Welcome to Fourth Grade!
You can access our webpage at http://www.southridgefourthgrade.weebly.com
**Disclaimer: Please be aware that much of this information was written pre-Covid. We are doing our best to share material that is applicable to you and your child, but understand there will be changes as necessary in response to our ever-changing school environment. As always, if you read material sent home either electronically or in hard copy, you will be kept "in the know". Thank you for your grace and understanding!
Welcome to the wonderful world of fourth grade!! You have officially entered the world of the "big kids!" We hope you have had a fun and exciting summer and that you are now ready to settle down and learn!
Here is some of the basic information that you will want to know about our classroom:
Parent Involvement
We have an open-door policy and parents are always welcome in our classrooms. However, we do appreciate a phone call in advance so that you have an idea of where our class might be in the building! Current Southridge protocol requires parents and volunteers make a phone call to our office to announce visits. We often need parent volunteers for field trips, activities, or class parties. As of now, field trips and classroom parties are on hold. If you have an occupation or special interest that fits within our state standards, please contact us and we would love to fit you in as a helper or guest speaker!
Behavior/Work Ethic
Fourth grade is a pivotal year for elementary students. They are required to learn more, be responsible for much more classwork and homework, and required to sit for longer periods of time during class. Within a normal school day, we must address reading, writing, language, spelling, math, science, social studies, behavior and social skills, and more! Fourth grade students are also responsible to learn so much more as required by the Common Core State Standards. There is no easy way to say it, but….due to all of these time blocks and the requirements of the CCSS, we do not have time to deal with inattention, lack of focus, and/or misbehavior. When this happens it takes learning away from all of the students. You can help your child at home (and ultimately at school) by:
- Teaching your child to sit still and focus for longer periods of time – especially when doing homework or reading.
- Checking their planner and having them complete homework AND the 20+ minutes of reading BEFORE watching TV or playing video games.
- Please don’t let them interrupt when adults are talking.
- Ask them to listen respectfully when others are talking.
- Be responsible for their OWN learning and behavior.
Birthday Treats and Celebrations
Birthdays will be celebrated during the last ten minutes of the child's birthday. In our classrooms, we do a short song and a birthday prize that is provided by the teacher. DUE TO THE FACT THAT WE HAVE SO MANY CHILDREN WITH FOOD ALLERGIES, WE ARE ASKING THAT YOU DO NOT BRING AND/OR SEND BIRTHDAY TREATS. Thank you for helping to keep your child's classmates safe. Birthday party invitations SHOULD NOT be given out at school, unless they are for every child in the class. We are not able to give out addresses for birthday party invitations. Our district is currently requiring all treats be packaged, not homemade.
Book Orders
We attempt to send home a book order each month...it doesn't always happen, but we will do our best! If you are interested in ordering books, please return the order form and a check payable to Scholastic Books for the amount due in the next week's Friday folder. You may also order books online from the Scholastic books website. Your book order purchases also support our classroom - so thank you in advance for ordering books for your child!
Classroom Management
We maintain a schoolwide program that follows three basic rules:
- Be Safe
- Be Respectful
- Be Responsible
Although these basic school rules also apply in our classrooms, we have more specific classroom rules that students have created. We will use a classroom management program called Class Dojo. This program encourages important skills, such as working hard and participating in class. We will also use it to communicate with you: we can instantly share messages, updates and photos from the class. It's a very easy way for you to see how your child is doing at school and to get in touch with us! You can also use it on any device - it's a simple, free mobile app and it can be used from the computer at www.classdojo.com . In addition, we might add incentives to Dojo throughout the year, such as a behavior ladder, an Oregon Trail game that utilizes Dojo, and class banking.
Every day is a new day in our classrooms. The student starts fresh each morning, regardless of what happened the day before! When students have “banked” points they can use them to purchase things such as treasure box, candy bars, free recess, stay in and play a game at recess, computer time, cushioned rolling chair, free homework pass, etc… However, they can also lose points due to behavior, missing homework assignments, excessive drink/bathroom breaks, forgetting their materials for science/social studies/reading time, and new copies of assignments.
Cover Pages
We believe that students can learn from their mistakes. A correction procedure on daily assignments is available. Yellow cover pages can be used to redo any assignment. The new grade will be an average of the two scores. Cover pages and assignments must be completed within two weeks of the original assignment date. (See attached example...)
Digital Citizenship and Responsibilities
Students will be spending more time this year on electronic devices in our digital learning environments. It will be important that students take digital assignments as seriously as they would any other assignment. These assignments will affect your child's grades. Because of the importance of this work, students must show proper digital citizenship and responsibility.
Google Classroom
- Set up a "classroom" where your child can focus.
- Read all directions carefully!
- Ask teacher for help as needed.
Google Meets Meetings for students
- Be on time for all meetings -- SHOW UP!
- Attendance will be taken.
- Eat a good breakfast/lunch at a different time. DO NOT EAT DURING A MEETING!
- Turn on your camera...we want to see your wonderful face.
- Do not make the Meet all about you! Use the camera appropriately.
- Mute your microphone...remember we can hear everything including your family's talking and dogs barking.
- Dress in school appropriate clothes.
- Turn off and put away any distractions.
- Stay in one place...do not move around.
- Sit up as you would in class.
- Listen to others.
- Unmute to speak.
- Use kind words.
Electronic Device
- Students should treat devices like GOLD! It's a big responsibility, but they can and must do it!
- Make sure devices are charged when it's brought to school.
- Devices should be SAFELY tucked in backpacks EVERY morning. We will use it at school, and if a student doesn't have it, he/she will be working on paper.
- Use devices for school work and communications only
- Do not let younger siblings play with devices
- Keep pets away from devices
- Keep food/drinks away from all devices.
Fourth Grade Field Trips (Currently on-hold)
We take numerous educational field trips in fourth grade. The major field trips include Alcova, South Pass City, Tate Museum, Mountain Man Rendezvous at the Historic Trails Center, Independence Rock, and Fort Laramie. In addition, we have a strong emphasis on Place Based Education - which involves getting kids outdoors to write, explore, learn, and go on adventures! With all of these adventures taking place, we do feel that all of these field trips are a privilege and that students earn the right to attend these field trips.
Our policy regarding field trip attendance is as follows:
- Students earn the privilege of field trips. If a child is consistently showing that he/she cannot manage their behavior on field trips, a meeting between the teacher, parent(s), and Mrs. Tuttle will be arranged to discuss future field trip attendance.
- Please make sure you have read and signed the field trip behavior policy.
Google Classroom
Google Classroom is the platform we will use to deliver instructional videos and assignments. To enter Google Classroom, students simply sign into their Google Drive, click on the 9-square (waffle) in the corner and choose Google Classroom. From there, students go to "Classwork" to see subjects and assignments. When clicking on an assignment, you will see "view assignment" at the bottom. This will allow you to see the assignment, the point value, and when it is due. Once completed, students must click "Turn in assignment." If there are other questions, please don't hesitate to contact the teacher.
Homework Folders/Friday Folders
We will use ONE folder for both homework and for items sent home on Friday. The left side should hold the weekly reading log, nonfiction reading passage, spelling words, and math assignment. It might also contain anything that we need you to sign and return to school. The right side of the folder will hold all of the items that your child has completed throughout the week. Please take these items out of your child's folder weekly. Also included in the folder is password information for your 4th grader.
Homework Assignments
Homework is assigned to extend the classroom learning and to help your child develop independent study habits. We write homework assignments in our planners every day! Students should take their planners and homework folders home every night. We may not have "paper" homework every night, but we do expect the students to READ every night! We also expect that students return homework by the assigned due date. If a student is absent, they have two days for every day absent to make up the assigned work. If it is necessary to participate in school virtually, the platform used for lessons and homework will be Google Classroom. Students are expected to read 150 minutes per week. Each week, students will have a nonfiction reading assignment and a weekly reading log to track their reading each night. These assignments are always given on Monday and should be returned the following Monday in their Homework/Friday Folder. This means they have SEVEN days to complete their reading homework! There may also be math homework several times per week and spelling words to study. To be successful with homework, children need to have a clean, quiet, non-distracting environment. Please help them eliminate distractions such as television, phones, games, pets, etc... Please be there to help your child with their homework and help with any questions they may have. Also help them get in the habit of putting their homework back in their Homework/Friday Folder and their electronic device into their backpack when they are finished.
* Please note that we have moved the weekly reading log and the nonfiction reading assignment to Google Classroom. If you have access to the internet, we would prefer that your child complete these two assignments online. However, if you do not have internet access, we will provide your child with a paper copy. This is a 4th grade expectation and a graded assignment!
Movie Permission
Occasionally, we like to show movies that support the fourth grade curriculum or as a reward for excellent behavior. However, many of today's movies are rated PG. Permission slips to allow students to watch PG movies were distributed at Back to School Night. Titles of PG movies will be communicated by the teacher prior to student viewing. Parents may decline permission for individual movies by writing a note, emailing, or calling the teacher.
Science/Social Studies
Fourth graders switch teachers for science and social studies. All fourth graders will have Mrs. Adkins for science and Ms. Schiller for social studies. Therefore, if you have a question regarding social studies or science - please contact the appropriate teacher.
Snacks and Drinks
Our schedule includes a very long morning before lunch is served. Students may bring a healthy snack that is to eat during an assigned time. Please do not send sugary snacks or candy.
Since our water fountains are temporarily banned, students are ENCOURAGED to bring a water bottle. Please do not bring the huge, heavy water bottles that create distractions and will not fit in the holders at each student's space.
Virus Safety in 4th Grade
Southridge Elementary has communicated expectations and procedures concerning the safety of your child at school during this unusual time. In our classroom we will have much sanitizer and tissue available for students. Students may bring their own MINI-sanitizer bottles for backpacks or their desks. Please respectfully avoid sanitizers that have heavy, perfumed scents. We will be washing our hands often.
Also, face masks will be worn the majority of the day in our classroom. If 6 feet distancing can occur, masks may be removed. When moving around the room, students must wear a mask.
If common materials are used, disinfection of those materials will occur as necessary. Cleaning and disinfecting of desks, chairs, and other spaces will occur several times during each day.
Lunches will be eaten in the classroom and discovery area with appropriate distancing.
As stated before, our classroom doors are always open and you are welcome in our classes anytime! Please feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns. You can also reach us through email at [email protected] or [email protected]. Thank you for sharing your children with us this year! We look forward to a wonderful year in fourth grade!!
Yours in education,
Mrs. Adkins and Ms. Schiller