1. 1.Please find your child’s desk. 2.On your child’s desk, you will find paper for you to write a note/letter to your child. They will be excited when they see it in the morning. We will begin shortly

2. Welcome to Back to School Night! Mrs. Murray’s Fourth Grade Sycamore Canyon School *2014-2015*

3. Let me introduce myself! *This is my 22 nd year teaching. ~4 th grade for 5 years ~3 rd grade for 16 years ~ Now back to 4 th grade *Family…husband Roger, two daughters, Makenna and Madison, son, Clayton *I am a working parent too!

4. Fourth Grade= a year of Great Change Familiar with: *binders*lined binder paper *assignment notebooks *grades Changes: *no last recess *more students in a classroom *Primary grades= learning skills… Upper grades= applying skills…application and showing evidence ACADEMIC RESPONSIBILITY is KEY!

5. PARENT-TEACHER COMMUNICATION * Classroom “Peek at the Week” (Will be sent via email…let me know if ever a problem) *Friday folders *Websites (Teacher Web? and Shutterfly) **Email is the very best way to get in touch with me. I check it daily. My email is- mmurray@conejousd.orgmmurray@conejousd.org My phone number is 498- 1573 ex.223

6. Friday Folders/Friday Assessments * Inside your child’s Friday Folder you will find any graded work. Some assessments will need to be signed, but most you can just hold onto. The “Friday Folder” is an excellent way for us to communicate. It gives valuable information in establishing a close relationship with your child. Also, if you have concerns, or comments, feel free to write them down and send them back in the folder. It is important for your child to know that we are communicating. The “Friday Folder” is due back every Monday morning…counts for homework for the following week. * Expected Friday Assessments: Spelling Test Reading Test (over the story) Reading Test/Grammar Test DLR Quiz

7. Homework: District Policy: 4 th grade students can expect to have 30-50 minutes of homework Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday (excluding work that is not completed in class and daily reading).

8. Absence Policy When a child is absent from school they are given one day for everyday they are out of school to complete the missed assignments. Please try not to request work the same day as an absence. *If you need to schedule doctor’s appointments during school…rotation days are best.

9. Team Teachers Mrs. Amelia Barra, Mrs. Katrina Hollins, and myself will be teaching science to all three of our classes throughout the year. Usually on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. All IEP/504 or other sensitive information about your student is shared with them unless you request that it not be. **Trimester one= Mrs. Hollins and Electricity and Magnetism **Trimester two= Mrs. Barra and Solid Earth **Trimester three= me Environments Should you need to speak with them regarding the science curriculum throughout the year you may email or call them directly. Please “cc” me on any emails. abarra@conejousd.org or 498- 1573 ex.226abarra@conejousd.org khollins@conejousd.org or 498-1573 ex. 227khollins@conejousd.org

10. CURRICULA READING Students will read several outstanding novels as a class this year, which include Island of the Blue Dolphins and By the Great Horn Spoon. They will also read a variety of selections from our fourth grade text by Macmillan. Students will also be participating in the Fourth Grade Motivational Reading Program. Weekly story tests will be given every Friday. These include a cold read portion, and the story test.

11. Fourth Grade Motivational Reading Program ~Students read books that they enjoy within their targeted Lexile (independent reading level). (+100 and -100 from their Lexile) ~Students are reading at least 20 minutes per evening. ~Students must earn a minimum of 18 points per month. at the end of each month ~Reading Logs are checked at the end of each month

12. What is a Lexile? ~Students are given a Student Reading Index (SRI) assessment which determines their Lexile. ~A Lexile is a specific number which is assigned to any text based on comprehension, syntactic complexity, and word frequency. It gives us a score for your child’s independent reading level. ~Average 4 th grade Lexile ranges from 400 to 900.

13. 4th graders will be writing on a daily basis * Our focus is on: pre-writing, writing a first draft, revising, editing, and publishing. * Summary Writing, Response to Literature and Narrative paragraphs are the standards in fourth grade. * Grammar is taught and reinforced through the “Daily Language Review” (D.L.R.) drills, as well as other materials, including our materials in our Treasures anthology. Writing

14. * SPELLING Students will have weekly spelling lists to master. There will be a pretest on Monday morning, if a child receives less then a 18/20 they will have the opportunity to review the words for their final, graded test will on Friday. In the case that a student receives a 100%, -1, or -2, they will be given an alternate list to review for their final, graded test on Friday. * SOCIAL STUDIES Students will be studying “Our California” covering land, history, people, development, and government. This is a very exciting and interesting component of the fourth grade curriculum. ( California picture project )

15. * MATH Concepts that will be emphasized in math this year: understanding the meaning and uses of numbers; making accurate computations using a variety of methods; understanding and using different systems and tools in making measurements; investigating characteristics of geometric shapes; graphing; probability; algebraic notation; and understanding patterns and functions. * SCIENCE The following units will be studied: Minerals and Rocks, Landforms, Rock Formations, Environments, Magnetism and Electricity. A discovery and hands on approach to studying science will be emphasized.

16. 4 th Grade Tentative Year at a Glance 2014-2015 First Trimester: * Progress Reports (October 10) * Parent Conferences (October 13-17) Minimum Day Schedule * Walk Through California On-site field trip (Oct./Nov.) * Living History Museum- Biography Report (December) Report Card (December) Second Trimester: * Core Literature- Island of the Blue Dolphin (January) * Island of the Blue Dolphins field trip (March) * Science Fair (February) * District sponsored Art Field Trip (March) * Report Cards (March)

17. 4 th Grade Tentative Year at a Glance 2014- 2015…continued… Third Trimester: * Olivas Adobe Field Trip (April) * Core Literature- By the Great Horn Spoon (April/May) * State Testing (May) * California Landmark Project (May) * Human Growth and Development Film (May/June) * Open House (May) * Gold Dust or Bust Play (June) * “Gold Rush” Day (June) * Report Cards- Last day of school (June)

18. Daily Schedule * 8:15-10:30 Language Arts * 10:30-10:50 Recess * 10:50 – 12:15 Math * 12:15-1:00 Lunch * 1:00-2:40Science/Social Studies (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday) * Rotations will be on Friday afternoons from lunch until the end of the day. Make Dr. appointments at this time!

19. Planned Field Trips and Activities **“Walk Through California” On campus in November **Island of the Blue Dolphin Carpentaria State Beach **Olivas Adobe ~Ventura Stay tuned for further information!

20. On the day of your child’s birthday or half birthday, they are welcome to bring in 3 items to share with their classmates. *Pictures, trophies, or other items *Please, no pets or food treats to share *We will also celebrate with “10” extra minutes of recess! Birthdays:

21. “Exploratory” Exploratory is an opportunity for your child to work in a group using productive partnering to complete complex problems. Some will build verbal skills, some will build mechanical skills, and many will build both. Using The Odyssey of the Mind spontaneous problems as our model, we will break into eight or more groups so each child can have a truly hands on experience. In order for Exploratory to work we need 8-10 parent volunteers who will be committed to being trained, planning and running our class Exploratory session once a month. Please sign up on the volunteer sign up on your desk.

22. Thank you so much for coming tonight. * Please write your child a note and leave it on their desk and make sure your half of the picture is finished. * Please make sure you have signed up for anything you wanted to volunteer for. I will do my best to place everyone where they wish. Positions we REALLY need… ~1 or 2 room parents ~2 or 4 Art Docents Have a great rest of your night!