Welcome to

Fourth Grade!

2014-2015
Mrs. Stejskal and Mrs. VanderZwaag


A Prayer

Thank you, Heavenly Father,
For the children in our school-
Each one a gift of love from You.
May we realize our sacred trust
As we seek to bring them up
To love and serve You.
Help us to create a climate of love
Where they may grow and develop
That sense of security so necessary
To a growing faith in people
And in You.
May we accept each child as
A unique person created in
Your own image and precious to You.
May they learn to accept themselves
As persons of worth
With talents and abilities
That You have given them.
Help us to share with them
Those values that lead
To abundant life in Christ.
And eternal life hereafter.
May they know a sense of achievement
Through creativity and work well done.
Father, give them
A sense of belonging,
In the family,
In our church,
In our school,
And with their friends.
And may they feel at home with You
In the beautiful world that You have made.

Amen.





Daily Schedule/Fourth Grade 2014-2015
Daily Schedule Mrs. Stejskal & Mrs. VanderZwaags 4th Grade
2014-2015


CURRICULUM - Morning

READING *We will be assessing your childs reading level a few times
throughout the year using the Fountas and Pinnell Reading
Level Inventories. Once a level is determined we will be
encouraging students to pick out books at the reading
(letter) level that has been given to them. Our goal for
fourth grade is to be reading in the Q, R, S, T, and U band of
books.

*Our school is now adopting the Reading Workshop
curriculum developed by the Teachers College of Reading
and Writing at Columbia University. The program consists of
the following units: How to Build a Reading Life, Following
Characters into Meaning, Book Clubs with Adventure and
Survival Stories, and Non-fiction/Informational and Research
units.

*RTi time will take also take place during our independent
reading time in class. Small group work will take place to
work on individual targeted skills. .

*Independent Reading takes place in class every day during
workshop time, but students will be required to take home
their red reading folder (Must DO folder) each night which
will include a reading log and a book to read. If a child
forgets their reading folder, they will be giving you a call to
deliver it to school. It is something that is needed every day.

*Students will have a basket of books ready to read and
have available to take home as needed.

Goals for Fourth Grade Readers:
-1 page in 1 minute
-30 minutes of sustained independent reading at school
-30 minutes of sustained independent reading at home
(150 minutes of reading each week)
-reading at appropriate personalized level
-growth of 1 or 2 levels and across genres
-become critical thinkers
-develop a life long LOVE for reading

LANGUAGE ARTS Words Their Way - NEW to HC system this year!

Beginning of year: students are given the Pearson Spelling
Inventory which matches them up with words at their
developmental/instructional level.

Students are given a list of 15 words to study each week.
They will need to understand the phonetic component of
the words, the spelling, AND the meaning. Throughout the
week they will be given activities that will help them learn
the words.
A test is given on Friday based on the rules of their word
lists. The goal for the student is to be able to transfer this
focus of word study to their every day and published writing.

Writing Writing Workshop program that includes mini lessons
4-5 times per week with extended writing response activities
in their writers notebook.
A writing project will be published every four to five weeks.
Published writing will be completed on i-pads accessible on
your students Evernote Account.
Genres that are covered are:
Personal Narrative
Persuasive Essay
Fiction
Literary Essay
Informative Research.

English/Grammar We will study sentences, nouns, verbs,
adjectives, punctuation, and other parts of grammar in
context of writing and mentor texts.
Penmanship Quick review of correct formation of all letters
in cursive is covered.

FAITH INTEGRATION Continually integrated throughout: teaching points,
connections between texts, current events, bible memory,
real life experiences and so much more!

CURRICULUM - Afternoon

BIBLE History of the written Word
Study of the judges, kings and prophets of Israel and Judah
Study the exile and return to Jerusalem
Stories of Esther and Daniel
Memory work approximately every other week.

MATH Knowledge of basic facts is VERY important! Daily practice
at home is required. Details of this assignment will be
communicated early in the school year. Please feel free to
practice using paper and pencil, games, and on-line
resources. You will find a nice assortment of resources on our
class website under the links on the right hand side.
www.hollandchristian.org/staffwebsites/kvanderzwaag

Classroom math lessons will come from the Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt Math Expressions Common Core curriculum,
copyright 2013. Math Expressions is focused
on the Common Core State Standards and helps students
study a small number of mathematical concepts with time
to develop and build in-depth understanding. In Math
Expressions, teachers create an inquiry environment where
students invent, question, model, represent and explore.
Students spend much time involved in explaining their
methods. The curriculum offers many opportunities for
individualizing each students learning program based on
their needs.
Topics covered: Place Value
Large Number Addition and Subtraction
Multiplication with whole numbers
Division with whole numbers
Equations and Word Problems
Measurement
Fraction Concepts and Operations
Fractions and Decimals
Geometry

This year I am very excited to be working with other area
educators in developing a workshop model of teaching
mathematics. I will be using this model this year in the
classroom. Students will demonstrate their prior knowledge
for each common core standard, and will be grouped
based on the instruction that will best meet their needs.
They will spend time daily with the teacher, as well as other
stations around the room (independent work, partner
practice, and games) to deepen their understanding and
knowledge no matter what level they are at.

SCIENCE Battle Creek Science Unit Kits - This curriculum aligns with the
Michigan standards for teaching science and emphasizes an inquiry model of
teaching science:students are to learn science by engaging in activities that
focus on the scientific process, observation and discovery.
Taught first and fourth marking periods only. Students will switch
classes for units on the following:
Mrs. VanderZwaag Mrs. Jacobs
Energy Transfer States of Matter
Organisms in their The View From the Earth
Environment

SOCIAL STUDIES Second and third marking periods only.
Study of the Regions of the United States.

OUT OF CLASSROOM LEARNING
Sept.26 - DeGraaf Nature Center
Jan. 23 - Hemlock Crossing Nature Center
TBD Market Day
June 2 - GR Public Museum and Planetarium
**Chaperones sign up will be at Parent Night in August.


OTHER IMPORTANT DETAILS:

CLASS RULES AND DISCIPLINE Already this year, we have discussed rules and
how important they are. We had the children help us develop a list of important
rules for our classroom. We will use a stoplight to enforce these rules. When a
child breaks a rule he/she will move his/her clothespin to yellow. The second
offense results in moving the clothespin to red, followed by time spent inside at
recess filing out a Stop Sheet. Stop Sheets state the problem and provide a plan
to prevent it from happening again. These sheets come home, need to be
signed by a parent and returned to school the next day. Each day the children
start with a clean slate. Further discipline problems will be dealt with through a
call to the parents or a visit with the principal.

ABSENT/MISSING WORK Look for an assignment sheet. If your child is gone for
more than one day, please stop by and pick up missed
work.

GRADING A number system and letter system based on percentages is used in
fourth grade.

HOMEWORK - Unfinished school work will be taken home as homework.
Studying math facts, memory work and reading minutes is homework.
Students will receive review sheets before tests so they can
study at home.
Student Planners/Homework Folder This is our effort as teachers to
help your child learn organizational and responsibility skills before
Middle School. Please look at your childs homework notebook
regularly and sign it once a week to help build these skills.

VACATION HOMEWORK POLICY We encourage you to take your family
vacations during school vacations. Pulling your child out of school causes them
to miss some learning experiences that cannot be duplicated as homework, and
may make them feel insecure when they return. On the same token, we
understand there are occasions where taking your child out of school in
unavoidable. If your child misses school for a vacation, we will give you the
paperwork your child missed when you return. We will not be able to present you
with this work before you leave because we may not know exactly what we will
be doing or how much we will cover in advance of your vacation. However,
some good activities for trips such as these include: reading every day, keeping
a written journal of the trip, practicing spelling words, practicing math facts, and
practicing Bible memory.

PARENT HELPERS Sign up at Parent Night if you are interested.

DISCOVERY ASSESSMENT Students will be taking the Discovery Assessment tests
again this year. Testing will occur three times a year and is done on computer or
iPad. The testing results will assist teachers in teaching directly to the needs of
each individual student. Result printouts will also be shared with parents.

BIRTHDAYS Children usually bring a treat, but do not have to. Half birthdays
may be celebrated for those that fall outside of the school year. If your child
chooses to have a birthday party outside of school, please be sure to invite all
the girls or all the boys in our class to the party. This will eliminate any
unnecessary hurt feelings.

SWIMMING LESSONS Rose Park students will be participating in swimming lessons
at the Holland Community Pool. For the 4th graders, these will take place Mon. -
Fri. mornings (8:45-9:30) for two weeks from April 13-24. The students must wear
the swimsuits the pool provides.

CLASS WEBSITE Almost all information you may need this year about our 4
th

grade class can be found on our website: www.hollandchristian.org/staffwebsites/
kvanderzwaag. Please bookmark that site. You will find schedules, a link to our
newsletter website, photos, the hot lunch link, educational activities, and lots of
other classroom information there.


CLASS NEWSLETTERS - Our class newsletters will take the form of a website. Please
visit http://fourthgradefootprints.blogspot.com/ and sign up for updates via the
e-mail link on the right hand side. We will also send you an email every Friday to
remind you to go see the new updates for the week. This will be your place to
get class information so please bookmark it and check it often!


CLASS WIKI - In our classroom, our students will be finding some of our on-line
resources on our wikis. These sites are password protected, but if your child
shares their password with you, you can also browse around there at home. This
site is not as critical for you to check regularly, but when you do peek at it, you
will get a sense for some of the things we are learning and the resources we are
using. You can access the wikis through the link on our HC class website.


iPADS - Each student will have an iPad that stays at school. The iPads will be
used to enhance our learning. We will use them for some project based
learning, some research, some creating, and some skill practice.

PARENT/TEACHER COMMUNICATION We feel it is important that we are in touch
often. We are extremely devoted to meeting the needs of each child, but we
need your help for that. God has given us both the task of teaching these
children and we can only do that through open communication. We will be sure
to let you know if we have good news or even concerns about your child and
we would like you to do the same for us. You may reach us at school (820-4055)
or at home in the evenings before 10pm and on weekends. We also have e-mail
accounts that we check daily.

Jana Stejskal (morning teacher, except Wed. afternoons)
396-8128
jstejskal@hollandchristian.org

Kim VanderZwaag (afternoon teacher, except Wed. mornings)
748-9514
kvanderzwaag@hollandchristian.org


We will pray earnestly for your child and your family this year, and we ask
that you remember us in your prayers. With God in the center and in control, this
year will be filled with many growth adventures. Were excited about what is
happening already in our class. Lets keep in close touch!


In Christs service,

Jana Stejskal
Kim VanderZwaag

























4th Grade Bible Memory Schedule
(we work on this daily at school :)
Mrs. Stejskal 2014-2015

September 19 Books of the Old Testament
October 3 I Sam. 15:22 and I Sam. 16:7
October 17 Psalm 23*
October 31 Psalm 24
November 7 Isaiah 9:6 and Job 19:25-26
November 14 Psalm 100*
November 21 Psalm 139:23-24*
December 5 Luke 2:1-15*
December 19 Luke 2:16-20*
January 16 Psalm 8*
February 6 Psalm 42:1-6
February 20 Romans 8:38-39*, Acts 2:1-4*
March 5 (thursday) Psalm 121
March 20 I AMs
March 27 John 3:16-17*
April 17 Matthew 28:1-10*
May 1 Psalm 103:1-8*
May 15 Psalm 103:9-16
May 29 John 14:1-6

*Passages marked have been learned in previous grades. All other
passages are new this year. We learn it in various ways: songs, puzzles,
pictures, etc. It has happened in the past that when we know it so well
as a class and say it together, I count it good.
Finding JOY in scripture is the goal! :)