Transcript Welcome! [www.chatt.hdsb.ca]

4-1 and 4-2 Program Night
Wednesday, October 1st, 2014
Mme Caldwell & Mrs. Spivak
CURRICULUM EXPECTATIONS
Curriculum expectations can be found online on
the Ministry of Education’s website.
Ministry of Education, Curriculum Documents:
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/
GRADE 4 TEACHERS AND SUBJECTS
Teacher
Subject
Mrs. Spivak
Language Arts
Math
Mme Caldwell
French
Science
Social Studies
Health Education
Mme Adamczewska
Visual Arts
Mr. Godfrey
Physical Education
Mrs. Parfett
Music
Drama
Dance
OUR LEARNING COMMUNITY
 Tribes
 Mutual Respect
 Attentive Listening
 Appreciations/ No put downs
 Right to Participate/ Right to Pass
INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES




A. Direct Instruction - Teacher centred
* “lectures”
* drill and practice
* demonstrations
* guided reading/listening/viewing
B. Indirect Instruction - Student centred
* problem solving
* case studies
*inquiry
* concept formation/development
C. Interactive Instruction
* role playing
* debates
* experiments
* Brainstorming
* discussion
*co-operative groups
D. Independent Study
*reports
* computer instruction
* research projects
* learning centres
HOMEWORK
The purpose of homework is to reinforce skills/concepts taught in class. Generally
speaking, students should be doing “homework” for approximately 5 (to 10) minutes
times the grade, per night. For example, Gr. 4 x 5 min. = 20 min. (to 40 minutes), on
average per night. As these times are an approximation, please note that the actual
times to complete some homework may vary from student to student.
Homework may include:
* completing incomplete classroom assignments
* review/practice/study, when applicable and as required
* project work (process assessed during in-school time)
* extensions
* math practice worksheets
* French “devoirs” duotang (homework)
* website activities (e.g., Dreambox)
* 20 minutes of reading per night (English and French)
ASSIGNMENTS
Please be advised that no written parts of in-class writing
assignments should be completed at home (e.g., persuasive, retells,
reports etc.). Rather, only information is collected at home when
assignments have been issued to students (e.g., note taking and dot
jots of main ideas, as well as the collection of newspaper and
magazine articles, library resources, printed website page info).
This is to ensure that all assignments can be authentically evaluated
as genuine student products as well as to allow the students to work
through the writing process. Students will have a clear
understanding of this expectation, as it will be regularly reviewed
during class time.
EXTENDED ABSENCES
DURING THE SCHOOL
YEAR
 If parents choose to take their child(ren) out of
school at times other than school holidays,
teachers cannot always provide academic
activities that replicate the missed schoolwork.
 Parents are encouraged to plan activities such as
journals, travel logs, reading, mathematics,
science and technology activities.
ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION
We consider three different types of assessment throughout any unit of
learning:
 Assessment for learning: To gather relevant information to assess what
students know at the beginning of the learning cycle.
 Assessment as learning: To gather and share meaningful feedback to
students to help improve or extend the learning.
 Assessment of learning: To gather information to determine a level or
mark of the student's learning.
ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES
A. Teacher Directed
*teacher prepared tests
* scored performances
*Observations
* rubrics
* checklists
B. Student/Teacher Interactions
*Journals
* surveys/inventories
* portfolios
*Checklists
* conferencing
* observations
*rubrics
C. Student Directed
*self-reflection
* self-evaluation
* peer-assessment
REPORTING PERIODS
There will be 3 formal reporting periods:
November 17th, 2014 (Progress Report)
Student-led conferences the week of November 17th
February 23rd, 2014 (Report Card 1)
June 25th, 2014 (Report Card 2)
COMMUNICATION
The home-school partnership is an extremely valuable component to your
child’s success.
The primary form of communication between home and school is the
student agenda. Please read and sign the agenda every night and
communicate any brief messages to the teacher on the applicable date.
Agendas are checked every morning by the homeroom teacher and again
after switch.
When the agenda is not a suitable form of communication, we can also be
reached by email or by phoning the school. It is more likely, however, that
we will receive email messages before phone messages. We will respond to
all messages as promptly as possible.
CLASSROOM RULES AND ROUTINES
Students should now be well aware of the daily classroom routines and specific subject requirements and
expectations in their respective classrooms.
Some specific routines that apply to all grade four students are as follows:
Students are expected to write in their agendas immediately upon entering the classroom and have parents sign
their agendas at night.
All students should have indoor and outdoor running shoes and phys-ed clothing at school at all times for D.P.A.
and phys-ed classes.
Our classroom strives to be a waste-free lunch zone. There is a recycling bin and a green bin for student use in
each classroom.
Students visit the library once per week and may sign out one English book and one French book. It is expected
that students bring both books back each week to either renew or exchange.
Students must bring their novels back and forth to school to support independent reading in the classroom and
independent reading at night. Students should be reading for at least 20 minutes every night.
All students have been set up with a Dreambox account and they are expected to be using the program at home
regularly as well as in school during designated times in the computer lab. The more the program is used, the more
the student will benefit from improved mental math and computational strategies.
CLASS DOJO
Class Dojo is used in both English and French and it is a classroom system of
rewards and consequences.
Students get Dojo points for positive behaviour such as being on task, working
hard, following instructions, etc. They may also lose Dojo points for negative
behaviour such as bullying, missing homework, being off task, or demonstrating
inappropriate classroom behaviour.
Students can ‘purchase’ rewards by using some of their positive points. Some
rewards include inviting a friend from another class for lunch, sitting at the
teachers desk for a period, etc.
Parents can view student progress by signing into their ‘parent account’ online.
French speaking system (les bâtons)
The Grade 4 French teachers have started this system to encourage (and monitor) the use of French in the classroom. Each
student has a small plastic bag (labelled with their name, class, and student number) that contains popsicle sticks. At the
beginning of the week, each student starts with five popsicle sticks. If the student speaks more than one word in English,
then one of his/her classmates can take the other’s popsicle stick. In order to gain a popsicle stick, the student must say “Il
faut dire...” and say the sentence in French. The other student must repeat the sentence in French and relinquish a popsicle
stick.
Example:
Student A: “Est-ce que je peux borrow your pencil?”
Student B: “Il faut dire, ‘est-ce que je peux emprunter ton crayon?’”
Student A: “Est-ce que je peux emprunter ton crayon?”
(Student A hands Student B a popsicle stick)
This system requires the students to take responsibility for their learning and be accountable for their actions. It is designed
for interactions between students, so students are not allowed to take popsicle sticks when the teacher is teaching or when
students are asking questions to the teacher. However, if the teacher is walking around while the students are working and
hears English being spoken (and nobody is correcting the student), the teacher may interject and correct (while taking a
popsicle stick).
At the end of the week, the popsicle sticks are counted and students earn “Speaking French” points for Class Dojo. These
points will also determine part of their French oral communication mark on the report card. The popsicle sticks are kept in
the classroom at all times and are distributed and collected each day.
CLASSROOM TRIPS AND EXCURSIONS
Trip/Theme
Time of Year/Month
Scientists in School - Light
Term 1 – October
$9.00
Scientists in School – Pulleys and Gears Term 1 – January
$9.00
Medieval Times
$40.00
Term 2 – June
Approximate Cost
Note: Other trips and excursions maybe announced throughout the school year
JUNIOR STUDENT EXPECTATIONS
As students enter the junior grades, teachers begin to hold them to higher
expectations. They are role models for the younger students and their
P.A.L.s and appropriate behaviour in and out of the classroom is expected
at all times. At this point, they are very aware of how to behave at school.
Academically, students are expected to demonstrate increased initiative
and independence in their learning. They are to take responsibility for their
work and submit all assignments and activities within the designated
timeline. This may mean finishing work at nutrition break if it is not
completed in class. In grade four, we begin to move at a faster pace and
students will be expected to adjust their work habits accordingly.
ONLINE PARENT SURVEY
THANK YOU to those parents who have taken the time to complete
the parent survey on Mrs. Spivak’s website. This is extremely valuable
information for us as we plan programming for each child.
If you haven’t done so yet, we would REALLY appreciate the survey to be
completed as soon as possible. It can be accessed through Mrs. Spivak’s
website which is written on the inside of your student’s agenda and can
also be accessed through the staff link on the school website. Just click the
Parent Survey link on the left side bar. Thank you!
CONTACT INFORMATION
Mrs. Spivak
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: http://chatt.hdsb.ca/~spivaks/
Phone: (905) 844-9941
Mme Caldwell
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: http://chatt.hdsb.ca/~caldwellj/
Phone: (905) 844-9941
THANK YOU FOR COMING!
We look forward to working with you, and wish
you and your child all the best for a successful
academic year!