Welcome to Open House 4 th Grade! Mrs. Davis’ Class

Welcome to Open House 4th Grade!Mrs. Davis’ Class Varner Elementary 4761 Gaydon Road Powder Springs, GA 30127 770-222-3775

Meet the Teacher • Mrs. Monica Davis • 12 years teaching experience • B.S. Early Childhood Education P-5th • Master’s in Reading Instruction P-12th • EdS. Early Childhood Education • Live in Dallas with my husband and two sons, Harrison, 7, and Alex, 4.

Daily Schedule 7:15 – 7:50 Morning Work/Announcements 7:50 – 9:05 Integrated Math Instruction 9:05-9:55 Specials (Music, PE, Art, Lab, PE) 9:55-10:15 Math Instruction wrap-up/closing 10:15-11:04 Integrated Social Studies/Science/Health 11:04-11:34 Lunch 11:34-11:54 Social Interaction 11:54-12:20 Spelling/Word Work 12:20-1:10 Writing Workshop 1:10-2:10 Reading Workshop 2:10 – 2:30 Announcements/Dismissal

Transportation How your child goes home from school is just as important as getting them to school on time!!! All transportation changes must be in writing. A note in the Agenda is fine as along as it is not a change in the bus #. To ride a different bus home it must be approved by administration that day. Car Riders MUST have a car number/tag from the office or ID will need to be shown upon pick-up in the office.

School Time School begins at 7:50 a.m. Breakfast ends at 7:45 a.m. students must be in the cafeteria before 7:45 a.m. to receive breakfast

Absences and Tardies Please send a note from home if there is an absence or change in dismissal. Prompt arrival and regular attendance is vital to your child’s success in third grade. Work missed while out of school will be sent home the following day.

Clinic Information ALL medications must be sent to the clinic in the original container. Please send a note with all medications.

Cafeteria Notes Encourage your child to make healthy choices at lunch. Please utilize Meal Pay online or send lunch money in an envelope for your child to take to the cafeteria. Children $2.15 Adults $3.25 Please come eat with your child if you wish. Lunch time is 11:04 a.m. – 11:34 a.m. Please check-in at the office and wait for us at the cafeteria doors. No outside fast-food is allowed in the cafeteria. If you wish to offer a birthday snack or treat, this may only be given at lunch.

Class Blog: • http://varner.typepad.com/davis/ • Email: • Monica.Davis@cobbk12.org COMMUNICATION

Rules to Follow for Good Citizenship Follow Directions Active Listening Respect Others and Yourself Walk Everywhere Do Your Best Always W.A.V.E.

•Trustworthiness •Truthfulness •Active Listening •No Put-Downs •Personal Best When we do our personal best, we must use the following lifeskills: Life-Long Guidelines & Life Skills •Caring •Common Sense •Cooperation •Courage •Curiosity •Effort •Flexibility •Friendship •Initiative •Integrity •Organization •Patience •Perseverance •Pride •Problem Solving •Resourcefulness •Responsibility •Sense of Humor The Life-Long Guidelines and Life Skills provide a common language that helps to guide us in determining appropriate expectations for behavior that supports learning, and they set the stage for a safe and learner friendly environment.

Behavior Management Plan • Individualized • Clips will be moved for negative behavior ~ If your child’s clip is moved to red, you will receive a note, email, or phone call home. • Incentives • Tickets from teacher for making good choices each day, tickets can be turned in for prizes

Important Information • Daily Homework and Agendas • Please check your student’s take home binder daily for school work and important information. The binder must return to school everyday. • Homework will be sent home weekly for the students. It will be due on Friday. • Students will use agendas to record quiz/test dates and other reminders. Flight Log Irby Airlines 4th Grade

Varner Elementary • Mission Statement Anchoring in Excellence in a Safe Harbor for Learning • School Improvement Goals Improve math achievement.

RAH Read At Home Research has proven that students who read at home meet success. Reading Logs will be sent home throughout the year. Reading 20 minutes each night is a minimum. Students who meet the goal of average of 100 minutes per week will receive a treat at the end of the quarter!

CURRICULUM We are a standards based classroom which also encourage Higher Order Thinking! PICASSO and the Georgia DOE have great resources for listing the standards for fourth grade. http://varner.typepad.com/fourth/curriculum-standards.html The main idea is for the student to “K” Know it, “D” Do it, “U” Use it, “C” Communicate it It is my belief that ALL students can learn! Overview: Balanced Literacy Classroom: (Pearson, Good Habits, Great Readers) Shared Reading, Guided Reading, Independent Reading, Shared Writing, Guided Writing, Writer’s Workshop, Words their Way, and more. “To” Students (direct instruction) “With” Students (Interactive Instruction) “By” Students (independent Practice) Balanced Math Program: (Think Math, Harcourt) Mini-lessons, Direct Instruction, Guided Practice, Independent Practice, Math Workshops, fluency with timed math quizzes

Curriculum Continued Science: Georgia Standards Performance based curriculum which includes: Earth Science: Physical Science: Life Science: Scientific Skills: analyze, measure, observation, investigation, comparison, questioning, safety

Curriculum Continued Social Studies: Origins of American democracy, study of ancient Greek democracy Lives of Americans who expanded people’s rights and freedoms, Paul Revere, Frederick Douglas, Susan B. Anthony, Thurgood Marshall, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and others. Locate major places on a map: Mississippi, Ohio, Rio Grande, Colorado, Hudson Rivers; Appalachian, Rocky Mountains; equator, prime meridian, latitude and longitude lines, Greece. Basic levels of government Goods and services Health: Good habits, nutrition, safety

Conferences Conference Week will be during the week of October 21, 2013. (Conferences will only be held once this year). Report cards will be sent home at the end of each nine week grading period. Progress reports will be sent in the middle of the grading period. Fourth Grade will have letter grade Report Cards this year as well as online access to grades through Synergy. More information about the new grading system will be coming.

Report Cards Report Cards starting in fourth grade are based upon a numerical system for Reading, English (Composition/Writing), Spelling, Math, Social Studies, Science and Health. The grading scale is: 90-100 = A 80-89 = B 74-79 = C 70-73 = D 0-69 = F This year we are using the Synergy online grading system. You may access the grades and keep track of your child’s progress as their grades are earned. Fourth grade is a HUGE transition to letter grades! Please encourage your student to complete and turn in all assignments! Zeros are AWFUL on an average!!!

TESTING Local Benchmarks or Quarterly testing are expected. CRCT: Criterion Reference Competency Test April 23 – May 2

PECS: Parent Email Communication System PECS is an email system to enhance communication with parents. Our goal is to send as much information as possible to parents electronically through email. I have found email to be very quick and effective for the majority of the families. If you have more than one email, that is not a problem!! If you would like to use this system, please submit your email address on the form provided in the classroom. (NOTE: Parent email addresses are not visible to others in the school-wide distribution list as we use a BLIND COPY format to send.)

PTSA Join the Varner PTSA today! Only $6. The PTSA does so many wonderful things for the school, students and teachers! The goal is 100% membership! http://teachersites.schoolworld.com/webpages/VarnerPTA/

Thank you for all you do! Thank you for coming tonight! • You are your child’s first teacher! • You’ve done a great job! • Great kids!! • Awesome Class!!! • We are going to have a great year!!! • Take a moment to write a note to your child and leave it at their desk for them! • If you have any questions, let me know.

Welcome to Open House 4 th Grade! Mrs. Davis’ Class