Welcome to Curriculum Night!

The object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives. ~Robert M. Hutchins

A little bit about myself…..

• I previously taught for 9 years as a primary and gifted teacher in Arlington Hts. School District #25.

• My return to the classroom began four years ago as a substitute teacher, teaching assistant, and most recently as a fourth grade teacher here at Homestead.

• Away from school, my husband and I stay busy with our three beautiful daughters; Kallie, Tori, and Paige.

Homestead’s Mission Statement

Homestead student’s are independent problem solvers who think critically and creatively to continually grow their academic, social, and emotional skills.

Establishing our learning environment….

• Character Counts: In 4R we are Pillar Fillers• The BE board• Spotting good behavior- individually and within our desk

communities.• Classroom raffle and incentives• Homework “Whoops” sheet if a student forgets to complete

his/her homework. This sheet is expected to be signed by a parent and returned to school. If a student misses more than 4 assignments in a quarter, they will receive a check on his/her report card under the area of homework.

Grading Scale

A+ 97-100 C+ 77-79 A 93-96 C 73-76 A- 90-92 C- 70-72 B+ 87-89 D+ 67-69 B 83-86 D 63-66 B- 80-82 D- 60-62

Homework…..

• Students can expect to have 30 minutes of homework approximately 4 nights per week. This will include the daily math homework pages, quiet reading, upcoming test prep, as well studying for their word sort tests.

• Prior to any test, I will send home a study packet, when applicable, in order to give your student ample time to prepare for the classroom assessment.

• Moby Max- is an adaptive, online teaching system that allows children to progress through individualized academic instruction at a pace and rigor suitable for each student.

• Additional homework may result from work not being finished in class.

• We will also have approximately two to three projects this year that may require minimal independent home time to complete. Every effort will be made to utilize class time to complete any/all extensive projects.

In our Reading program, we will be…..

• using the District’s adopted anthology as well as small group novel studies.

• targeting comprehension strategies of predicting, summarizing, making connections, questioning, inferring, and imaging.

• introducing the six signposts of active, engaged readers as presented by authors Kylene Beers and Bob Probst of Notice and Note. Their reading strategies will cultivate critical reading habits for improved, attentive, and independent readers.

• building fluency as we engage ourselves in all types of literature.

• actively expanding our vocabulary both in written and spoken form.

In our Writing program, we will be…..

• participating in daily writing exercises.• developing reader responses that express thoughts,

ideas, and feelings about the stories and novels we are currently reading.

• using a variety of written forms to convey meaning including papers that inform, persuade, and offer a personal narrative.

• practicing proper grammar and conventions as we strive to advance our writing skills towards future standards.

Words Their Way

• The purpose of Words Their Way is to enhance phonics, letter patterning, decoding, and affix skills. Words may appear easy to spell. Easier words are utilized to learn the patterns well. Then, the patterns are applied to the decoding and spelling of more challenging words.

• Students will be grouped based on their Fall assessment scores and previous sort experiences. Students will be taught by one of the 4th grade teachers to differentiate their word study learning.

• Sort introductions, tests, and grades will be provided by your child’s Words Their Way teacher. Sort practice will be provided by your child’s homeroom teacher.

• It is important for students to practice sorting and spelling their words at home daily in order to learn and be prepared for the program assessments.

Our Math program includes:

• We are using a brand new, Common Core aligned Math curriculum. One of the resources being used is called My Math by McGraw Hill.

• This is a unit based program that builds mastery within the unit skills. The skills are assessed by a unit assessment which is administered districtwide.

• There is an online component to this program which will be available for use at home. Information regarding online access will be coming home soon. Please be on the lookout for an assigned username and password unique to your child’s district account.

• The six comprehensive units of math study established by District 308 include: * Number and Operations * Multiplication and Division Concepts

* Multiplication and Division Application * Fractions and Decimals * Computations and Applications * Geometry

Math Groups

• Students will be flexibly grouped per unit to ensure their needs are

met.

• Groupings will occur between classrooms and may change with each

unit.

• Pretests, MAP scores, classroom assessments and teacher input will

determine student placement of each unit.

• AT students will meet with AT teachers daily.

• If you have specific questions, it is best to contact your child’s math

teacher for answers.

4th Grade Teachers’ Email Addresses

Mrs. Curran scurran@sd308.orgMrs. Maaske amaaske@sd308.orgMrs. Renfus lrenfus@sd308.orgMrs. Wilson jwilson@sd308.orgMrs. Wober rwober@sd308.orgMiss Wyss kwyss@sd308.org

Our Social Studies program includes the following areas of study:

• First Quarter: Native Americans• Second Quarter: Early Explorers• Third Quarter: Settlements and Colonies• Fourth Quarter: Revolutionary War

Our Hands on Science program includes:

First Quarter: Rocks and MineralsSecond Quarter: MicroworldsThird Quarter: Processes of InvestigationFourth Quarter: Solar System

Our Second Step curriculum…

• encourages our students to continue to develop their social-emotional skills as they work to build friendships, develop empathy for others, manage their emotions, and solve problems through a four step process.

• is comprised of twenty-two lessons, complete with an in-class activity and an at-home component.

Keeping in touch with each other

• Newsletters : To keep you informed of what is going on in our room, I’ll be sending home periodic newsletters with information concerning our curriculum and any upcoming dates of importance.

• Website: http://intranet.oswego308.org/schools/hm/staff.asp?EID=6254&ID=15760

• Email: I encourage you to reach me at my school email address before or after school.

lrenfus@sd308.org

• Classroom phone # 630-636-3130Messages left on this phone will be checked during non-school hours. If you have an urgent need to reach me, please contact the office and speak to Mrs. Mason or Mrs. Thoreson.

Thank you for sharing your children with me, I will care and nurture them as if they were my own.

Mrs. Laura Renfus