Indian Creek Fourth Grade

• Indiana State Museum
• Southeastway Park
• Conner Prairie
• Metamora
• James Whitcomb Riley’s Boyhood Home
• Downtown Indianapolis
• Levi Coffin’s Home
• Marengo Cave

COMMUNICATION
We know communication is a vital and necessary component for a successful fourth grade experience.  We will do our best to keep you informed of our units of study, as well as upcoming events and activities.  Your best link to the classroom is your child.  We strongly urge daily communication – talking, listening, and sharing between you and your child to understand what goes on daily.  Should any questions or concerns arise, please contact us.  We have your child’s best interest at heart.  We want to work together!

PARENTAL CLASSROOM INVOLVEMENT
We welcome your involvement throughout the year!  There are many areas where we would greatly appreciate your assistance.  If you haven’t already, please complete the volunteer form provided to let us know how and when you want to contribute to each class.  Return the form via your child.  We would be delighted to have volunteers active in our classrooms, to help with classroom preparations, work with small groups of students, and to assist in setting up field trips, speakers, and grade level activities.  In the past we found our parent volunteers to be an invaluable resource!

DISCIPLINE
Indian Creek will continue the Lifelong Guidelines and Lifeskills program throughout the building.  This program promotes productive behavior to create an optimal learning environment.  We will promote the life skill behavior habits in each classroom with positive reinforcement and consequences for poor choices when necessary.
 
PIONEER WEEK—October 8 - October 12
We are excited about experiencing this wonderful tradition with your child this year.  Fourth graders learn about being a pioneer during this week long experience. Students participate in a number of fantastic activities bringing the hardships of a pioneer to life.

WANDER INDIANA
This research project lets students explore their state. Final presentations are completed at school in our Mac lab.
 
TEAM ACTIVITIES:

• D.E.A.R. – In all five classrooms we will observe a daily D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything And Read) time.  Please help your child to be sure to have independent reading material at school everyday!  We will schedule periodic sharing times for us to share interesting books, poetry, or magazines that we are reading.  Current research supports that daily sustained silent reading is one of the most effective strategies for enhancing lifelong reading skills.
• PROBLEM OF THE WEEK (P.O.W.) – Each Tuesday, starting the second nine-weeks of school, students are given a challenging math related problem to solve.  We complete a similar problem in class, and will answer any questions about the class problem.  The students are then given the problem of the week.  This problem is due on Friday.  The students are welcome to turn it in on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday.  To receive full credit, it is required that the student work at home for at least 15 minutes, show 15 minutes worth of work, and obtain a a parent signature for verification.
• FACTS MASTER – Our first math unit is multiplication, we will offer a series of multiplication fact quizzes to help your child master their times tables.  Much of what we do this year in Math hinges on a solid knowledge and understanding of the basic facts.  The first couple of weeks of school we will do many practice activities centered on multiplication facts.  Your child will take a pretest on 40 facts in a three minute time allotment to establish a baseline.
• GRADE LEVEL BINDER – To help your child with organizational skills he/she will use a binder which may serve as a portfolio for our various units as well as including daily morning work, classroom rules & procedures.  We will start the year by reading the book, Little House in the Big Woods, by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  The many Reading, Language, Science, Social Studies, and Fine Art activities we do may be compiled in these binder portfolios.  Please invite your child to share it with you often.

Recommendations from the National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases:

1. Fresh fruit
2. Canned fruit in juice or light syrup
3. Small amounts of dried fruits like raisins, apple rings,orapricots
4. Fresh Vegetables such as baby carrots, zucchini slices, tomato wedges, cucumber slices
5. Reduced fat cheese or small amounts of peanut butter on whole wheat crackers (Please be aware if there are peanut allergies in your child's class)
6. Low-fat yogurt with fruit
7. Graham crackers, animal crackers, or low-fat vanilla wafers

Some other ideas:

1. Yogurt covered pretzels or plain pretzels
2. Juice (packaged in a disposable container)
3. Granola bars or breakfast bars
4. Cheese crackers or Goldfish crackers
5. Dried Fruit
6. Trail mix or Chex mix

Please check with your child's teacher before sending in something not on the list.  Your child will not be allowed to eat or drink the following for fourth grade snack time:  chips, pop tarts, cookies, soda.