Ms. Grewal-Glups and Mrs. Williams’ Grade 3 and 4
Parent
Handbook
Welcome
to the 2014/2015 school year! We would
like to take the opportunity to welcome you to the class and introduce
ourselves. We are the team of Mrs. Williams and Ms. Grewal-Glups. Mrs. Williams will be in the classroom on
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday of each week, and Ms. Grewal-Glups will be
in the classroom each Wednesday. Please feel free drop by and meet us after
school when you pick up your child!
We are very much looking forward to working with
both you and your child this year. Open
communication between the school and home is one of the keys to ensuring that a
child has a successful academic year at school.
Please share the contents of this package with your child as it will
assist him/her in having a clear idea of what to expect at school.
Education is a partnership between the school and
home. It is most advantageous to your
child if we work together. We will keep
in close contact with you regarding your child’s progress. If you have any further questions about
things that are not addressed in this handbook, please call us at the school or
pop in for a visit.
School Supplies:
Please
send your child’s school supplies to school as soon as possible. Please
label everything. Extra supplies
will be stored in a bag with your child’s name on it to be used throughout the
year. Students appreciate higher
quality pencils because they don’t break when they are sharpened. A few cents more spent on high quality pencils
will save your son/daughter a lot of time sharpening pencils! Don’t forget to include a pair of inside
shoes that need to be kept at school for gym and in the classroom. We will be changing our shoes at the door in
order to keep our classroom carpet as clean as possible so students can work on
the carpet in different areas of the room.
In
grade three and four we are learning to be responsible and reliable. Students are learning how to be responsible
for their planner and homework. They
still need some help to get these two important jobs done, and we appreciate
your support!
Mom and Dad’s helping list:
Check the planner every day. There are important messages, permission
slips and notices that are put in the planner.
Sign the planner each day. This helps the teachers to know that you have
received the messages that were put in the planner. Please feel free to add a note!
It’s OK to sign the planner
even if the work is not complete-just write a quick note beside the assignment so
that we can help your son/daughter at school. Being responsible for this essential home-school communication is
part of your son/daughter’s personal planning mark.
Check the homework assignment and help with
the homework if needed. There will be a reading job each
night (read 30 min). Any work that was
assigned in class time that was not finished is for homework. If your child is unable to finish the
spelling assignment for the day in class time, spelling work will be in the
planner too. Spelling tests are always
on Thursdays. Please review the spelling
list in the planner each night. A few
times each term there will be projects that your son/daughter may want to work
on at home. We realise that households
are extremely busy and do not assign homework above what is covered in class
time as a regular routine. We feel
strongly that children should have time each day to explore other areas of
interest and to spend time with their family.
Pre-Service Teacher, Mr. N
Smith
We
will be hosting an SFU pre-service teacher for the fall term. His name is Mr. Smith. He has completed all
of his professional development coursework and initial practicum and is looking
forward to demonstrating his skills in his final practicum. As a former lifeguard and Special Olympics
coach we are very lucky to have him bring his extensive sports expertise to our
room in addition to the latest information on instructional practice!
Homework
With the exception a few projects, your child’s
homework will usually consist of unfinished class work or spelling word
practice. Of course, this will fluctuate slightly each night, depending on the
particular assignments. Grade 3 and 4
are crucial years for memorizing multiplication and division facts which help
with number fluency. Any additional
practice at home is very helpful!
If your child is unable to complete a homework
assignment, please write a note in his/her planner so that we may be able to
assist your child in completing the given task.
If homework creates a stressful situation at home, please let us know as
soon as possible. In working together,
we will be able to address and often diffuse a difficult situation!
The student’s to do list:
Show mom or dad your planner.
Read 30 minutes each night.
Finish up any leftover assignments not completed in class time.
Make sure your planner and homework is in
your backpack and ready for school.
√
Tell your parents about any
special school events or field trips ahead of time so that your parents can
plan for the event. Nobody likes a last
minute surprise!
Reading Practice
Reading
is a skill that is learned by practicing.
In grades three and four, students are developing from learning how to
read, to using reading to learn about topics.
It is very important to read out loud with your son/daughter. Please listen to your child read out loud at
least once a week.
Field Trip Drivers
We
have many field trips planned for this year and will need drivers to help us
get there. Please fill out the driver
form if you think you may be able to drive at some point this year. We will keep it on file at the office so that
you only have to fill out one form.
Messages for students
Please
note that our school phones are very busy!
Please make arrangements for rides and playing at friends’ houses before school. It can be difficult to get messages to
students at the end of the day, depending on where we are in the school (in the
gym, library, music or in another classroom.)
We want our students to be safe, which means that they need to know
their home travel arrangements before school starts for the day. (Students will
not be permitted to make play-date arrangements using the class phone at the
end of the day!)
Pick up and drop off
Please
pick up and drop off students at our outside classroom door. Students are supervised from 8:15am until
2:45pm. Please do not drop off your
child early, as there is no one to supervise him/her. Students are to line up under the windows
near our outside classroom door.
Students are not to be in the school until 8:30 am when the teacher lets
them in-even on rainy days!
Snacks and Lunches
Students need a snack to eat at 10:10am, and a lunch for 12:12pm. Please pack items that students are able to open by themselves. We do not have a microwave to heat up lunches. We model and teach healthy eating habits at Bayridge. Please do not send pop or candy to school for snacks or lunches.
Hot Lunch
The PAC (Parent Advisory Committee) is very active in our school. Our school has a website that will enable you to order hot lunch and other items. Registration instructions are on the homepage at https://bayridge.hotlunches.net The registration code is BR2014HL. Please register to receive e-mail news and notices from the PAC as well as other important information such as PAC meeting minutes and to view the on-line calendar of events. All Bayridge students benefit from the hard work of our PAC-many thanks to those parents who volunteer and provide so many opportunities for our students!
Book Orders
Book
orders are sent home at the beginning of each month. Families can order books for their children
to read at home. If you would like to
order, please fill out the form at the back and return your order to Mrs.
Williams along with your payment.
Cheques can be made out to Scholastic Canada, or cash in the correct
amount (I can’t make change). Scholastic
gives us much needed free books for our classroom library with each order that
we send.
Assessment and Evaluation
Assignments
in Division 8 are criterion-referenced.
That is, the students are provided with a comprehensive outline prior to
the beginning of any project. Students
are encouraged to do their best and work hard to meet the criteria that has
been set for them. Often, you will see
an assignment with one of the following annotations:
EE FM AE NYW
EE stands for Exceeds Expectations. It often represents outstanding effort and
achievement. Progress often represents knowledge and application of concepts
beyond what is expected at this grade level.
FM stands for Fully Meets Expectations. It often represents good effort and
achievement. Progress often represents
knowledge that is expected at this grade level.
AE stands for Approaching Expectations. It often represents satisfactory effort and
achievement. Progress often represents
basic knowledge that is expected at this grade level.
NYW stands for Not Yet Within Expectations. It often represents product that is not
within grade level expectations, or demonstrates a significant lack of
completion or understanding.
Classroom wish list
We are
in need of a few items to enrich our classroom.
If you are willing to donate any of the following items for students to
use, we would be most grateful:
-quiet
games for indoor recess/lunch (URGENT) (Connect 4, Jenga, Uno, playing cards,
chess, lego, etc)
-puzzles
(Canada, BC, plants, animals etc)
-craft
supplies (google eyes, regular size hot glue sticks, toilet paper/paper towel
rolls, small baby food jars, small water based acrylic paint, air drying clay,
glitter, ribbon, red and white felt for Christmas crafts, feathers, buttons,
wax paper, paper plates, pompoms, pipe cleaners, spray adhesive, clear coat
spray for finishing paintings…)
-our
bean bag chairs have been well loved and are in need of re-filling with more
bean bag beans!
Personal Devices
We
support students bringing personal devices such as tablets/ipads, laptops or
phones to school for students to do class assignments. Please review and sign the Acceptable Use
Policy and Personal Device permission form attached if you wish to have your
child bring his/her device to school. If
you are considering purchasing a device for your child, Bayridge has iPads and
MacBooks in use as educational tools.
This
year will be full of new learning and exciting events! Please feel free to drop by to meet Ms.
Grewal-Glups and Mrs. Williams after school.
We wish everyone a fun-filled, hardworking educational year!
Welcome
to Division 8!
Sincerely,
Ms.
Grewal-Glups (grewal_g@surreyschools.ca)
Mrs.
Diana Williams (williams_diana@surreyschools.ca)
Please sign and return this page to indicate that you have
received the parent handbook.
Child’s Name:_______________________________
I ___________________ have received the parent handbook.
_________________________________
Parent/Guardian
Signature
Optional:
We would love to know more about you and your child. We have included a few questions below that
would help us know you and your child.
All responses are confidential.
What are your hopes for your child this year?
How does your child feel about school?
What should we know about your child?
Does your child belong to any clubs or organizations outside of
school?
What is your #1 priority for your child this year?
How can we best support your child in his/her learning?
Dear
Parent/Guardians:
In this day and age the
internet is an integral part of learning and sharing. I would like to
share this authentic learning with your child. I would like to have our
class involved with many digital tools. These will include class
blogging, individual student blogs and portfolios, skyping/google hangout with
children from other classes and experts from around the world, and several
global collaborative projects.
Your
written consent to your child’s use of Internet-based tools is required by
British Columbia’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act
(FIPPA). If you choose not to provide your consent to your child’s use of
Internet-based tools, your child will not be penalized in any way and alternate
activities will be provided, as appropriate.
It
is important to be aware that the majority of the Internet-based tools noted
below are online services hosted outside of British Columbia and possibly
Canada. While stored outside the country, information in your child’s accounts
may be subject to the laws of foreign jurisdictions, including, in the United
States, the USA Patriot Act
For your child’s safety, last names will not be listed, and pictures will never be matched with names.
Internet/on-line safety will be explicitly taught and revisited
regularly as needed. Nothing will be uploaded or posted on any on-line
domain without my approval first.
Through the use of technology we will be learning alongside children in
our school, our school district, and around the world. Here is a little
information about some of our digital activities and the specific tools we will
use:
Our Class Blog: A place to find out what is happening in our classroom and an easy way
to link to sites listed across the top. It can be found at Bayridge123.blogspot.ca Our
class blog is hosted by Blogger.
Individual Student Blogs and Portfolios: A place for each student in the class to document their learning
through writing and work samples. It is a digital portfolio and gives
students and parents an opportunity to share the learning at school with parents
and family. Follow the Kidblog link on our class blog at
Bayridge123.blogspot.ca. Individual Student Blogs will be hosted at
Kidblog.org.
Skype and Google Hangout: This
on-line communication tool allows us to meet and collaborate with adults and
children around the world. It also allows us to invite “experts” into our
classroom. We will be participating in
Google Hangouts with our Classroom Champions Athlete Mentors.
Classroom Champions: For the second
year in a row our class has been selected to participate in the Classroom
Champions program that matches athlete mentors to classes across the United
States and Canada. We are very excited
to be part of this invaluable program that models goal-setting, perseverance,
life long learning and so much more. Please see the information attached
and consider allowing your son/daughter to participate by signing the
permission/media release form. Their web page is www.classroomchampions.org
Global Projects: These are projects that
we do with other classes around the world through on-line collaboration. An
example of a global project is the Global Read Aloud. (www.globalreadaloud.com) Information about each project will be shared on our class
blog.
Some of the tools we will be
using to document our learning or to collaborate with others will also be
stored in on-line accounts, which I will be responsible for setting up and
maintaining. These may include, but are not limited to: Surreyschools.ca,
Educreations, ShowMe, Audioboo, Voice Thread, Wikispaces, Haiku Deck,
Animoto... We may store and share work through YouTube, Dropbox, Google
communities/sites or Google Drive.
As their teacher I may also
store work samples for assessment purposes in Evernote, and Fresh Grade.
I give workshops, mentor teachers and share research through my
professional blog, which is a self-hosted Wordpress Blog at www.teacherdiana.com
If you have questions about
any of these tools please don’t hesitate to ask. Again, as mentioned
above, the highest level of safety will be maintained.
Before
any of this can happen for your child it is important that you have signed the
district media release form along with the permission slip attached to this
letter. If you have any concerns please feel free to drop by and discuss
them with me.
Looking
forward to the most amazing year of learning with your child!
Mrs.
Diana Williams
On Line
Activity Permission for Students
in Mrs.
Williams/Ms. Grewal-Glups Class
2014-2015 School Year
I
understand that the information my child may create and store could be stored
in or accessed from a location outside of Canada, and I hereby consent, on
behalf of me and my child, to my child’s information identified above being
stored in, or accessed from, a location outside of Canada.
My
child’s image can be online as he or she participates in class activities as
part of the grade 3 and 4 program at Bayridge Elementary.
My
child’s work that has been produced as part of a classroom activity can be
on-line.
My
child’s work or images may be used on Mrs. Williams’ professional blog, which
can be found at
www.teacherdiana.com
My
child is ______________________________.
My
name is ______________________________.
Parent/Guardian
Signature ________________________.
Date:
_______________________.
If
you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact me so I
can further explain how and why we are using these tools.
Thank
you,
Mrs.
Williams
Grade
three/four Teacher
Bayridge
Elementary
williams_diana@surreyschools.ca
604-531-8082
