Woodsters 14-15 Handbook

1. Woodsters 2014-2015
Class Handbook
Thursday,
September 18, 2014

2. Meet the Teacher Night
Agenda
1. Introductions- Travis Wood
Room Moms Jenna Hartt & Deb Vangellow
2. Be a Woodster Philosophy- Be a Purple Cow
3. Procedures
 Daily Schedule
 Assignment Guide
 Homework
4. Our Digital Footprint
 Tools we use
 How to participate
5. Miscellaneous
 Snacks/Brain and Body Break- Every morning around 10:35
 Communication
6. Sign-ups
 Classroom Parties
 Special Events
 Conferences
 Email Group

3. Be a Woodster: My Mission
My mission is to immerse the Woodsters in an environment where questions
are asked, learning is loved, and the students' passion is shared. I will
develop a classroom community that revolves around caring for ourselves and
others, a drive to be remarkable, and the freedom for taking risks and making
mistakes. The physical space will be unique, inspiring, and flexible; a place
where students engage in meaningful, collaborative work. My approach will be
full of inquiry and excitement and full of passion about asking, learning,
thinking, and doing. I will provide opportunities for my students to be creative,
innovative, and playful when it comes to learning. I will also provide
opportunities for reflection so that the students and I can grow through
experiences.
To achieve this goal, I will engage students in projects and meaningful
learning experiences that allow them to use their talents to solve problems. I
will utilize experts, members of the community, and technology to provide
authentic audiences to learn from, collaborate with and share our work with. I
will tap into our students’ talents and push our students to try new things.
Last, I plan to engage in the learning process along with our students and to
model failure and success.
Here are some questions that I ask myself as I plan for and reflect on
teaching:
 What opportunities were there to ‘learn how to learn?’
 What risks did the Woodsters take today? How can I push them to take more
chances in the classroom?
 What can I do to help the students to be more confident in themselves?
 Did I allow enough time for inquiry and questioning?
 What can I do to push the Woodsters to own their learning?
 In what ways can I open the door for more creativity, innovation, play and discovery
in learning?
 Was there ample time for social interaction and classroom community building?
 What is/was the purpose? Is/Was it meaningful?
 What do my students want to learn about?
 Who did my class connect with today?
 What did the Woodsters teach each other?
 What is something I learned today? How can I model learning more?
 What did the Woodsters share with the world?
 What opportunities for reflection were there today?

4. Woodsters 2014-2015
Be remarkable.
Family: Look out for and stick up for each
other.
Stand out: Be yourself, be a purple cow,
make others stop to appreciate you.
Fail often: Take a shot, reflect, and try
again.
Be uncommon: Stand for something,
make it happen, change the world around you.
Do BIG work: Be creative, innovative,
playful, and inquire; question others.
Don't settle: Have a fire in your belly and
ideas that never quit.
Be a Purple Cow.

5. Daily Schedule
8:40-9:00 Morning Work, Lunch Count, and
Announcements
9:05-9:50 Academic Intervention Block 1
9:55-10:35
Specials
A Days: Computer/Library
B & E Days: Phys. Ed
C Days: Art
D Days: Music
10:35-10:40 Brain and Body Break/Snack
10:45-11:45 Math
11:45-11:55 Flex
11:55-12:35 Lunch and Recess
12:35-12:50 Read Aloud & Assignment
Guides
12:50-1:2:15 Literacy- Reading, Writing, Word
Work
2:15-2:45 Academic Intervention Block 2
2:45-3:15 Science/SS
A Day in the Life
Morning Routines
Your son or daughter enters the classroom and orders his or her lunch. They then check
the SMART Board for their morning work. Morning work consists of daily activities
focused around math, language, current events, and map skills. This is also a time for
work on collaborative projects.

6. Math
In math, your son or daughter is learning new and challenging concepts and how to
attack problem solving. My Instructional approach in math revolves around a balance of
Constructivist methods (discovery based) and concrete methods (algorithms). Math is
explored through whole group, small group, and individual instruction. My approach also
includes many hands-on activities and math labs, as well as other individualized
programs.
Reading
Reading instruction is delivered through Guided Reading. Guided Reading is an
approach where students are grouped in small ‘book groups’ to focus on particular
reading skills, mainly deep comprehension on complex texts. My Number One goal for
the year is to encourage kids to “Get Lost” in reading and fall in love with books. We will
be using a wide variety of reading materials in our day-to-day instruction. The students
will be reading novels, various forms of non-fiction, magazine articles, online selections
and poetry, among many others.
Language Arts and Writing
We will be using Writer’s Workshop and 6 + 1 Traits of Writing as the framework of our
writing program. The Writer’s Workshop consists of learning to be an author through
mini-lessons, small group, individual conferences, and uninterrupted writing time. The
students will also experience the writing process as they publish selected pieces. The 6 +
1 Traits of Writing allows writers to focus on individual traits of writing (Ideas,
Organization, Voice, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency, Conventions and Publication)
while working on larger pieces.
Sentence structure, grammar and punctuation are also addressed within the Writer’s
Workshop.
Word Work
Words will be studied throughout the year using multiple approaches. Each student will
have a personalized list of high frequency words that they will look to master through
memorization and hands-on practice. We will also study word patterns and word features
(prefixes, suffixes, plurals, etc.) to help make spelling predictable for unknown words.
Read Aloud
Every day I read aloud to the class. I choose the text based upon what we are doing in
other areas of the curriculum, the class’ interests, or simply because it’s a book I would
like to share with the class. I make read aloud as interactive as possible to broaden the
experience and model targeted reader’s behaviors.

7. Social Studies
The fourth grade curriculum covers New York State history. Topics will include: NY
geography, the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), North American Explorers, Colonial New
York, the Revolutionary War, Early Perinton and the history of the Erie Canal. Our Social
Studies curriculum will be enhanced grade-level activities such as Early Fairport Days.
Science
Science skills will be learned using an inquiry based approach to explore the following
topics: The Scientific Process, Geology, Electricity, Matter, and Animals.
Study Hall
If time allows, the students will have time for a study hall. The students may choose to
begin their homework, work on make-up work, or review concepts. We may also have a
short recess.

8. Homework
My philosophy on homework revolves around 4 beliefs:
 Balance- I believe in quality assignments over quantity. Students work hard in
school and should have time to engage in other activities without the pressure of
excessive homework. This also encourages students to be remarkable with the
work they are assigned.
 Take Risks- Students should try to complete work on their own, even if it means
making mistakes. If work required excessive help, please leave me a note or email
me and I will work with your son or daughter in school.
 Independence and Responsibility- Students should begin to develop a routine for
maintaining and completing assignments. This includes becoming independent with
the use of an assignment guide, gathering materials for assignments, planning a
schedule for completing work after school, and transporting work to and from
school.
 Foster the love of reading- My goal for the Woodsters is a minimum of 45 minutes
of ‘text time’ each day. Any reading beyond that makes an incredible difference in
reading gains. Students should read for at least 20 minutes at home every day.
Reading can involve independent reading (books, magazines, newspapers, online,
etc.), shared reading, or listening to someone read. Students should also engage in
conversations about books. Ask your son or daughter about what they are reading
and share about the books you are reading.
Homework and class work will be graded by the following:
4 You went above and beyond what we expected.
“Purple Cow!”
3
Your work meets the expectations of this assignment. You
have shown good effort and we can tell that you understand
what we’re working on. Well done!
2 Your work almost meets the expectations of this assignment
and you tried your best.
1
Your work does not meet the expectations of this assignment.
The effort put forth is less than acceptable and you need to
re-do the assignment.
0 Work is incomplete.

9. Our Digital Footprint
Integrating technology is an essential part of what we do every day. We have access to
great tools and programs that allow us to interact, collaborate, research, share, and
reflect on a daily basis. Some of those tools are (All links are available from the main
page of the class blog):
 Fairport Apps-These Google based Apps allow easy collaboration between
teachers and students. They allow us to take learning outside of our classroom and
traditional school hours. Fairport Apps include Fairport based e-mail and Google
Docs (Documents, Presentations, and Spreadsheets).
 The Woodsters Blog-http://woodsters.blog.fairport.org
 The Woodsters Wiki- http://woodsters.wiki.fairport.org
 Woodsters Twitter- Follow us (@woodsters658) for updates and pictures of
what’s happening in school.
 Woodsters TV- http://www.schooltube.com/user/twood An archive of Woodster
produced videos.
 Delicious- http://delicious.com/woodsters Delicious is a social bookmarking
website that allows us to bookmark websites that supplement what we are teaching
or we find interesting. Using Delicious allows the bookmarks to be accessible on
any computer.
 Turtle Art: This is a beginner computer programming tool where the use
commands a ‘turtle’ to make visual art.
 Scratch- http://www.scratch.mit.edu Similar to Turtle Art, Scratch allows a user to
work with basic Logo programming language to create art, interactive stories or
even games.
 SketchUp- http://www.sketchup.com SketchUp is a design tool that allows the
user to create 3D models, a perfect match for geometry instruction.
 Skype- Username: NSwoodsters A web-based video conferencing tool
 Animoto- Animoto is a simple online video production program.
 iMovie- iMovie is a more complex video production tool (Mac based).
 Garage Band- Garage Band is a music production suite that allows the user to
record, create, and mix music (Mac Based).
 Audacity- A audio recording tool used to record and produce podcasts
 Other Equipment- iPad, iPod Touch, Flip camera, laptops, digital cameras, video
recording devices, microphones, web cams, SMART Boards, etc.
I understand and take the importance of internet safety very seriously. We have
conversations and set guidelines of what is expected online. I also model and discuss
how mobile devices can be used responsibly and to create interesting ‘products.’ In
addition to how we use technology, I give a lot of thought to how I share student work in
public places. Please feel free to ask for more information.

10. Fourth Grade Assessments
ELA April 14-16
Math April 22-24
Science June 1
Birthdays
Birthdays are opportunities for students to share with their classmates and
loved ones. I’d like to invite you, another family member or a friend to come in
to celebrate this special day! Choose a book to share and come read to the
class. If you are interested, you can make a donation to our classroom
community: a house plant, seeds, book, etc. This way all of the Woodsters
can enjoy these gifts and your son or daughter will leave lasting impression on
future Woodster classes.