parent-info

Information for Parents

Welcome to grade 4. I am very excited about beginning this school year with your children. I have tried to gather some of the important information for starting the year on this page. If you do not find the information you are looking for, please feel free to email me; my address is at the bottom of the page. The first message that I have tried to share with the students is that grade 4 moves fast. We move from one activity to the next with less down time. There is no time to chat with a friend on the way to the reading corner because the rest of the class is waiting. We aim to change for gym in 60 seconds. There is a lot to learn in grade 4 and there is no time to waste. One important reason to saved time in transitions is so that we have time to slow down if someone is confused during the lessons. It is important to me that we take the time to make sure that everyone has a chance to understand what we are learning. For this reason, the students are encouraged to take charge of their own learning and speak up if they need another example or further explanation.  **__Homework:__** Homework will be written in the agenda each day. Please help your child to develop the habit of bringing home the agenda and checking it each evening. This is a good practice, even when they think they know it by heart. Homework should be practice for work done in class. If your child seems confused by the homework, he or she should either be paying more careful attention in class or asking more questions during explanations. The following is an overview of the most common homework. The homework should usually take less than 30 minutes and, in most cases, not more than 45 minutes of concentrated work. This time does not include the independent reading block which might be completed at bedtime. If your child has been working hard for 45-60 minutes and is still not done, feel free to stop working and write me a note explaining the situation.
 * **Independent Reading:** Students will have assigned independent reading nearly every night. This reading should be done in a quiet place (i.e. not at the kitchen table during the busiest time of the evening). Parents who wish to give extra support may wish to discuss what has been read with their child. I can provide a list of conversation starters for parents who are interested.
 * **Reading Journal:** Some weeks, students will be asked to write a letter about their reading in their reading journal. This letter is meant to be a conversation with me about reading, not a re-tell of the reading. Instructions for appropriately completing this task will be glued into the reading journal. I will be responding to the letters and will often leave comments for improving the next letter. If your child is struggling with these letters, try having a conversation about the book orally first to help him or her generate ideas before writing.
 * **Math:** Students will often have work in a homework package. This should be practice of what is done in class. Students are asked not to work ahead of what is assigned.
 * **Science Reading:** Sometimes readings will be assigned for science. The readings will usually be part of a longer piece. The students should read the assigned part aloud in chorus with a parent or older sibling. Please only have your child read the piece once (maximum twice, and then only if your child is interested) and do not require perfect reading. If your child does not immediately know a word, he or she should not sound it out, but skip it as you read, then pick back up on the next word. This reading is for understanding, information, and interest.

**__Responsibility:__**
 * **Homework:** Students are responsible for their own homework. It is not the parent's job to make sure homework gets finished or returned to the school bag. The consequence of incomplete homework is the lost opportunity to practice. In general, I will not be keeping students in at recess for homework not done. In my opinion, taking a break from the classroom is more important.
 * **Notes, Messages:** Students are responsible for returning forms to school in a timely manner. They may ask parents to sign while they wait so they can return the form to their bags. Please support them in this. They may write their own notes to explain absences as long as they are signed by a parent. They should bring a note after every absence.
 * **Questions & Help:** The students know that I am not a mind reader. If they are confused or need extra help, they must be responsible to ask. If they have done poorly on a test or quiz and are not sure why, they should ask for help.

__**Other Routines:**__
 * **Water bottles:** Students will not be permitted to leave during class time to get a drink. Instead, the students may keep a water bottle in class. They may drink at any convenient time.
 * **2 Pairs of Shoes:** Please make sure that your child has indoor and outdoor footwear. As an additional note, during September and October, gym often takes place outside. Students should have appropriate __outdoor__ gym footwear (i.e. they may not wear their indoor shoes for outdoor gym).
 * **Laptops:** There will not be any laptops available for cycle 2 this year as it is a transition year for the school board in their purchasing plan. While it is disappointing for the students not to have a computer to bring home, the school is exploring some options to ensure that we will have some access to technology this year.
 * **Book Sign-outs:** Books may be signed out of the classroom library by the students. These books may be taken home for nightly reading but they must be returned to school each day for reading in class. Students must return books that have been signed out before they can sign out other books.
 * **Internet:** We will use this wiki as well as other internet sites and tools to expand the walls of our classroom. We will sometimes post work and pictures. It is important to me that students learn to be safe when they are online. We discuss safety and what information should be private. In most cases, we will use cybernames (online nicknames) instead of real names. Pictures will not have names associated with them.
 * **Extra Supplies:** I encourage the students in grade 4 to be responsible for their own materials. Extra supplies (pencils, glue, erasers,...) are stored in ziplock bags labeled with the students' names. As students need materials, they get them on their own. I encourage the students to plan for a whole year and to make sure that their supplies last. Students with extra materials at the end of the year bring them home. This system works very well for most students. The French teachers have asked for supplies specifically for the French classes. This means that students should not have to carry their pencil cases to French class.

**__Schedule:__**
 * Our schedule is flexible and we adapt it to suit the various projects that we work on. Click here to see the basic schedule.

**__School Calendar:__**
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">Click here to see the official school calendar

<span style="color: #017070; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 168%;">**__Communication:__**
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">Please feel free to email me with any comments, questions or concerns. meacherjATpedDOTetsbDOTqcDOTca (replace "AT" with "@" and "DOT" with ".")