

After this presentation you will:
• Know a little bit about Mrs. Cunningham
• Get an understanding of homework, classroom expectations, and classroom procedures
• Get a snapshot of your child’s 4 th grade year! 

All About Mrs. C.
• I was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Then, I moved to Rockford, IL for one year.
• I married my wonderful husband and best friend,
Zach Cunningham on June 19 th .
• This is my 5 th year teaching. I taught third grade for 4 years between Wisconsin and Illinois.
• I hold a Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary
Education and a minor in Spanish from Trinity
International University in Deerfield, IL.

My wonderful husband


PBIS- Positive Behavior
Intervention and Support
• Be SAFE, Be RESPECTFUL, Be RESPONSIBLE
• School wide discipline procedure

Rights and
Responsibilities vs. Rules
• Rights and Responsibilities focus on what the student CAN do.
• Rules focus on what the student CAN’T do.
• The student takes ownership of his/her actions.
• This plan has worked well in our class thus far.

Discipline procedure in
Mrs. C’s class
• First time: Warning
• Second time: Time taken off of Fun Friday
(NOT recess- Students need to run around!)
• Third time: Parent contact, form both the student and the parent will need to fill out

Individual Rewards,
Group rewards
• Dolphin dollars: Student shows the 3B’s
• Tickets: Student participates, holds classroom expectations, agenda is signed each night
• Group wars: The group with the most points at the end of the week will receive an incentive from me. 

Reading
• Reading Jumpstart
-Focuses on the common core standards and reading strategies
• Fluency, Text Connections, Narrative Elements,
Making Predictions, Summarizing, Identifying
Cause and Effect, Identifying Author’s Purpose and Point-of-view, Vocabulary
• Harcourt curriculum

Math
• Daily math fact practice
• Math Jumpstart
• Centers
• Investigations/Engage New York

Writing
• Parts of speech (Grammar Rules)
• Word skills and vocabulary
• Writing process- Topic generation, rough draft, revising, editing, final draft, publishing
• 6 in 1 traits: Ideas and content, organization, voice, sentence fluency, word choice, conventions
• Informative/explanatory, narrative, persuasive structure

Social Studies
• Arizona’s History
• Arizona’s Government and Economy
• Landforms
• Current Events

Science
• Plant Structure and Animal Classifications
• Magnetism and Electricity
• Water Cycle, Climate, and Weather
• Renewable and Nonrenewable Energy Sources
• Scientific Method

Health
• Character Pillars
• Being Healthy
Self-esteem
Teamwork and Conflict Resolution
Disease Prevention
Growth and Development
Nutrition and Fitness
Safety and Emergencies

Grades and Report Card
• This is your child’s first year of getting letter grades. “B” is “very good.”
We need to focus on growth rather than on the letter grades.
• Proficient: A to B
• Developing: C to D
• Area of Concern: D to F

Homework
• The homework will be as follows:
Reading log (2 hours/wk. + summary)
Math assignment ( Review) + practice math facts
Spelling menu
On occasion: Homework from other subjects

Communication
• Call the classroom phone
• Email: mcunningham@kyrene.org
• Weekly newsletters
• Notes sent home (Good ones, too!  )
• Notes sent from home