Allergies: We have kids who have nut allergies (not just peanut.) It is critical that your child NOT bring snacks with nuts in them to eat in the classroom. They can bring those items at lunch without worry, as we have sections of each table that are "nut friendly." Thank you for helping keep our kids safe.
Attendance: Attendance is super important! Besides the fact that the district loses money when kids miss school (unexcused=$45 a day), it's impossible to recreate the meaningful conversations and student interactions that happen daily. Having said that, if your child is truly sick, then by all means keep him/her home. I will do my best to catch everyone up after they return from an absence, but please know that I cannot recreate the richness of a lesson through make-up work. It is extremely important that your child consults with BOTH teachers to obtain make-up work. Make-up work is given with the expectation that the student will have it completed with a due date of one day for each day the child was absent. So if your child is absent on Monday, for example, and an assignment was given and due the following day, your child will also have one day to complete the assignment. If multiple days are missed, it is best to obtain work from the teachers as soon as possible, maybe even during the illness if your child is well enough to work. Make up work will not be given for unexcused absences (traveling.) Work missed due to unexcused absences is generally graded as missing (zero).
Homework: Please try to instill a routine for your children where they begin to take responsibility for bringing things to you, rather than waiting for you to ask. It's hard, but this transition is so important for our fourth graders.
Make Up Work: The fourth grade policy regarding make up work due to illness is one day for every day absent..
Klein's subjects: I teach Reading, Writing, and Social Studies (Texas History.) These are my favorite subjects to teach!!
In Writing, we will work from a Writers' Workshop model. This means we will often start with a mini lesson and practice a skill, followed by applying the skill in our own writing. You won't see a lot of your child's writing at first because it is a process. Once a child's writing goes through the writing process and final copies are handed in, you will be able to start seeing the fruits of their labor. Please feel free to email me if you'd like to come in and see what your child is working on in class. Most of our lessons will come directly from the children's writing itself. This includes spelling. While I do believe spelling is crucial and deserves instruction and practice, it will fall under the idea of word study. I don't believe studying words in isolation and taking tests on those words helps a child become a better speller. Some homework during the week may include spelling and grammar practice.
** We will do more work on the Google Drive after our routines and expectations are set, which will allow you to see your child's work at home as well.
In Social Studies our focus will be Texas History. Texas History is a subject taught in both 4th and 7th grades. Fourth grade isn't quite as detailed as 7th, but it is intended to be the framework for teaching aspects of history in more depth later. A lot of Social Studies is truly taught through Reading and Writing, so you can be sure your child will have lots of Language Arts time each day. We may have a project or two along the way, but I intend for a majority of them to be done in class.
Books: We do have a Writing textbook that we will use in class as a reference. In the event that a child needs to make up some work and needs to take a book home, I will work with him/her individually. In Social Studies, our students read Texas Studies Weekly, which is a weekly newspaper with lots of exciting articles, biographies, maps, and more centered around a theme in Texas History. It runs chronologically from the first natives in the area through Texas' importance in the 21st century. Some of our non fiction reading will come from this resource as well. In Reading, though there is an anthology with rich literature, students will read short stories, plays, poetry, and novels, both individually and in small groups.
What can parents do to support the learning in the classroom?
I want the kids to LOVE learning and have a natural passion for reading and writing. Forcing reading and writing in which children don't relate or care for the topic is the fastest turn off for them. I will help build their stamina throughout the year, and it is my goal that each child will make substantial gains during fourth grade. Everyone is different. Everyone has different needs. As I learn more about each child I will better understand his/her individual reading and writing needs. It will help me as a teacher if you take lots of opportunities at home to just talk about things with your child. When you read together discuss the author's use of wording when it catches your attention. Encourage your child to write letters, both by hand and in emails. Have your child help write the week's grocery list. Try starting a mother/daughter, father/son, (or any combination of parent and child) journal. My kids love to read something from me that is especially for them. They have to write you back to keep the journal going.