Foster Gazette

4th & 5th Grade Breakfast

2015-07-30T08:39:00.000-04:00

Applebee's Flapjack Information

Wake County Public Schools 2014-2015 Traditional Calendar

2014-08-19T10:37:00.002-04:00

Meet the Teacher

2014-08-18T20:27:00.000-04:00

Can't wait to meet my new students! Looking forward to seeing you Wednesday, August 20th 4pm - 6pm!

4th Grade Supply List 2014-2015

2014-08-12T19:49:00.001-04:00

4^th Grade Supply List

2014-2015

• 1 1/2 inch - 3 ring binder

• 1 inch - 3 ring binder

• 5 folders without prongs (hole punched if possible)

• 2 wide ruled single subject spiral notebooks

• 2 packs of wide ruled notebook paper

• 1 soft hole punched pencil case

• 1 box of 24 count pencils (Ticonderoga preferred)

• 1 box of crayons

• 1 box colored pencils

• 1 pair of child friendly scissors

• 4 glue sticks

• 1 box of tissues

• 1 white t-shirt (buy it big enough to fit your child for the entire year)

• Girls- 1 container of Lysol wipes

• Boys- 1 bottle of hand sanitizer

Optional Items

• Ziploc bags – all sizes

• Plastic forks and spoons

• Paper Towels

• Dry erase markers

Please label the following items with your child’s name:

• Spiral notebooks

• Folders

• Pencil pouch

• Crayons

• Colored pencils

Classroom Updates

2014-03-15T09:34:00.004-04:00

A few bits of information:

1: Case 21 testing is the week of March 24th:

Monday, 3/24 Science - 5th grade only

Tuesday, 3/25 Reading - 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th grades

Wednesday, 3/26 Math - 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th grades

Please be sure your child is at school ON TIME, well rested & tummy full with a healthy breakfast. We will begin testing promptly at 9:20.

2: Thursday, March 27 is our Wilmington field trip. While this is a new field trip here at Forest Pines, this will be my 4th year taking my students on this trip. At my old school this trip was a highlight of the year for my students. This was a tradition for 4th graders & the lower grades looked forward to going to the Battleship & aquarium when they were in 4th grade. I hope this can become the same type of tradition here at Forest Pines.

BUSES will be leaving PROMPTLY at 7 am on 3/27. We cannot wait for students who are late. BE SURE TO BE ON TIME.

3: Math Madness Night - Thursday, 3/20. I hope you will join in on the math festivities. Math activities for all grade levels will be shared. The goal is to for parents learn additional ways to help their students at home with Common Core math. There will be hands on activities, games, etc. In 4th & 5th grade we will be sharing resources to video links on how we teach Common Core math.

4: Spring Break Saturday, 3/29 - Sunday, April 6

That's a lot of information. I will be sending reminders about all of the above via Remind101 as each date gets closer.

March Newsletter

2014-03-12T12:30:00.002-04:00

Science Symposium

2014-03-12T11:27:00.000-04:00

Inclement Weather Information

2014-01-23T10:10:00.000-05:00

INCLEMENT WEATHER BULLETIN

FOREST PINES DRIVE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

(Please keep in a convenient location)

If inclement weather occurs, listen to local television and radio stations for information
regarding school closings, delays, or early dismissals. Further information follows:

If Wake County Schools are closed due to inclement weather, Forest Pines Elementary will be closed.
If Wake County Schools are delayed due to inclement weather, Forest Pines Elementary will delay as well.
Sometimes the first message to go out is a delay (one to two hours) and then the decision will be made to close school. Continue to listen to the news to be sure there is not a change.
If inclement weather occurs during the school day, we sometimes close early.
We are not able to let children call parents because this prevents incoming calls not to mention our not having enough phone lines to accommodate the demand. Please listen to the radio to hear about early closings -- we do not receive notification any earlier than the news media. If you do not have access to television/radio at work, you can also check WRAL-TV.com or WCPSS.net for announcements
Call the school if your child's mode of transportation changes.
If schools are delayed, the early arrivals program will be delayed for the same amount of time.
If schools are delayed, no breakfast will be served in the cafeteria.
If your child receives transportation from other before or after school programs, please contact them directly.
It is imperative that you have a back-up plan for your child (a neighbor, for example) in case your child gets home before you do due to an early closing.
This plan should also include which parent will contact the school if changes are to occur.

Patrick Grant, Ph.D.
Principal – Forest Pines Drive Elementary

Remind101

2014-01-22T15:39:00.001-05:00

Remind101.com is a text & email reminder application that will allow me to periodically send out classroom and school reminders via text message to help take the burden of remembering off of you. I use this method to communicate with parents often. Unfortunately, not many of you have signed up yet. This is a way for me to communicate with you quickly via my phone and at times is easier for me than email. PLEASE sign up if at all possible. For instance I sent a reminder of Case 21 testing tomorrow and Friday & also am able to schedule reminders for the next 2 evenings.

To participate in receiving text message reminders, simply text (703) 794-3741 with the message @foster2013. If you'd rather get email notifications send an email to foster2013@mail.remind101.com

Rest assured that you will not receive advertisement texts or emails and your information will remain private. You may choose to opt out at any time by messaging “stop” to the above number.

It is my hope that this will help strengthen the home-school connection. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

2014-01-10T15:58:00.001-05:00

You Are Invited to

Attend Our

Wax Museum!

Tuesday, January 14^th

Room: 2229

2:00 – 3:00 pm

homework due 1/10

2014-01-03T16:09:00.000-05:00

Homework:

Monday 1/6, Tuesday 1/7, Wednesday 1/8 & Thursday 1/9 (work on the following):

Find costume for wax museum

Complete 1 Achieve3000.com article scoring 75% or higher on first try

Complete the before reading poll, read the article & do 2 blue swirls, activity, after reading poll & thought question.

Friday 1/10

Achieve3000 due

Tuesday 1/14

Wax Museum 2-3 pm

Wax Museum

2014-01-03T14:56:00.001-05:00

January 3, 2014

Dear Parents,

As you may already know your child has been researching and using various sources to gather information regarding a famous Americans. Students are learning how to paraphrase and put together facts in a logical sequence. The students will then create an informational text from the research they have collected, and will also create a speech for their Wax Museum presentation.

Outside of school, the students have an important assignment. Each child needs to begin searching for a costume. The students need to dress like the famous person that they are researching. The costumes will be worn in school on a Tuesday, January 14^th. Parents are invited to visit our classroom from 2:00-3:00 pm to see the Wax Museum “in action” and learn about some of our famous Americans!

This is a great way for students to share their research and celebrate the end of our informational writing unit. I hope you will be able to join us. If you need help with your child’s costume, please let your child’s teacher know as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

Pam Foster

HELP!!

2013-12-12T12:34:00.002-05:00

Each student received an agenda at the beginning of the school year. We use this agenda to record upcoming events, due dates & homework. This agenda should stay in your child's backpack and come to and from school daily. Students have been recording their homework in here all year. This week they have had daily homework as they are working to write a story from start to finish. The nightly homework has been recorded in the agenda daily. MANY students have not had their agendas this week. Please help your child make packing their backpacks in the evenings a part of their homework routine. They should place the agenda & homework back in their backpacks nightly.

Please indicate that you have seen this post by writing "4th Grade Rocks" & signing your name (parent signature) in the language arts block on Friday, December 12th in your child's agenda. Each student who brings their agenda with this information will receive a prize.

4th Grade Happenings

2013-12-09T11:31:00.000-05:00

It's hard to believe we are half way through 2nd quarter. Your child brought home an interim on Friday giving you information about his or her progress so far this quarter. Please sign and return the report.

A December newsletter has been posted under resources or your can click here.

Writer in Residence

We are honored to have Kelly Starling Lyons, a published children’s book author, come into our classrooms next week to assist the students in writing a personal narrative. The students will be assigned writing homework next week. Please be sure your child completes the homework each night. Your child’s teacher will lessen reading and/or math homework in order for your child to have time to complete the writing assignments. Her website is www.kellystarlinglyons.com. On Friday students will be sharing their stories with their classmates. If you are willing to send in a snack to help us celebrate our writing, please let me know. We have 26 students.

Giving Tree

2013-12-01T14:25:00.000-05:00

The Giving Tree

December 2^nd - December 16^th

We, the Forest Pines SGA, are collecting scarves, mittens, gloves, hats, ear muffs, etc.

Please help us by donating warm clothing to help keep others warm during the cold winter! Drop off items before school to an SGA member in the lobby near our tree.

You do not need to wrap your items.

Conferences -- Revised

2013-11-02T16:30:00.004-04:00

REVISED -- since report cards are delayed a week (November 12th), I am holding conferences November 5 - Wednesday, November 20th. If you signed up for a conference before the 12th & would rather wait until they are sent home, please go to Sign Up Genius to change your date & time. I will have grades finalized by the 5th.

It’s CONFERENCE time! I will be holding conferences from Tuesday, November 5 – Friday, November 15. I know that many of you are very busy and finding a time to come to school may be difficult, therefore there are two options for our conference. You may choose to do your conference in person or by phone. If you'd like a phone conference, please sign up for a time slot & then email (pfoster1@wcpss.net) me letting me know the best number for me to call you on. If you do not wish to have a conference at this time, please email me and let me know you would like to wait to conference. All conferences will begin & end at scheduled times! Be sure to be on time. Thank you for all you do to make your child successful!

Click here to sign up for a conference.
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/508084CAEAC2E5-fall

Prediction

2013-11-02T16:27:00.001-04:00

WHO WON????

Conferences

2013-10-30T09:53:00.001-04:00

It’s CONFERENCE time! I will be holding conferences from Tuesday, November 5 – Friday, November 15. I know that many of you are very busy and finding a time to come to school may be difficult, therefore there are two options for our conference. You may choose to do your conference in person or by phone. If you'd like a phone conference, please sign up for a time slot & then email (pfoster1@wcpss.net) me letting me know the best number for me to call you on. If you do not wish to have a conference at this time, please email me and let me know you would like to wait to conference. All conferences will begin & end at scheduled times! Be sure to be on time. Thank you for all you do to make your child successful!

Click here to sign up for a conference.
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/508084CAEAC2E5-fall

Achieve3000

2013-10-15T15:59:00.001-04:00

EXCITING NEWS: We just received training on a great new resource for students, Achieve3000! I am very excited about this program. Students have access to a great reading program that provides informational text to students at their individual reading levels. Research has shown this program to increase reading levels! See below for further information. Your child will bring home a letter similar to the one below with their login and password. I am in the process of revamping the homework to include this program.

Students will begin using the program in class tomorrow. Each student will have an assigned day in which they log into Achieve3000.com during our reading rotation.

October 15, 2013

Dear Parent/Guardian,
Now your child can improve his or her reading skills at home with the same great technology program we're using in school: KidBiz3000.
Throughout the week, KidBiz3000 will send your child lessons. Every student in the class gets the same basic lesson, but the content is customized to match each child's own reading level. The lesson comes with a variety of fun activities to improve your child's comprehension, vocabulary and writing skills. As your child's reading level improves, KidBiz will increase the level of difficulty so he/she remains challenged and interested. Doing his or her best on the activities will ensure the best match between your child's ability and the content delivered. It is also important that your child's answers to the questions reflect work completed independently and without extra assistance.
Your child will use this program in class, but you can also share in the fun at home - or anywhere a computer is connected to the Internet. Here's how:

Log on to http://login.achieve3000.com with the following username and password.
Encourage your child to follow these five easy steps:
Explore other KidBiz features, including other articles, the Stock Market game, puzzles, and more.

We hope you enjoy exploring KidBiz with your child.

Boosterthon

2013-10-04T11:05:00.002-04:00

Parents,

Thank you for your support of this year’s Boosterthon Fun Run! The program was a huge success, but I still need your help. As a team we finished at $60 per lap! With all the laps we ran, that comes out to $2006! If we can collect 100% by Friday, everyone on our team earns one more team reward from our Pledge-O-meter!

Please help your student get in touch with their sponsors. Sponsors can pay three ways—Cash, Check or Credit Card.

If an e-mail address was entered with the original pledge on www.funrun.com, your sponsor will receive a pledge link to pay directly by credit card if they so choose or they can pay at funrun.com. If not, they can mail cash or check to you and you can send it all in at once with your child’s collection envelope. That envelope went home today with a reminder letter highlighting what’s outstanding. You can also log on to www.funrun.com for all the information you may need.

Thanks again for your help and support of our class! Let’s work together to finish strong and reach our goal!

Math Homework -- New Format

2013-10-04T10:15:00.002-04:00

The format of our math homework is changing. Students are bringing home a Math Expressions Homework & Remembering Workbook today. This workbook is to keep at home. I will be assigning weekly homework from this book which students will write in their agendas. They will then complete the pages & problems assigned for the week. They will tear out the pages completed for the week to turn in on the due date. I will post the homework assignments in the student tab under homework on my blog, as well as scan in the pages in case someone needs another copy. We do not have extra copies of the workbooks so be sure to put it in a safe place. Also have students carry their agendas in their backpacks daily. We mark important dates in them as needed. If the agenda is at home, your child cannot write upcoming assignments and/or important dates down.

Homework this week:

Pages 91 & 92 -- #25 & 26 are optional

Pages 121 & 122 -- #7 optional

October Newsletter

2013-10-04T10:03:00.001-04:00

Click here if you'd like to download a copy of the newsletter.

Open House Powerpoint

2013-09-26T21:21:00.000-04:00

Thanks to all that attended Open House tonight. If you didn't attend or want a copy of the powerpoint presentation click below. It's also posted under the resources link above.

Open House

2013-09-25T21:15:00.002-04:00

Don't forget Open House on Thursday, September 26, 2013.

5 pm dinner can be purchased
6 pm PTA general membership meeting
6:30 pm Title 1 information meeting
6:45 pm - 7:15 pm Open House
7:15 pm - 7:45 pm Open House

Hope to see everyone tomorrow evening.

New Report Cards

2013-09-24T16:15:00.000-04:00

Elementary Report Cards

WCPSS uses standards-based grading for report cards that are provided at the end of each quarter (nine weeks) of instruction. The purpose of the report card is to inform students and parents about a student’s performance on the grade level standards in all content areas.

Starting in the 2013-14 school year, WCPSS will not use 3* for the elementary standards-based report cards. Student performance will be shown with levels of 1 to 4 to indicate whether the student has met the expectations set by the state in the Standard Course of Study and to indicate whether the student has the necessary skills and concepts to be successful in the next quarter or next grade. The descriptors for each level have been aligned to the expectations of the new Standard Course of Study (Common Core State Standards and Essential Skills) for all content areas.

Level	Descriptor
4 - Exemplary	Student consistently demonstrates an in-depth understanding of the standards, concepts, and skills taught during this reporting period.
3 - Proficient	Student consistently demonstrates an understanding of the standard, concepts, and skills taught during this reporting period.
2 – Approaching Proficiency	Student is approaching an understanding of the standards, concepts, and skills taught during this reporting period.
1 – Non-Proficiency	Student does not yet demonstrate an understanding of the standards, concepts, and skills taught during this reporting period.

Work habits and conduct will receive performance indicators separate from the content area. The following indicators will be used:

Level	Descriptor
3	Meets expectations
2	Inconsistently meets expectations
1	Does not meet expectations

Your student will also receive a report of the student’s progress in the specials (Art, Music, and PE) at the end of each semester. The report is provided by the Specialist teaching that area.

In the comments section, the teacher will share information related to growth, strengths and needs of the student.

Parents may request a conference with the teacher to discuss their student’s progress and ways to support their learning in and out of school.