MRS. SOMPPI

Welcome to fourth grade!

Welcome to our classroom! This handbook is designed to lay out the routines, procedures, and other important classroom information.

1. Morning Work-Students will complete morning work each morning. Our morning work includes Daily Language, Daily Math, spelling practice, and vocabulary practice. Students will do one activity in each area daily. Content from Daily Language and Daily Math will be on the weekly quizzes. Spelling and vocabulary quizzes will be every Friday.

2. Take-home folders- These should be reviewed every night by a parent. Items in the return side must be signed or reviewed and returned. Any papers on the take-home side need to be taken out nightly. Help your child remember to put these folders in their book bags every night. They must return back to school with them each day. Any notes you need to send to school with your child should be placed in this folder as well.

3. Assignments- Most assignments will be completed in class or online in Google Classroom. Most assignments are not graded, but are used for teaching and practice. Student grades will mostly come from quizzes and tests. Failure to do assignments will directly impact a student’s success on their quizzes and tests. (Science and Social Studies grades will come from both assignments and quizzes). We have a reward movie at the end of each nine-weeks. Students with any missing assignments will have to complete these during the movie. When all missing assignments are completed, they are welcome to join the movie.

*Your child will not have much homework. Occasionally they may be required to finish an assignment at home. This will be noted in their Google classroom and on Class Dojo. Your child should practice their spelling and vocabulary words nightly to help them be successful on their quizzes. Nightly practice of multiplication facts is highly recommended.

4. Weekly Quizzes- Students will have weekly quizzes in both language arts and math. The language arts quiz will assess what was covered that week in the Daily Language morning work. The weekly math quizzes will be a combination of material covered in the Daily Math morning work and what was taught in your child’s math class that week. Students can correct any score that is 69% or lower (D or F) and resubmit for a better grade. I feel very strongly that making mistakes is an important part of learning and that we should be able to correct our mistakes. Correcting quizzes is highly encouraged.

Students will also have a weekly spelling test and vocabulary quiz every Friday. They will be given a list of spelling words and a list of vocabulary words with definitions at the beginning of each week. Please study these each night with your child.

5. Chromebooks-Students will be keeping their Chromebooks in the classroom each night.

However, there may be nights your child will bring their Chromebook home to finish an assignment. School assigned Chromebooks should be used for SCHOOL PURPOSES ONLY. Please monitor your child on the Chromebook and ensure that they are using it appropriately. Your child does have a school assigned email address. Please remind your child that all school emails can be monitored and tracked and to use it for school purposes only.

If you have advance knowledge that your child will be missing school, please let me know and I will have your child bring their Chromebook home so they can complete assignments while they are gone.

6. Flexible Grouping- In fourth grade, we use a variety of grouping in reading and math to make sure your child is getting the most individualized and differentiated instruction we can offer. Because of this, your child may be working with another 4th grade teacher for reading, math, or both. The group or teacher your child works with may change throughout the year, depending on your child's educational needs.

7. Class Dojo-I use Class Dojo as a primary method of communication. I will post classroom news and events. I am also able to communicate with you privately about your child using Class Dojo. If you need your classroom code, please contact me and I will get it for you.

8. Daily Reading: Your child will be reading a minimum of 20 minutes every day in class. I feel the best way for children to become better readers is to simply read each day. Students will be able to read a book of their choosing. Students will be able to choose books from our class library as well as our school library (we go every other week). I also recommend students bring books from home to read. They should be choosing books that are fun and engaging. Please be sure that your child has a book to read in class every day.

9. Snacks- Students will have time to have a snack everyday at approximately 11:45 when we return from special. Our class is a NUT FREE classroom. It is important that students do not bring snacks that contain any nuts.

Water bottles are permitted and strongly recommended. All bottles must have a lid. We do have a class drinking fountain where students can refill their bottle as needed.