007 we have earned the Conservation Education patch, the Watershed patch,

and the Litter Free patch. We have also established an Environmental Club for grades 4& 5.

New Responsibilities

Assignment Notebook / Daily Homework

Long Range Assignments / Projects

Diary

R.E.D. Folder / Accelerated Reader Program

School Wide Weekly Recycling

Homework Policy (see handout)

Assignment

Notebook

Homework

* There is a space for each subject.

* Class check every day before going home.

* Each student is responsible for writing the assignment in

the space provided.

Diary (Once a Week)

The Diary is a teacher generated weekly report on the progress a student is making.

There is a section to note any comments about the student’s behavior.

This diary must be signed by the parent and returned the next day.

Tests or information sheets might be included in the booklet and these need to be signed as well.

WEEKLYDIARY

Read Every Day Folder

Read Every Day is know as our R.E.D. folder. It is also the color red. This folder records the minutes students have read in a week’s time period at home. We ask the students read at least five days out of seven and that they begin with a goal of at least 15-20 minutes every day. These books are of their own selection, can include the Accelerated Reader choice, and are expected to be at their reading level.

Classroom teacher uses AR test result information to determine the student’s independent reading level to be utilized for daily reading choices.

Parent initials are required for each day’s entry in order to be recorded and counted. Books are collected, read, and recorded once a week.

Accelerated Reader Program

The Accelerated Reading Program is a computerized test of 10 multiple choice questions that test comprehension of a self selected book within the reading level of the student. The levels are determined at school and many titles are in our school library. The program awards points for accuracy which must be at 80%. If a student scores below 80%, s/he will be asked to reread the book and retake the test. If after the second attempt the student has not met 80%, s/he will be instructed to read books at a lower level. These records help to determine a student’s reading grade on their progress report.

First Quarter Reader Point Levels at 80% accuracy are:

8 points = 4 on the progress report

6-7 points= 3 on the progress report

5 points = 2 on the progress report

below 5 points = 1 on the progress report

Morning Snacks

Fourth graders have a long morning, so we like to have a healthy snack while working. Each student is responsible for bringing their own snack, but we require that it be a healthy choice.

Suggestions are: fruit, popcorn, yogurt, pretzels, cheese, granola bars, applesauce cups, carrot and celery sticks, fruit rollups, fruit snacks, or crackers (cheese, graham, Goldfish, etc.) .

Water bottles may be brought to class.

Snacks NOT ALLOWED: No chips of any kind, cookies, candy, Little Debbies, Twinkies, etc. No juice or energy juice.

Serve One Another

Major Curricular Areas

RELIGION

Major Focus: The Ten Commandments

Church year / Liturgical themes (Advent, Christmas, Ordinary Time, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, etc.)

Service with school wide recycling each week.

Mass preparation and participation

Prayers: Act of Faith, Act of Hope, Act of Love

Essential 55

Olweus Bullying Prevention program

Math

All students must memorize basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts.

Emphasize problem solving skills

Multiple step problems

Multi-digit multiplication and division problems

Fractions and decimals

Measurement, money and telling time

Geometry

Mental Math and writing math problems

Social StudiesGeography (Map skills)

History (The people and heritage of each region of the U.S.

Government (How the U.S. government was founded)

Citizenship (The rights and responsibilities of U.S. citizens)

Economics (Natural resources)

Culture (Life styles)

Technology and Society (Communication and transportation)

Regional projects

Chapter, map skills, and region assessments

Science

Ecosystems

* explore ecosystems in local environments, in and out of the classroom

*explore food chains and food webs

*explain energy flow

The Changing Earth

*weather and erosion

*volcanic eruptions, landslides, earthquakes and flooding

Science is Everywhere...........!!!

Solving Air Pollution Problems

*two types of pollution: personal and environmental

*the respiratory system and effects of smoking

*ways to reduce pollution

Physical and Chemical Properties

*properties of 5 household substances

*changes as they react to water, vinegar, cabbage juice and iodine

Language ArtsReading

Selections from the Houghton Mifflin reading series

Literature groups

R.E.D. and Accelerated Reader

Independent Reading

Speaking

Conferences with peers and teachers

Oral reports and activities

Language ArtsWriting

Writer’s Workshop / The Writing Process

6 Traits of Writing

Daily Oral Language

Cross curricular projects

Listening

Peer sharing of books and written pieces

Questioning skills

Cooperative activities across curriculum

Rules and Expectations

Be Respectful

Be Responsible

Be Unselfish

Be Reverent

COMMUNICATION

POWERSCHOOL is the fastest growing, most widely used web-based student information system. This software

is currently used by Wahlert Catholic High School and Mazzuchelli Middle School to provide current student information to parents

(i.e. attendance and current grades per subject).

CONTACT THE TEACHER: phone, note, or email.(Addresses at www.holyfamilydbq.org

WEEKLY NEWSLETTER: located at www.holyfamilydbq.org(Notify the office if there is an internet issue.)

Important Information

Sacred Time: (8:30 to 9:05 every day) No interruptions allowed. The previous Sunday’s homily will be discussed on Mondays and the next Sunday’s readings will be discussed on Fridays. Deacon Tim and Father Gary will make classroom visits on Fridays.

Homework: Requests made to the office/teacher by 9:00 AM the day of the absence. Teachers will not be disrupting teaching time to fill homework requests. Homework for a privileged absence will be available only upon return.

Phone Privileges: Students MUST use the office phone. No calls will be made for forgotten homework, instruments, assignments, etc.

More Information.....Olweus: All teachers, staff, kitchen, custodial, parents, and students are involved in the anti-bullying program called Olweus. Communication is the key to preventing bullying. Bullying is never tolerated in our school. It is a key component of our guidance program.

Birthday Treats: There are no classroom birthday treats school wide. Each student will be acknowledged for their birthday in the classroom. There will be no teacher treats as well.

School Arrival: Students are not to be outside door #5 and #6 before 8:00AM. There will be no supervision available. The principal will call families of students dropped off before 8AM. Parents can use cell phones for correct time guidelines.

More information...

School Departure: Students walking home from school are released at 3:00 p.m. and must use Door #1.

School Visitors: Parents and visitors are asked to enter through Door #1 and sign in at the school office. At no time will staff / students open the door to parents or visitors who wish to enter though Doors #2-6. For those utilizing the Preschool or Child Care Program, please ring the bell and enter through Door#2. Thank you for helping to keep everyone safe.

TenMarks Math

TenMarks:

This program is aligned to Common Core State Standards, designed to measure student’s understanding of concepts, and expose them to the types of questions that they are likely to receive on standardized tests.

Each question has helpful hints and a three to five minute video lesson to reinforce the concept.

When a student struggles with a concept, TenMarks recognizes it and immediately directs the student to an intervention module.

TenMarks provides a personalized playlist for each student.

THANK YOU fyourattention.

attention!