Back To School Night

1. Back To School Night Thursday, August 23, 2012 FOURTH GRADE

2. What we will cover tonight… • Specialty Class Schedule • Home-School Communication • Email/Phone • Classroom Website • Newsletters • Parent Conferences • School-wide Behavior Plan • Fourth Grade Behavior Plan • Reminder Sheet • Think Sheet • Homework Policy/Problems • Clarity Parent Portal • Quiz/Test Grading Policies • Retakes • Grading Policies • Report Card Format • Fourth Grade Field Trip • PTO Membership • Nine Weeks Plans • Questions! This presentation will be posted on the classroom website for your reference.

3. About Mrs. Raabe • This is my fourthyear teaching fourth grade at Ashburn. • I earned my bachelors degree in Elementary Education from Towson University and my masters in School Health Education from West Virginia University. • I grew up in Loudoun County and live in Purcellville. • My first child, Brooke, was born in May.

4. Specialty Class Schedule * Please make note of the days that we have PE, so you can be sure that your child wears shoes appropriate for physical activity.

5. Home-School Communication • This Back to School Night is hopefully NOT the last time we will be in communication!  • In order to provide the best education possible for your child, we need to work as a TEAM. • There several lines of communication available. • Email • School Phone • Notes • Weekly Reports • Scheduled Conferences • Monthly Newsletters • Pleasesend me an email ASAP so I can add you to my address book. My email address is caitlin.raabe@lcps.org

6. Weekly Email Updates • I send weekly emails with classroom updates to all parents every Friday. • The emails are short and list tests, quizzes, or projects for the week. • Here is a sample email: Good afternoon parents. Here is what is coming up this week. Language Arts: synonyms and antonyms Math: multiplication, QUIZ TUESDAY Social Studies: Civil War, TEST FRIDAY Science: electricity

7. Classroom Website The following can be found on my classroom website: • Meet Mrs. Raabe • Back to School Night presentation • Newsletters (Updated Monthly) • Study Guides • Math Notes • Nine Weeks Plans • Classroom Schedule (Helpful if scheduling an appointment)

8. Newsletters • Each month on the first Thursday, a 4th grade newsletter is sent home. Newsletters are available through our class website as well. • Newsletters will follow the same easy-to-read format throughout the school year. • Dates to Remember • Announcements • What We’re Learning

9. Parent Conferences • The sign-up schedule for parent conferences is by the windowof the classroom. First come first served!  • Sign up tonight if you know your schedule. Please record it somewhere. (Sticky notes are provided if needed.) • Conferences are scheduled for the last two weeks in Octoberjust as the 1st quarter is coming to a close. • Any conferences before or after that will be either parent requested or teacher requested.

10. School-wide Behavior Plan

11. Fourth Grade Recess • The fourth grade teachers at Ashburn recognize the value of recess to our students. • Gives students a break (Everyone needs a break. Us included!) • Increases students’ time on-task in classroom • Promotes social interaction • Optimizes the brain’s performance (increases brain blood flow) • EVERY student in fourth grade will receive at least 15 minutes of recess (free choice, unstructured time) EVERY DAY. • All of Fourth Grade’s Recess will be held from 1:00-1:30 on a daily basis.

12. Class Behavior Plan • Students earn dolphin dollars in teams and are rewarded for good behavior regularly. • Team of the Week • Class Rewards • Students who do not exhibit appropriate behavior throughout the day are asked to complete reminder sheets. • Fourth Grade will be implementing a daily extra recess reward for • those students who complete homework and show good behavior • in the classroom.

13. Think Sheet • Students that get reminders throughout the day will need to fill out a “Think Sheet” during extra recess time. • Each reminder that a student receives will result in the loss of 3 minutes of extra recess. If a student receives three or more reminders in one day, they will lose all of their extra recess. • The student will be in a supervised classroom within the building and will use this time to fill out a simple“Think Sheet.” • If a student receives three or more reminders in a day, the “Think Sheet” will be sent home to be signed.

14. Homework Policy • Homework is given every day Monday through Thursday. • The homework policy for Loudoun County Schools is that a fourth grader have no more than one hour of homework a night. • If homework is not completed, lostor forgotten at home, the assignment will be highlighted in their agenda. • Students will work on incomplete homework during extra recess time. Once homework is complete, the student may leave and join others at extra recess. • Students who forget homework at home will need to stay in the full extra recess time and read.

15. Homework Problems • Homework should take no more than one hour per night. If assigned homework is taking longer than that, please contact me so we can solve this problem. • If a question arises on homework that you or your student is unable to answer, please initial it to show it wasn’t skipped. We will go over it in class.

16. CLARITY Parent Portal • Parent portal is an online tool that will allow you to have access to your child’s grades. • In order to use Parent Portal, you need to complete a Login Request (pictured to the right) • You will get your access information in a white sealed envelope. • Even if you signed up last year, you will need to sign up again.

17. Testing Policies • Quizzes and tests will usually be given on Fridays, but are given other days of the week as well. • We usually do some review in class the day before, but students need to study at home as well. • Students will receive study guides (when appropriate) in class to complete three to five days before an assessment. • There will be no pop quizzes. Students will be informed of a quiz or test at leastthree days in advance. • Study guides can be found on my website and are updated when students receive them in class.

18. Retake Policy • Students who do not meet the standard may take a retakeon a test or a quiz. • The retake assessment will be rewritten and may be in a different format (multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, essay, etc) from the original assessment. • If your child would like a retake, the assessment should be returned the NEXT day with a parent signature indicating such and then set a date the following week for the retake. • I will create the retake, but I will not track the student down to retake their test or quiz. They will need to be their own advocate in getting this done.

19. Retake Policy (Continued) • Retakes will be given during morning work and/or extra recess and will not be taken during instructional time. • Whichever grade is higher out of the two tests, will be counted as the final test or quiz grade. Students will not be able to receive an A as their final grade. • Tests and quizzes may only be retakenonce. • Let me emphasize once again… I will not track down your students to have them complete a retake. They will need to take the initiative to do so.

20. Grading Procedures • Students will receive a combination of number and letter grades on ALL class assignments, quizzes, and tests in fourth grade. • Loudoun County Public Schools’ grading policy is as follows: • Report cards have not changed. Grading Key: A = Outstanding B = Very Good C = Satisfactory D = Needs Improvement F = Not Performing Progress Indicators: 4 = Exceeds Standard 3 = Meets Standard 2 = Progressing Toward Standard 1 = Below Standard

21. Learning Progression 4 Exceeds More Complex Concepts 3 – Learning Target Meets the Standard 2 – Simpler Concepts, Progressing Toward Standard 1 – Building Blocks, Below Standard

22. 4th Grade Report Card (Pg. 1)

23. 4th Grade Report Card (Pg. 2)

24. Fourth Grade Field Trip • Fourth grade will be taking one field trip this school year. • We are still exploring our options as to where the field trip will be. • Chaperones will be chosen in each classroom through a random lottery of those who turn in chaperone forms.

25. Ashburn’s PTO • The PTO raises about $50 for each of the over 600 students at Ashburn each year. • This is to provide teachers with the tools that your child uses in the classroom every day (like Elmo Digital Presenters and your child’s agenda). • Meetings are held at 7:00 pm in the library every month from September through May. • You can help by participating in their fundraisers. Several of them don’t cost anything. (such as collecting and sending in your General Mills Box Tops or registering your Giant Food grocery card).

26. First Nine Weeks Plans • Reading • Context Clues • Dictionary/Thesaurus • Author’s Purpose • Summarizing • Inferencing • Writing/Language Arts • Organize/Plan Writing • Focus on a Topic • Using Nouns/Adjectives • Noun-Pronoun Agreement • Science • Scientific Method • Virginia’s Natural Resources • Weather • Math • Place Value • Adding/Subtracting • Patterns/Functions/Equality • Social Studies • Relative Location • Virginia Geography • First Americans • Early Jamestown

27. Questions? This presentation will be posted on the classroom website for your reference.