Archived Fourth Grade Flyer
For 4th Grade Students & Parents of Bill Burden Elementary
Week 2: August 28-September 1
And We Have Lift Off!
What an amazing first week of school we all had!
Expectations have been practiced and mastered, supplies have been distributed and are getting used, and learning is starting to happen! This week we will also start our Encore class rotation schedule.
Some upcoming dates to remember:
Monday, September 4, Labor Day is a student holiday, no school.
Thursday, September 21 is parent orientation from 6 pm-7 pm. We look forward to seeing you there!
Reading & Writing
Reading classes are focusing on fictional stories for their first unit. Students will look at a variety of fictional texts such as traditional, historical, as well as poetry.
The featured skills for this week:
The recipe for a great story is called story elements. These are the pieces that make up the story. Story elements include the setting, characters, problem, key events, and the solution. Students will summarize and sequence a story's main events and plot sequence, as well as identify story elements.
Students need to understand that a summary only includes the most important parts of the beginning, middle, and end and that the plot of a story includes a problem the main character is facing and how that problem is solved at the end of the story.
Students will also continue their focus on the point of view of a story. Students need to know the difference between 1st person and 3rd person point of view.
Some questions you can ask your child while reading with them:
- What is the problem in the story?
- What is the order of events in the story?
- How was the problem solved?
- What are the most important events of the story?
- Who are the characters?
- What is the setting of the story?
- When does the story take place?
There is so much to learn - you can support your child by reading with them 30 minutes every night!
Writing
This week in writing we are focusing and reviewing capitalization rules. Students are expected to know when to use and not use a capital letter in their writing. Some examples include:
- "I" when written by itself
- The first letter of the first word in a sentence
- Names of people, places, days of the week, months, etc.
Social Studies
Tools, such as a compass rose, map scale, map key or legend, map symbols, grid system, title, date, and author of the map are all important to our understanding of what the map is representing.
Review of our map skills will then lead into the four major regions of Texas, the Coastal Plains, Mountains & Basins, Great Plains, and Central Plains.
Math & Science
Math
In math we have started our first unit on place value of whole numbers through the billions place and decimals to the hundredths place. Understanding place value is a foundation skill that students need to understand as it will carry on through the year.
Students are expected to represent the value of whole numbers and decimals, interpreting each place-value position using multiples of 10, and comparing and ordering these numbers.
Example:
3,890,245,132
- What is the value (or its worth) of the underlined digit? 90,000,000
- What is the place (or location) of the underlined digit? 10,000,000's place
Some questions you can ask your child to support their thinking:
- What are numbers and how are numbers used in everyday life?
- Why is it important to understand the value of numbers?
- How does the place value change when moving to the right or left across a number?
Lastly, please make sure your child is practicing their basic multiplication facts and fact fluency each night for 15 minutes. This is a major skill that 4th graders are expected to have mastered by the end of the year.
Science
We are continuing to learn about different lab tools needed for safety. We are getting down how real scientists do it by learning the Scientific Method!
The Scientific Method:
1. Make an observation
2. Ask a question
3. Form a hypothesis
4. Conduct an experiment
5. Draw conclusions
6. Report your results
Schedules
Campus Schedule:
Doors Open: 7:15 a.m.
Breakfast: 7:15 - 7:35 a.m.
First Bell: 7:30 a.m.
Tardy Bell: 7:45 a.m.
End of Day: 3:00 p.m.
Office hours: 7:15 - 4:00 p.m.
Fourth Grade Common Schedule:
Specials/Conference Time: 8:35 - 9:20 a.m.
Lunch: 12:40 - 1:10 p.m.
Recess: 1:10 - 1:35 p.m.
Encore (every 6 days starting August 28th): 2:05 - 2:55 p.m.
*Individual Math, Science, ELAR, and SS schedules, Specials locations, and Encore locations may vary by teacher
Because our schedules are on a 6 day rotation, and change often, it is important and vital that you send your child with tennis shoes EVERY DAY to class, whether on their feet or in their bag.
PICK-UP & Drop-Off Routines
Parents, safety for your child is our first priority. We have a streamlined process to make sure the drop off/pick up process is safe and efficient. To make the process easier, please read and abide by all of the procedural instructions detailed below:
Mornings:
Our doors open at 7:15 a.m., please do not leave your child unattended prior to this time. At 7:15 a.m., staff members are posted in the drop-off zones at the main front doors and gym to welcome your child and help direct them to their area. The PreK drop-off zone is clearly marked near the gym doors and is supported by staff. K-4th grade students are seated in the gym to read or visit quietly until the first bell. The first bell rings at 7:30 a.m., and students are considered tardy at 7:45 a.m. Remember, Burden Elementary does NOT allow parking lot drop-offs or walk-ups.
Afternoons:
Classes end at 3:00 p.m. Please have your vehicles double lined with ignitions off prior to loading the students. Your child’s personalized family ID tag should be clearly displayed on your rear-view mirror. All students will exit (supported by staff) at the gym entrance area only.
Neighborhood bike riders and walkers are dismissed a few minutes after the traffic clears from the main driveway. Staff will support street crossings. To ensure safety and maintain the flow of traffic, students are not allowed to walk to a vehicle parked on a side street. Your family ID tag is their exit ticket, so please have it with you.
TRANSPORTATION CHANGES
Safety First! We are very strict about transportation changes, for the safety of your little ones. We will send your student home exactly as you indicated in the student’s Skyward Family Access profile. You will be able to make a change to your student’s transportation if switching from bus rider to a car rider or vice versa via email before 2:00 p.m. and within 24 hours of the change request. The transportation email is: BBEStransportationchanges@libertyhill.txed.net. Notes, phone calls, text messages, and emails sent to any other party other than the transportation email indicated above, will NOT be accepted. Any emails after 2:00 p.m. will not be processed by the campus. Please visit the transportation page on the LHISD district website for additional instructions and information.
VISITOR ROUTINES
Whether it's to spend time with your child for breakfast or lunch, or to help out in the classroom, we love having visitors on campus! For the protection of our students and staff, we require that all visitors present a valid Driver’s License or another form of a government issued current photo ID prior to any visit or student contact (no exceptions!). District employees may show their active LHISD employee badge as ID.
We also ask that all classroom visitors make arrangements/appointments with classroom teachers or administrators prior to a visit, as we do not allow unscheduled visits (as much as we like surprises!).
*Kindergarten - 4th grade parents are welcome to accompany their children to the classroom on their first day of school only. PreK parents are welcome to accompany their children to the cafeteria for goodbyes the first three days only.
*Please note we will NOT host volunteers in classrooms or visitors during breakfast/lunch the first two weeks of school. We find that minimizing the “good-bye” time spent between parents and children during these first days greatly reduces the anxiety of most children and helps us better establish relationships with our students. If concerns arise, we will contact you!
Dress Code
As cute as your little one thinks her short shorts are, or how awesome that purple hair color with the shaved zig-zags on the side is, we are even more excited to see your child with their fun back-to-school appropriate outfits and fresh hair-cuts! Please make sure you are following the dress code found in the Student Handbook on the Bill Burden Website.
Lunch Balance Reminder
SNACK TIME
- Please send ONE healthy snack such as (granola, cheese sticks, popcorn, fruit, etc.) with your child EVERY DAY
- No sugar snacks or sugar drinks
- No chips please! While they are delicious, they are also loud and messy!
- We highly encourage water bottles!
Become a Preferred Panther!
- Pre-Register to attend select school events ahead of time
- Pre-Register OTHER family members who wish to attend, as long as the family members have completed the 1-2-3 steps of obtaining a Panther Pass at our campus
- Avoid the long visitor lines waiting to be scanned into Raptor and have your own badge waiting for you at the front office for large events
OBTAINING YOUR PREFERRED PANTHER STATUS IS AS EASY AS 1-2-3 !
- Bring a valid photo I.D. into our campus
- Your information will be entered into our Raptor system
- Obtain your Visitor Badge and enjoy your visit with us!
Now you have Panther Pass status in our Raptor System at our campus.
Next time you visit our campus, you will no longer need to bring a photo I.D. with you!
We look forward to seeing you soon!