Dear Parents or Guardians,

Welcome to fourth grade! My name is Landon Lounsberry and I will be your child’s teacher for the 2010-2011 school year. I am thrilled to share this coming school year experience with your child. There are few things I would like to cover to start the school year. I encourage the students to have a water bottle all year at their desks. As we all know, water is healthy for us, and the brain works best when hydrated. It would be helpful if your child would rubber band a clean sock around his or her water bottle to prevent condensation from ruining papers. I will let the students know that they can bring in snacks for their birthdays, if their families want them to do this. For summer birthdays, a date of your choice is fine, such as a half birthday. Just let me know the date. If there are circumstances where you can’t do something, but would like your child to celebrate his or her birthday at school, please let me know, and I would be happy to bring something. We will be using binders this school year to help keep organized. You will be able to find your child’s newsletters, spelling lists, study guides, etc. in this organizational tool. Please look over the binder with your child each night. I will be corresponding weekly with you to let you know of upcoming school activities and work. I will start the school year off by sending each family a hard copy every week, which will be placed in your child’s binder. As the school year progresses, a note will be sent home to let you choose between a hard copy of the newsletter or getting the newsletter off of my website in addition to having it e- mailed to your home e-mail address. In addition, each week’s lesson plans will be on my website. Your child should not have much homework for the first nine weeks, unless he or she does not get his or her daily work done. The next three quarters there will be a little more homework to prepare him or her for the upper grades. I strive to teach my students good study habits to help them for the current year and for years to come. This is the first year for honor roll for your child. Honor roll is a great incentive and something to have your child work toward. Below is a list of all of the subjects we cover in fourth grade and a short overview of each.

Spelling-There will be a list sent home each Friday for the following week. The copy will be in your child’s binder. The pre-test is on Wednesday and the final test on Friday. If your child receives an A+ on Wednesday, he or she will not take the final test on Friday. If your student receives an A or A- on Wednesday, he or she will have the option to not take Friday’s test. However, if they take Friday’s test, the grade from Friday will go into the grade book. Math-We review addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division and go into more challenging steps with each operation. We also study place value, money, pre-algebra, range, median, mode, measurement, time, fractions, problem solving, and touch on decimals. Please review all basic facts with your child because we will be expanding on the basics. It is vital that your child knows his or her addition, subtraction, and multiplication facts. It will make math much easier this school year. Please practice at home. The students will take a math ISAT test during the second semester. Reading-We will use basil reading books, poetry, songs, and reader’s theatres to teach reading skills. We will also read novel units as a class, as well as working in guided reading groups. We will be performing a play during the school year. I have done this in the past with students, and they have loved it! The students will take a reading ISAT test during the second semester. Language-We expand and review all parts of speech. We do some journal writing and work on developing our paragraph writing. Social Studies-We study all of the regions of the United States. We also do a unit on the state of Illinois. There will be a study guide sent home for each Social Studies test. Science-We will study Earth, life, and physical science. I am very excited about the material we will cover. We will do “hands on” science as often as possible. There will be a study guide sent home for each Science test. The students will take a science ISAT test during the second semester.

In conclusion, I have a few more notes. Book orders will be sent home occasionally during the school year. Also, we will be having a “Star of the Week.” The students will fill out a form about themselves, and they will be able to lead a few activities in the classroom for a week. I encourage the students to bring in pictures relating to the questions on the form. However, please do not send in pictures that can’t be replaced in case something happens to them. We have a board where the pictures will be displayed. If you ever have any questions or concerns, please call me at school (438-6919). I am sure this will be a great year for your child. I am extremely excited and will be sending out messages in the weekly notes to encourage you to come and have fun with us while we learn. Please make sure you turn in your volunteer form, if you plan to join us.

Thank You, Landon Lounsberry