Welcome to Earl Elementary Fourth Grade Parent Night

1. Welcome to Earl Elementary Fourth Grade Parent Night Mrs. Yasenchak's and Mrs. Sterner's Class

2. Mrs. Yasenchak’s Webpage Go to the Boyertown School District homepage. www.boyertowasd.org Select Earl Elementary at the top left corner Choose Teachers link. Pick Yasenchak, Pamela View information (you can register in top right corner of the page and updates should be sent to you when changes are made to page) or Go to the website below to get directly to my page http://www.boyertownasd.org//Domain/475

3. Mrs. Pamela Yasenchak and Mrs. Kimm Sterner • Philosophy • To enable all students to succeed in a changing world is the mission statement of the Boyertown Area School District. • Each student will succeed in their own way and in their own time. • We will offer the students opportunities to learn through many different types of activities, such as using manipulative, textbooks, hands on activities, projects, use of technology, and many other ways. • As your child’s teachers, we will investigate the way your child learns best and provide many opportunities using the different learning styles for everyone to succeed.

4. Biography- Mrs. Yasenchak • Bachelors degrees in Elementary and Early Childhood Education from California University of Pennsylvania in 1982 and Masters degree as Reading Specialist in 1984. • Reside in Boyertown with husband and son. • Kindergarten Teacher - 3 years at Pottstown Y.M.C.A. • Boyertown Area School District -Computer Lab Assistant in 1996-2002 • Substitute Teacher in 1999-2002 • Remediation teacher in 2001-2002 • Fourth Grade Teacher – 2002-present

5. Biography- Mrs. Sterner • Bachelors degree from Arcadia University in 2002 and Masters degree from Lehigh University in 2004. • Reside in Brandywine School District with husband and children. • This is my 10th year teaching and my sixth here at Earl. • I taught 2 years in Pocono Mountain HS and the rest have been in grades 3-5. • This will also be the sixth year we are co-teaching in fourth grade together.

6. Communication Procedures You may write a note or call at any time. We are usually at Earl from 8:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. You may call or send a note along with your child that you wish to speak to us, and we will call you as soon as we are able. E-mail is also available to you. Our address: pyasenchak@boyertownasd.org and ksterner@boyertownasd.org Discipline Philosophy We expect students to behave in a courteous and respectful manner at all times.

7. Student Progress Each student has a folder titled “Check It Out”. This folder is the link between home and school. Each Friday this folder will come home. It will contain a record sheet on which tests will be recorded along with any comments that the teacher has for the week. In order for this to be a successful link, parents and students must be involved. This involvement should take place over the weekend when the folder is at home. Parents are asked to sit down with their child and look at the things, which have been accomplished during the week. Concentrate on the positive, try not to be judgmental. The goal to move your children toward being confidant and self motivated learners. After sharing the weekly work, please sign the record sheet and return it in the envelope with the test packet. We will return all the test packets again at the end of each quarter with the report cards.

8. Special Subjects Monday Gym 8:45-9:25 Tuesday Art 8:45-9:25Thursday Library 8:45-9:25 Friday Music 8:45-9:25 Tuesday & Thursday Computer 12:15-1:00

9. Curriculum Math: Mastery of basic facts for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Focus on problem solving strategies and understanding of the multiplication and division process. Other areas will include geometry, measurement, and fractions. Reading: Reading Workshop, Daily 5 and CAFÉ are programs we will use in our literacy instruction. Emphasis will be placed on teaching strategies good readers apply to improve comprehension, fluency and building vocabulary. Differentiated Instruction will be used to group students based on skills and goals. In addition, reading will be taught through content area materials and literature selections. Writing: Focus is on learning to use the writing process to create clear meaningful writing. Basic skills and grammar rules will be taught through the use of student work. Writers Workshop will allow individual creative writing. Social Studies: Focus on the regions of the United States and the differences in geography, climate, natural resources, and economy between the regions, use of maps, globes, charts, and graphs. Science: Four themes are covered this year. Water, Earth Materials, Motion and Design, Animal Studies. Study Island program is used to prepare for the PSSA Science Test. Outdoor Environmental Education Trip – Oct. 2,3,4 Planetarium - November

10. Fourth Grade Spelling Procedures • Spelling tests may not always be given on a weekly Friday basis as previously seen in the past. • Student spelling lists are based on the theme/story in Language Arts. • Pretests are given at the beginning of the theme. • Students are only responsible for the words misspelled on the pretest. We feel it is not necessary for the students to study words that they already know. • If a student misses 5 or fewer words on the pretest, they are given 4 additional words to learn along with the missed words. • If 6 or more words are missed they are only responsible for the missed words. The additional words are optional for these students. • Spelling tests will be given at the end of the story/theme. This may occur on any day of the week. Some stories require more time than a week to complete. • A list of dictation sentences will be given at the beginning of the lesson. Students should study all 10 sentences during the week. On test day the students will be given 5 of the 10 sentences. It will be graded for spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and neatness. SPELLING

11. Expectations We expect everyone who enters our classrooms to behave in a courteous and respectful manner. We expect the fourth grade students to behave in a courteous and respectful manner from the time they arrive at school until the time they return home. The expectations are that students are giving their best effort on everything they do while they are in fourth grade, and we strongly support these efforts.

12. Discipline Students are responsible for their own behavior. We have gone over the school rules and the meanings of the words courteous and respectful. Breaking a rule, being disrespectful or not being courteous to someone results in one of 5 different colored stars placed on the chalkboard. Each star has a consequence. Stars are removed at the end of the day. The school wide initiative P.R.I.D.E. Personal Responsibility in Daily Effort is in effect through all areas of the school.

13. Report Cards

14. General Information • Some textbooks are online. Detailed information to access them are included in your folder. Students will be shown how to access them in our first computer lab classes. • Book orders through Scholastic.com are offered periodically throughout the year. Paper order forms will be offered as well as online orders. This allows you to get more information about the books/levels etc., and it gives the flexibility of paying with a credit card. • Email is a great way to communicate with us. We sometimes can respond quicker this way. If you would prefer not to communicate this way, phone or notes are other great options. Please feel free to let us know if a problem arises at home so that we can be more sensitive to your child’s needs. • Our Parent Teacher Organization is the best! Please come out to a meeting to see what’s happening. A monthly newsletter keeps you abreast of upcoming activities. Fourth grade really relies on volunteers. The activities we hold are not possible without parent support. Thank you in advance for all your willingness to help.

15. Thank you for coming tonight. Please do not hesitate to call or email us if any questions or problems arise. School phone - 610-369-7504 Email - pyasenchak@boyertownasd.org ksterner@boyertownasd.org Please proceed to the Library for information about Camp Innabah