Keep Up With Us on Facebook

Parents, Are you on Facebook? You can find our class there at Miss Frank's Fourth Grade. Click the "Like" button and updates will show on your News Feed. I plan to link new posts to the page, upload class photos, and list events and reminders.

A Letter to Parents

Dear Parents,

I am so excited to have my own class again and to have your child in my class. I enjoyed teaching computers and knowing all the students in the building, but I am looking forward to having the same group everyday and getting to know them really well.

I think it will be a lot more fun having a regular classroom. As a computer teacher I had to run a pretty tight ship. One reason was the computer lab equipment cost over $50,000 and there are no funds to replace broken computers. Another was the limited amount of time with each class. In the hour each week students had computers we had to practice keyboarding, cover the Michigan Technology Standards, learn Spanish vocabulary (which I was asked to start last year), and hopefully squeeze in some time for exploration (which I believe is one of the best ways to learn). Although a classroom schedule can get busy, there is room for fun, too.

I am excited to teach fourth grade because that was my favorite year growing up. It was the first grade that I got "A's" in. It was the year I fell in love with reading chapter books. I have other great memories of that year, and the year was great because of my teacher. I look forward to making this a great year for your child the same way she made fourth grade great for me.

When I taught third grade for two years downstate I really bonded with my classes. I enjoyed going to their sporting events and performances. I returned for their eighth grade graduations from the school and exchanged Christmas cards with some of the families for many years. For the last 13 years I have been a "Special" teacher to the students of Charlevoix Elementary School. This year I look forward to having a group of kids special to me.

Thank you for letting me be your child’s fourth grade teacher,

Miss Dana Frank

Homework

After working in the classroom seven of the last nine days I have decided to stay home this weekend. Of course I brought home some work! Last year the school purchased a new language arts series called Treasures. I am excited to dive in and check it out.

For students, a homework folder will be sent home each Monday and is due Thursday. Students who don't turn in their homework will have to do it during afternoon recess. If all students bring back their homework finished and on time, I will have a surprise for the class on Friday. It may be anything from a treat, a present, a video, or a fun activity.

New Books!

Today I took a break from the classroom to do one of my favorite activities: Shopping! Besides picking up various supplies for our room, I also went to the local bookstore. You can see from the picture I had a lot of fun! I inherited a ton of books from other teachers, but I wanted these to give the collection some new life. Thank you to the PTO for the money they give to classrooms. It will help pay for this. I got some great ideas from some librarians, teachers, and parents at LibraryThing, and of course from the helpful people at the bookstore. Each day in class we will have SSR (Sustained Silent Reading) time. I would like students who come to the open house next week to pick out their SSR book then, so we don't have a big crowd at the bookcase on the first day of school. You can see some of our classroom library books at the bottom of this page. Many of these new ones are series, so students, let me know if they are good and I will get more!

Communication Nights

There will be a school Open House August 31, from 4 to 6 p.m. for students and parents to stop by. On September 12, there will be a Parent Communication Night. The fourth grade time will be announced soon. I look forward to seeing everyone at one or both of those nights! The room is pretty much ready, and I am getting there! You can see more pictures by clicking on the photo in the right hand menu.

Room B-4

This year Miss Frank's Fourth Grade will be in room B-4. I love the name! Here you see our room after cleaning, but "before" I tackle it. I have lots of work to do, but I am very excited to get it ready!

School Supplies

When I was a kid I loved going school supply shopping with my family. When I got home I unpacked everything and organized it all on my bed. Maybe that should have been a big sign that I was meant to be a teacher!

All fourth grade students are asked to bring the following supplies to school:

“Toolbox” , (cardboard or plastic) to hold school supplies

2 glue sticks

1 box Kleenex

1 box ZIPLOCK bags

Lysol wipes

1 one subject notebook

1 pair of scissors

I would also like students in my class to please have these things on hand throughout the year:

Markers and/or crayons

Erasers
Extra pencils
Bottle of Glue

Lastly, I am keeping a wish list on the right hand side of the blog for things we need for the classroom. Thank you!

About Miss Frank

For the last 13 years I have been the computer teacher and building technology coordinator for Charlevoix Elementary School. Each week every class would come to me for an hour to learn about computers and to use computers to learn other things. I also helped troubleshoot the building's technology problems, maintained the district web pages, and led professional development to help teachers use technology in their classrooms. I am excited to try many of the techniques in my own classroom this year!

Before coming to CES, I taught third grade for two years at St. Patrick Parnell just outside of Ada, Michigan. I earned my master's degree and elementary teaching certificate from Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, where I student taught in a fourth grade classroom. I earned my bachelor's degree in economics from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. I am a graduate of Petoskey High School and my family has lived in the area since 1976.

My biggest interest is skiing and I have been a ski instructor at Nub's Nob since 1987. I just adore my Scottie dog, Gregor, and we try to take a walk every day. I am on the Charlevoix Council for the Arts, and through it, active in helping with the Charlevoix Waterfront Art Fair. I love reading and get some of the best recommendations from my students. For me, the highlight of every week is Sunday dinner with my parents, brothers, aunt, uncle, and cousins.

Although I am sad not to be teaching computers anymore, I am very excited to have my own class again and to be teaching fourth grade!