Welcome to Back-to-School Night

1. Welcome to Back-to-School Night Mrs. Schrader’s Class Fourth Grade 2013-2014

2. Transition Year • 4th grade is a year of TREMENDOUS CHANGE. To assist your child with this transition, please consider the following: • Check our class website WEEKLY. • Speak positively about school in front of your child • Establish a consistent homework routine (time and place to complete assignments) • If your child struggles, you will need to closely monitor and assist with homework, at least in the beginning. • If your child completes homework without help, please look over your child’s work before signing the planner.

3. Transition Year cont. • Your child will learn different strategies to study for tests, however, reviewing orally with an adult is one of the best ways for students to process information. • For students to improve their reading, they must READ, READ, READ!! • If your student struggles with reading or does not like to read (or even if they don’t!), read TO your child. They are not too old!!  • Your child NEEDS to master their multiplication facts. Knowing facts automatically without hesitation will help them with long division, algebra, and fractions! • Please contact me with any questions or concerns about your child’s progress. I want to see your child succeed as much as you do!

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5. Expectations • School/Class Rules: 1. Be Safe 2. Be Respectful 3. Be Responsible

6. Rewards & Consequences • Positive Reinforcement • Opportunities to earn Husky Bucks for weekly classroom drawings • Students may also earn school-wide Husky Buck drawings, Husky of the Month, or Howler’s Lunch • Discipline System • Clip chart • Blue=Outstanding Effort • Green = Ready to Learn • Yellow = Think About It • Red = Teacher Action • Students will receive a teacher action for any major offense or a repeated minor offense. A discipline slip will come home with the weekly update for you to sign and return.

7. Homework—Why? • It provides an opportunity for students to strengthen academic skills and also helps them become equipped with essential behavioral skills that are important as they progress through school. • It encourages independent work habits, fosters the development of personal responsibility, and reinforces learning skills taught throughout the school day.

8. Homework—How Much? • Assigned Monday-Thursday, 40 minutes per night (pencil on paper time!), not including 30 minutes of silent reading. • Students will complete a nightly reading log briefly reflecting on what they have read. • Students may be asked to finish incomplete class work at home, in addition. • Spelling assigned Monday due Friday (every other week) • Math assigned nightly • Possibly one grammar or writing assignment one time per week • Studying for tests (spelling, math, social studies, science, reading)

9. More About Homework • STAR binder is to be brought to school daily • Planner is completed in class. Parents are to initial NIGHTLY after REVIEWING homework. (Please check for completion and general correctness.) • Homework must be completed by the student, but needs to be monitored by the parent. • Homework should be neat and clean, and completed in pencil.

10. Reading textbook will come home on Tuesdays. Students are to reread story of the week for an AR test on Wednesday. This can count as part of the nightly reading. Students should read their AR books for the rest of the 30 minutes. • Math facts 0-12 should be memorized! Monthly tests will count towards grade. Students who score less than 85/100 will be assigned nightly math facts homework. • Make-up: 1 day per day absent. Work can be sent home with a sibling or picked up in office after 3:00. • If your child is leaving early, please send a note or email so I can be sure your child has all needed materials before leaving for the day.

11. Please cleanout the back pocket of binder nightly. • Missing homework will result in recess bench pass. • After the 5th missing assignment, students are assigned an after school detention. • Should there be a valid reason that your child cannot complete his/her homework, please send a note explaining why the homework is incomplete. I understand that circumstances arise that can interfere with the completion of homework. (Forgetting the assignment does not count as valid. )

12. Grades • Welcome to letter grades! The grading scale is as follows: 90-100% A (Excellence/Mastery) 80-89% B (Very good/Proficient) 70-79% C (Grade level/Average) 60-69% D (Needs Improvement) 50-59% F (Shows no effort) • Please check your child’s grades in PowerSchool periodically. • If you have a question or concern regarding grades, please call or come see me. I prefer not to discuss grades through notes or email.

13. Accelerated Reader (AR) • Goals set each trimester based on student’s reading level & 30 minutes of reading. • Students are given 20-30 minutes of class time plus they are assigned 30 minutes of nightly reading. • Students should read 1 book at a time. • Students are to choose books within their given range. • Please check your child’s progress on-line. • I will occasionally send an update on AR progress, but I count on students and parents to review the TOPS reports and monitor online.

14. Communication • Weekly Update • Come home Tuesday • Behavior and missing work will be noted • Tests 69% and below will be attached. They are to be signed, and remain attached to updates • Signed updates are due Wednesday

15. Communication • You can reach me by: • Phone (773-3960) between 8:00 and 3:30 • E-mail (jschrader@drycreek.k12.ca.us) • Notes • If you’d like to meet in person, please contact me to set up an appointment. Due to meetings, committees, my own children, etc., I am not always available for drop-in meetings. • Website-updated weekly • Parent conferences-end of first trimester

16. Field Trips • California History Museum—Sacramento • October (date to be determined) • Coloma • Spring (date to be determined)

17. Character Counts • Using Character Counts for character education. The pillars include: respect, caring, responsibility, citizenship, fairness, and trustworthiness. • Students will “secretly” nominate their classmates for this Husky of the Month award for that month’s focus pillar.

18. College Readiness • Continue to focus on exposing students to college terms (degree, tuition, scholarship, etc.) • Our class college is Stanford University. • Wednesday is college spirit day. Students are encouraged to wear college attire from any college or our college’s colors (cardinal red and white). • T-shirts can be ordered through Brandy Ferro (see flier).

19. Odds & Ends • Scholastic book orders will be sent home periodically. Great opportunity to purchase inexpensive books and earn FREE books for our classroom. • Library day is FRIDAY. Books students are done reading are due on Thursday. Library books should ALWAYS be kept in the backpack when not being read. • Birthday treats are welcome. Please note that we have 34 students. Please avoid sending in foods with nuts. • Students are encouraged to bring water bottles to school. Please make sure they have secure fitting lids to avoid spills in the classroom. • If you need to bring something to school for your child, please take it to the office. Your child can pick it up there.

20. Language Arts • Reading grade: storyvocabulary tests, reading comprehension tests , AR quizzes on anthology story, Write About Reading letters, some classwork assignments. (Quizzes are usually every 2 weeks) • Written & oral language grade: in-class writing, DLI (daily language instruction) quiz (weekly), spelling tests (every 2 weeks)

21. Math • “Big” concepts include: double digit multiplication, long division, fractions, decimals, algebra (with variables), more advanced problem solving. • Tests are usually given about once a week • 1-2 homework scores per weekwill count towards the overall math grade. • Math facts must be memorized. 85/100 correct facts in 5 minutes is 4th grade standards. • Monthly facts tests do count towards the math grade. • Students will be given math facts homework is score is below 85.

22. 4th & 5th Grade Math Correction Policy • Test corrections are ONLY allowed in math. • Students will only be allowed to make corrections to their test to improve their grade if their score is BELOW 80%. • The highest score a student can earn with corrections is 80%. • We are trying to encourage proficiency not perfection. • Students will complete a sheet where they will rework the problem showing ALL work and reflecting on WHY they missed the problem. • Some corrections MAY be done in class with the teacher. Students will need to complete all remaining corrections at home by due date.

23. Social Studies • We will cover: California geography, first Californians (explorers, missions), the Gold Rush, statehood. • Lessons consist of a video, textbook lesson, and activity. Will typically cover 1 lesson a week. • Quizzes given weekly and are OPEN book. The quizzes are challenging, and students still need to study the lesson to prepare. • Unit tests and/or projects (usually in class) will accompany each unit.

24. Science • Tuesdays and Thursdays 8:30-9:30 with Ms. Haynes • (Science times are 40 minutes per session on short weeks) • Quizzes are given every 3-4 weeks • Study guides given one week prior • Topics of study: • 1:  Water Planet (solar system, water cycle, weather) • 2:  Mixtures and Solutions (chemistry and elements) • 3.  Living Systems (human body and photosynthesis) • Please contact Ms. Haynes (dhaynes@drycreek.k12.ca.us) for ALL questions related to science.

25. Fine Arts & PE • PE will be 2 times a week led by Woodcreek High School PE Leadership students beginning mid-September. Students will need to wear appropriate athletic shoes on those days. (Days TBD) • Art Docent lessons once a month. • Music Docent lessons once a month • All Heritage Oak students will participate in Starstruck. Lessons will be once a week beginning in September. Evening performance on October 23 at 6:00. • Volunteer Schedule Coming Soon!!

26. Standards Update Dry Creek Joint Elementary School District

27. New California Standards • State adopted new academic content standards in 2010 • School districts have developed plans to transition to the new standards • Dry Creek School District is in year two of our three year transition plan • Copies available on the district website at www.drycreek.k12.ca.us

28. Year II Transition Focus Areas • PLC Mondays, Staff Development, Curriculum and Assessment Teams: • Collaboration and planning • Lesson and unit alignment • Assessment alignment • Technology resources infusion

29. Parent Resources • www.drycreek.k12.ca.us Parent Handbook Depth of Knowledge Information Standards Information Brochures Transition Plan Timeline