Ms. Traynor 4th Grade Room 406 WELCOME TO OPEN HOUSE Ms. Traynor 4th Grade Room 406

A Little about me: I have been teaching for 17 years. This is my 14th year in Red Clay I have taught 4th, 2nd, and K. I have a Master of Education degree from U of D and my undergraduate degree in education from Millersville University. I have two children, Lauren (12) and Brian (9). They go to Skyline and Heritage.

School Day 8:50-3:40 No one may ride any bus except the one they are assigned to Siblings may not come in to school during the instructional day or lunch Early dismissals must be done by 2:45 Notes required for every dismissal change Doors are locked at 4:00-check on the website or with a friend for homework Sign-in at the office upon arrival

Health and Well-Being Please check in with your child and discuss how they are feeling each morning. Many students come through the door each morning with aches and ailments and want to go to the nurse. I have found that it is helpful if they have already talked to you about their issue. Then I say “Did you tell Mom/Dad?” They say “Yeah, they said go to school.” I say, “Well then, I guess you should try to stick it out for a while.” If it is really nothing that is the end. If they really don’t feel well they come back and I send them to the nurse.

Our Daily Schedule 8:35-9:00 Opening- Morning Work, Journal, Pledge, Moment of Silence Attendance- remember to send a note when your child is absent or needs to go home early or in a different way Materials: Homework Folder, Agenda, binder and writer’s notebook

RTI- Intervention Period ½ hour a day Students will be grouped according to needs The students will work on skills that they are struggling with or that were identified as needs on the DCAS. Some students may go to other rooms or be serviced by other teachers at this time.

Word Work 9:00-9:30 Students will work on: Vocabulary Prefixes, suffixes, and root words Commonly misspelled words Reading and figuring out words in context

Reading/Language Arts 9:30-10:30 Reader’s Workshop- students will Predict/read/summarize/connect to books in a particular genre I will present mini-lessons on particular skills before they read Students will complete a Reading Response Journal when they read They will complete before, during and after reading entries. We will also use the Scott Foresman reading materials to meet our reading goals.

Math 10:30-11:20 We are using the Math Trailblazers curriculum to present the 4th grade Core Curriculum. Students complete Daily Practice Problems, lessons and practice activities, and Labs. We will use Math Excel worksheets for morning work and homework. I will also supplement with other materials as needed Fourth Graders need to know their multiplication basic facts (Flash cards)

Lunch-11:20-11:50 Recess- 11:50-12:20 Please send your child to school every day prepared to go outside. Please adhere to the dress code (no open backed shoes) Students may not bring any “equipment” from home

Silent Reading/AR/Small Group/Work Completion 12:20-12:40 As students re-enter the classroom after recess, we take time to cool down or warm up. Students are able to use the restroom/fill water bottles/get drinks I use this time to work with students to complete assignments or reteach a concept Students are reading books for AR or completing assigned work

Science 12:40-1:50 Kits: Structures of Life Electricity and Magnetism Land and Water Skywatchers Graded on group experiments and classwork Tests Study Guides and quizzes

Social Studies 12:40-1:50 We will use classroom newspapers, textbooks and materials to investigate civics, geography, economics, and history We will study these areas by using the State of Delaware as an example. We study the Native Americans through the Revolutionary War Students are graded on classwork, study guides, and quizzes

Related Arts 1:50-2:35 Technology with Ms. Bernal Art with Ms. Phillips Music with Ms. Murphy Library with Ms. Marinelli-remember your books Gym with Ms. Cox -remember sneakers Spanish Experience with Ms. Palmer Band with Ms. Peo See the Related Arts Schedule for your child’s specific schedule

Writing/Language Arts 2:35-3:20 Writer’s Workshop We will use the writing process- prewriting, drafting, revising and editing, publishing to write narrative, persuasive, informative, and creative pieces Students will use rubrics to self assess their writing

Writing Journals Due Dates are written in their agendas. (They are due near the end of each month.) 4 one page entries is the minimum amount of work required. They may always do more. Journals are graded for neatness, quality, quantity, and proofreading. They are worth 20 points.

Pack-up 3:20-3:35 We pack up all of our belongings to go home Homework is placed in mailboxes and students are responsible for getting it on the way out Math Excel sheets are given out in the morning and we go over the morning work portion at math time.

Band, Chorus and Strings These are excellent additional programs that are offered through Linden Hill Please address any concerns, questions, etc. about these programs and their schedules to the appropriate staff member Students are responsible for any work they miss when they are out for these programs I will provide them with the work by giving them a copy of anything they miss and listing the assignments on the board. It is their responsibility to ask any questions they have pertaining to the work and to make sure they hand the work in.

Homework Reading- students are expected to read 15 minutes each night and complete their reading summaries. We will have one project each marking period Math- students will have math homework most nights Science and Social Studies homework, studying or projects will be given occasionally, as noted in the agenda Word work will be given weekly. Students are responsible for knowing the definitions of the words and how to use them in context Students will be asked to write in their writing journal at least once a week.

Agendas/Website Please see the agenda for the homework assigned for each night and nightly reminders Please sign the agenda to show that you have seen the homework for the night Please write any notes, questions, or concerns about homework in the agenda If your child is really struggling with an assignment please note that in the planner Homework should not take longer than 45 min.- one hour

Grades Students in Fourth Grade receive letter grades A=Excellent 93-100 B= Very Good 85-92 C=Satisfactory 77-84 D=Poor 70-76 F= Failure Below 70 Grades will be affected by class participation, homework, class work, projects, and tests

Behavior Students have a pocket on the chart in the back of the room They start the day with a green card. If they break the rules, they get a reminder. If I have to speak to them again, they have to change their card to yellow and note this in their agenda. If I have to speak to them again they get a red card and a note comes home for you to sign. If they do not bring the note back the next day they will lose some of their recess time until they bring it back signed and I will have them call you to let you know to look for it.

Assessments Grade Level Assessments DCAS Star Reading Classroom tests- they will be noted in the agenda and study materials will be sent home when applicable Study Island

Home Access Center You received a password to log into the HAC. https://hac.doe.k12.de.us/homeaccess/ You can monitor your child’s grades and progress throughout the year by logging on. Please send questions, concerns, comments about grades via e-mail or the planner.

Websites Study Island http://www.studyisland.com/ District http://www.redclay.k12.de.us/ Linden Hill http://lindenhill.redclay.k12.de.us/ My home page http://tunaruna.com/traynor_bodnar/ Study Island http://www.studyisland.com/

Other Little Tidbits Volunteer training Oct. 9th at 6pm and Oct. 10th 9:30-10:30 Conferences are on the four half days and I will be sending home notices to schedule them. E-mail distribution list-I will start sending home class messages via e-mail. If your information changes please let me know asap. No Birthday foods allowed. District wellness policy.

PTA Please be sure to join the PTA. They support many of our programs.

Contacting Me Please contact me as soon as you have a question, concern, problem or suggestion E-mail- Tammy.traynor@redclay.k12.de.us Phone- 454-3406 (Before school 8-8:35) (Planning 1:50-2:35) (After school most nights until 4:15) You may also write a note in the agenda or send a separate note with your child to school I will try my best to always respond within 24 hours.