Welcome4th Grade Parents!!

2018-2019Ms. Bruno

Ms. Bruno’s Info kbruno@psd202.org

815.577.4630Class Website:http://rges.psd202.org/teacher/kbruno/home

4th Grade Schedule8:50-9:05 Arrival9:05-9:45 Specials9:50-10:20 Intervention10:20-11:20 Math11:20-11:40 Words Their Way11:40-12:15 Science/Social Studies12:15-1:05 Recess/Lunch1:10-1:40 Shared Reading1:40-2:40 Daily 52:40-3:20 Grammar/Writing3:20-3:30 Read Aloud

Specials Schedule

R - PEI - MusicD - ArtG - PEE - HEALTH

Library

I days

English Language Arts Shared Reading

• Modeled Reading• Graphic Organizers • Teacher models, the group

practices, and then students practice independently

• Focus is on reading strategies and how to become a better reader

• Students will use Sleuth and Ready Gen Vol 1 & 2

Guided Reading• Groups meet a minimum of

3x per week for 20 min• Students have book bags &

are responsible for bringing them to/from school and home.

• Focus is on reading comprehension and effectively using strategies taught in Shared Reading

English Language Arts Writing

• We use our writing notebooks, do not expect to see daily papers home.

• The writing process can be a long process, we use graphic organizers and break down all writing pieces into manageable work loads

• Grammar will be taught during writing and shared reading using mentor sentences and interactive notebook pages.

Spelling/WTWStudents are given a new every 5 days, we will not follow a Monday-Friday schedule.

Day 1- receive new sortDay 2- practice sort/write the sortDay 3- Find words in textsDay 4- Use words in sentencesDay 5- Assessment

MathTypical Lesson Structure:

• Complete solve/share problem based interactive learning question. • Virtual/Digital learning piece• Guided practice• Rotations with independent practice, small groups with teacher,

and centers• Math books are consumable.• Students will bring home math homework torn from the

consumable book.• Math books will stay at school.

Q1: Addition/Subtraction/Number SenseQ2: Multiplication/Division

Q3: Fractions/DecimalsQ4: Geometry

Science➢1st Quarter✓ Force and Motion✓ Simple Machines

➢2nd Quarter✓Matter and Energy

➢3rd Quarter✓Electric, light, heat, & sound energy

➢4th Quarter✓Light

Social Studies➢1st Quarter✓ Landforms✓Northeast Region

➢2nd Quarter✓ Southeast Region

➢ 3rd Quarter✓Midwest✓ Illinois

➢ 4th Quarter✓ Southwest✓West

i-Ready Diagnostic Assessment ✓ Common Core aligned✓ Adaptive diagnostic assessment✓ Valid and reliable growth measure✓ Given K-8✓ 3 x per year (Fall, Winter, Spring)✓ Reading and Math✓ Progress monitors student growth✓ Parent reports available

Classroom Expectations•Always follow our P.R.I.D.E. values

•Be kind!•5 classroom rules (Whole Brain Thinking)

•Home Folder•Agenda

✓ Students are expected to copy assignments down every morning before school starts as they are shown on the Smart Board. Read every night!

✓ Parent signatures are NOT required, but please check your child’s assignment notebook daily.

Homework▪ Realistic amounts of homework are sent home. Homework is intended to be practice for a

skill being taught at school. Any missing/incomplete homework or classwork will result in your child missing the grade level Fun Friday activities to complete or make up the assignments not completed. Assignments not finished by the end of the day Friday may be sent home for your child to complete over the weekend.

▪ Students are expected to read 20 minutes every night.

▪ Science/Social Studies- Flashcards for states and capitals or vocab words and study guides for assessments. There may also be an occasional project that needs to be completed at home.

▪ Math- Typically math homework will come home each night except Friday. This is a review of what skills we focused on that day in the classroom. The problems on the back are more challenging, so they will usually only be assigned 2 or 3 of those. I also encourage the students to at least try all of the assigned problems, even if they are tricky, and then ask at the beginning of math the next day if they have a question. Someone else may have had that same question! Sometimes it will just be a couple of problems, and then your child can explain what they learned today. Just initial!

School NotesPositive Reinforcements

P.R.I.D.E. vs bullyingGrade Level and Classroom expectations

Principal AwardsGotchas

Fun FridayPrincipal Lunch

School Notes

• When picking up your car riders at dismissal, please remember that all car riders dismiss in the back of the

school.

•If you need to change your child’s daily regular dismissal, please email me, call the office, or send a note in with

your student.

School Notes•Please note that birthdays are celebrated but only non-food items can be passed out due to allergies and health concerns. Some ideas are pencils, stickers, or notepads. In addition, party invitations can not be distributed unless every student in the class receives one.

•Students are allowed to bring a water bottle with them to school and preferably with a sport top on it (please no frozen water). •Once again recess is before lunch, and this switch has been

successful. For example, fewer students are visiting the nurse after lunch/recess with an upset stomach.

PTO✓100% is the goal

✓Check the school website for upcoming events

✓Meetings are open to everyone

Whole Brain Teaching▪ Research based system that utilizes all areas of the brain, keeps children

engaged throughout their lessons, and helps them retain much more information than the standard lecture or discussion model.

▪ Highly interactive form of instruction that delivers information to students in short “chunks.”

▪ Kids then teach what they have just learned to their partners, sometimes using hand-gestures to help remember specific vocabulary. While students teach each other, the teacher walks around the room to discover who understands the lesson and who needs more instruction.

▪ Research shows that children retain more information when they have an opportunity to put it into their own words and use gestures to emphasize key instructional units … plus, it's fun!

▪ We also use for our classroom rules and transitions.▪ For more information about Whole Brain Teaching go to

www.WholeBrainTeaching.com.

Growth MindsetWhat is mindset and why is it important? Mindset is a simple idea discovered by Stanford University

psychologist Carol Dweck from decades of research on achievement and success—a simple idea that makes all the difference. Dr. Dweck realized that there are two mindsets: a fixed mindset and a growth mindset.

o In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. o In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and

hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point.

How can you support a growth mindset in your children? Every word and action sends a message. The things we do and say tell children how to think about themselves. They can hear a fixed mindset message that says,

“You have permanent traits and I’m judging them,” or they can hear a growth mindset message that says, “You are a developing person and I am interested in your growth.”

The most important thing you can do to help your child instill a growth mindset is to praise them for effort rather than for talent. Messages like, “You learned that so quickly! You’re so smart!” teach children that effort is

a sign of weakness and that they are either smart or not smart. If these children encounter difficulty in the future, they may not know how to deal with it. Instead, messages such as, “I like the way you approached that

problem,” or “Good job to hang in there and find a different strategy that worked,” or “Sorry, that seemed to be too easy for you; let’s do something more challenging.” teach kids that effort is something we can all benefit

from to reach our full potential, and that we need to be working purposefully in order to grow.

40 book challenge!▪ I am so excited that all students have accepted the 40 book challenge!▪ There is no reading log that goes home, but students will be tracking

their own reading in their Reader’s Notebook.▪ We will be using different ways in class for student’s to communicate

what they are reading.▪ I will check their notebooks periodically, and they will write me letters

to talk about the books they are reading.▪ This is a personal challenge, and will look different for each student. If a

student is reading 20 minutes a night and has read new genres and more books than last year, that is something to celebrate!

#classroombookaday

https://lookaside.fbsbx.com/file/Pic%20Books%20Every%20Day-%20The%20Power%20of%20Shared%20Stories%20-%20nErDcampMI%202017.pdf?token=AWwq5xLq_wTcdaExjsyWiEQz_S6YRtWwaCcVDQYPnYgPJ8XoIvThJSWVIrlyD2KsM3X7dI9Sm_f5OhtFNN6dRR0QDFHEiYO1lIT0QUesUrlatborP_F85_5uSYp_rcK1FS9qQsSDbY4SJuvdpkuFh21eWmZHrWtINCLWEj7rSpRUcw

Class DOJO!❖ We will be using Class Dojo as our behavior system in the classroom.

❖ Students can earn positive Dojo points for showing Raptor P.R.I.D.E, working hard at specials, turning in homework, walking in the hall nicely, and so much more.

❖ Points can be redeemed once a week for rewards that we have chosen as a class.

❖ Student Portfolios is a new feature we will be using this year!

❖ We also earn classroom points, and have come up with a list rewards that they can earn as a class.

Important Dates9/3 -Labor Day, NO SCHOOL

9/17 -School Improvement Day, early release9/21 – Fall pictures

10/8 - Columbus Day, NO SCHOOL10/12 – Raptor Run

10/19 - End of First Quarter10/22 -School Improvement Day, early release

PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES11/5 - (Evening Schedule) - NO SCHOOL

11/6 - NO SCHOOL

REMIND