Welcome to 4th grade!
2016-2017
Room 35
Bennett School
Mrs. Erika Parisian
About Mrs. Parisian
This is my first year at Bennett Elementary School. I am excited to join such a talented group at such a lovely school!
I earned my Masters of Education Degree with a concentration in Elementary Education and Mild to Moderate Disabilities from Merrimack College and my Bachelors of Arts Degree with a concentration in Psychology and Education from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Over the past four years, I have worked as a general and special education teacher in both Saugerties and Rhinebeck.
My goal as an educator is to instill a love of learning within my students by making curriculum meaningful and memorable. Individualizing curriculum for students is key to ensure each student is meeting their full potential!
I am looking forward to a great year J
Parent / Teacher Communication
· Conferences in November allot time to talk specifically about your child’s progress.
o Thursday, November 3rd 4:30pm-7:30pm
o Friday, November 4th 10:40am-3:40pm
· Please check your child’s take home folder daily for notes from the classroom, office, nurse, PTA, etc.
· “Friday Folders” will contain newsletters, memos which are not time sensitive, graded work, and the parent signature sheet. Please empty the folder (excluding the signature sheet) and remember to sign to acknowledge you have reviewed the contents. Feel free to leave any comments in the labeled section or you can always write me a note, email, or call!
· If you have questions or concerns throughout the year, please contact us.
School: (845) 657-2354
Email: Mrs. Parisian
Mrs. Lefferts
Our Schedule
Daily: Lunch 11:12-11:42am
Recess 11:42-12:12pm
Snack every day (times will vary)
Specials: Monday P.E.
Tuesday Art Music
Wednesday P.E.
Thursday Library
Friday P.E.
*Reminder: Don’t forget sneakers on P.E. days!
Band/Orchestra: Please contact your child’s music teacher
(Mrs. McKenna, Mr. Boyer, Mr. Schubert) for an updated copy of the rotation schedule or with any questions. Copies of the rotation schedules can also be found on each music teacher’s website and outside the music rooms.
4th Grade Agenda
Morning Routine
· Unpack
· Hand-in Homework, Notes/Messages, Lunch Money
· Morning Message
· Morning Work
· Attendance
· Lunch Count
English Language Arts (ELA) – (taught by Mrs. Lefferts)
· Reader’s Workshop (Teacher’s College – Columbia Reading Program)
o Mini-Lesson
o Independent, Shared, and Guided Reading
o Conferring with Readers
o Mid-Workshop Reminders
o Partner Share
o Reading Journals
o Reading Log
o Stop & Jot
o Reading Reflections
o Interactive Read Alouds
o Reading Records
Units of Study
o Interpreting Characters: The Heart of the Story
o Reading the Weather, Reading the World: Purposeful Reading of Nonfiction
o Historical Fiction Book Clubs
o Reading History: The American Revolution
o Test Preparation
o Solving the Mystery Before the Detective: Inference, Close Reading, Synthesis, Prediction
· Writer’s Workshop (Teacher’s College – Columbia Writing Program)
o Mini-Lesson
o Independent, Shared, and Guided Writing
o Conferring with Writers
o Mid-Workshop Reminders
o Partner Conferences
o Writing Journals
o Writing Resources
o On Demand (pre/post)
o Published Piece
Units of Study: Narrative, Information, Opinion Writing
o The Arc of Story: Writing Realistic Fiction
o Boxes and Bullets: Personal and Persuasive Essays
o The Literary Essay: Writing About Fiction
o Bringing History to Life
o Test Preparation
o Poetry
· Cursive Handwriting (Handwriting Without Tears Program)
o Capital & Lowercase Cursive Letter Formation
o Review of Number Formation
o Practice & Repetition
· Word Study (Pearson)
o “Words Their Way” Bi-weekly Lists
o Weekly Assignments for Class and Home
o “Words Their Way” Assessment Every other Friday
o “No Excuse Word” Inventories
o Vocabulary Development
Social Studies (taught by Mrs. Parisian)
· The New York State Story (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing)
· New York State History
· Social Studies Weekly Magazine
Project-Based Learning (PBL)
· Colonial New York
Math (taught by Mrs. Parisian)
· enVisionMATH Common Core Curriculum (Pearson Education, Inc.)
· Textbook, Workbook
· Vocabulary, Differentiated Instruction, Problem-Solving, Manipulatives
· Interactive SMART Board
· Greg Tang
Science (taught by Mrs. Parisian)
· Scott Foresman Curriculum (Pearson Education, Inc.)
Ø Life Science
Ø Earth Science
Ø Physical Science
Ø Space and Technology
· Next Generation Science Standards
· Steck Vaughn Support Materials
· In class hands-on labs, experiments, and centers
· Mr. Savatgy (Wednesdays– Dress appropriately for the weather & wear sneakers or boots)
Ø Science Labs/Experiments
Ø Nature Trail
Computer Lab
· Software Skills (Microsoft Word, Smart Notes, etc.)
· Keyboarding Skills
· Formatting Skills
· Technology Goals/Standards
· Class Projects
Social Skills (taught by Ms. Wiltsie – guidance counselor)
· Goals:
Ø Use the “social thinking” curriculum (Michelle Garcia Winner) to promote skills that help students be successful sharing the classroom as a group effectively
Ø Explore sharing space with others, thinking of others and learning to regulate one’s own behavior in a group environment
· Once weekly, 30 minutes, in the classroom
NYS Common Core Standards
· www.engageny.org
General Information
· Lunch Procedures: Please contact the cafeteria directly for questions regarding account balances, charges, diet needs, snack allowances or specifications, etc.
o Cafeteria charges – please monitor the parent portal for notices regarding low or negative balances.
o You may use the parent portal to add money to your child’s account. If you send money in with your child, please put it in a sealed envelope with your child’s full name, pin number, and labeled lunch or snack money.
o We order each day for the next day’s lunch. Please help your child plan ahead.
o Due to health and safety concerns, students are NOT permitted to share food.
· Birthdays: We will celebrate each child’s birthday in class. Summer birthdays will be celebrated in June (more info to follow). In our class, we sing Happy Birthday and do “Compliment Cupcakes”, in which each student can choose three friends to give them a compliment. Compliments are written down on a card the student gets to keep. You may send in a snack for the class the day of your child’s birthday celebration. (We currently have 24 students in our class.) If you choose to send in a snack, please include any forks/spoons, napkins, cups, etc. that might be needed. To limit interruptions, students will not be permitted to visit other classes/teachers with treats.
· Absence: If your child is absent from school, please send in an absence note on the day your child returns. The office handles marking students as excused or unexcused. Please contact them directly concerning attendance.
· Missed Assignments Due to Absence: Missed assignments will be sent home upon your child’s return to school (unless otherwise arranged by you and the teachers). Students will have the amount of days they were absent to complete and return missed work (ex. absent two days – work to be returned in two days). If there is a special circumstance, please contact us.
· Incomplete Class Work/Homework: It is expected your fourth grader will complete their work in school and at home. Any work that is not completed by your child during the allotted class work time will become homework. It is your child’s responsibility to write down their assignments daily in their assignment pads.
· Assignment Notebooks: Each day your child is responsible to write down their homework assignments in their assignment pad. Homework is due the next day unless specified. For the first half of the year, I will be making sure students write their assignments correctly. By January students should be responsible for writing their assignments correctly without me checking. Your child is responsible to bring their assignment pad between school and home each day.
· Homework Folder: Homework will come home every night in this folder. Please remind your child to bring back their take-home folder to school every day.
· Reading Folder: Students will be bringing home their reading folders daily. These folders must be brought back to school each day. In your child’s folder you will find a reading log. Each time students read they are asked to keep track of their progress on the reading log. These reading logs are a valuable resource as they allow students to keep track of how many books they have read, as well as how long it takes to read a set number of pages. Please help your child get in the habit of completing his or her log on a daily basis. The reading folders also contain your child’s Teacher’s College (TC) Reading Workshop book(s). This book should be on a level they are comfortable reading independently. Students are responsible for reading from that book for a minimum of 20 minutes per night. Of course, we encourage students to read for as long as they are able and that time will increase as the year goes on. If they finish their TC book, they should read a book from home until they have finished their 20 minutes. During reading workshop the next day, they can shop for a new book.
· Supplies at Home: It would be helpful if you had lined paper, pencils, erasers, crayons, scissors, and glue sticks for your child to use at home. Your child will have homework that will require use of these things. If you need any of these items, please contact me. The school is able to provide basic supplies.
· Assessments:
o This year, fourth grade students will be assessed using the MAP (Measures of Academic Progress). This computerized assessment evaluates students’ academic progress in reading and math (Fall/Winter/Spring).
o Fourth graders will also be taking NYS exams in ELA (English Language Arts) and MATH in the spring and the SCIENCE Performance and Written tests in late May/early June.
o Individual Reading Records will be done in September, January and June (and as needed) to assess each child’s reading accuracy, fluency, reading rate and comprehension.
o Scholastic Independent Reading Assessments (IRA) will be used for additional reading data to support instruction.
o PRE/POST Classroom Assessments
Classroom Expectations
Grade 4
Be Safe· Walk
· Use materials safely
· Keep body/objects to self
· Eat only your own food
· Use your words
Be Respectful
· Be kind to others
· Be polite (use manners)
· Stay in your own space
· Leave others’ things alone
· Focus on your own work
· Share
· “Give Me Five”
Be Responsible
· Raise your hand
· Pay attention
· Listen
· Follow directions
· Ask for help
· Do what is expected
· Push in your chair
· Always do your best
Creating a “Homework” Area
By creating a welcoming space that’s comfortable and distraction-free,
you can help your child establish good homework habits that will last a lifetime.
· Ask them to help you set up the work area. Letting them have a say in how their workspace is arranged will make it more likely that they’ll want to do work there. It will also help make homework time seem more fun and less like a chore that they have to do. Which chair will they want to sit in? Will they want an extra cushion? How about a footstool so that their legs don’t dangle and they can sit comfortably? Giving them the power to make these small decisions will have a big impact on how much they’ll be motivated to do their homework.
· Have supplies on hand.Put lined paper, pencils, crayons, markers, colored pencils, glue, tape, rulers and other art and school supplies your child will need to do their homework in the area so that they’ll have everything within easy reach.
· Turn off the TV.Keep noise and distractions to a minimum so that your child can focus on their work. Ask family members to respect homework time by not creating additional noise (ex. having phone conversations nearby) or by doing quiet activities themselves, such as reading.
· Let there be light.Make sure their workspace is well-lit so that they can see comfortably.
· Cut out the clutter.You know how tough it can be to concentrate when you’re surrounded by piles of paper or other clutter on your desk. Make sure your child’s work area is neat, organized and mess-free.
· Give them time.Between soccer practice, dance class, cub scouts, play-dates and other after-school activities, weeknights can get hectic. Make sure you set up enough time each night so that your child doesn’t feel rushed and can take the time they need to settle comfortably at their homework station and thoroughly finish their work.
Recipe for a Successful Year in 4th Grade