Back-to-School Night, 2015 Mrs. Kasso, Camarillo Heights STEM Academy Fourth Grade, Room 3 Dear Parents and Guardians, September 10, 2015 Welcome to Back-to-School Night! I am pleased to have you here and I want to thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to be here tonight. Your students have an exciting year ahead. Tonight I have the pleasure of introducing myself and the program I have planned for your students. The following are brief highlights of the topics of study and classroom policies: MATH The fourth grade Engage New York math curriculum is being used K-5 in PVSD this year. Daily homework assignments will be given Monday through Thursday. Each assignment will be checked in with the teacher daily and five points will be given if the work is neat and complete. Math work must always be done in pencil and students need to show their work on the provided assignment or on scratch paper. This work will be used as a tool to review or re-teach assignments if necessary. Your student must correct all errors in red pen/pencil to receive full credit (5 points). You will know credit was given if you see a red Corrected Together By The Class stamp with date. Students will know in advance when a quiz/test will be coming and will write it in their Agenda. Usually each quiz and test has a correlating study guide that needs a parent signature before it is collected on the quiz/test day. Quizzes are usually given mid module and test are given at the end of each module. 4 th grade math grading policy: 50% = Tests (Tests and PVSD District Benchmark Exams) 40% = Quizzes 10% = Homework/Classwork It is helpful when your student knows his or her math facts in addition, subtraction, and multiplication. Please practice at home. READING: We are using a Reading Workshop format this year in fourth grade at CHSA. In addition, students will be using Scholastic Weekly Readers, chapter books, and a variety of other resources. Reading Tests: Students will take a reading test about once a month. They will be tested on the skill or skills we have focus on in class. Usually there will be a few comprehension questions along with concepts lile main idea, inference, theme, etc. When students earn a 65% or lower on a reading test (not district assessments), I will often send it home for a parent/guardian signature and request that the test be corrected and returned within two days. By correcting the errors and getting a signature the student can increase their score to a maximum of 69%. Please support your student if they bring home a Correct & Return test. I have found that some of the best learning happens from fixing mistakes. 4 th grade reading grading policy: 40% = Classwork 10% = Homework (includes home reading calendar) Independent Reading: Students need to read for a minimum of twenty minutes per day (including weekends) or two hours per week to earn a passing grade on his or her monthly home reading log. This reading and documentation of reading counts as a homework grade in reading. Please let me know if your student has trouble meeting this requirement. I can make suggestions and/or accommodations. WRITING: PVSD is using Lucy Calkin s Writing Workshop. The writing process and grammar will be taught through a variety of activities. Writing supports students learning grammar patterns, word choice, spelling, meaning making, and handwriting. In addition, it can help improve reading comprehension. The writing genres we will be focusing on in-depth are: Narrative, Opinion, and Informational. There are three types of writing stamina we will be working on during the fourth grade school year: 1. One-sitting staying power (time spent writing) 2. Same-project staying power (knowing where to pick up the next day or session)
3. Toughness to revise and edit (revising and editing are two separate writing tools) Important: Please note, it is my job to help students learn to edit; this is very different than me simply correcting students errors. One approach corrects a single paper, whereas the other approach has the potential to help every future paper. I will be helping students learn to be independent editors as they mature in their writing; I will not rescue them by making their corrections and asking them to recopy. A little struggle and perseverance strengthens editors. Occasionally, the rescue method might have its place in the final writing process, but certainly not for most assignments. Some strategies I might use are find and fix, marginal writing, wows and wonders, and prioritizing a focus. Please do not expect every piece of writing that comes home to be edited by me. 4 th grade writing grading policy: 50% = Assessments/Significant writing pieces 40% = Other Writing assignments 10% = Homework Cursive Handwriting and/or Typing: Students will receive a cursive handwriting sheet for homework on Mondays. The completed sheet is due on Friday. As an alternative to cursive (or in addition, if you and your child are go getters), your student may work on typing practice. Please let me know if you are interested in this option. SOCIAL STUDIES: Students use a consumable workbook published by Scott Foresman. Students will learn the story of their home state, California. They will study California s varied geography, its diversity, economics, and rapid growth. On the last Tuesday of every month students are required to turn in a Report On A Current Event. I will be modeling the process with students before the first turn-in date. Students should use the template provided in class or available on my classroom website. (This will not start until November or December.) A variety of projects, activities, and field trips will be incorporated into the study of California: A Changing State. A big thank you goes to the PTC for funding part of our field trip to Olivas Adobe Ranch (Date T.B.A.)! 4 th grade social studies grading policy: 50% = Homework/Classwork SCIENCE: The science textbook is published by Macmillan/McGraw-Hill. We will be using the STEM Lab to reinforce concepts within our science standards/ In fourth grade we will explore: -Trimester one: Earth Science Trimester two: Physical Science -Trimester three: Life science 4 th Grade science grading policy: 50% = Homework/Classwork COMMON CORE STANDARDS To see a list of the fourth grade California standards and/or Common Core Standards, please go to the California Department of Education s website. http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/cr/cf/documents/glc4thgradecurriculum.pdf HOMEWORK: Homework assignments are given out Monday-Thursday and usually are not assigned on weekends or holidays. The only exception to this is independent reading. A student might have homework on the weekend if they have uncompleted work, projects, or absence work. Homework should take no more than forty to fifty minutes per night (not including home reading). If your student is taking longer than this and it is a problem, please let me know; I can easily make accommodations for your child. Work is due the next day unless otherwise designated. The Agenda will list each night s homework and will also contain notification of upcoming tests, as well as future school events. Time is given in class to write down homework. It is your child s responsibility to use their time wisely and to write down their assignments correctly. Students need to keep all homework in their Homework Folder. We organized these folders the first day of school and made sure each student had a folder. Please make sure your student s homework folder and
communicator is brought to school each day. Students are required to get a parent/guardian signature in their Agenda nightly. A student helper or myself checks to make sure your child s Communicator has been signed by a parent/guardian every night. If you write me a note in the Communicator, please make sure your child brings it up to me in the morning. Wednesday Work Envelopes go home every Wednesday and need to be returned the next day with a parent/guardian signature. My school website is up and running. This is an invaluable tool used to communicate homework information, but your first resource for checking homework should still be your child s Agenda. Go to http://www.pvsd.k12.ca.us/tierralinda/site/default.asp. Click on Teacher Pages. You will see my name listed. Or just go to http://www.mrskasso.weebly.com MISSING/LATE ASSIGNMENTS: Repeat Offenders: Students have one week to turn-in missing assignments. Late assignments will be given half credit. REPORT CARDS & GRADES: Please see the attached copy of last year s fourth grade report card. This year s report card should look very similar. Three report cards will be sent home this school year. I do my best to keep you notified of grades below a C and below average responsibility/citizenship marks. Letter Grades: A = Mastering or Exceeding Grade Level Standards (90% prof.) B = Strong Understanding of Grade Level Standards (80% prof.) C = Meeting Minimum Grade Level Standards (70% prof.) D = Progressing Toward Grade Level Standards F = Not Meeting Grade Level Standards Academically, I keep parents and guardians informed mainly through the Wednesday Work Envelope. If you repeatedly see low quiz and test scores coming home, more than likely your child s report card grade will suffer depending weight of the quiz/test. In addition, I send home one progress report per trimester. If your child is earning below a C at that point in the trimester, you will be notified. Please remember, that one poor test grade can dramatically change a report card grade and if the test is given towards the end of the trimester, I will not have time to notify you before the report card is finalized. Responsibility/Conduct/Citizenship: 3 = Consistently 2 = Sometimes 1 = Rarely I will not notify you in advance if your child earns a 2 rather than a 3. If your child earns a 1 it should not come as a surprise, as I would have been in contact with you at least once during the trimester through responsibility statements, emails, phone calls, and/or conferences. Please keep in mind; I do try my best to keep you in the loop. It is never my intention to send home a surprising report card, but I am dealing with over thirty students, times six letter grades and numerous responsibility marks. DIFFERENTIATION Each school year I have the opportunity to work with a classroom of children with a variety of talents and needs. It is my intention to meet the needs of every child. Some students require extra help in the form of small groups, buddies, or one-on-one instruction to meet their needs. Other students necessitate enrichment provided in the form of compacting, depth, complexity, acceleration, and/or novelty. Please let me know if you see a problem regarding your student s progress. If you have questions regarding GATE (Gifted & Talented Education), please let me know and I will be happy to assist you. ABSENCES: Important: If your student is ill for two or more days, I would be happy to put together a packet of any work we have done in class. Please let me know by email if you would like to take advantage of this courtesy before morning recess at 10:10 and I will leave the packet in the office by 3PM the same day. If you are unable to request the work or pick the work up, I will make sure the work is available for the student when he or she returns to class.
When a student is absent it is their responsibility upon returning to catch up on all assignments, quizzes, and tests for days missed. If the student is willing, I will do my best to make myself available at recess and/or lunch. Students have one day to make up missed work for everyday they were absent. For example, a student who was absent for five days would have five days to make up the missed work. However, I will try to accommodate any reasonable requests from parents and students. My teacher website can be a big help when your child is absent. I post homework daily. (www.mrskasso.weebly.com) BEHAVIOR/CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT: Camarillo Heights STEM Academy, along with the rest of PVSD, is a CHAMPS school. Both positive and negative consequences are a part of our classroom environment. My preference is positive reinforcement, but at times some negative consequences keep a large class of 33 students manageable. Our classroom rules are posted clearly at the front of the room and they were sent home in the September newsletter. Pleasant Valley School District s Five Step Discipline Plan: STEP 1: Warning and clarification of the rules (I usually give more than one warning. Student may receive a ticket to insure understanding of the rule broken. Parents are not usually notified at this step.) STEP 2: The teacher conferences with the student and a note will be sent home. The student may have detention at recess. (I use Responsibility Statements. The student fills out the statement and brings it home for a signature.) STEP 3: The teacher will email, write a note, call, or conference with the parent in order to clearly identify the unacceptable student behavior. The parent and teacher will work together to assist the student in changing the undesirable behavior. (The student will be placed on Behavior Probation [no school privileges] for 15 days.) STEP 4: The principal, teacher, parent, and student will have a conference. School behavior expectations and consequences will be reviewed. The student will be placed on a behavior contract. STEP 5: The teacher will refer the student to the principal who will determine the appropriate action. For example: suspension, program adjustment, etc. Students move from one step to the next only if they continue with inappropriate behavior. Students can clear the record by following school and classroom rules for at least ten school days. Certain extreme behaviors are considered severe enough that the student will be sent directly to the principal. These behaviors may include: stealing, profane language/gestures, fighting, damage/destruction of property, blatant disrespect for authority, threatening the safety of others, etc. Classroom Points: When the whole class does a great job following directions, being prepared, showing good manners, etc. they can earn points for a whole class reward. With my guidance, the class decides upon whole class rewards. Possible rewards are: extra recess, a special snack, board games in the class, a movie, etc. Pride Tickets: Teachers and lunch supervisors give out Pride Tickets as a means of immediately rewarding good behavior and good choices. Students put those tickets in the Pride Ticket Box. Lion of the Month: One student per month will be distinguished at our monthly assembly. Teacher selection is based upon the following traits: P Personally showing respect R Responsibility through actions I I will be honest D Do the right thing E Encourage others through kindness Bullying: Bullying is unacceptable in and outside of my classroom. Each year I work with my students to understand the damage bullying causes and ways to deal with bullies. If your child is being bullied, please encourage him or her to speak with me. If your child unable to speak with me, feel free to speak with me yourself. Please remember that I am the first line of action, if I do not handle the problem to your satisfaction then let our school principal know. Also, please keep in mind, I can t fix or remedy a problem if I am not aware it is happening. NUTS & BOLTS OF THE FOURTH GRADE CLASSROOM: Cell Phones: If your child has a cell phone, please make sure it is turned off before school. When a cell phone rings during class it is incredibly disruptive to the learning/teaching process. Restroom: Students are encouraged to use the restroom before school and at recess. Nonetheless, sometimes it is necessary for students to use the restroom during class time. Each student has a Restroom Passport on the front page of his or her Communicator. Please check it periodically to see if your child is using the restroom
excessively. When students use the restroom during class time they miss valuable instruction that cannot be repeated. If your child has a medical issue, please let me know and I can work with you and your child to make restroom visits a non-issue. School/Classroom Illnesses and Injuries: We have band-aids in class that are accessible to students. If your child is obviously ill or hurt, I will send him or her to the office immediately. When the illness, ache, or pain seems minor or there is no visible evidence, I will try to hold off in referring the child to the health office. Please let me know if your student has any health condition of which I should be aware. Appointments: Often parents send me an email when their child has an appointment or will be leaving early during the school day. I very much appreciate this courtesy, but please keep in mind that I have an extremely busy day and most likely will not remember to send your child to the office at the time you requested. You will need to go into the office sign your child out and the office personnel will call my room to ask that your child be send to the office. Birthdays: You are encouraged to donate a book to our classroom in honor of your child s birthday, but no cakes, cupcakes, or treats are allowed. This is a school wide policy. DONATIONS: Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of the donated supplies sent in the first week of school! You have no idea what a difference it makes. Currently, the PVSD budget is extremely limited. Therefore, your donations make such a big difference for our class. Thank goodness for the PTC because I don t know where our school would be without them. The PTC enriches our school and classroom so much! I try to be creative so that our class can experience the best I can offer them. In the past, I have received grants and put lots of my own personal money to make our classroom up to my standards. COMMUNICATION: It is essential that the communication lines between home and school always be open. If you have any concerns or questions, please discuss them with me; feel free to email or call me here at school to set up an appointment. The best times to call are between 7:30-8:00A.M. Email: It is my goal to answer emails within 24 hours. If you have not heard back from me, it is possible that the district server sent your email to my junk mail or the server is slow for some reason. Please email me one more time or give me a call before you jump to any conclusions. Conferences: This year the fourth grade conferences are scheduled from October 12 through the 20 th. The purpose of these conferences is not to review grades, but instead for me to get to know you as a parent and understand more about your child. Students should not attend this conference. Emails were sent out for conference sign-ups. If you did not receive an email I do not have your email address or I have it entered in incorrectly; please email me and let me know that you want to be on my email contact list. Here is the link where you where you can sign-up for your conference time: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0944acac2ca46-room My ultimate goal is to work together to make this school year a most successful one for your student! I strive to do my very best to meet the needs of your child. THANK YOU! Mrs. Melissa Kasso- Camarillo Heights STEM Academy, Room 3, 482-9838, mkasso@pvsd.k12.ca.us Homework Website- http://www.mrskasso.weebly.com Follow us on Twitter @MrsKasso Get reminders via text by...