Welcome to Curriculum night 2012 - 2013
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Transcript of Welcome to Curriculum night 2012 - 2013
Welcome toCurriculum night
2012 - 2013
This evening’s agendahomeworkClass work
The subjects we studyOur class website
Questions, possibly some answers
The stationery on the desk is for you to write an encouraging note to your child.
You may sign up for conference times if you want, or you can certainly wait until
we’re closer to the dates in December. The schedule is on a clipboard going around
the room. Don’t worry----I will post many reminders.
Classroom CelebrationsWe’re allowed to have 2. Iam thinking Halloween and…?
Parent HelpersPhotocopiesSetting up science stuffTutoring or reading with a student
Pleasedonatesnacks
and paper productsif you’re able to.
Practice skills students need for middle school.Add structure to the weekday.
PRO
CON
Build responsible habits (regarding organization and managing time).
Your inst ructor ’s thoughts about homework
Can seem like drudgery to kids and yet one more thing for parents, most of whom worked all day at their own sometimes maddening and tedious tasks.The skills we’re working on are not necessarily tailored to each student’s needs.
Many students see it as a relatively meaningless task to complete, and therefore invest little attention to quality.
Homework has 3 purposes this year:
1. To practice academic skills2. To help students build responsible habits for success in middle school3. To increase the amount of time children read
It is never my intent for homework to intrude on a balanced
and reasonable family life. If the policy I’ll have explained isn’t working for
your child, please contact me and we will negotiate a better fit for your family.
I DO PERMIT STUDENTS WHO’VE COMPLETED THEIRCLASS WORK TO WORK ON HOMEWORKAT SCHOOL. In my opinion, this is a reasonableway to make the best use of time. From my point of view, the important thing is that the student takes responsibility for completing work on time and hands it in on time.
Some families agree with this,but some prefer that their youngstershave homework time at home, especially since we’re heading into middle school in two shakes of a lamb’s tail. This is your right and responsibility as a parent, and I will support you if you want your child to save homework for home. You will have to let me and your child know If this is your preference and keep in touch to let me know if it’s working.
school
home
Homeworkpacket goes home on Monday.
It’s organized with a cover page to help prevent scenes like this.
Your teacherforgot to
assign you homework
again?!
There’s a daily math assignment.
I have posted each week’s assignment on our class website.
Monday due TuesdayTuesday due Wednesday
Wednesday due ThursdayThursday due Friday
I have created Alternative
Math Home
Work Assignments
Play a math game: there are dozens on our website. .
.
.Make something that required measurement: brownies; origami;AN ESTIMATE FOR A NEW CARPET; A picture that tessellates. .
Complete one of the everyday math projects; there are five. You Can Download them from our class website. .
Complete a khan academy website lesson. .
Do flash cards or mental math with someone . .
FILL IN A BLANK GRID WITH THE MULTIPLICATION FACTS; FILL IN A BLANK GRID WITH THE ADDITION TABLES. Choosing the alternative math homework
assignment is up to you, the parents. I need some kind of note or emailIn order to give the youngster credit.
five book reports during the year
You can find each of theseon our class website if yours doesn’tmake it home for some reason.
Right before Hallo
ween
Right before c
hristm
as break
Right before Fe
bruary break
Right before sp
ring break
Right before m
emorial d
ay
problem of the weekIn my professional opinion, one weakness of the Everyday Math curriculumis a regrettable absence of “story problems,” which, most of us, frankly, hatedwhen we were in school. I offer my sympathy. Nevertheless, mathematics removed from any practical application strikes me as incomplete. The POTW is an opportunityto apply problem – solving strategies. I acknowledge that some of these are very easy, and some of them are fairly challenging. In my opinion, these experiences help children develop patience and perseverance along with their math skills. I am willing to be flexible with the POTW: for some kids, it’s stillvery difficult. Thus, I will encourage it, but will also accept one of the alternatives.
“homework” essay
Each week we’ll work on two vocabulary words and one writing convention in a 1-3 page essay. These assignments are on our class website
I encourage, students to work on this in class during the week. It is in each youngster’s homework packet because some students will needmore time than what we have in class.
Rough drafts are due THURSDAYS.
We’ll peer-edit the paperson Thursdays, so it’s veryimportant that each student’srough draft is finished by Thursday morning. We thenhave time to revise in class or at home.
Students share their essays inclass on Fridays. Each student has to share at least 2 essaysduring the trimester.
reading logThe reading log is due every Friday,
but I want to see it every school day.
In short: it should go to and from
school throughout the week.
Your youngster receives it on Monday
as part of his or her homework packet.
There are blank ones on our class
website, too.
daily reading log
weekly homework essayproblem of the week
five book reports spaced throughout the year
daily math assignment
In summary:
Class workThere is a classWork assignmentDue every day forMath and writing.
Usually, it is someExercise or activity to Build on whatever that day’sObjectives are.
Class workIn spelling, history, geography,And science, there are typically2 assignments to hand in during The week.
A student records each assignmentThat’s turned in on our “assignmentChart.”
student
M T WT F M T WT F M T WT F MT WT F POTW
Home Work ESSAY
ROUGH DRAFT
SPELLING PRACTICE #1PRAC
1
SPELLING PRACTICE #2PRAC
2
HISTORY ALIVESTORY
GEOGRAPHY
READING JOURNAL
OTHER
ArsenicBerylliumChlorineDubnium
MATH HWREADING LOGMATH CW WRITING CW
ASSIGNMENT CHART FOR WEEK #___
student
M T WT potw MT WT F M T WT F MT WT F m
istake sheet
Spelling #1
Spelling #2
Spelling #3
Geography
History alive!
Rough draft
Final copy
Reading journal
Arsenic
b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b
Beryllium
b a a a b a a a b a a a b a a a b b b b b a b a a
Chlorine
b n n n b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b
Dubnium
b b b b b b b b b b b b b b
MATH HWREADING LOGMATH CW WRITING CW
ASSIGNMENT CHART FOR WEEK #3Two pointersThree pointers
classroom expectations
saferespectfulresponsible
Mathematics: please make sure your child has… Basic addition, subtraction, Multiplication And division facts.A Basic understanding that ½ and 2/4 are equal; a basic understanding that ½ means 50%.
MathematicsEveryday math
Has 12 chapters or “units.”
Each unit takes about 2 weeks andCulminates in a unit test.
There are whole-class activities, games to play with a partner, and
Independent exercises.
Class work is available on our website.
Polygons we learn about.
Important concepts in measurementUsing a ruler to measure accurately to the 16th of an inch
Using a protractor to measure angles
Converting units (i.e., meters to centimeters; inches to yards)
Finding perimeter and area in triangles and some polygons
Using a clock and stopwatch
Estimating
r e a d i n gStudents should be reading at least an hour a day betweenschool (about 40 minutes) and home (about 20 minutes)from a good fit book.
At school, we follow a structure called readers’ workshop.Briefly, it consists of a short whole-class lesson modeling a particular element of reading, followed by small group“guided reading” and individual reading conferences.
•During the 90 minutes of reading, each child can expect to•Write in his or her reading journal 2 times a week
•Listen to me read and model a concept in reading
•Read to him or herself for about 40 minutes
•Work with a small group on a reading skill
•Read directly to me from his or her good-fit book•about once or twice a week.
Effective writing is organized with a clear beginning,
middle, and ending;
offers a compelling, or at least important, idea presented to a particular audience for a specific reason;includes examples, descriptions, and reasons that deepen the main idea;.adheres to conventional punctuation, grammatical forms, spelling, and aesthetics.
We follow a structure calledWriters’ Workshop, which involves the following elements:
Daily whole-class mini-lesson
Independent and small groupWriting activities in class
A weekly essay, somewhat-but-not-entirely mis-named the homeworkessay; there is class time dedicated to thisweekly project.
Peer-editing
Conferring with teacher
Collecting a portfolio of work as theyear progresses.
correctingmisteaks and errorsis part of the learningprocess but I acknowlege that it isn’t always the most funnest part
Cmistakes
, dge
activity.
Science
•life science•energy and motion•fossils•emphasis on systems & inquiry•emphasis on scientific method
geographyWe use the 5th grade program
Called Daily Geo.
We will check the assignment
together in class on Fridays.
history
Events; timelines; points of view; fairness &justice; bias
And propaganda
the presidential electionWe’ll have to discuss the election sometimes----it will be on students’ minds,
some will have strong opinions, and some will ask me questions. I’m not
comfortable discussing my personal views with students, and I don’t think
it’s appropriate at their age to be influenced by a public employee. Please feel
secure in knowing that your child is definitely not receiving any intentional or subtle
or indoctrination into modern politics. We will, however, discuss the election
process and students are welcome to share their own opinions about candidates and issues
as the topic arises.
a boilerplate disclaimer re:
F.L.A.S.H.
exploitationphysical and emotional changes during puberty
reproductionH.I.V. and A.I.D.S.
http://connect.issaquah.wednet.edu/elementary/ive/staff/mr_arthurs_site/default.aspx
Gladys, did you know Mr. Arthur respectfully asks
parents and students to follow a no-gift policy at the holidays and end of the year?
Thanks Mabel. I am just going to make my child
write a forced and awkward thank you
note in lieu of spending money.
Edna, I heard that he actually gets paid a
salary to do this job; we’re grateful,
though, so we are going to donate
money to the PTA or something. Just not to Mr. Moneybags.
He is a public employee, after all.
Myrtle, thanks for letting me know. I never know what
you’re supposed to get for a guy
teacher anyway. Good to know he wants us NOT to buy stuff for him.