Dear Parents,
I am excited to begin this new school year. I hope to provide your student with the best possible educational experiences during the Fourth Grade.
Let me tell you a little bit about myself. I am a Colorado native and I have spent over 25 years in the Adams 12 school district. I attended Centennial Elementary, Westlake Junior High and Northglenn High School. I graduated from Colorado State University with a B.A. in Child Development, before heading to Metro State College in Denver for my teacher certification courses. I received my Masters Degree in Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment from the University of Colorado at Boulder. I have spent the last 16 years teaching the fourth grade. I feel privileged to begin another exciting year as a part of the committed group of educators here at Westview.
I LOVE Colorado! We get to learn all about it as part of the 4th grade curriculum. I am an avid fan of all our pro sports teams and college football. My husband and I have three children and a dog in our Westminster home. Our family enjoys spending time outdoors hiking or biking. When I have a spare minute (which is NOT too often in our house!) I am usually reading, but I also garden, ride my bike and work on photo albums.
I agree with many experts who believe that one of the keys to a child’s success in school is parent involvement. Please feel free to be a part of our classroom and our school. Let me know your questions or concerns immediately and we can work through them together. I can be reached at school at x8513 or e-mail at .
I hope we can enjoy a successful year together!
Sincerely,
Jennifer Carpenter
4th grade
Westview Elementary
Access our Grade level website: from Westview homepage by clicking on Classrooms and then 4th Grade or our classroom website by clicking on Staff, then Jennifer Carpenter, click on the link to the class website.
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT
I am looking forward to an exciting and challenging year. In our class we will work together as a group that focuses on integrity and other character traits that are part of our school wide PBS behavior system. Positive behaviors and demonstration of character traits will be verbally rewarded along with our system of paper I-Caughts and Class Caughts.
Behaviors that do not demonstrate integrity or disrupt the learning of others will have consequences. Students who are behaving in a way that violates PBS will be first be given a verbal warning to correct their behavior. If the behavior continues, students will be given a blue chip on their desk and will need to discuss the issue with me before they go to lunch or at the end of the day. If necessary students will complete an IPAWS reflection forms. This will come home and will need to be signed and returned byparents. Please discuss the IPAWS reflection page with your child. If 3 IPAWS reflection pages have gone home and misbehaviors continue students will be sent the office with an Office Referral. If serious behaviors happen at any time (intent to physically harm others, property damage, etc.) students will immediately be sent to the office where an administrator will deal with behavior and consequences. I will communicate with you about behavior concerns so we can address them and help all students have the best possible learning environment.
MONDAY FOLDERS
School wide communication folders will come home on Mondays. I will write a weekly Class News with information about our classroom activities for the upcoming week. Students’ completed and graded work will be sent home in this folder along with a simple checklist that reviews PAWS behavior expectations. Please sign and return the folder on Tuesday morning.
HOMEWORK
You can expect that your fourth grader will have more homework than they had in third grade. Homework is also sent home on a daily basis. Students should not be spending more than 40 minutes of focused work time on homework. If this occurs, please contact me so we can work on the situation.
Nightly Study Links from the Everyday Math program will come every night expect for Fridays. Literacy homework (spelling, grammar, vocabulary etc.) will come home 2-3 nights a week. Students will more than likely be bringing home 2 pages of work to complete each night. Class time will be provided to begin work and/or ask questions and anything not finished in class would then be considered homework – THEREFORE it is very important for students to use their class time wisely. The expectation for fourth graders is that they also be reading 20 minutes a night or a total of 400 minutes a month. Students can read chapter books, magazines, or picture books at their reading level for this time. They may also read aloud to you or a sibling.
ALL HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS ARE DUE THE FOLLOWING DAY – unless otherwise specified in the planner. If an assignment is not completed and turned in the following day student may be asked to stay in at recess to complete or re-do the homework assignment. If students are unable to complete homework for a valid reason, please write a note or send an email and students may be excused from staying in at recess.
STUDENT PLANNERS
Fourth grade teachers provide each student with one Student Plan book to help students with organization and assignment completion. Planners will be filled out in class listing homework and other reminders on a daily basis. I will be randomly signing planner for the first trimester and gradually allowing students to take over the responsibility for this important task. Please look over completed homework and sign the planner to be returned the next day. Planners are a great way to communicate with me as well. Write or include notes that I will read the following day. If planners are lost – you may purchase another one from the school.
SNACK
Due to our LONG morning we will make time for students to have a small healthy snack every morning. Snack is to be brought by the student and prepared at home (no time is provided for slicing or peeling fruit, etc.) Students will have about 10 minutes for snack while they are working. Some great choices for snack would be: granola bars, veggies or fruit, pretzels, cheese sticks or crackers. Cookies, cupcakes, chips or candy will not be allowed. Since we have relatively new carpet, we are also asking that students DO NOT bring fruit roll ups or fruit snacks that can be stuck in the carpet. Please be aware of allergies – and DO NOT send peanuts or peanut butter products for snack.
CLASS PET
As part of the District Policy, I need to inform parents that we have a class pet in our room. Daisy is a female Western box Turtle. At no time will Daisy be roaming freely in the room. Students will not be handling the animal at anytime. Students will not be asked to assist with any pet care. If you have any objections to having a turtle as a classroom pet please notify myself or our administrator so alternate arrangements can be made.
BIRTHDAYS
A student’s birthday is a special time. If you would like to send treats to as part of a celebration, please let me know ahead of time so I can plan time in our day to share and celebrate.