September 6, 2016

Newsletter

GRADE 4 - MR. HANCOCK AND MRS. COLCERIU

HIGHROAD ACADEMY, CHILLIWACK, BC

Welcome to Grade 4/5

at Highroad Academy
Welcome to another year at Highroad Academy! I am pleased
to take this opportunity to introduce myself and to welcome
your child to Grade 4/5. A good learning experience is built on
a cooperative effort among parents, child and teacher. I look
forward to the work and growth we will all accomplish this
year. With your participation both in and out of the classroom,
we can look forward to a productive, creative and enjoyable
year. This year will be different in many ways, not only for you
but also for myself.
First of all, I am looking forward to working with a new teaching
partner. Mrs. Colceriu will be teaching Thursday as I continue my
administrative role in the Grades 4-6 area. She is a wonderful
addition to our class and I know you will enjoy the great ideas and
love for teaching and learning she brings to the class.
Mrs. Colceriu and I believe firmly that
all children should have a love for
learning and that learning does not
just happen in school within our four
walls. Our goal this year is to help
your child build that love for learning
into everything they do and to
develop a sense of wonder at the
wonderful creation God has made in
His love for us. As part of this, we
also hope to involve you in this
goal. Whether it is through our
class blog, reading with your child
as part of our Home Reading program or
through the family projects that your child will bring home, we want you
to be an important part of this process.

This year
will be
different in
many ways!

Welcome to Grade 4/5. Let the

learning begin!
IMPORTANT!!!
Our blog is an
important part of our
class and an extremely
important tool in
helping you be an
active, knowledgable
part of what is going on

Highroad Academy

in our class. Instead of

one newsletter at the
end of each month, our
blog will be constantly
updated with
resources,
links, news items,
spelling, calendars and

other vital pieces of

information. Please
check the blog often for
information and ways
to help your child
continue their journey
in learning outside the
class! At the end of

this newsletter, there

will be a link you can
cut out and put on the
fridge to help you get to
our blog!

THIS WILL BE
THE ONLY
PAPER
NEWSLETTER
YOU WILL
RECEIVE THIS
YEAR!

Learning does not just happen within the four walls of our school!
September 6, 2016

Introducing Mrs. Colceriu!

Im so thrilled to be teaching Grade 4/5 with Mr. H this
year. I completed my teaching degree at UBC back in
2007 and have taught a wide number of age ranges
from Kindergarten to Middle School. Im excited to be
teaching French and Social Studies to the Grade 4/5s
this year. In my spare time, I love to travel with my
family, play games with my daughter Aubrey (19
months) and drink lots of cups of tea.

Looking Ahead At Our Year In Grade 4/5!

Below: Mr. Hancocks children: Liam and Siena

CORE SUBJECTS
Grade Four and Five is a busy year!
With FSA tests scheduled for mid-year
for the Grade 4s, students have a lot of
work and curriculum to cover. However,
Mrs. Colceriu and I have a number of
fun, interactive, collaborative, exciting
and challenging projects planned for
both Grade 4 and Grade 5.
For our Language Arts program, we will
be focusing on the Reading Powers
program. We will be starting as a class
exploring literature and responding to
literature. As the year moves on, we
will transition to more student led
reading discussions through the use of
Literature Circles. Poetry and spelling
will also be major parts of our Language
Arts reading program. For writing, we
will be using a mix of the Writing
Powers program with the Blended Style
and Structure model. Both systems are
great ways to help students develop
competency in both aspects of writing:

style and content. Our Math program

will be brand new this year with the
intermediate department moving to a
program called Math to The Max. This
program is more hands on, exploring
math in different ways and in different
contexts. As a part of that program, we
will be touching on all areas of Math.
Analyzing Word Problems will also be
an important part of Math as problem
solving is always a difficult area for
students. Science will focus on Space,
Habitats, Energy and Rock Cycles

Collaborative
Dynamic
Interactive
Challenging
Mrs. Colceriu will be teaching our Grade
4/5 Social Studies curriculum with
several fascinating topics to look
forward to. Grade 4/5 Social Studies
topics include: Geography of Canada,

Living in Canada, Explorers. Using tools

like Google Earth and maps, students
will also have fun learning more about
current world views and the various
cultures that make our global society
the fascinating and dynamic world it is
today.

TECHNOLOGY
Technology will play an important part
in our Grade 4/5 year. However, it is
important that it is not the focus of
learning. Rather, technology is one of
the many tools we use to make sense of
our world. Our focus will be on how
t e ch n o l o g y c a n c o mp l e m e n t o u r
curriculum in a dynamic and
interactive way. Several tools will be
used including the use of Chromebook
laptops in the classroom. We will also be
going through some basics of coding as
a beginning look at how the internet
works.

page 2

Highroad Academy

COME VISIT US AT HTTP://MRHCLASSBLOG.EDUBLOGS.ORG

September 6, 2016
Class Blog - Your Gr. 4/5 Connection

As you may or may not be aware, one of the areas of focus in the Elementary and Primary
department has been communicating through the use of blogs. Our class blog will be an
important part of our parent/teacher communication. The blog contains lots of interesting
articles, links, videos and resources to help bring the curriculum alive and into the home
where you can share what your child is learning. It is vital that you have the ability to
access our blog on a daily basis! You can visit our blog at:
http://mrhclassblog.edublogs.org/

Spelling and Weekly Bible Verse

Throughout the year, students will be involved in practicing spelling words and
memorizing Bible Verses. Students will be given their spelling words and Bible Verses on
Mondays and tested on those words and verses on Fridays. To help you organize and help
your child, Bible verses will be standardized across the department with all students
working in the same section of the bible. For spelling, our class also uses a website called
Spelling City which allows students to practice spelling words, play games and prepare
for their spelling tests.

Other Important Items...

There are so many exciting things happening this year, it is hard to fit them all in this
newsletter!
Think! Projects - As part of the Science program in our class, students will be
bringing home projects designed to force students to think outside the box and
be creative. Creativity is an important part of learning and we want to help
students stretch their creative muscles. Collaboration will be key and parents
and other family members are encouraged to help. These projects are
mandatory and will be part of their Science mark.
Genius Hour - This is something that all the teachers in the Grades 4-6 will be
continuing this year. Google introduced a concept a number of years ago
where 20% of worker time was devoted to any project they were interested in
exploring more. This helped promote creativity and passion for learning. We
want to build that concept into our week as well. We feel that for so much of
the school year, we tell students what to do and learn. This is an opportunity
for students to pursue an idea/concept or project they are interested in and
passionate about. To that end, one hour of the week will be given to students to
pursue a passion or interest they have. They will complete a project based on
that passion and present it to the rest of the class. These projects will be
worked on throughout the term and be presented at the end of each term. We
will be using a number of resources to help us including a free website called
DIY.org to help students gather ideas for projects. We are really excited by this
idea and feel that this will inspire a passion for learning and creativity.
Uniforms - As directed by the school board, the intermediate department will
be strictly enforcing the uniform policy this year. While we understand that
circumstances sometimes make it difficult to adhere to the policy, all parents
are required to be familiar with the policy and ensure that their child has the
appropriate uniform pieces. All infringements will be followed up on. With the
new policy, infractions will be communicated in a series of steps. The first
communication about an infraction will be an informal request to looking into
an issue with the uniform. The second communication will be a formal note/
phone call/discussion with the teacher about the uniform infraction. The third
communication will be a formal letter from Mr. Morris asking the parents to
comply with the uniform policy. Finally, any actions needing to be taken past
this stage will involve parents meeting with Mr. Morris to discuss
arrangements for complying with the uniform policy.

page 3

Highroad Academy

PLEASE FILL IN AND RETURN AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!

SEPTEMBER 6, 2016

Lets
Get Acquainted!
Please fill in the form as completely as possible!
1) Childs Name
2) Birthdate

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

3) Parents Names

_______________________________________________________________

4) Address

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

5) Home Phone _______________________________________________________________________

6) Work Phone _______________________________________________________________________
7) Email:

_______________________________________________________________________

8) Name of other family members (including pets):

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
9) List several of your childs favorites, such as a favorite food, TV show, book or hobby:
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
10) Your childs strengths:
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
11) Areas needing improvement:
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
12) Educational needs of your child from your perspective: (Feel free to add more info on the back!)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
page 4

Highroad Academy

PLEASE FILL IN AND RETURN AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!

SEPTEMBER 6, 2016

13) Does your child like to read?

Never

Rarely

Sometimes

Always

14) How often does your child read independently?

_____ 02 times per week

_____ 34 times per week

_____ 57 times per week

_____ 8 plus times per week

15) As we plan projects this year, we are hoping to gather some information to see what tools may be available for your child to
use. Please check all that apply:

__ Computer

__ Highspeed Internet

__ GPS Device

16) Are you interested in having your child be involved in after school clubs? ____ Yes

__ digital camera
_____ No

If so, what kinds of clubs would your child be interested in participating in?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

17) As we plan for Genius Hour this year, we would like to take a survey of parents to see what skills, hobbies or
interests you may have that may be helpful to students working on projects. What skills or hobbies do the adults in
the family have?

Mom: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Dad: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Others (Grandparents, etc):

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

18) Any thoughts you would like to communicate:

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
page 5
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Highroad Academy