Introduction

Welcome to Grade 3/4 in Room 10! Again Room 10 will be “team taught.” Your teachers will be
Monsieur also known as Mr. John Schwartz whom everyone knows as the French teacher and Mrs.
Lynn Watling , an experienced K-4 teacher who has been working at Centennial School since 2007.
We are greatly looking forward to continuing the partnership that many of us have developed
together over the course of past school years. We also look forward to creating a similar
connection with all of the new parents and students. This will be a wonderful group of children to
work with and we are pleased to have the opportunity to teach them all in the upcoming 2010 – 2011
school year.

Mrs. Watling will teach ELA, Math Health and Art and Mr. Schwartz will teach Social
Studies,Science, ELA and Math. Both teachers will integrate ICT (computer) into their subject
areas.

The grade 3/4 teachers have put together this information book to help prepare you and your child
for some of the routines and procedures of the classroom. We are hoping that it will help to enable
all of the children to experience success right from the start! If you have any questions, please
don’t hesitate to call.

B.E.A.R Duotangs
(Bring Everything Always oRganized)
The purpose of the B.E.A.R. duotang is to help keep your child organized in regards to the
information and forms that he/she will require on a daily and/or weekly basis. Within your child’s
clear plastic B.E.A.R. duotang, you will find three sections:

1. Parent Information
2. Home Reading Program Both of these will be further explained below
3. Weekly Hot Dog Orders

*** Please ensure that your child returns his/her B.E.A.R. duotang, Agenda and Idea Notebook to
school every morning. Thanks.

Home Reading Program

The purpose of a home reading program is to build a positive attitude towards reading, develop
skills necessary to become a proficient reader, become familiar with story structures and language
and to improve comprehension skills. Your involvement with this program will also help instill the
important habit of reading every night.

We have changed the focus of this year’s Home Reading Program. The program is designed to
reinforce the importance of daily and/or nightly reading. Your child may choose their book from any
source, (the public library, classroom library, home, school library, etc…) and we strongly encourage your
son/daughter to frequently choose different types of books to read in order to give them some
variety. (picture books, chapter books, comics, magazines, recipes, fiction, non-fiction, poems, newspapers, etc….)

A more detailed letter about this program, and how it is going to work is at the front of your
child’s “Home Reading” section of their BEAR Book.
 Agendas

Your child has purchased (or will need to purchase) an agenda. This is used as a home/school
communication book. It needs to be returned to school EVERY DAY. Your child will be marked on
whether or not it is brought back to school signed EACH MORNING. Please ensure you take the
time to look at the information recorded in your son/daughter’s agenda each day, as well as initialing
the agenda each evening even if there is nothing recorded for the day.

If there is a message that you need to relay to us, write it your child’s agenda book. Mrs. Watling
will be looking at them each and every morning. It is your child’s responsibility to relay any
messages between the home and school. Therefore, it is vital that the agenda be something that is
brought to school each and every school day. It is your child’s responsibility to give us any messages
that we need to know about.

Volunteers
Helping hands are always welcome. You are welcome to volunteer on a regular basis or just whenever
you can spare the time. We would especially appreciate parents/guardians who will cut and paste
student’s materials and create book covers for students’ published work. If you are interested,
please ensure that you have a child abuse registry check done. This form can be picked up at the
office.

Spelling
Spelling tests are always on the last school day of the week. Tests will consist of the 5 Core words
of the unit as well as 5 other Review words. Your child will record their test score in their agenda
the first day of the school the following week. Please initial the test score. Grade 3 words include
Units 25 to 54. Grade 4 words include Units 54 to 80.

Your child will also be completing a variety of spelling activities each day at school to help them
prepare for their end of the week test.

After 10 units, there will be a 50 Word Test. It is made up of only the Core Words from the units
(NOT the review words). The following are the dates of the 50 Word Tests:

Grade 3 Grade 4
December 10th – Units 25 – 34 December 10th Units 54 – 63
March 23rd – Units 35 – 44 March 23rd – Units 64 – 73
June 16th – Units 45 – 54 June 16th – Units 74 – 83

A copy of the Core Words for each unit is included in your BEAR book. The date of each test is
recorded inside the cloud. Unit work is due the last school day of the week.

Tests
Students will write their test scores in their agenda.
 Hot Dog Orders
If your child wants to order a hotdog, drink or ice-cream, you or your child need to fill out the
order form in their B.E.A.R. duotang. This is a great way for your child to experience real-life math!
It is you and your child’s responsibility to have his/her order and money ready for 9:00 Friday
morning. If possible, it would be great if you could send exact change.

If your child’s order is the same from week to week, you do not need to complete a new form each
week; simply use the same completed form unless your child changes his/her order. Thanks in
advance for your cooperation!

In addition to hotdogs, other lunches will be offered. When these lunches are determined, order
forms will be made and added to your B.E.A.R. Book.

Healthy Snacks
Healthy snacks can be eaten inside the classroom throughout the day. Students who eat
respectfully and responsibly will have the privilege of eating during class. A plastic bottle of water
may be kept on top of the desk. Any student who is unable to handle this privilege will lose it.

Student Pictures
We are asking that you please have your child select two up to date pictures that clearly show your
child, preferably head-shots or of them doing some of the things that they enjoy to do as long as it
is clearly evident who it is in the photograph. These pictures will be used to help us display various
student work samples throughout the year. Students are welcome to bring in new pictures as they
get them throughout the year to keep it fairly current. Thanks for your cooperation.

Class Parties
We will be having 4 class parties throughout the year. Your child will need to take a turn at bringing
food to one of the parties. Your child is responsible for bringing his/her own drink to each party.

If for any reason you are unable to bring food on your scheduled day, please call in advance so that
other arrangements can be made. Specific dates of each party will be announced closer to the time
of the party. When selecting the “goodies”, we encourage you to bring healthy snacks.

Halloween Christmas Valentine’s Day End of Year

Dominique -veggies / dip Jack- veggies / dip Brandy- veggies / dip Parker- veggies / dip

Dylan C. -cut up fruit Haven - cut up fruit Kerrilee- cut up fruit Dylan D.- cut up fruit

Anika - cut up fruit Ashton - cut up fruit Kylee- cut up fruit Kiana- cut up fruit

Joshua-crackers/cheese Kara -crackers/cheese Payton - Ridley -

crackers/cheese crackers/cheese
Jorden - cookies/cupcakes Teghan -
cookies/cupcakes Carena- Niklas-
Sydney-chips/popcorn cookies/cupcakes cookies/cupcakes
Jamal- chips/popcorn
 Toys
All toys need to stay at home. This especially includes trading cards of any sort and Game Boys. If
toys are brought to school and they are interfering with your child’s or any other child’s learning,
they will be taken away and only returned to a parent/guardian.

Party Invitations
You are welcome to hand out invitations at school only IF you are inviting EVERYONE in the class.
If so, please give them to the classroom teacher. The invitations will then be distributed in an
appropriate manner.

Student Helpers
Being responsible for chores is of benefit to your child and the class. The students will take turns
being responsible for completing a variety of routines that we have established as a class for a
period of time.

Classroom Readers
There is a calendar that shows what days your child is going to be responsible for reading aloud to
his/her classmates provided near the end of your information package. They will be asked to bring a
book that they are currently reading and/or a book that they have already read. They will read in
front of the class for about 15 minutes. Please help your child choose a book that is at their
appropriate reading level for their reading day.
Note: It may be helpful to record the days that your child read in their agenda.**

Goal Setting
Our class will be working the entire school year on goal setting. We will be learning how important
this skill is and how to set an appropriate goal for yourself. We will then also learn how important it
is to reflect on how things went so that you can celebrate your successes, or continue to work on
something.

Each month the children will set 3 goals for themselves- a math, an ELA and personal goal . They will
then have to reflect on those goals at the end of the school day. We will be sending this white
duotang home with your son/daughter each Friday for you to look at. This will be an excellent tool
to communicate what kinds of things your child is improving on and working towards at school.
Please sign at the appropriate place in their duotang (bottom corner of Friday’s page) and ensure
that their duotang is returned the following Monday so that they can set a new goal for the
upcoming week. Please help your child select 3 appropriate goals each month. Thanks for your
support.

Celebrating Our Success

In our classroom, we do a lot of personal goal-setting and reflecting, as mentioned above. The
students become aware of their many strengths, as well as the things that they need to improve on.
As a class, we will determine what things the students feel are their most important responsibilities
and associate a point value to each. If the student is able to achieve 100 points a month they will be
given a chance to celebrate their success. Once again, the students will determine how to celebrate
as a group each month. Some rewards that were chosen by the students last year included ice-
cream sundaes, movie and popcorn, extra gym time and a pizza party. None of us are perfect and we
all make mistakes, so there will be enough points available each month that will allow the kids to
have some room for error while still being able to achieve their reward. We look forward to each
student working hard and celebrating their success each month! This program will begin in October.

Classroom Rules
As a class, we will brainstorm and discuss a few key behaviors under the categories of respect,
responsibility and safety. We will also be constructing a “Classroom Respect Agreement” as a
group, so that all of the kids are a part of the decision-making process. We will all know what is
expected of each other. The following are examples of some of these behaviors that will be
expected from your child:

Be Respectful Be Responsible
use a quiet voice be on time
share be prepared
to work
wait your turn complete assignments
clean-up take care of your belongings
use kind words and actions take care of school belongings
stay in your own space take care of others belongings
follow instructions give your best effort
take care of your belongings
take care of school belongings
take care of others belongings

Be Safe
keep your hands, feet and objects to yourself
walk
sit properly
stay in your own space
Homework
1.Casual Homework – The purpose of casual homework is to help your child develop the
understanding that he/she is responsible for completing assigned tasks.

There may be time needed to complete unfinished work at home. A note will be written in your
child’s agenda explaining what needs to be done if the student is unsure of what is being asked.
Please return the completed homework the following day. If your child is unable to complete the
homework that evening, you still need to return it to school the following day. This is extremely
important because your child may need the booklet/paper/duotang/scribbler for class the following
day.

If your son/daughter is having difficulty with an assignment/ project/ classroom activity, etc…. A
Grade 3/4 teacher will always be available during the lunch hour on Wednesday of each week
for extra help. If your child needs help with anything, please encourage them to take advantage of
this extra time with us.

2. Regular Homework – The purpose of regular homework is to help your child assume the
responsibility of completing and returning something on a regular basis. It is important that they
learn how to set aside time each evening or week to complete their homework. This is how it will
work……..
On the first or second school day of the week, a set of language or math activities will be put in
your child’s homework duotang. These are quick 5 minute activities that reinforce skills and
concepts that are being taught at school. The activities are organized from Monday to Friday. Your
child can complete the Monday’s activity on Monday, Tuesday’s activity on Tuesday, etc., or they can
complete them all at one time or in chunks. There are 5 days of activities to complete; you choose
how they best fit into your schedule.

Homework is always due the first school day of the following week. You are however welcome to
return it as soon as you have completed it ahead of time. At the beginning of the week, homework
will be corrected and a new set of activities put into the duotang.
Regular homework will begin at the end of September/beginning of October.

Spelling work if not complete by Wednesday each week, must be finished at home and handed in
Friday or the last day of that week before the test.

Room 10 Blog
Room 10 has a blog! The address is: http://room10cent.wordpress.com. We hope to keep everyone
up to date on the happenings in our classroom. We will post all the events and important news on
this blog. As well, we hope to showcase student work. Students will complete Daily Classroom News
as a daily chore. In Math we will have students create Online Math Journals where they will explain
how they solved certain problems .We will also create Science and Social Studies pages where you
can see some samples of your child’s learning. You can easily contact us by clicking on the comment
button or by emailing us at:
jschwartz@sunrisesd.ca
lwatling@sunrisesd.ca

Substitute Teachers
At Centennial School, we need to be respectful, responsible and safe. It is especially
important for the students to display these qualities when a guest or substitute teacher is
in our classroom. In the event that either of us has to be away from school, one of the
following forms will be completed and glued into your child’s agenda the following day.
Please initial the note and if necessary, complete the “What do you think should happen
now?” section with your child. The following are samples of the notes that will be glued into
your child’s agenda.

There was a substitute teacher in our classroom while I was away from school on
______________________________________________________________
Hip, Hip, Hooray! Your child was respectful, responsible and safe throughout the day.
Congratulations!!
Teacher Signature _______________________________________________

Parent/Guardian Signature _________________________________________

OR
There was a substitute teacher in our classroom while I was away from school on
______________________________________________________________
Your child had difficulties being respectful, responsible and/or safe.
Explanation:__________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________
What do you think should happen now?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________

Teacher Signature________________________________________________

Parent/ Guardian Signature _________________________________________

Weekly Schedule

Monday (at school) Monday (after school/evening)

return agenda home reading
return BEAR duotang study spelling
return Idea Notebook write writing ideas in Idea Notebook
return homework duotang initial agenda
return goal-setting duotang check for casual homework
regular homework

Tuesday (at school) Tuesday (after school/evening)

return agenda home reading
return BEAR duotang study spelling
return Idea Notebook write writing ideas in Idea Notebook
return homework duotang initial agenda
check for casual homework
regular homework
Wednesday (at school) Wednesday (after school/evening)
return agenda home reading
return BEAR duotang study spelling
return Idea Notebook write writing ideas in Idea
Notebook
initial agenda
check for casual homework
regular homework
fill out hotdog form
(if no school Friday)

Thursday (at school) Thursday (after school/evening)

return agenda home reading
return BEAR duotang study spelling
return Idea Notebook write writing ideas in Idea Notebook
return hotdog form (if no school on Friday) initial agenda
spelling test (if no school on Friday) initial agenda
check for casual homework
regular homework
fill out hotdog/lunch order form

Friday (at school) Friday,Sat,Sun (after school/evening)

return agenda home reading
return BEAR duotang prepare for Monday BookTalk
return Idea Notebook write writing ideas in Idea Notebook
return hotdog order and money initial agenda
return spelling duotang sign goal-setting duotang
check for casual homework
spelling test regular homework
*End of Month- Initial and return Celebrating Success record sheet and prepare
for book talk every 4 weeks starting October 25th.

Home Reading
Your child is expected to read at home for 20-30 minutes on a daily basis. In a nut shell, Home
Reading is reading, recording and responding to what you have read. Once again your child earns
points for Home Reading so remember to read and record every day!! The following is a more
detailed explanation of the home Reading Program.

1. Your child chooses a book to read.

It can be from any source, (including the classroom) and any type (picture, chapter, comic, fiction,
non-fiction, poems, newspapers, magazines, etc…) However, please help to ensure that your child is
selecting books that are at their appropriate level of understanding.

2. Have your child read to you.

When your child is reading, encourage him/her to tend to punctuation. For example, he/she should
be stopping for periods, pausing for commas, using intonation for question marks and exclamation
marks. In addition, encourage your child to read with fluency (rhythm) and expression. That is, they
should read phrases instead of reading word by word in a monotone.

3. If your child is stuck on a word have him/her try various strategies to figure out the
unknown word. Here are some strategies that you can target:
- Look for parts of the word that you know (prefixes, suffixes, and small words).
- Break the word up into smaller chunks or syllables.
- Skip the word, read on, and come back to the word and try again.
- Think about what would make sense, and then try a word.
- Sound it out.
- Look at the pictures for clues.

4. Fill out the Home Reading Calendar.

Record the information EACH time you read. If you are reading chapter books or
other literature that is more lengthy, record the pages that you read.

5. Prepare for your Book Talk every 2nd ELA Homework Week
What is a Book Talk? A Book Talk is when you get together in a small group and talk about a
book that you have read or are reading. The students will meet with a partner or small group
to talk about their book. There is a different prompt that they respond to each week. After
they have talked, the students then write about what they talked about in their response
journal.

It is your child’s responsibility to prepare for the Book Talk at home. The following is what
each child needs to do to prepare for Book Talks on Monday.
• Record your Book Talk Response that corresponds with the appropriate date.
• Put the book that you responded to in your back pack.
Have fun reading with your child!