Welcome To Our Classroom!

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We want to have more contact with all of you! We discovered an app that we would love to use. The app is called Remind and allows us to send mass text messages to all the numbers that we have. This app also allows for all of you to reply instantly and stay in direct contact with us. If you would like to add yourself to the group, please follow the directions below.

&nbsp; Throughout the past few years there has been a lot of research done on the effectiveness of homework in elementary schools. Through research synthesized by John Hattie, a researcher from the University of Melbourne, he found that homework’s effectiveness at the elementary school level has a limited effect on student’s growth. For this reason, I have decided to only send home reading homework. I am glad to share the research if you have any questions.

I will send home a&nbsp;calendar the first week of school to keep track of your child’s reading minutes. Because your child will only be required to read each week, I expect them to read five days a week &nbsp;for a minimum of 20 minutes. Students may read anything to receive their reading minutes (e.g. magazine, novel, short stories, etc.) Please sign on the line at the end of every week and return the calendar inside your student’s homework folder every Thursday.

If we would like your student to attend school in person on any given Friday, we will contact you no later than Wednesday of that week. Please respond confirming whether your student will or will not be able to attend that Friday no later than the Thursday of that week. If your student is invited to attend, we will be working with them in either a one-on-one setting or in a small group. Students who need to ride the bus will be picked up at their regular bus stop. If students attend on Friday, they may stay for a portion of this block, or the entire 3 hours (11:00am-1:55pm). We will communicate with you to let you know the duration of time we would like your child to attend. Depending on the duration of time your student is at school, they may eat lunch at school. Students can buy school lunch or lunch can be brought from home.

If I'm Invited to School...

Every Friday you will be expected to complete 3 hours worth of school work. Sometimes the work will be online, sometimes your student will be sent home with work to complete. You also will be expected to complete your Lexia units if you have not already done so. Work assigned on Friday will vary and we will stay in communication with you about what is expected each Friday.

Please send your child’s homework folder with them to school Every Thursday morning and we will send it back home with them that same day. &nbsp; To summarize (weekly) students will: -Read for at least 20 minutes for five days. -Meet their Lexia units by Friday

Welcome To Our Classroom!!

If you have questions or concerned please don't hesitate to reach out to us.

Positive Rewards Each student will work to spell the word GROW. When they make good choices, they will move their clip on a letter. When they reach the W, they will earn a ticket and work towards a special reward.&nbsp;&nbsp; Consequences Each student starts everyday with his/her paper clip on green on a tracker in their pencil box. Breaking a rule or disrupting learning results in moving your clip one color down. You could move your clip several times throughout one day. Green= Start Yellow= Warning Red= Time to Think (report to “Think-Time”) Parent will be notified

WATER BOTTLES Your student is encouraged to bring a water bottle to keep at his or her desk. We do have a re-fill drinking fountain in our school for easy access and refills. I just ask that the water bottles have screw on lids that do not leak (no cups with straws), are not glass, and provide ONLY WATER, not soda or juice. Due to COVID-19 students will NOT be allowed to drink straight from a drinking fountain.&nbsp;

VOLUNTEERS I love to have parent volunteers in the room! A new guideline for classroom volunteers is that they need to fill out a form and have a background check before any volunteers may work in the schools.&nbsp;You may pick up the form in the main office and the background check is done through fingerprinting at the district office (7387 South Campus View Drive). If you completed this background check last year, it is not necessary for you to complete it again this year. Due to Covid, we are unsure how parent volunteers will work this year. We will provide information on volunteers as soon as we receive it.

Welcome Back!! I am so excited to come back and teach! I can’t wait to get to know you and your families! I have been teaching school for 12 years. This will be my 13th LUCKY year to teach elementary school. I have taught 4th grade for eight years. I love fourth grade! My family is my everything. I have an amazing husband named Patrick, three beautiful children and two dogs.&nbsp; My oldest daughter Lizzy is going to start Kindergarten at our school this year! She loves to play and sing. She is so excited to be part of Antelope Canyon. I also have a 3 year old son named Sammy. He attends the school for the Deaf and Blind. He is one of the sweetest kids you’ll ever meet. And last but not least, Watson! He is 16 months old and into everything. He has a smile that will melt your heart. They bring much joy and happiness into my life. I can’t wait for you to meet and hear all about them!

Things I love to do:&nbsp;Play with my family, Camping. Boating, Play board games, Sewing, Going to Lagoon

Instead of traditional spelling words, this year we will be focusing on decoding multisyllable words. We have found this skill to be difficult for many students this age and have found that difficulty decoding multisyllable words impacts reading comprehension. We will be implementing a 5 minute routine, daily, in our classroom. This routine will focus on syllable types and patterns and the vowel sounds that are associated with those syllable types. This understanding will provide students with greater ability to decode words that are more than one syllable. There is nothing required at home for this program.&nbsp;We will not be sending home a spelling list and there will not be weekly spelling tests. However, we feel this program will be very beneficial for your students and will provide them with skills that will ultimately improve both their spelling and comprehension skills.&nbsp;

Hello! I am thrilled to get to know you and your families very soon! This year is going to be crazy fun. This school year will be my fourth year teaching 4th grade! In my opinion, 4th grade is the BEST grade. I grew up in a small town in Texas called Vidor. Growing up I loved to go 4-wheeling and spend time with my other 4 siblings. I moved to Utah 5 years ago, and will never leave. I truly love it here! I have been married to my best friend for 4 years. My husband's name is Daniel and we are expecting our first Baby Boy. We are very excited and are looking forward to his arrival in January!

Things I love to do:&nbsp;Hiking, Playing Games, Going Shooting, Hanging out with Friends &amp; Family, and Going to Amusement Parks.

This week begins a brand new school year for all of us and we are so excited to be able to welcome you to the fourth grade and to our classroom! This year, you will have two teachers in your classroom. Mrs. Tovar will teach in the morning, and Mrs. Clayton will teach in the afternoon. Two teachers means twice the love and twice the fun! While this school year is going to be a little unconventional and different, We are confident that our classroom will be a place of safety and learning for your student. The following pages are goals and expectations for our class as well as information regarding you and your student so that we can become better acquainted. If you need to contact either of us, we would prefer email or a text through the Remind App if possible, however, you are welcome to call the school and leave a message (801-567-8950). We will return your call as quickly as we can. Mrs. Tovar's email address is mckenzie.tovar@jordandistrict.org. Mrs. Tovar will be teaching your student every morning. Mrs. Clayton's email address is jessica.clayton@jordandistrict.org. Mrs. Clayton will be teaching your student every afternoon. You are welcome to email one of us, or both of us with questions or concerns. We will check our emails each day, so you will receive a response within 24 hours, if not sooner. We are looking forward to a great year with your student! Thank you for supporting your child in their growth and learning this year! Sincerely, Mrs. Clayton &amp; Mrs. Tovar

Meet All The 4th Grade Teachers!

Mrs. Tovar, Mrs. Clayton, Mrs. Barney, Miss Amis

We can't wait to see your smiling, masked faces!

Lexia is an online reading program that the entire school implements in the classroom. All students must meet their Lexia units each week. The amount of units your child is required to meet each week is based on the number of minutes your student is assigned. Minutes are assigned to students based on reading level, comprehension skills, and decoding skills. Students will have the opportunity to complete most of their Lexia units at school. However, any additional units that your student does not meet at school will need to be done at home. If your child consistently struggles to meet his or her Lexia units each week, we will create a personalized plan for him or her together.

We have never taught during a pandemic and are going to do our very best to make sure that our classroom stays safe, healthy, and comfortable! In order to do that, we are doing our part to make sure we are following all of the safety and health guidelines that are being asked of us, and we ask that you do your best to do the same! While it may not always be the most comfortable or convenient, we will always wear a mask and/or face shield while at school. I ask that students please come prepared each day with a mask of their own and consider bringing an extra mask to leave at school. We will discuss masks and the procedures and guidelines associated with them on the first day of school. We will provide students with their own small bottle of hand sanitizer to keep in their pencil boxes and will refill it regularly. If you would like to provide additional personal hand sanitizer for your student, you may do so, but it will remain in their backpack until it is needed. We will implement regular procedures of hand washing and sanitizing in our classroom. For more specific information about our efforts to follow safety and health guidelines, check out the Antelope Canyon Reopening Plan on the Antelope Canyon website.

All of the school supplies your child will need have already been purchased and are ready for your child to use this year! Every student will be supplied with their own pencil box which is filled with the necessary supplies your child will need (including their own personal bottle of hand sanitizer). However, we have included a list of extra supplies you may provide for your child or donate to the class, if desired. 1. items you may provide for your own child -Please write your child’s name on each item o&nbsp;Water bottle (no glass bottles) o&nbsp;Travel size Kleenex o&nbsp;An extra mask to be left at school o&nbsp;A pair of headphones or earbuds 2. items you may donate to our class -No need to write your child’s name on these items o&nbsp;Black, thin tip Expo dry erase markers o&nbsp;Non-decorative #2 pencils (pre-sharpened preferred) o&nbsp;Box of Kleenex o&nbsp;Black permanent marker (Sharpie) o&nbsp;Clorox Wipes o&nbsp;Band-Aids o&nbsp;Large, refill containers of hand sanitizer o&nbsp;Ziploc baggies (all sizes) o&nbsp;Individually wrapped candy (Starburst, Dum-Dums, Jolly Ranchers, etc.)

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