Fourth Grade

Welcome!

2

Mrs. Virginia AppelbaumI grew up in Catonsville. My husband and I are Catonsville High School graduates.

We have three children at various stages of college. Ouch:)

I have a degree in History from UMBC and a Masters in Elementary Education from Johns Hopkins. I have a Maryland Advanced Professional Certificate, 1st grade through Middle School.

I have over twenty years experience working with children of all ages in the classroom.

I have taught in private schools as well as Howard County and Baltimore City.

3

Ms. Alaina GrubbI currently live in Ellicott City, MD where I grew up. I have lived and taught in both Tuscaloosa, Alabama and Suwanee, Georgia.

I attended the University of Alabama and graduated with a degree and certification in Elementary Education. I am certified to teach first grade through middle school. I am also certified in ESOL and gifted education.

This is my tenth year teaching. Seven of my nine previous years were teaching fourth grade. I have also taught third and fifth grades.

I love teaching and watching students learn and grow. I work to instill confidence and a life-long love of learning in my students.

I am so excited to join the St. John’s family and look forward to a wonderful and year.

4

Goals for fourth grade students

Students will work hard to bring out the excellence within themselves.

Students will continue to grow as children of God, showing respect for themselves and others.

Students will continue to grow as independent thinkers and learners.

Our GoalsOur Goals

• To give your child confidence to be an independent thinker.

• To provide a safe, fun, supportive, and nurturing learning environment.

• To stimulate your child academically and give your child a thirst for knowledge.

• To give your child confidence to be an independent thinker.

• To provide a safe, fun, supportive, and nurturing learning environment.

• To stimulate your child academically and give your child a thirst for knowledge.

Class SubjectsLanguage ArtsReadingWriting and GrammarSpelling and VocabularyMathSocial Studies

Math

• We are following the

• Houghton Mifflin Math Expressions Curriculum.

• Students will learn about the following concepts:

• Naming and constructing geometric figures

• Using Numbers and Organizing Data

• Multiplication and Division

• Decimals and Their Uses

• Big Numbers, Estimation and Computation

Math • Fractions and Their uses; Chance and Probability

• Perimeter and Area

• Percents

• Reflections and Symmetry

• Shapes, Weight, Volume and Capacity

• We will be reviewing and assessing throughout the year, both formally and

informally.

• www.eduplace.com/math/mthexp/

Reading The students will learn fourth grade reading

strategies and skills These skills will include the following:

• To Summarize• To predict and Infer• To monitor and clarify• To question• To think and compare• To evaluate• To make connections

Writing

• Students will be exposed to many different forms of writing, including

narrative, poetry, reports, news articles, letter writing and persuasive writing.

6 + 1 Writing Traits- ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, conventions, presentation

Polish the Paragraph 5 paragraph Essay

Social Studies The main focus for Social Studies this year is

Maryland We will be exploring:

Maryland’s land and early people

(Native Americans)

Explorers

Colonial Maryland

Maryland Today

The Thirteen Colonies We will utilize research and map skills.

Spring fieldtrip; St. Mary’s City

12

Geography

Every couple of weeks we will have a week of geography skills.

Started with the continents and oceans, will discuss map skills and locate major countries in the news, as well as, state capitals

Spelling and Vocabulary

These subjects will be taught on alternate weeks.

Spelling/Vocabulary§ We are implementing a new spelling

program called Words Their Way.§ This is an individualized spelling program

that involves sorting words and noticing patterns.

§ Workbooks will be sent home each night. § Homework must be done each night for

review in the next day’s lesson§ Test will be on Friday

HomeworkHomework Each week your child will have

Words Their Way or Wordly Wise 20 minutes reading daily Math Plus any extra homework that enhances

class work Each month your child will have• A book project based on a genre or a

Discovery Quest - An oral research project• Social Studies projects will occasionally be

assigned throughout the year.

15

Memory BagMemory Bag

Due on October 1st

DISCOVERY QUESTSDISCOVERY QUESTS1. Discover a career (grown-up job) that interests you! Here’s

the catch—it must be in a science or math field. Explain what it is, why it interests you and what you have to do to pursue this career e.g. education, experience, training.

2. Discover a legend! Research one in detail including its history (when or how it started), geographic region of origin (where it comes from) and explain if it is still believed today and why.

3. Discover a biblical hero from the Old Testament! What obstacles did they face? How did they overcome them? What can we learn from God from this hero?

This time you and your parents must have a conversation and decide which one to choose together! Remember Only choose one question.Prepare a 5 – 10 minute speech to recite—not read! Use posters, visual aids and/or handouts—they really jazz up your presentation.

17

Grading Scale Fourth and Fifth Grade

Grade / Percent A+ 97-100

A 96-93 A- 92-90

B+ 89-86 B 85-83 B- 82-80

C+ 79-76 C 75-73 C- 72-70 D 69-65

F below 65

If a D or below is awarded then the child will be given the

opportunity to redo any work to improve his/her grade.

19

Volunteers NeededSCHOLASTIC PARENT PARTY SIGN-UPMYSTERY READERBIRTHDAY STARRoom Parent (Mrs. A’s room)Yearbook Parent (photographer) Thank you for volunteering! We could not do it

without you:)

20

Welcome Ms. Nichols

• After St. John’s:• “Where do we go from hereWhere do we go from here?”

• Meeting • Wednesday, October 9th

• 6:30 pm

21

Questions?