1. WELCOME TO FOURTH GRADE!!!

2. D AILY L ANGUAGE R EVIEW –MORNING WORK EVERYDAY *

3. - ABOUT MR. GNIAS - RECEIVED BACHELOR’S DEGREE IN ELEMENTARY EDUCATION WITH A MINOR IN MATHEMATICS FROM KUTZTOWN UNIVERSITY - THIS IS MY 26 TH YEAR IN SPRING-FORD. I HAVE TAUGHT 3 RD, 4 TH (OBVIOUSLY), AND 5 TH GRADES - I HAVE THREE CHILDREN - JACOB/18, MAURA/17, AND FAITH/14. JACOB ATTENDS MCCC, WHILE THE GIRLS ATTEND SOUDERTON HIGH SCHOOL

4. TOP TEN EXCUSES FOR NOT COMPLETING HOMEWORK 10. “I HAD A BASEBALL GAME LAST NIGHT.” 9. “YOU DID NOT GIVE IT TO ME.” 8. “I CALLED PETER LAST NIGHT, AND HE WASN’T HOME.” 7. “I DID NOT UNDERSTAND IT.” (ACCOMPANIED BY A BLANK PAPER) 6. “WE HAD TO DO THE WHOLE PAGE?” 5. “I DID NOT KNOW WE HAD ANY.” 4. “I DID IT, BUT I LEFT IT AT HOME.” 3. “I DON’T KNOW?” (WITH A SHOULDER SHRUG) 2. “WE WENT TO THE MOVIES LAST NIGHT, AND DIDN’T GET TO DO IT.” 1. “MY MOM HASN’T FINISHED IT YET.”

5. *HOMEWORK/HOMEWORK BOOKS - STUDENTS WILL HAVE NO MORE THAN 2 OR 3 SUBJECTS PER NIGHT. (MONDAY-THURSDAY) - STUDENTS MAY BEGIN/FINISH 1 PIECE OF HOMEWORK AT THE END OF THE DAY. - HOMEWORK SHOULD TAKE NO MORE THAN 30- 40 MINUTES PER NIGHT. (IT SHOULD BE A “POSITIVE” EXPERIENCE!) - IF YOU’RE CHILD IS STRUGGLING WITH AN ASSIGNMENT, SIMPLY WRITE A NOTE AND WE WILL GO OVER IT THE NEXT DAY. - PLEASE SIGN THE HOMEWORK BOOK EACH AND EVERY NIGHT.

6. FRIDAY FOLDERS - FOLDERS ARE SENT HOME THE “LAST DAY” OF A SCHOOL WEEK. (UNLESS NOTED IN THE HOMEWORK BOOK) - PLEASE SIGN AND DATE THE SHEET EACH TIME THE FOLDER COMES HOME. (PLEASE SIGN NOW FOR SIGNATURE RECOGNITION.) - YOUR CHILD MAY RETURN THE FOLDER ON THE NEXT SCHOOL DAY ALONG WITH ALL THE PAPERS INSIDE.

7. *SPELLING (NEW FORMAT) - ALL SPELLING WORK WILL BE PRINTED THIS YEAR. - BEGINING IN OCTOBER, SPELLING TESTS WILL BE WRITTEN IN BOTH CURSIVE AND PRINT. - TWO POSSIBLE TESTS TO RECEIVE EACH WEEK: *REGULAR LISTS *CHALLENGE LISTS SPELLING TESTS WILL BE GIVEN ON DAY 5 S. (UNLESS DAY 5 FALLS ON A MONDAY OR RIGHT AFTER A HOLIDAY) - ALL LISTS WILL BE KEPT IN BINDER FOR FUTURE REFERENCE.

8. SPELLING EXAMPLE: List Spelling Rule/Pattern/Exception Word List High Frequency Words Word Study Words Unit 1 Open Syllables (V/CV) An open syllable ends with a vowel which has a long sound (it says its own name). An open syllable may have a single final vowel such as be or go, or it may be a part of a longer word (open). 1. famous 2. demand 3. decide 4. human 5. began 6. local 7. beside 8. future 9. silence 10. motor 11.often 12.near 13.school 14.might 15.close Latin root “tri” (meaning = three) 16. triangle 17. tricolor 18. tricycle 19. triplet 20. tripod

9. REPORT CARDS - 4 TH GRADE USES A STANDARDS BASED REPORT CARD. - NUMERIC GRADES WILL BE “DISPLAYED” FOR LANGUAGE ARTS (READING, WRITING, GRAMMAR, AND SPELLING) AND MATH. - STUDENTS WILL EARN A “CD”, “DD”, OR “AC” BASED ON THEIR PROGRESS. - SOCIAL STUDIES AND SCIENCE ARE NO LONGER GRADED. - ALL OF 4 TH GRADE THROUGHOUT THE DISTRICT WILL BE GRADING THE SAME ASSESSMENTS.

10. *READING - THREE TIMES THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, THE STUDENTS WILL BE GIVEN THE AIMS (FLUENCY) AND MAZE (COMPREHENSION) TESTS. - STUDENTS WILL ALSO BE ASSESSED FOR THERE FOUNTAS & PINNELL LEVELS. (COMPREHENSION) - ALL DATA COLLECTED (INCLUDING 4SIGHTS TESTING RESULTS) IS USED TO HELP DETERMINE DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION GROUPINGS. - STUDENTS WILL HAVE READING TARGET TIME FOR 30 MINUTES DAILY.

11. MATH STUDENTS WILL BE GRADED ON: - MATH TESTS – TWO SEPARATE TESTS FOR EACH UNIT - SKILLS MAINTENANCE (SIMILAR TO MATH BOXES - YELLOW) - EVERYDAY MATH EXPOSES STUDENTS TO MULTIPLE WAYS TO SOLVE PROBLEMS. STUDENTS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO MASTER ALL METHODS. ON TESTS, STUDENTS CAN USE A PREFERRED METHOD. - PLEASE PRACTICE MATH FACTS!!! MATH FLUENCY IS PART OF THE STANDARDS BASED REPORT CARD.

13. *WRITING NUMERIC GRADES WILL BE BASED ON: - SKILLS CHECKS (FOCUS ON WRITING SKILLS) - EDITING ASSESSMENTS - 1-2 WRITING PROMPTS STUDENTS’ WILL USE A “5 PARAGRAPH ESSAY” APPROACH WRITING WILL BE A PART OF THE LANGUAGE ARTS GRADE.

14. FOOD POLICY

16. *EXTRAS: - THE FASTEST WAY TO REACH ME IS BY EMAIL. YOU CAN ALSO WRITE A NOTE IN YOUR CHILD’S HOMEWORK BOOK. - WHEN SENDING IN LUNCH MONEY, PLEASE PUT IT IN AN ENVELOPE THAT INCLUDES YOUR CHILD’S NAME MY NAME AND THEIR 6-DIGIT STUDENT NUMBER. - IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN HELPING OUT IN THE CLASSROOM, MARK DOWN AVAILABILITY ON “PARENT INFO SHEET”. - LOOK FOR “THE GNIAS GAZETTE” IN YOUR CHILD’S BINDER OR ON MY WEBSITE BEFORE THE START OF EVERY MONTH. - READING LOGS FOR THE MONTH WILL BE DUE THE FIRST OF EVERY MONTH. (AS WELL AS DISTRIBUTED ON THAT SAME DAY)

17. READING LOG/GAZETTE EXAMPLES (BE SURE TO CHECK MY WEBSITE FOR UPDATED INFORMATION PERTAINING TO THE GNIAS GAZETTE.)

18. ONE LAST THING…

19. HAVE A GREAT EVENING!