Dear Students and Parents,
It is always exciting to begin a new school year, greeting old friends, and looking forward to making new ones, expanding skills, acquiring new information, and deepening our understanding of the world. We look forward to learning more about your children and working together to provide the best educational experience possible.
We would particularly like to keep a strong home/school connection in regards to your child’s independent reading habits. Research shows that fluency and comprehension increase through independent reading practice, using text that is at a child’s comfortable reading level. Deeper reading comprehension occurs when students make connections between themselves, the text, and the outside world. Please spend time listening to your child read, and discussing their selections and the content of the books. Third graders are expected to read at least 80 minutes per week, and fourth graders, 120 minutes. Although students often have favorite topics or series, we would also like to encourage them to select different genres to expose them to different types of information and styles of writing.
Students have a Home/School Folder that should travel back and forth to school every day. Inside will be a Weekly Assignment Sheet (this week’s is green, but the color will vary) on which students will record their homework. This is also where they will record the number of minutes that they read each week, along with the titles of the books. We are also sending home an explanation of our homework policy (on bright pink paper) that should be kept for reference throughout the year. This folder will also hold notes, homework papers, and any other important information. Students do have homework tonight, which is explained on a separate piece of paper, stapled to their Weekly Assignment Sheet, and due tomorrow.
There is a lot of other information coming home with your child today, including a packet from the office. Please review this information with your child, and return the necessary forms and lunch money as soon as possible. We are also including a weekly schedule for our classrooms as well as an outline of the major topics and themes for the year. There may be slight changes and deviations throughout the year, but if there are any significant changes, we will let you know. If there are topics that you are particularly interested in, or relate to a special talent of yours, we would love to have you share that with us. Parents are always welcome in the classroom. All of this information is also posted on our 3rd & 4th grade webpage, linked to the Fayston School Website. In an effort to save paper, from now on, we will post our letters and other important information on the website. If you would also like a hard copy, please let us know.
Please feel free to contact us with any comments or questions throughout the year. E-mail is often the fastest way to communicate, but voice mail is fine, too. ([email protected], [email protected], Ext. 200 for Carla Lewis, Ext. 110 for Erin Koch) This information is on the Fayston School Website. In addition to posting information and letters on our website, we will also send an email to the address that you have provided the school. If you have an additional email address that you would like us to use, please send it in. With your support and guidance, we know we will have a great year.
Sincerely,
Carla Lewis & Erin Koch
Homework – Due tomorrow, Wednesday, August 27
Please bring in a picture of yourself when you were a baby. Do not show this picture to your classmates, as we will be using it for a “Guess Who” activity. The photograph can be emailed to us, or you can send in a printed copy. Thanks!