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WELCOME TO OUR
CLASSROOM
Please sign in at the back
table next to your child’s
name.
Find your child’s seat.
Please write a special note
for your child and leave it
on the desk. I know this
will make him/her smile! 
The other paper is for
notes.
Check out your child’s
DATA BINDER.
Thanks for sharing your
child with me this year!
All About Me
~ Born in Wyoming
~ High School in Holland
~ Graduated from the University of Wyoming
~ Married for 10 years
~ 2 kids- Hannah & Ross
~ This is my 12th year of teaching
( 8 yrs in Texas, 4th year in AZ)
~ 2nd Grade-7 years
~ 3rd Grade-2 years
~ 6th Grade-1 year
~ 4th Grade- 2nd year 
This year we get the
opportunity to have two
Teacher Candidates…
Miss LiBrandi
(1st Semester)
& Mrs. Banghart
(2nd Semester)
CO-TEACHING
All About Miss LiBrandi
-Born in Long Beach, California
-Twin brother Joe
-AZ Native for 17yrs
-Graduated from Mountain Ridge
High School
-Attending NAU and graduating
in December! 
Fourth Grade Expectations
Overview of
Reading
Weekly Harcourt Story
Organized into themes
•1st theme is “You Can Do It!”
•Focus of this year for reading:
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•Strategies
•Individual/small group needs
•Finding root causes for gaps in learning, and filling those
gaps.
•Stretching students into more mature, confident readers
•State is moving to Common Core Standards
•More rigorous
•Focus on language development as a whole – reading,
writing, speaking, and listening…across the curriculum.
Weekly Skills
• Fluency
– Students will work towards reading smoothly with
accuracy and expression.
• Comprehension
– Students will use strategies to help them
understand what they read.
– Harcourt to introduce skills
– Literature studies and Expository Text studies to
practice.
• Vocabulary
– Students will use knowledge of root words and
affixes to determine the meaning of unknown words.
• Remediation/Enrichment
Overview of
Math
Math state standards
can be found at…
• Common Core Math Standards as well
• http://www.ade.state.az.us/
• https://www.pearsonsuccessnet.com
• User name: MRGrade4student
• Password: MRGRADE4
State Standards
• 4th Year of Adoption
• Lessons based on
Arizona State
Standards
• Hands-on activities to
build foundational
skills
• Real-world problem
solving skills
Math Goals
• Last year, 83% of the students met or
exceeded in Math.
• NCLB mandates that 100% of students
meet or exceed by 2014.
• In order to meet goal, this years
students must gain at least 6%.
• Our goal is for 89% or more to meet or
exceed.
• Of course we are shooting for 100% 
Flex Grouping
• Purpose – to group students who have
common readiness to tackle a skill or set
of skills.
• Mr. Lyons, Mrs. Orr, Mrs. Copenhaver
will contact you by email.
• Teach according to needs
• Pre-test/Post-test
• Regroup as necessary
Timed Fact Tests
•Purpose: Students need to be fluent in their facts so that when
they get to multi-step multiplication, division, and fractions, it
is easier for them and they can focus on the process rather
than the facts.
•Fact fluency makes math easier and more fun.
•Goal
•Multiplication: Facts 1’s though 12’s; 50 facts in 2 minutes
•Division: Facts 1’s through 12’s; 100 facts in 5 minutes
•Please help at home
•Study in the car
•At dinner
•Free time
•Flash cards
Overview of
Writing
Writing For 4th Grade
Across the Curriculum
4th Grade Students will
be assessed using the
Six Traits’ Rubric
• Clearly
communicate ideas
• Organize ideas in
a logical manner
• Choose words
appropriately to
communicate ideas
and paint mental
pictures (Word
Choice)
• Demonstrate Voice
• Use well written
sentence structure
to support sentence
fluency
• Use appropriate
grammar,
punctuation and
spelling
(Conventions)
4th Grade Writing
Portfolio Evidence
Expressive – Personal narrative, story, poetry, skit
Expository – Expository paragraphs, essay, summary,
Newspaper, article, reflective, paper, log,
journal
Functional - letters, invitations, messages, thank you
notes, directions, recipes, procedures,
rubrics, labels, graphs/tables
Persuasive - advertisement, paragraph
Literary Response - reflection to a Literature selection;
journal entry, book review,
response to a literature selection
Research – Informational report
Overview of
Social Studies
Field Trips
Field Trips are an important
part of experiencing Social
Studies!
What materials will we use
to teach social studies?
Internet
Types of Instruction?
•Reading instruction
•Hands-on activities
•Project based
•Integrated writing
Overview of
Science
STEM
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S – Science
T – Technology
E – Engineering
M - Mathematics
Weather!
• Weather is our school wide
focus.
• Weather Bug- Gathering
info. every morning.
• The Common Core Standards
for Language Arts pushes
more speaking and writing
standards into content areas
such as science.
• “Science Talk”
FOSS SCIENCE
• Water
• Landforms
• Electricity & Magnetism
• Environments
Water Watchers
• Glendale Water
Department
• Focus is on principles
conservation of water in
Arizona
• Related to Project Wet
Overview of
Spelling
Sitton Spelling
• Focus is learning spelling
strategies and skills
• Word lists of 20 words not
given out.
• Students can differentiate their
challenge level by bumping up to
using multisyllabic words for their
conceptual assignments.
Weekly Spelling
• Spelling test on THURSDAY
– Friday- We will go over the skills
and concepts of the week.
– Students have the weekend, plus
Monday – Wednesday to complete
the activities.
– Thursday is an oral test.
– The next unit is given out on Friday
and the cycle repeats.
Fun Stuff
• Birthdays…Please let me know if you are
bringing treats so I can plan accordingly.
• Bring plates/napkins/plastic knife to cut it
etc.
• ROOM PARENT for parties!!!
• Volunteers…Make sure you are trained. Next
class is Volunteer Basic Training
• 2011-2012 Open Volunteer Training Dates
AUGUST 30- 9:30 MEDIA CENTER
TICKETS
• Students are given tickets for coming to
school, participating in class, doing
homework, doing what is right without being
asked, helping others, etc.
• Owe me tickets if they don’t do homework,
don’t follow our school/classroom rules, etc.
• Auction: candy, popcorn, free homework
pass, sit at Viper Desk, sit by friend, sit in
rolling chair, have lunch with me, character
counts slips, mystery box.
• They have earned this!!! Good motivation to
work hard and do what is right!
• Donate items/toys…THANK YOU! 
Peanut Free/Snack Time
• Please make sure to not bring snacks that
contain peanuts.
• Lunch: It’s okay if you have a peanut butter
sandwich, just make sure it is in a ziplock
bag.
• SNACK TIME & WATER BOTTLE- Students
are allowed to bring a HEALTHY (peanut
free) snack to class. Please make sure your
child brings a water bottle, it is so hot
outside and they need to stay hydrated.
WWP/Grades
• WWP=Wednesday Work Packets
– ALL graded work will come home on
Wednesdays. Papers will be stapled
together with a half sheet on the front.
Tells how many papers are attached.
– REDOS= If you child scored below a 70%
it is considered a REDO. Student needs to
correct and return paper. Grade will stay
the same, but correcting paper will clear
up misconceptions.
– SIGNATURE= Parents need to sign WWP,
due on Friday.
Retake Contract
• What is the retake contract?
• Allows students the opportunity to
demonstrate mastery. If your child doesn’t
do well on an assignment, they can fill out
the contract, do all the steps expected, and
return with your signature. A different test
will be given.
• Not about the grades, it’s about the
understanding!!!
Homework
BE RESPONSIBLE!!!!
• Every night your child will have homework.
• Math WS/Facts-turned in next day
• Spelling-turned in on Thursday
• Read 20 min. & record main idea each night.
Journal/notebook paper, etc.-turn in Friday
• Tuesday Newsday-turned in Tuesday
• Study Vocab words-test Friday
• WWP- turned in Friday
• It is imperative that homework is completed
and turned in on time.
• Notes, calling a friend, rewriting, etc.
My Website
• Please check my website every Sunday night.
• I put a lot of time and energy into updating
this site so let’s use it! 
• http://mrscopenhaver.weebly.com
Power School
• You are able to access your child’s
attendance and grades online.
• Go to http://ps.dvusd.org
• There is a new system for logging
in.
• If you go to the page, you can
download detailed instructions of
what to do.
Questions
Thank you for coming to
curriculum night! It’s going to
be an amazing year! Keep in
touch. We are a team
working together to help
your child! YES!