Welcome Back to School

First Day of School
Please have your child meet me on the playground for the flag-raising ceremony.

Donations
If you would like to donate items to our classroom, please see our needs here. Some of these supplies are needed for the first week of school (marshmallows, white bags, Mod Podge).

Volunteers
If you are able to help out this year, please click here for current volunteer opportunities.

Information about Your Child
Want to tell me more about your child? Click here to fill out a confidential form.

Specials
This week the kids have PE.

Homework
Your child will bring home a journal to decorate. Please help your child to remember to bring this with him/her to the first day of school. Please see the Homework Page of our website to see the normal homework expectations. We will go over homework in detail with your kids the first weeks of school.

Express Check In
If you did not complete Express Check In yet, please do so asap.

Book Orders
I will be sending home paper flyers, but you can also use the link on the home page of our class website. Book orders will be due on Friday, August 21st.

School Pictures
Pictures are on Friday, August 14th. Information will come home with your child at Get to Know You Meetings.

Back to School Night
BTSN is an Open House on Wednesday, August 26th. Pop in at your convenience between 5-7pm with your child to ask questions that may have arisen the first few weeks of school, meet the other 4th grade teachers, and see what we've been doing so far.

Classroom Economy
Fourth grade will implement a classroom economy during this school year. It's an excellent tool for teaching financial responsibility, organization, the value of saving, delayed gratification, critical thinking, and meets many 4th grade standards. Rather than being told about the importance of these skills, they actually experience them.

Using classroom currency, which the kids will design, students earn money for their jobs and pay rent for their desks. They can earn bonus cash by showing PRIDE and earning excellent grades. On the other hand, students who don't meet classroom expectations will be fined some of their classroom dollars. That could happen, for example, for assignments not completed on time or breaking school rules. We'll also have a little fun with it. After paying rent, students can save money to spend at monthly auctions. Additionally, students will need to pay taxes and learn why it's important to have an emergency fund. 

Because all fourth grade classrooms will be participating in the classroom economy, students can earn bonuses or pay fines in math and science class or for behavior at recess. 

Don't be surprised if your child comes home with questions about paying rent or regrets about overbidding for an auction item. You might find it a great opportunity to have a thoughtful family discussion about financial decisions.

If you can donate any items for our auctions, we would greatly appreciate donations throughout the year. 

Schedule
So that you can plan doctor appointments with minimal disruption to learning, here is our typical daily schedule:
8:30 Morning Work
9:00 Classroom Learning Time
9:45 Recess
10:00 Differentiated Learning Time
10:30 Classroom Learning Time
11:00 Recess/Lunch
11:40 Classroom Learning Time
1:00 Specials
1:40 Math
3:00 Independent Reading/Read Aloud
3:30 Dismissal