High Pointe Elementary

Where Learning Takes Flight!

Mrs. Brubakers 4th Grade 2012-2013

kimbrubaker@nixaschools.net (417) 225-1640

Dear Parents, Welcome to fourth grade! I am looking forward to working with you as a partner in educating your child. My goal is to facilitate learning in an exciting and fun way. As an educator, it is my job to see that your child becomes a lifelong learner. To achieve this, it is essential that we work together to ensure that your child is working to his or her potential in a successful and meaningful way. I look forward to being your partner in this process. The purpose of this handbook is to provide you with basic information about our classroom routine, procedures, curriculum, and other information that will be important this year. Please let me know if you are concerned about something not addressed in the handbook. I will be glad to help you with your questions. Thank you in advance for your cooperation and active participation this year. If there are any questions that arise during the year, please do not hesitate to contact me. I welcome the opportunity to speak with you! Please write a note, email me (kimbrubaker@nixaschools.net), call the school office (225-1600) or call our classroom directly (225-1640). I look forward to spending a wonderful year together. Sincerely,

Kim Brubaker

COMMUNICATION:

Communication is essential for success in education. I enjoy sharing our progress and activities in the classroom with you. I will keep you informed daily and weekly about your childs progress. Feel free to call or send a note if you have questions or concerns. The school office number is 225-1600, and our classroom number is 225-1640. Please use the Brain Book and/or Friday Folder as a resource. Send notes or messages in any of these ways so I can better meet your childs needs. I appreciate your cooperation this year with communication. Our teamwork will benefit your student. BRAIN BOOKS: The purpose of the Brain Book is to have a daily record of their learning. It is also a means of communication between teacher and parents. Your childs responsibility is to fill out the Brain Book and make sure it goes home and comes back to school each day. Your responsibility is to read it and sign it each day. I encourage you to use the Brain Book to ask questions about what your child is doing each day at school. Finally, my responsibility is to check the Brain Book for a signature each day. It is important that we all work together to make this a successful tool for communication. FRIDAY FOLDERS: Graded papers and other important papers will be sent home each Friday in the Friday Folder. Please sign the folder and return it to school the following Monday. (If we do not have school on Friday, the Friday Folder will be sent home either Thursday or on the following Monday.) Please use this tool to review your childs work with them. You will be able to see the areas where they are struggling or thriving. NEWSLETTER: I believe it is important to keep you updated on our progress and plans. You will receive a weekly newsletter in the Friday Folder. The Brubaker Buzz is a summary about the weeks progress and a glance at the upcoming events. This is one of the greatest ways I can keep you informed of our plans and successes! HOMEWORK: We use every minute of our day for meaningful learning experiences, and we work very hard! Homework each week will consist of the Reading Log (This can be found stapled in the back of the Homework Folder.) and review of morning work in the Homework Folder. I ask that you go over the Math Morning Work with your

child each night. Our weekly Math Check-Ups come directly from problems worked during Morning Work. When you have reviewed these concepts with your child, simply sign and return to school. Multiplication facts should be reviewed and practiced at home. I encourage every family to spend quality time together and make reading/writing part of your everyday experience. My goal is to make learning meaningful for the students. Their desire to learn more will carry over at home. I encourage them to research, read, and create things related to our units at home. I will give homework when I feel that students will benefit from the extra practice. The homework will be a review over something Ive already taught in class. If a student does not get finished with assigned work during school time, they have the option of completing the assignment at recess or taking it home. If an assignment is more than 2 days late, full credit can no longer be earned. ABSENCES: Good attendance is highly encouraged! Much of the classroom activities and assignments are hands-on and interactive and cannot be completed at home. When students return from an occasional absence, they will find needed papers and directions on their desk. If children are absent for several days, please call the school to receive their assignments. If you would like me to send work to the office, I will send what I can at the end of the day. You may want to wait until the child returns to find out about missed learning. COMMUNICATION ARTS: I use the Four-Blocks Framework to teach Communication Arts. The Blocks consist of Guided Reading, Writing, Working with Words, and Self-Selected Reading. These blocks work together to form a balanced literacy program. Reading is encouraged and expected at home. Part of your childs reading grade will come from the Reading Logs sent home each week. Each child is expected to read ALOUD at least fifteen minutes a night, four nights a week. Twenty points a week can be earned for this assignment. This homework must be done in order for your child to receive an A or B in Reading. The more your child reads, the better reader he/she will become. According to the National Law No Child Left Behind, students must be reading not more than one grade level below their current grade level at the end of fourth grade to be promoted to the next grade. That means that at the end of the school year, your child MUST be reading on a minimum of a third grade, ninth month level.

MATH: Knowledge of multiplication facts is very important! We will take timed tests each week. There will be about 30 problems to complete in two minutes. We will also take weekly Check-ups over skills taught during that week and computation problems reviewing addition, subtraction, multiplication, and eventually division. Finally, we will spend a lot of time on problem solving. Some concepts covered this year are: place value, addition, subtraction, multiplication, long division, geometry, measurement, probability, fractions, and more! You can see why its very important to know the multiplication facts because we are going to be busy learning so much this year. SCIENCE / SOCIAL STUDIES: Science and Social Studies will be taught in units. During this time I will be using different strategies to help students better retain facts and information through their different memory lanes. For example, students will be taking notes through pictures, use Play-Dough to sculpt key concepts, write songs using newly gained knowledge, and more! There will be no study guides sent home. I want to see how much the students have learned, not how much theyve memorized. If they participate and pay attention in class each day, I am certain they will be successful! SNACKS: We all love snacks! Students are allowed to eat a snack each day. If students desire a snack, they must bring their own. These snacks should be simple, nutritious, and non-messy. A good snack would be something similar to the following: crackers, cut-up fruits/vegetables, pretzels, granola bars, nuts, raisins, popcorn, etc.. Please use the healthy snack guidelines that can be found on the district website. Students are also encouraged so keep a water bottle with a lid at their seat. This is great for the brain! PHOTOS / VIDEO TAPING: I enjoy taking lots of pictures and videos of our students doing great things. These photos and videos may be uploaded to our classroom blog. If you are uncomfortable with your child being photographed or video taped, please let me know.

CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR GUIDELINES: Our classroom will be a fun, positive, and orderly place. We will expect appropriate behavior and respect for ourselves, others, and property. We will work together to develop a warm class community. Students will also treat others with respect and empathy. We will celebrate our teamwork, achievements, cooperation, and good choices!
1. 2. 3. 4. You may engage in any behavior that does not create a problem for you or anyone else. If you find yourself with a problem, you may solve it by any means that does not cause a problem for anyone else. You may engage in any behavior that does not jeopardize the safety or learning of yourself or others. Unkind words and actions will not be tolerated. If you feel something is unfair, whisper to me, Im not sure thats fair, and we will talk.

DISCIPLINE PLAN: Positive behavior is expected in our classroom. If problems arise, I will work with the student to solve the problem. We will work together to come up with a logical consequence. I choose to hold students accountable for their own actions and help them learn to solve their problems. In all cases, students will be treated with respect. I will send home a behavior report each day in the Brain Book. A star means he/she had a great day. A check means he/she had an okay day- no big problems. A N means he/she needs improvement in behavior. A note about the behavior means he/she is really struggling with this issue, and I feel you need to be aware of it.

PARENTS / VISITORS: Our classroom is always open to you. You are welcome to visit or volunteer. Just drop by the office, sign in, and come on down. We would love to have you! Also, students are always thrilled to see Mom, Dad, Grandma, etc. show up for lunch. We eat from 12:05 to 12:30 every day.

~ Thank you for sharing your child with me this year. I am looking forward to a great school year! ~