1. Welcome Families

2. Leadership Levels Optimal learning is reached when all children are on task and few disruptions are being made. We will have freedom levels in our classroom this year. Your child will be completing a behavior log everyday with their level of the day. This will be sent home in the homework folder. Please, sign or initial this every night.

3. Daily Schedule Morning Routine 8:40-9:00 RTI 9:00-9:30 Literacy 9:30-11:00 PBL 11:00-11:25 Recess/Lunch 11:25-12:20 Math 12:20-1:35 Writing 1:35-2:25 Specials 2:40-3:20

4. Writer’s Workshop Writer’s workshop will consist of a mini-lesson, independent writing, and sharing. While students are writing independently, I will be conferencing with students and addressing Specific, individual needs.

5. Reader’s Workshop Our Literacy block will consist of whole group, small group, and independent work time. During this time, I will be working with students in small groups and one on one. While I’m working with students, the rest of the class will be making a Daily 5 choice. These choices consist of: Read to Self, Read to Someone, Word Work, Work on Writing, and Listen to Reading. A Balanced Literacy approach will be implemented using the guidelines from the Fountas and Pinnell Continuum of Literacy Learning.

6. Math Workshop Our math program is Everyday Math. Your child will learn many important concepts in math this year. It is very important that your child completes their math home work when assigned. We will be working on mastering addition, subtraction, and multiplication facts. A family letter will come home at the beginning of each unit. You can help your child in math this year by helping them with their homework and practicing their math facts.

7. PBL: Problem-Based Learning We will continue to teach using the project based learning model. This is an approach to teaching where students explore real-world problems and challenges! Students will work in collaborative groups.

8. PBL: Problem-Based Learning Problem-Based Learning (PBL) deals less with the acquisition of basic skills and more with the application of those skills to real life situations. PBL is open ended; broad questions are posed to students (or developed by the students themselves), and the goal of the learning becomes the development of answers and solutions through information gathering, organization and aggregation of the information, and the synthesis of new information.

9. Homework The monthly reading and math fact log will be checked daily and collected monthly to be included toward each student’s work habits evaluation. Additional homework connected to our problem based learning units, reading, writing or math may be sent home in the homework folder. Please make sure to return notes, papers, and lunch money in the homework folder. I will check these daily!

10. Specials Schedule PRE follows a four-day rotation vs. a traditional five-day week. The 5 th day is a “PANTHER” rotation. Day 1 will always be on Monday and Day 5 will always be on Friday. Children will need to wear tennis shoes while participating in gym. You are welcome to leave a pair here in cubbies if you choose!

11. Medication/Appointments All medications need to be brought in from home by an adult to the school nurse. If your child needs cough drops, a note to the teacher will suffice. Please try to keep any doctor’s appointments to non-academic times of the day!

12. Communication If your child is going home from school a different way than they normally do, they need a note from an adult. If your child is going home with a friend, write a note explaining who they are going home with. The note will go to the office and a pass will be written. Bus passes are issued every morning. EMAIL is the best way to communicate with teachers…however, if you have something urgent your child needs to know, please contact the office as we may not check our email in time! rebecca_matthews@nobl.k12.in.us

13. Wellness Policy Effective with the 2012-13 school year, schools may not celebrate birthdays with food items on school grounds. Instead, teachers may choose to celebrate birthdays with non-food items or student recognition. The change follows the council’s mission of promoting healthy lifestyles with a focus on nutrition and fitness and making wellness a way of life for the community of Noblesville. In addition, it addresses an increase in food allergies and other health concerns among students.

14. Field Trips/Events We will take 2 field trips this year. We would love to have you join us! In order to chaperone a field trip, you must have a cleared background check on file. The form to complete your background check can be found on the Noblesville Schools website. This form must also be completed to volunteer in our classroom.

15. Our Year Together Together we will explore the curriculum through inquiry and teamwork for all assigned disciplines. Although I will assess your child for each academic standard, I believe that a student’s true success is measured by their effort and progress. Are there any questions?