Dear Monfort Families,
Welcome To Fourth Grade!!! We are excited to announce that we are a
Leader In Me School! As a Leader in Me school, we believe that every
child is capable of being a leader!
At Monfort Elementary we will practice The 7 Habits of Happy Kids:
The Leader in Me equips students with the self-confidence and skills
they need to thrive in the 21st-century:
• Leadership
• Accountability
• Adaptability
• Initiative and Self-Direction
• Cross-Cultural Skills
• Responsibility
• Problem Solving
• Communication
• Creativity
• Teamwork
We have been busy all summer creating a leadership environment for your
children! Be sure to ask your Star about The Seven Habits of Happy Kids
Today!
Sincerely,
4th grade teachers
Curriculum
Our curriculum is designed to challenge our stars to master the concepts
learned in earlier grades and to scaffold them as they move on to studentcentered learning. Many projects and activities will be presented which
provide choices for your stars as they demonstrate their knowledge in the
content areas.
Discovery Education Science
With Mr. Marceau
This year your star will be learning with our new online curriculum,
Discovery Education Science. DE engages young minds while reinforcing
important literacy and mathematics skills through inquiry-based learning.
Once your child learns how to navigate through the site, you will receive
instructions on how to access online assignments including practice tests
before our unit tests. Your star will participate in Weekly 5 Science
Stations, be responsible for keeping an updated Science Notebook, and to do
weekly vocabulary & Essential Questions Homework. All station &
notebook work will be graded using a rubric so stars will know exactly what
they are responsible for. Students will grade themselves 1st before they turn
in assignments so they have the opportunity to increase the quality of their
work.
Our Fourth Grade Curriculum includes:
Energy, Magnetism & Electricity, Properties and Changes in Matter, Earth’s
History, observing Space, Sun-Moon-Earth System, Populations, Living
Systems and Energy Change. Animals, & Plants.
***Your Star will also be participating in our annual Science Fair and will
be required to do a project displayed on a project board or presented with
technology such as, but not limited to, Power Point or Byte Slide. Date
TBA. More information to follow.
Social Studies with Miss Pedigree
Macmillan/McGraw-Hill has designed a program in Social Studies, which
provides relevant content and geographic literacy skills. Additionally,
Michigan Citizenship Collaborative Curriculum introduces students to
geographic, economic, and governmental concepts through the lens of the
United States. The students will study the physical geography of the United
States as well as the cultural characteristics of regions of the country. By
exploring the interaction between people and their natural environments, the
movement of people, products, and ideas, and the distinguishing features of
various regions within the country, students analyze human systems in the
U.S. by focusing on the characteristics of the U.S. economy, learn
fundamental economic concepts and apply these to their own lives. By
studying economic ties between the U.S. and other places, students discover
how their country is an interdependent part of the global economy. Students
are introduced to the purposes, structure, and function of our federal
government. They also will examine the relationship responsibilities of
citizens in a democratic public. Discovery Quest is the “speaking” part of
the curriculum. Once a month stars will choose either one of the quests for
the month or will give a one to two minute presentation on one of the topics
or on a newspaper current event. Presentations are on Fridays and are
assigned based on the star’s number.
Reading
Reader’s Workshop is divided into units throughout the year. These units
are aligned with the national Common Core Standards. The new standards
require children to become more critical thinkers than previous years. We
will still take reading assessments covering skills, but expect to see more
open-ended questions. Additionally, students will be required to justify their
answers based on the text. Reader's Workshop provides students with a
supportive environment that involves him or her in authentic reading
experiences that focus on the strengths and needs of each individual student.
Reader's Workshop helps stars develop strong reading skills through the use
of a mini-lesson, shared reading, read aloud, conferencing, independent
reading, paired reading, literature response, and Reader's Chair. The basic
philosophy behind the Reading Workshop is to allow stars to spend an
extended amount of time reading authentic texts that interest them on a daily
basis and to provide opportunities to talk about literature. The ultimate goal
of a Reading Workshop is always to develop life-long passionate readers.
WRITING
With Miss Pedigree
Our writing units are aligned with the National Common Core Standards,
and were created through a collaboration of the 57 ISD’s in Michigan
through MAISA (Michigan Association of Intermediate School
Administrators).
Your wonderful authors will be utilizing a Writer’s Notebook, where they
will write about topics of their choice as well as assigned topics, practice
new strategies, and take notes. The students will be growing as writers in
the three areas of writing: Narrative, Persuasive, and Informational. Writers
will also be introduced to a variety of poetic forms that they will have the
opportunity to experiment with. Grammar Usage will be taught throughout
the units as well.
Students will examine mentor texts and writing pieces to guide them on their
journey as a writer. They will have opportunities to conference with both
peers and the teacher throughout the writing process.
Writing will be scored using a 6 trait (Voice, Organization, Ideas,
Conventions, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency) rubric.
Word Study
Word study provides students with opportunities to investigate and
understand the patterns in words. Knowledge of these patterns means that
students needn't learn to spell one word at a time. Word study is also
designed to build word knowledge that can be applied to both reading and
spelling (Henderson, 1992; Zutell, 1998). Because it is closely tied to
reading instruction, it also develops students' abilities in phonics, word
recognition, and vocabulary (Baker, 2000).
This year your star will be working with words, at their developmental
spelling level, in word study groups. Each week your star will be assigned:
10 pattern words, at their developmental level, to study.
5 high frequency words, from their individual HF list, to study.
Stars will study the 10 assigned pattern words and the 5 high frequency
words taken from their individualized list for the spelling test on Fridays.
On the final test, there will be an additional 10 words with the week’s
pattern. Stars are not expected to study those words ahead of time. On
Mondays, your star will bring home their 15 assigned spelling words and
weekly Tic Tac Toe homework. Tuesday - Thursday your star will
participate in weekly games, activities and groups related to their weekly
sort.
Research shows students often memorize words for a test and then promptly
forget them. Therefore, we believe that this program emphasizes
opportunities for stars to investigate and understand the patterns in words
and build word knowledge that can be applied to both reading and spelling.
Math with Mr. Marceau
jonathan.marceau@uticak12.org
586-797-5700 extension 18 or 586-797-5718 outside of school hours
I will be teaching from the national Common Core State Standards for
mathematics. Within the Common Core, there are 5 domains:
•
Operations and Algebraic Thinking
•
Number and Operations in Base Ten
•
Number and Operations – Fractions
•
Measurement and Data
•
Geometry
Students will also be learning to implement the 8 mathematical practices:
1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
3. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
4. Model with mathematics.
5. Use appropriate tools strategically.
6. Attend to precision.
7. Look for and make use of structure.
8. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.
Math class will involve a variety of different activities, from lecture and
individual work, to partner activities or group projects.
Math Notebooks
Students will be guided to take notes on varying subjects presented in class.
We will also use the notebooks to show different ways of looking at math
concepts. Students will be able to bring their notebook home in order to
help parents assist with homework, as many adults are not familiar with
some methods used in instruction. Some approaches with math concepts
today are just very different from how we learned when we were growing
up.
Homework and Grading
Students and parents should expect almost nightly homework, which will be
due the following school day unless specified otherwise. The students will
correct homework the next day in class. This process provides immediate
feedback to the children that will help to guide their learning. Homework
assignments will be graded based upon completion, effort, and thoroughness
of corrections. This will be evident by using to the following scale, which
is posted in the classroom:
10 points
Grade: A
All problems are completed with work shown. The student also corrects
assignment properly.
7 points
Grade: C
All problems are completed with work shown. Poor correcting effort is
evident.
5 points
Grade: E
Homework is not fully completed, but has work shown. Or, assignment is
completed, but is lacking work.
0 points
Grade: E
Assignment is barely completed or missing.
Tests
Tests will be given at the conclusion of each of the units of study that we
will be completing this school year. These tests will be worth a varying
number of points depending upon the content assessed and the number of
questions. Students will be given at least two days notice prior to each test,
and they will have and individual review to complete as the test approaches
and a group review in class the day prior to the test. Students are expected
to come to class on the day of the test prepared to solve any of the different
types of problems completed in homework or classwork within that unit.
Technology
Students will also be working with different technology resources in the
classroom and at home. These will include IXL and other online tools that
will play a supporting role to instruction. The school-wide goal for IXL is to
have students complete 4 skills to a level of at least 80% each week. Time
may be provided in school to allow students to work towards this goal.
Procedures:
Classroom Assignments//Homefun
Most assignments will directly support concepts and lessons taught in the
classroom. Classroom assignments are generally due the next school day
after they are assigned unless directed otherwise. Class time is always
given to complete assignments. Leaders will need to finish an assignment at
home (homefun) if it is not completed during the work time given during
class. In addition, Leaders should be reading for 20 minutes every evening
and reviewing their Word Study lists. Late assignments result in a 10 point
reduction in grades.
Organization
Stars have been given an assignment log. Assignments are posted at the end
of each day; it is each leader’s responsibility to record the assignments in
his/her log. Please review and sign your leader’s log each evening.
Leaders who become responsible for their learning also become confident as
they experience success and ease in their school day. Please establish a
nightly routine in which your leaders becomes actively involved in planning
and preparing for their school experience.
Management
To provide a safe and pleasant learning environment, leaders will be
embracing the 7 Habits of Happy Kids! Our classroom economy provides
incentives for successful citizens and leaders. Each leader has a credit and
debit log where he/she earns a paycheck based on citizenship skills,
completed assignments, responsibilities, Leadership Roles, etc. At the end
of two-three weeks, leaders will add all of their credits and deduct their
debits, giving them a grand total. Miss Pedigree will then cut them a
paycheck and leaders will cash their checks at Room 4’s Bank. Leaders will
then spend their money at Room 4’s Super Store during Social Studies.
Please be sure to sign up if you would like to donate various items for our
store.
If you have any questions and/or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact
us. You can either send us an e-mail, or indicate a good time for us to
contact you, or you can jot us a note in your star’s agenda.
Thank you in advance for all of your support!
Let’s fire up for a year filled with leadership!
Your Friendly Fourth Grade Teachers,
Jonathan Marceau
jonathan.marceau@uticak12.org
Teri Pedigree
teri.pedigree@uticak12.org