Welcome to the 4th Grade Curriculum Night

Please make sure that you sign-in. There is a sign-in sheet at each table.

Pamela HawkinsLaura HeckerJulie Kaufman

Donna Koepke

Pamela Hawkins – Math

Beginning my 19th year of teaching at Oak Grove Elementary.

BA, University of California, Berkeley MEd., Mercer University Gifted Certified Married with 2 children – ages 10 and

15.

Makeba Robinson – Co-Teacher with Mrs. Hawkins’ Homeroom

3rd year of teaching at Oak Grove Elementary.

From Brooklyn, New York BA, Georgia State University M of Ed., Walden University 2 children - ages 7 and 12.

Laura Hecker – Reading/ELA

Beginning my 2nd year of teaching at Oak Grove Elementary – 9th year teaching

BSEd, The Ohio State University MEd, The Ohio State University Gifted Certified and Orton-Gillingham

Trained 2 boys – ages 10 and 12 and a

labradoodle

Julie Kaufman – Social Studies and Writing

Beginning my 42nd year of teaching BA and MA from Michigan State Gifted Certified Married with 2 children. My son is a

resident in ENT, and my daughter works in the insurance industry with a doctorate in public health.

Donna Koepke - Science

Beginning my 28th year of teaching. My fifth year teaching at Oak Grove. BA and Masters from Austin Peay State

University Gifted Certified Married with adult children and

grandchildren

Math Emphasis on number sense and math fluency. Develop a strong concrete-to-conceptual

foundation in number and operations, including fractions and decimals.

New Math Series: McGraw-Hill’s My Math. With Unit 1, we are taking the time to assess

students and review some foundations that relate to number sense.

Each Friday the students will have a weekly evaluation.

High Priority….Students need to be practicing their Basic Multiplication Facts at home.

Suggestions for Practice…..

Reading and Grammar Daily 5 Activities – 4 days a week (Friday assessments)

› Read to Self› Read to Someone› Word Work – Daily Language and Spelling› Response to Reading – 3 Reader’s Responses per week for a

classwork grade.› Computer/Blog – Padlet, Lino, Edmodo – discussions about

books, characters, strategies, and skills Daily Homework – Read 20 minutes and 1 reading

response per night – 4 per week Reading books based on SS themes starting week after

Labor Day – Native American Unit Daily Language Quiz every Friday, Spelling Quiz every

other Friday, and Greek/Latin Roots Quiz every other Friday (opposite spelling)

Lots of reading, grammar, and writing about books

Social Studies and Writing

Social Studies: Native Americans European Explorers American Revolution Challenges Faced by a New Nation Westward Expansion Geographic/Economic Understandings

Writing: Write Traits Learning to write like an author

ScienceScience is Thinking, Investigating, and

A Body of Knowledge

This year we will study five units: (Details are in student’s Text)

Water/Weather Ecosystems Astronomy Light and Sound Forces and Motion

Quizzes will be given over vocabulary and small sections of each unit to help students prepare for the unit and benchmark assessments.

Co-Teaching

Ms. Robinson will be with the Mrs. Hawkins’ homeroom for math, reading, and ELA.

She will be teaching content and sharing the job of leading lessons, providing remediation, and teaching small groups.

Two teachers is a benefit to all students in the classroom!

Our Daily Schedule 7:45Tardy Bell Rings 7:55 – 9:00 First Rotation 9:05 – 9:35 Second Rotation – Part 1 9:35 – 10:20 SPECIALS 10:25 – 11:00 Second Rotation – Part 2 11:05 – 12:10 Third Rotation 12:30 - 1:15 4th Grade Lunch 1:05 - 2:10 4th Rotation 2:10 - 2:15 Prepare for Dismissal 2:15 - 2:25 Dismissal

Recess and Lunch Hawkins Recess 12:10 – 12:25 Lunch 12:30 – 1:00 Hecker Recess 12:15 – 12:30 Lunch 12:35 – 1:05 Kaufman Lunch 12:40 – 1:10 Recess 1:10 – 1:25 Koepke Lunch 12:45 – 1:15 Recess 1:15 – 1:30

Common Core Georgia Performance Standards (CCGPS)

This is DeKalb County’s third year using CCGPS.

National Curriculum in both Reading and Math.

The curriculum is intended is to be clear and consistent and to help students meet their full potential.

The objective of CCGPS is to introduce more rigor into the curriculum.

Grading Protocol 2014-2015

Progress/Report cards will be issued every 4 ½ weeks.

Summative Assessments(Post –Assessment Test,

Final or Culminating Exam, Culminating Project)30% Assessment During Learning

(Warm-Up, Quiz, Projects) 25% Guided, Independent, or

Group Practice (Classwork,

Project or Performance, Homework) 45% 45%

Grading Scale

100-90 = A80-89 = B

71 – 79 = C70 = D69 and below

= F

Homework Policy

Students should complete assignments and be ready to turn them in on the due date.

Homework is assigned most evenings. Late homework will be accepted minus 10% points for each day that it is late. It will not be accepted after the third day. A zero will be given.

Each student is required to have and keep up with assignments in his or her daily agenda.

Grade level appropriate projects will be assigned throughout the year.

Projects and long-term assignments will have 10% points deducted for each day they are late.

Classroom Expectations

Students are expected to come to class prepared to learn.

Follow classroom rules. Students are also expected to follow the

Student Code of Conduct. More Independence, Means More

Responsibility.

Georgia Milestones

Georgia Milestones is the new assessment that will be replacing the CRCT and the 3rd and 5th grade writing assessment this spring.

o Writing will be incorporated into the Milestones o Written responses will be included for ELA and Math To find out more about this new

assessment, please plan on attending an informational meeting on Tuesday, September 23rd at 6:30 pm.

Agendas

Students should always have their agenda with them.

Parents, please sign the agendas daily. Notations will be indicated with a check

mark and will be located in the next to last lined box in each day’s column.

Absences and Tardies The tardy bell rings at 7:45. If you arrive after 11:05, you

are considered absent.

If your child is absent, please send a note to school when your child returns. Without a note, it will be marked as an unexcused absence.

Absences and tardies will be considered excused for the following reasons:

-illness or medical situations

-serious illness or death in child’s immediate family

-special or recognized religious holidays

-serving as a page in the Legislature

-family emergencies, with administrator approval

Grade-Level Website

Can be accessed from the Oak Grove Website.

Remind

Remind is text messaging system. You can also use an email address.

If you have not signed up with Remind for all four homeroom teachers, please do so.

We have handouts with easy instructions to assist you.

Communication

You can contact us using the agenda, via email, with a note, or through the school office.

If you email us after 12:00pm, we may not see the email until the end of the day.

If you have an emergency and need to get a message to your child before dismissal, please contact the front office.

Miscellaneous Items

Snacks should be peanut and tree nut free.

Edmodo – eLearning platform that students will use. Students will use it to engage in online lessons created by the teachers.

Recorders and Mrs. Card