Byrd, Scott - Fourth Grade

Reminders and Updates: 

• This week, we will continue with our Booster-thon fundraiser.  I will send out an email which includes any lessons/videos that Booster-thon has shared so far.  Our schedule was obviously altered due to last week's weather, but thank you to everyone that has participated by signing up your child and collecting pledges.

• Federal Cards- I will be returning a few Federal Cards back to students to have parents add any missing information or to complete another card.  Please check your child's binder tomorrow afternoon, make any necessary corrections, and return with them on Tuesday.  If you do not receive a Federal Card back tomorrow, it was either filled out correctly or was not returned last week.  PLEASE return these cards by Tuesday.

• Class Dojo invites were sent home weeks ago and we still don't have everyone linked yet.   This is a great means of communication for quick reminders and for parents to keep up with daily behaviors.  If you have not joined, please look in your child's binder, locate the invitation letter, and follow the steps for setup.  

• Please pay school fees $25 (laptop fee), as soon as possible. You may send in money or pay directly online using the link below:

https://onslow.schoolcashonline.com/

• If you know that you will be checking your child out early, please send me an email/note that morning letting me know what time. Often, check-outs occur during our recess time, and it is difficult to get students into the building and packed up. I am unable to leave students unattended on the playground. If I know ahead of time, your child can be ready when the office calls for them.  Thanks so much to everyone that has done so already!
• Please make sure your child has a water bottle each day. The school’s water fountains are closed, and students need to have water, especially after recess.  THIS IS JUST AS IMPORTANT AS ANY OTHER MATERIALS THAT WERE ON THEIR SCHOOL SUPPLY LIST!
• Homework is a MUST in fourth grade and counts as 10% of your child’s grade. There will be unit tests in science and social studies and study guides will come home at least a week in advance for these tests. Please ensure that your child completes his/her homework each night as it reinforces the content that was taught in class that day.  For the remainder of the year, 0% will be given to students that do not come prepared.  The only exception will be due to absence.
• Students must make sure that laptops are charged each night and brought to school the next day. 
• Please check your child's binder nightly.  Parents should ensure they are reviewing and or signing any important paperwork that should be located in the front and that students are completing the homework assignments they should have copied down in class.  I will be sending home ANY assignments that are below 70% to be signed and returned, so please be on the lookout for those.
• I encourage EVERY PARENT to have their child show them the OneNote app on their laptop.  It should be a purple box with a N, pinned to the bottom toolbar.  Each student has several folders created for them.  I am gradually putting notes and strategies that we are discussing in class in these folders.  The Classwork and Homework sections for these subjects will only be if I assign something to them online, which has not happened yet.  If you look in the Content Library section of their OneNote, there should be a HOMEWORK tab at the top.  This should have your child's most recent homework assignments listed there and what they were expected to copy in class that day.  Feel free to look around and have your child discuss this with you.

Below is what we are learning this week:

Math: This week, we will be working on Understanding Multiplication as a Comparison and there will be a quiz on Friday. Please ensure your child completes their homework each night and that all homework has work shown for each problem, if applicable.  I cannot assist your child with understanding his/her mistakes, if they have no work on their paper. Homework that is missing work will result in a deduction of 10 points.  PLEASE REVIEW THE DEAR FAMILY SHEET that comes home at the beginning of every new lesson.  This is a great way to keep parents in the loop and help explain the standard your child is expected to show proficiency in.

      Also, students received a yellow sheet of paper which has multiplication facts (0-12). This should remain in their binder ALL YEAR LONG as a reference to study by and for parents or siblings to assist them with.  Multiplication is a HUGE part of 4^th grade and if your child does not already know their facts, then they are already behind.  Students will receive a quiz every Friday that will include a variety of facts from 0-12.  Please assist your child with learning these facts, if they are already having difficulty.  These quizzes will eventually be timed as to assist with building their fluency, but for the first couple of weeks, I'm more concerned that they simply know the facts without counting on their fingers or trying to figure it out on paper.

ELA (Reading/Writing/Word Study):  This week, we will continue our focus on Point of View, while also discussing Similes, Metaphors, Context Clues, Inferences, Suffixes, Summaries, Synonyms, and Antonyms. We should also complete our Tales of the Fourth Grade Nothing chapter book. Nightly homework will consist of students answering questions pertaining Point of View skills that were discussed and learned in class.to the chapter that we read and discussed in class.  Homework is always subject to change, depending on what we were able to cover in class.  Please make sure your child is completing their nightly assignments, as 0% will be given for each missing assignment.  The only exception will be due to absence.

      Students will also be working on Critical Verbs throughout the year.  I will be uploading a list of Critical Verbs and definitions in OneNote.  We will focus on 4 words per week, with a brief assessment at the end of every week.  Please review these words and their meanings throughout the week to assist in your child's preparation and understanding of words that are frequently used in the questions they will see throughout the year and on End of Grade testing! 

      Also, throughout the entire year, we will be using a program called Daily Reading Ready or DRR.  This will be in the form of daily worksheets but may eventually be put on Teams to complete.  It consists of a very short passage with 2 multiple choice questions and some exit ticket questions at the bottom.  Monday and Tuesday will have the same passage, but different questions.  The same with Wednesday and Thursday, the same passage, but different questions.  THERE WILL BE A WEEKLY MULTIPLE-CHOICE TEST EVERY FRIDAY where students will apply the skills we discussed/reviewed during the week and what they learned in 3^rd grade.  What's nice about the 4^th grade reading curriculum is that is almost identical to the 3^rd grade curriculum, but with deeper content.  This program, along with the vocabulary sheets that students will be using will greatly prepare them for their benchmark assessments, as well as their End of Year Test.  As these will eventually be test grades, I will only be taking these as classwork for now, in an effort to teach them how to accurately apply what they have learned.

Some students will be bringing home some lined paper for them to practice their handwriting.  If you find this in your child's binder, then they will need to practice the writing assignment provided.  This should not take long, but it is a must for students to have legible handwriting moving forward.

Science:  We are continuing with our Moon Calendars.  IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT THAT STUDENTS COMPLETE THIS AND KEEP UP WITH THEIR CALENDAR (TEST GRADE). The calendar will be reviewed each day in class.  I understand that the moon may not always be visible, depending on your location and weather conditions.  I only ask that your child TRY THEIR BEST to complete this nightly or if the moon is still visible in the morning.  Students will be provided with the answers daily.  I just don't want laziness to be the reason for them coming unprepared.  If your child loses their moon calendar, I will provide another, but I will NOT provide the data for any days missing before they lost it.  

Social Studies:  We will continue discussing the 3 regions of North Carolina: the Coastal Plain, the Piedmont, and the Mountain Region, along with their attributes and history.