Welcome to the Fourth Grade
Learning is a LIFELONG PROCESS. We hope to make this year your child’s favorite and most productive year in their educational experience. In our classrooms this year students will do many things, some they will do only while they are in fourth grade such as; the State Capital trip to Madison, and the economy system. In order to do these things students must become a part of our work force and realize that like their parents, they too have a job to do each day. It is from this premise that we run our rooms. Employers in today’s job market look for reliable workers, who try hard, come each day, and work hard while on the job. Those are important skills to learn along with reading, writing, and arithmetic.
Parents go to work and get paid. So shall students if they come to work each day and try their best. Students will be paid for minutes read, jobs within the classroom, effort, great thinking, work done on time, as well other things. They will also learn to budget their money.
Communication
We aim to have a good, open line of communication. The main tools we will be using to ensure this happens is email, Remind, and phone calls. Please be sure that your child’s teacher has an email address and phone number from you in order to make this process easier. If your email or phone number changes, please contact your child’s teacher and let them know right away.
**Please note that this is a transition year for us from using ClassTag to the Remind app so please be patient and give us feedback!
Another communication tool we use is assignment notebooks. Please be sure you are checking and signing your child’s assignment notebook each night. Important notes will often be stapled inside and their homework should be neatly listed. If you notice that your child’s assignment notebook is not coming home regularly or not being filled out, please have the conversation with them about responsibility and then reach out to us.
BE RESPONSIBLE!
Money Incentive:
The purpose of this incentive is to teach students the handling of money in situations such as saving, banking, fines, purchasing power, and others. It also reinforces positive behavior, good learning techniques, manners, as well as penalties for negative actions. Each week students earn a “paycheck” for doing their job at school. They will have opportunities to increase or decrease their earning power as in the real world. Students will be paid $1.00/1 minute of reading. Students use money earned throughout the week and semester to purchase goods and opportunities. Students will also have a monthly bill.
Rules:
In our classroom we follow the basic school rules posted in each classroom. I have only one additional rule and that is making school fun! The more fun we have at school the more fun students will have. The one part of our job we dislike is playing policeperson, but we will when we have to. Yellow slips and being sent to the office are only a last resort.
Possible Field Trips:
Fourth graders have the opportunity to go on two field trips; Madison (State Capital), and Chippewa Ice Age Center. However these trips are all contingent on money raised through fundraisers and a $50.00 student fee. We will be offering families a fundraiser to help offset the $50.00 student fee. The other fundraiser that we have planned is; “Highlight of the Night”. Chaperones may be asked to pay a fee as well. These trips are all outstanding educational field trips, which will not happen without your help.
Yellow Slips:
We will be using yellow slips to communicate with you any trouble your child is having regarding being safe, being respectful, being kind, or working hard (our school rules). Once a yellow slip has been issued, students are expected to have the slip signed and returned the next day. If a slip is not returned within two days, your child will make a phone call to you explaining the infraction. Please note again that these slips are not intended to punish, but to let you know what is going on. Once three yellow slips have incurred, a detention will then be warranted. With an open line of communication, we want to ensure that minor problems don’t escalate. Yellow slips will affect students eligibility to attend field trips, after three detentions your child will not be able to attend any field trips or end of the year activities.
Homework:
Being in fourth grade, your child should be spending an average of 30-40 minutes on homework each night. Much of their time will be spent reading. We are requiring that your child read at least 20 minutes five of seven days each week. If your child is consistently spending more than 40 minutes on homework each evening, please let me know. Having a quiet study place and scheduled study time are successful strategies many students use at home.
Assignment Notebooks:
Your child will be bringing home an assignment notebook for you to sign each night. Not only are these notebooks the student’s main organizational tool, we also like to use them as an avenue to communicate with parents about any concerns or positive things happening. We check their notebooks daily. In return, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to write in this notebook and we’ll get back to you A.S.A.P. (Since assignment notebooks are checked by teacher assistants, please put anything urgent or confidential in an email, I will get back to you faster that way.)
Grading:
Grades are taken in all subjects. That is why it is important to turn all assignments in on time. In certain subjects new material may be tried several times before an actual grade is taken. Not all assignments are graded. Cornell Elementary is using a concept based report card. Students will receive a report card two times a year.
Book Orders:
Book orders come out approximately once a month. Cash is accepted but not prefered. The best way to pay is online. Checks can be made payable to Scholastic Book Clubs. The orders take anywhere from 1-2 weeks to come in. Unfortunately Book Trust is not offered in 4th grade.
Curriculum (subjects taught)
Language Arts Curriculum:
The Cornell School District has a newin in our second year of our new language arts curriculum called CKLA (Core Knowledge Language Arts) Amplify. In fourth grade we cover the following topics: Personal Narratives, Empires in the Middle Ages, Poetry, Eureka! (Science based, make-believe game show), Geology, the American Revolution, and Treasure Island.
Math:
We are looking forward to continuing the student’s success with the Investigations mathematics curriculum again this year. Students need to know their addition, subtraction, and multiplication facts when entering the fourth grade. We will cover addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division as well as fractions and decimals. A heavy emphasis is placed on story problems and written explanations of their work.
Science/Health:
This subject is a combination of text related learning and hands-on material. We do many experiments and lab situations. We cover; rocks, the brain and eyes, physics of sound, and energy. We will also touch on several health topics.
Social Studies:
In the state of Wisconsin, all fourth graders will study our state’s history. In addition we study geographical terms and the different regions of our country. It is expected that your child will be able to memorize maps and facts about our state so please be ready to help them study!
Thank you,
Rachel Sproul ☺
Katie Jensen ☺
Learning is a LIFELONG PROCESS. We hope to make this year your child’s favorite and most productive year in their educational experience. In our classrooms this year students will do many things, some they will do only while they are in fourth grade such as; the State Capital trip to Madison, and the economy system. In order to do these things students must become a part of our work force and realize that like their parents, they too have a job to do each day. It is from this premise that we run our rooms. Employers in today’s job market look for reliable workers, who try hard, come each day, and work hard while on the job. Those are important skills to learn along with reading, writing, and arithmetic.
Parents go to work and get paid. So shall students if they come to work each day and try their best. Students will be paid for minutes read, jobs within the classroom, effort, great thinking, work done on time, as well other things. They will also learn to budget their money.
Communication
We aim to have a good, open line of communication. The main tools we will be using to ensure this happens is email, Remind, and phone calls. Please be sure that your child’s teacher has an email address and phone number from you in order to make this process easier. If your email or phone number changes, please contact your child’s teacher and let them know right away.
**Please note that this is a transition year for us from using ClassTag to the Remind app so please be patient and give us feedback!
Another communication tool we use is assignment notebooks. Please be sure you are checking and signing your child’s assignment notebook each night. Important notes will often be stapled inside and their homework should be neatly listed. If you notice that your child’s assignment notebook is not coming home regularly or not being filled out, please have the conversation with them about responsibility and then reach out to us.
BE RESPONSIBLE!
Money Incentive:
The purpose of this incentive is to teach students the handling of money in situations such as saving, banking, fines, purchasing power, and others. It also reinforces positive behavior, good learning techniques, manners, as well as penalties for negative actions. Each week students earn a “paycheck” for doing their job at school. They will have opportunities to increase or decrease their earning power as in the real world. Students will be paid $1.00/1 minute of reading. Students use money earned throughout the week and semester to purchase goods and opportunities. Students will also have a monthly bill.
Rules:
In our classroom we follow the basic school rules posted in each classroom. I have only one additional rule and that is making school fun! The more fun we have at school the more fun students will have. The one part of our job we dislike is playing policeperson, but we will when we have to. Yellow slips and being sent to the office are only a last resort.
Possible Field Trips:
Fourth graders have the opportunity to go on two field trips; Madison (State Capital), and Chippewa Ice Age Center. However these trips are all contingent on money raised through fundraisers and a $50.00 student fee. We will be offering families a fundraiser to help offset the $50.00 student fee. The other fundraiser that we have planned is; “Highlight of the Night”. Chaperones may be asked to pay a fee as well. These trips are all outstanding educational field trips, which will not happen without your help.
Yellow Slips:
We will be using yellow slips to communicate with you any trouble your child is having regarding being safe, being respectful, being kind, or working hard (our school rules). Once a yellow slip has been issued, students are expected to have the slip signed and returned the next day. If a slip is not returned within two days, your child will make a phone call to you explaining the infraction. Please note again that these slips are not intended to punish, but to let you know what is going on. Once three yellow slips have incurred, a detention will then be warranted. With an open line of communication, we want to ensure that minor problems don’t escalate. Yellow slips will affect students eligibility to attend field trips, after three detentions your child will not be able to attend any field trips or end of the year activities.
Homework:
Being in fourth grade, your child should be spending an average of 30-40 minutes on homework each night. Much of their time will be spent reading. We are requiring that your child read at least 20 minutes five of seven days each week. If your child is consistently spending more than 40 minutes on homework each evening, please let me know. Having a quiet study place and scheduled study time are successful strategies many students use at home.
Assignment Notebooks:
Your child will be bringing home an assignment notebook for you to sign each night. Not only are these notebooks the student’s main organizational tool, we also like to use them as an avenue to communicate with parents about any concerns or positive things happening. We check their notebooks daily. In return, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to write in this notebook and we’ll get back to you A.S.A.P. (Since assignment notebooks are checked by teacher assistants, please put anything urgent or confidential in an email, I will get back to you faster that way.)
Grading:
Grades are taken in all subjects. That is why it is important to turn all assignments in on time. In certain subjects new material may be tried several times before an actual grade is taken. Not all assignments are graded. Cornell Elementary is using a concept based report card. Students will receive a report card two times a year.
Book Orders:
Book orders come out approximately once a month. Cash is accepted but not prefered. The best way to pay is online. Checks can be made payable to Scholastic Book Clubs. The orders take anywhere from 1-2 weeks to come in. Unfortunately Book Trust is not offered in 4th grade.
Curriculum (subjects taught)
Language Arts Curriculum:
The Cornell School District has a newin in our second year of our new language arts curriculum called CKLA (Core Knowledge Language Arts) Amplify. In fourth grade we cover the following topics: Personal Narratives, Empires in the Middle Ages, Poetry, Eureka! (Science based, make-believe game show), Geology, the American Revolution, and Treasure Island.
Math:
We are looking forward to continuing the student’s success with the Investigations mathematics curriculum again this year. Students need to know their addition, subtraction, and multiplication facts when entering the fourth grade. We will cover addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division as well as fractions and decimals. A heavy emphasis is placed on story problems and written explanations of their work.
Science/Health:
This subject is a combination of text related learning and hands-on material. We do many experiments and lab situations. We cover; rocks, the brain and eyes, physics of sound, and energy. We will also touch on several health topics.
Social Studies:
In the state of Wisconsin, all fourth graders will study our state’s history. In addition we study geographical terms and the different regions of our country. It is expected that your child will be able to memorize maps and facts about our state so please be ready to help them study!
Thank you,
Rachel Sproul ☺
Katie Jensen ☺