Joyce Hawkins           
      GO TIGERS!                 4th Grade                  GO TIGERS!

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   About the teacher: I've been married since 1991. I have one daughter who is currently in middle school in the gifted program.  I graduated in 1994 with a BA in Psychology with a minor in Sociology. In 1999, I received my teaching certification in Early Childhood and my Masters degree from Piedmont College. I later added a Masters degree in middle grades education. In 2008, I completed my ESOL endorsement. I taught 3rd grade in Gwinnett County from 2000 to 2009. I have been teaching at Cooper Elem. since it opened and I currently teach 4th grade.
Email Mrs. Hawkins
  Communication: Communication between the teacher and parent is very important in a child's education. The best (and quickest) way to contact me would be through email. You can also reach me via a note sent with your child or by calling the school and leaving a message which will be returned during my planning period. 

Homework-   In my classes homework is assigned as needed.  Depending on the week it could range from 1-4 assignments.  Homework will not typically be given on Fridays (unless it’s an ongoing project) Projects, of course, will run several nights or even weeks long.  We encourage students to begin working on all assignments as soon as possible in order to avoid that last minute panic that often results in sloppy, below average work.  We use the agenda book in order to help our students stay organized AND to keep you informed of assignments/projects as we assign them.  Reading is ALWAYS considered a nightly responsibility, whether specifically stated in the agenda or not. Please try and have your child read something (possibly toward Community of Readers) for approximately 20 min. nightly.

Grading-

90-100                  A

80-89                   B

74-79                   C

70-73                   D

BELOW 70           U

We also “weight” grades within each subject area according to the following guidelines:
 
Grading Breakdown for 4th Grade:

Reading

Daily Work                                                 60%

Tests                                                          40%

 

Math

Daily Work                                                 60%

Tests                                                         40%

 

Writing

Content                                                       50%

Grammar                                                     30%

Grammar Quizzes                                      20%

 

Spelling

Daily Work                                                 60%

Tests                                                        40%

 

Science/Social Studies

Daily Work                                                 60%

Tests                                                         40%
  Schedule:  
8:50 School Starts
9:00-9:20 Intervention
9:20-10:00 Social Studies
10:00-10:30 Science
10:40-11:10 Lunch
11:10-11:30 Oral Reading/Work Completion
11:30-12:00 Recess
12:05-12:50 Specials
1:00-2:00 Math
2:00-3:05 Language Arts
3:05-3:15 Pack up
3:20 Bus Call
Specials Schedule:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

PE

Art

Music

 PE

 Media, Counselor, Successmaker

PE

Music

Study Hall- If your child does not complete homework or class work, he or she will be asked to complete their work during recess.

 Agenda

The students will write homework assignments in these daily.   Tests will be written in the agenda ahead of time.  In the event your child is absent for a day, he/she can look in a neighbor’s agenda and see if we wrote anything new.  This will also be the way he/she gets the homework assignments that were missed for make-up work. Any worksheets that were handed out will be put on his/her desk.

Absences- If a child is absent, it is their responsibility to get the assignments they missed.  They have as many days as they were absent in order to get the missed work turned in without penalty.  If your child has a doctor’s appointment, they should not miss a whole day of school, unless they are sick. Please check out your child for the appointment only and allow them to come to school before and after the appointment if possible.

Snack- We will have snack each day around 1:00 in the afternoon, since we eat so early this year.  Please try to send dry, simple snacks for your child to enjoy.  Also, students are allowed to keep a WATER bottle on their desk to sip on throughout the day.  Other drinks are not allowed.

          ATTENTION: We have a student with a SEVERE peanut allergy so if at all possible snacks that are non-peanut based are best.

 Medication

All medications must be brought to the clinic in the original, labeled container by a parent or guardian. Children can not bring medicine to school.

Friday Folders- Every Friday, your child will bring home a white

envelope with important papers and graded work.

         Please look through the papers, keep the papers and return the envelope.         

Testing- Fourth graders must pass all parts of the CRCT (reading, language arts, math, social studies and science) and the GCPS Math Reasoning Test.

 

Requests ongoing for the year (for rewards)

individually wrapped candy

juice boxes

 Larger Wrapped Candy Bars

*Please send in a small pencil sharpener for your child (if you have not already).
                                                                                                                                        
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