Home-School Connection

Just a quick note about homework coming home with your children.

Now that we are well underway with our fourth grade year, I just wanted to give all of the parents a heads-up with what your children are working on both in class and in school. As expected, we are all working hard in class and much of the work I assign to your children may be getting done in class. On the other hand, I know that some students may rush through the work in order to avoid having to bring work home to reinforce the concepts and skills that we have been working out. Nonetheless, I will outline some things to talk with your child about at home.

***Reader's Notebook: Please sit down with your child and read through my letters to them, as well as their letters to me. Talk about the content of each letter so your child can start verbalizing their thoughts about their reading before they turn it into print in their notebooks.

***Book Club Jobs/Reading Strategies: We will be discussing questioning, visualizing, connecting, summarizing, predicting, and describing characters as a means to comprehending the text we read in the beginning of the year. As your child to see the "job sheet" on colored paper to verbally discuss these crucial comprehension strategies.

***Reading Check-Offs: Encourage your child to remember to get your initials and turn in the quarter-sheet of paper every Friday. These are meant to encourage reading each night AND develop a sense of responsibility.

***Writing Process: We are working on a short story about one aspect of our lives based on the autobiography of Eric Carle. We are working through the entire writing process (Brainstorming, Outlining, Rough Draft, Peer Editing, Final Draft, and Publishing). Ask your child to bring home his/her writing progress. Talking about ideas for writing will help your child include more interesting/sophisticated ideas when he/she sits down to write.

***Math: Ask to look over your child's math homework sheet. We are currently learning new algorithms for adding/subtracting. Ask your child about the Partial-Sums/Differences method. While very different from the traditional columns algorithms, it is very neat to see how there is more than one way to add/subtract/etc. Also ask your child if he/she has corrections in math. There is a half-sheet for you to sign after you have reviewed the corrections with your child.

While I do encourage and see the value in a strong home-school connection, please make sure that you are allowing your child enough freedom to take on the responsibility of doing well in school. Have a watchful eye on your child's work and progress, but as I mentioned at Back-to-School Night, let them make some mistakes and learn what it feels like to succeed after hard work.

Thank you, and look for your child's work coming home in their backpack this (and every Friday)!

Welcome!

I hope you all have had a relaxing and happy summer! I cannot believe that the end of summer vacation is here, and I am really looking forward to this upcoming school year. I spent this summer getting our classroom ready and planning curriculum for this year. I have so many ideas that I am excited to implement in the classroom, and I look forward to working with all of you - students and families. While I am certain we will have a very fun time in fourth grade, I will also be challenging the students to help them learn not only the curriculum, but also important life skills including personal responsibility and accountability. Fourth grade was my favorite year at NDE, but it was also one of my most challenging. I learned what it meant to be organized, prepared, and responsible for myself, and it is my hope and duty to instill these values in your children throughout the year.
The transition from third to fourth grade is a big one, indeed. Academically, students will be encountering a lot of “firsts”:
• They will transition from “learning to read” to “reading to learn” which requires additional time to learn, practice, and master new comprehension skills.
• In math, the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades will be piloting Everyday Mathematics, which will expose the students to a different approach in learning mathematical concepts.
• Writing standards require that fourth graders compose multi-paragraph narratives and expository compositions, as well as beginning to learn about research methods and writing.
• In order to enjoy and learn the rich history of California, as well as the earth, life, and physical sciences, students will need to be prepared to read, comprehend, and evaluate informational text in order to apply that knowledge to relevant projects and experiments.
Not only does the curriculum become more demanding, but the social and emotional maturation of students during this year often impacts their daily relationships with peers in the classroom. In order to meet and accommodate these demanding academic needs while balancing the social/emotional element, students can expect an organized and active day in the classroom, as well as anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes of relevant homework each weekday night. Our schedule will certainly not be unmanageable, but it will be fast-paced, challenging, rich, and of course, fun!
Parents - I am looking forward to meeting all of you at Back to School Night. I would be happy to meet or chat with you about any questions or concerns you may have. However, I do ask that you give the children and me the first week of school to build our classroom community together. Beginning the second week of school would be an ideal time to approach me to discuss any concerns or questions you may have. The best way to schedule an appointment with me is to email me a couple of dates and times that work for you at lpanos@nde.org. I am looking forward to a great year, and cannot wait to get to know each of you as we strive towards a common goal – teaching and preparing the children for life outside of our classroom. Thank you!