Welcome to Mrs.

Cunningham’s class! - Please

write a note to your child.

After this presentation you will:

• Know a little bit about Mrs. Cunningham

• Get an understanding of homework, classroom expectations, and classroom procedures

• Get a snapshot of your child’s 4th grade year!

All About Mrs. C.

• I was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Then, I moved to Rockford, IL for one year.

• I married my wonderful husband and best friend, Zach Cunningham on June 19th.

• This is my 5th year teaching. I taught third grade for 4 years between Wisconsin and Illinois.

• I hold a Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education and a minor in Spanish from Trinity International University in Deerfield, IL.

My wonderful husband

PBIS- Positive Behavior

Intervention and Support • Be SAFE, Be RESPECTFUL, Be

RESPONSIBLE

• School wide discipline procedure

Rights and Responsibilities vs.

Rules • Rights and Responsibilities focus on

what the student CAN do.

• Rules focus on what the student CAN’T do.

• The student takes ownership of his/her actions.

• This plan has worked well in our class thus far.

Discipline procedure in Mrs. C’s class

• First time: Warning

• Second time: Time taken off of Fun Friday (NOT recess- Students need to run around!)

• Third time: Parent contact, form both the student and the parent will need to fill out

Individual Rewards, Group rewards

• Dolphin dollars: Student shows the 3B’s

• Tickets: Student participates, holds classroom expectations, agenda is signed each night

• Group wars: The group with the most points at the end of the week will receive an incentive from me.

Reading • Reading Jumpstart

-Focuses on the common core standards and reading strategies

• Fluency, Text Connections, Narrative Elements, Making Predictions, Summarizing, Identifying Cause and Effect, Identifying Author’s Purpose and Point-of-view, Vocabulary

• Harcourt curriculum

Math

• Daily math fact practice

• Math Jumpstart

• Centers

• Investigations/Engage New York

Writing

• Parts of speech (Grammar Rules)

• Word skills and vocabulary

• Writing process- Topic generation, rough draft, revising, editing, final draft, publishing

• 6 in 1 traits: Ideas and content, organization, voice, sentence fluency, word choice, conventions

• Informative/explanatory, narrative, persuasive structure

Social Studies

• Arizona’s History

• Arizona’s Government and Economy

• Landforms

• Current Events

Science

• Plant Structure and Animal Classifications

• Magnetism and Electricity

• Water Cycle, Climate, and Weather

• Renewable and Nonrenewable Energy Sources

• Scientific Method

Health

• Character Pillars

• Being Healthy

- Self-esteem

- Teamwork and Conflict Resolution

- Disease Prevention

- Growth and Development

- Nutrition and Fitness

- Safety and Emergencies

Grades and Report Card

• This is your child’s first year of getting letter grades. “B” is “very good.”

- We need to focus on growth rather than on the letter grades.

• Proficient: A to B

• Developing: C to D

• Area of Concern: D to F

Homework

• The homework will be as follows:

- Reading log (2 hours/wk. + summary)

- Math assignment ( Review) + practice math facts

- Spelling menu

- On occasion: Homework from other subjects

Communication

• Call the classroom phone

• Email: mcunningham@kyrene.org

• Weekly newsletters

• Notes sent home (Good ones, too! )

• Notes sent from home