Welcome to Curriculum Night! The object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives. ~Robert M. Hutchins

A little bit about myself….. I previously taught for 9 years as a primary and gifted teacher in Arlington Hts. School District #25. My return to the classroom began five years ago as a substitute teacher, teaching assistant, and most recently as a fourth grade teacher here at Homestead. Away from school, my husband and I stay busy with our three beautiful daughters; Kallie, Tori, and Paige.

Homestead’s Mission Statement Homestead student’s are independent problem solvers who think critically and creatively to continually grow their academic, social, and emotional skills.

Establishing our learning environment…. Character Counts: In 4R we are Pillar Fillers Our classroom BE board Spotting good behavior- individually and within our desk communities Classroom raffle and incentives Homework “Whoops” sheet if a student forgets to complete his/her homework. This sheet is expected to be signed by a parent and returned to school. If a student misses more than 5 assignments in a quarter, they will receive a check on his/her report card under the area of homework.

Grading Scale A C A C A C B D B D B D

Homework….. Students can expect to have 30 minutes of homework approximately 4 nights per week. This will include the daily math homework pages, Moby Max minutes, quiet reading, and studying for unit tests. Prior to any test, I will send home a study packet, when applicable, in order to give your student ample time to prepare for a classroom assessment. Moby Max- is an adaptive, online teaching system that allows children to progress through individualized academic instruction at a pace and rigor suitable for each student. Moby minutes will be assigned on a weekly basis. Additional homework may result from work not being finished in class. We will also have approximately two to three projects this year that may require minimal independent home time to complete. Every effort will be made to utilize class time to complete any/all extensive projects.

District 308’s English and Language Arts Program ReadyGEN published by Pearson Education ReadyGEN is an integrated literacy program focused on reading, writing, speaking, and listening and is designed to get students ready for college and careers. -Pearson Education, Inc. In fourth grade, ReadyGEN has four units of study. Each unit is focused around a theme that incorporates aspects of Science and Social Studies to the ReadyGEN reading and writing lessons. Each unit requires the students to read, think, and respond critically and collaboratively.

ReadyGEN offers our students: a balance of informational text and literature. a program that integrates spelling instruction into the reading and writing instruction. an opportunity to read from a wide selection of increasingly complex texts as they progress through the grade levels. vocabulary instruction that instructs the students how words work within a given text, and how to apply this knowledge across text types and lessons. The vocabulary will include both academic and domain specific vocabulary.

Writing….in ReadyGEN and beyond Each day, the students will have the opportunity to write about what they have read and learned. Each day, the students will also be practicing the grammar, usage, and conventions that have been presented to them through the use of authentic texts. At the end of each unit, the students will complete a performance based assessment in order to demonstrate their understanding of the skills from that unit. Additionally, the students will be writing across all subjects as they respond to the lessons and reading selections from our Science and Social Studies curriculum.

Our Math program My Math by Mc-Graw Hill which is an established Common Core aligned Math program which emphasizes the Eight Standards for Mathematical Practice. This is a unit based program that builds mastery within the unit skills. The skills are assessed by a unit assessment which is administered districtwide. There is an online at-home component to this program which allows your child access to the book and lessons from our daily math instruction. This online component can be reached at An assigned username and password unique to your child’s district account was sent home on Friday.

Our Math program cont’d: The six comprehensive units of math study established by District 308 include: * Number and Operations * Multiplication Concepts and Application * Division Concepts and Application * Fractions and Decimals * Measurement * Geometry

Establishing Math Groups Students will be flexibly grouped per unit to ensure their needs are met. Groupings will occur between classrooms and may change with each unit. Pretests, standardized test scores, classroom assessments, and teacher input will determine student placement of each unit. GE (formerly AT) students will meet with GE teachers daily. If you have specific questions, it is best to contact your child’s math teacher for answers.

4 th Grade Teachers’ Addresses Mrs. Mrs. Mrs. Mrs. Mrs. Miss

Our Social Studies program includes the following areas of study: First Quarter: Native Americans Second Quarter: Early Explorers Third Quarter: Settlements and Colonies Fourth Quarter: Revolutionary War

Our Hands on Science program includes: First Quarter: Rocks and Minerals Second Quarter: Microworlds Third Quarter: Processes of Investigation Fourth Quarter: Solar System

Our Second Step curriculum… encourages our students to continue to develop their social-emotional skills as they work to build friendships, develop empathy for others, manage their emotions, and solve problems through a four step process. is comprised of twenty-two lessons, complete with an in-class activity and an at-home component.

Keeping in touch with each other Newsletters : To keep you informed of what is going on in our room, I’ll be sending home periodic newsletters with information concerning our curriculum and any upcoming dates of importance. Website: I encourage you to reach me at my school address before or after school. Classroom phone # Messages left on this phone will be checked during non-school hours. If you have an urgent need to reach me, please contact the office and speak to Mrs. Mason or Mrs. Moch.

Thank you for sharing your children with me, I will care and nurture them as if they were my own. Mrs. Laura Renfus