Welcome to Your
2015-2016
Fourth Grade Year
A preview of what to expect when your child begins
4th grade at American Academy
th
4
grade schedule
Homeroom:
Math:
Literacy Block 1:
7:55-8:10
8:13-9:08
9:11-11:29
Science/History:
9:11-10:19
Science/History:
Lunch/Recess:
Specials:
Literacy Block 2:
Science/History:
Science/History:
Homeroom/Study Hall:
10:22-11:29
11:32-12:17
12:20-1:05
1:08-3:08
1:08-2:05
2:08-3:08
3:10-3:35
(there will be a break in this block for snack time)
(snack in between science and history blocks)
th
4
grade study hall
Study Hall: 3:10-3:35
• Students are expected to use these 25 minutes to get a
strong head start on their homework.
• At this point in the day, the students have had in class math
time to work on or complete their math homework, time in
their literacy block to complete their Hake Grammar and
begin their reading homework, and in their history and
science blocks all work should have been completed during
class time.
• This additional end of day time is for students to complete
or refine their homework, study for upcoming tests, and
work on any upcoming projects.
• This time is monitored closely by the homeroom teachers and
students will be expected to be working, not socializing.
Cursive Handwriting
• In fourth grade at the beginning of the year,
students will learn the cursive alphabet. Students
will write in their Spalding journals in cursive and
have the option to write assignments in proper
cursive or print.
• We will spend time throughout first semester
working on improving our cursive writing.
History
• History in fourth grade is filled with a
lot of fun learning about different
cultures and periods of time in history
from ancient civilizations to the American
Revolution.
Colorado History
• Another important part of history in fourth grade
is learning about the economy, geography, and
government of the state of Colorado!
Science
• Fourth grade science
involves learning about
the scientific method,
environments, sun,
moon and planets,
energy and
electromagnetism.
• The fourth grade
STEM units are
robotics and volcano
alert.
Mathematics
• Some students may be working in the Saxon 4 book,
the Saxon 5 book, or may move in to the Course 1
book.
• We encourage all students to
know their math facts before
entering fourth grade.
• Students are given a minimum
of 20 minutes in class to work
on their nightly homework.
Grammar & writing
• Throughout 4th grade the students will learn incredible grammar
and writing skills that will become the foundation for them to
build and grow upon.
• Through the Hake Grammar program students will write
dictations, journal, learn new vocabulary, and develop strong
grammar skills. Students will complete the Grammar written
practice as homework (the students will be given ample
classroom time to complete this work).
• We will partner Step-Up to Writing with the Hake Writing
program to provide students with a very in-depth learning
platform for their 4th grade writing assignments.
• All writing assignments will be completed in class and only final
graded copies will come home.
Fourth Grade novels
• We read the following novels throughout the year and
with each do in class projects and tests which are
part of your child’s reading grade.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The One and Only Ivan
Robinson Crusoe
Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Robin Hood
King Arthur
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
Treasure Island
Summer Reading
Summer Reading
School Year Reading
•
You will be required to read
Gulliver’s Travels over the
summer.
•
All students are required to
submit one book report project
per trimester.
•
You will need to complete a
trifold book report project for
each of the four stories in
Gulliver’s Travels which is due
the first week of school. The
format is posted on the 4th
grade webpage.
•
Students must choose a book
that is within their Lexile Range
(can be found MAPS score
sheet).
•
One historical fiction and two
fiction books are required. The
order does not matter.
•
A test will be given on the
Gulliver’s Travels during the
second week of school.
Unit Tests
• Tests will be given at the end of all history and
science units.
• Study guides will be handed out at least one week in
advance.
• In class work and handouts are all useful study tools
and should remain in the students binders throughout
each unit.
Infinite Campus (IC)/ Parent Portal
• It is important to log on to Infinite Campus each week to
check on your grades and to see if you have any missing
or late work.
• Students will have their own login information for
Infinite Campus and should check their progress
regularly.
Fourth Grade Late Work Policy
• If you have late work in fourth grade, it will have 10%
deduction for one day late, and 50% deduction for two
days late and the third day will result in no credit.
• No names will automatically receive a 10% deduction in
score.
Homework
• Homework is slated for 15 minutes per night per grade
level. So fourth grade should have about 1 hour 15
minutes of homework nightly. This does not include the 20
minutes for reading (while this is not mandatory, we highly
recommend reading each night to increase fluency and
comprehension).
• Homework will include: math, spelling, history, science,
grammar, and reading and all other homework not
completed in class. Students are given in class time and
study hall time (25 minutes) each day. History
and science classes will complete almost all
work in class.
Missing Homework Notices
• Students who do not turn in their homework on the
assigned due date will be required to fill out a missing
assignment form.
• The form will
then be posted on
the missing
assignment board
to be attached to
the students late
work when it is
turned in.
Class time/study hall Notices
• Students who do not utilize their given classroom time or
study hall time to complete assigned work will be given a
notice to fill out.
• The form will be given to
the student to fill out,
take home to be discussed
with their parents, and
returned to school the
next day with a parent
signature.
Prearranged absences
• Students will be expected to use Infinite Campus
to find missing assignments, quizzes or tests when
school has been missed.
• We will not give students work prior to planned
absences.
• Please consider this when making decisions about
your child missing school for any length of time.
• All request for work ahead of time, will receive the
same response.
• According to the AA policy, all students receive
two days for every day missed to make up work.
Classroom computers
• Students will use classroom computers frequently
throughout the year in all subjects.
• It is expected that students only use the computers
for educational purposes.
• Students caught using school laptops inappropriately
will receive disciplinary action.
• All work completed on laptops must be saved to the
student’s ThinkLink account. These items can be
accessed by logging into ThinkLink through the link on
the AA webpage.
Becoming self advocates!
In fourth grade,
students are
expected to
communicate with
their teachers
directly. The
following is an
email template to
guide students to
use proper
etiquette when
emailing their
teacher.
Discipline policy
• First Offense- Students will first
receive a verbal warning.
• Second Offense- Name on board
• Third Offense- check mark with
name
• Final Offense- another check
mark, red slip, missed recess
• All teachers will keep track
together
• If a behavior sheet is not
returned, with parent signature,
the following morning, you will lose
an additional recess
BEHAVIOR NOTICE
Name: ___________________________________
Dat e: ______________
I did not make res pect f ul, respons ible, and cooperat ive choices t oday. I
broke one or more of t he clas s rules / procedures checked below. I will t ry
t o make respect f ul, responsible, and cooperat ive choices t omorrow.
 Not paying at t ent ion
 Talking out of t urn
 Dis rupt ing my neighbor(s )
 Not f ollowing direct ions
 Too much t alking
 Inappropriat e language
 Of f - t as k
 Poor playground/ lunch behavior
 Dis respect ing my t eacher
 Out of my s eat
 Dis respect ing my neighbor
 Poor at t it ude
 M isus e of elect ronics
Comment s:________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
S t udent signat ure:________________________________________________________
Teacher s ignat ure:_________________________________________________________
Parent s ignat ure:__________________________________________________________
This s lip needs t o be ret urned t o your homeroom t eacher at t he
beginning of t he s chool day f ollowing t he inf ract ion dat e. If t his is not
ret urned on t ime, s t udent will los e an addit ional lunch reces s .
Outdoor Ed
• We like to take the opportunity to learn outside of the
classroom.
• Students will have the opportunity to participate in
Outdoor Ed from April 20th-April 22nd.
• We will hold an informational meeting in October.
Communication
• We will send out emails as necessary so please make
sure your child’s teacher has your email address.
• We will do the majority of communicating through our
weekly newsletters.
• Please check our website frequently as this is where
we put weekly spelling words, downloads, other
subject requirements, and class information such as
discipline plans, etc…
We Hope you enjoy your
fourth grade Experience!
Robyn Hunt, Anna Sampson, Sarah Anderson, & Katie Hoehn