Writing Journals

    Every week the students have been writing two entries in their personal writing journals.  This was tough for many of the students in the very beginning since many of them have never written in an "unprompted" journal before.  I gave the students some guidelines as to what to write about and how much they must write.  Even with this help I still received basic summaries from most students about what they did that evening or in school the day before.  I wrote a post-it in every child's journal to give them praise and to suggest what they may include the next time.  Still I received very much the same outcome. 
   I decided that the students needed more than just a few discussions and post-it notes.  They needed to see and read what I was looking for, so I shard a few entries from my own personal journal. 

   The kids were so excited and many of them had their own memories or stories that sparked in their heads.   I am happy to say that after this "show-and-tell", I have seen a few bright sparks that show promise.  I have asked a few students if I may share their entries with the class (once I have their permission, I will share them on here as well).
    Overall, I just wanted to let everyone know how it's going with our personal journals.  I would also like to ask parents to encourage their child to take their journal everywhere.  You never know when a moment might occur that is worth writing down! Have a great night and keep journaling!

Some Helpful Information

First, I would like to thank those parents that attended Back to School Night. I appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedules to learn more about your child's education. Today all other children should have taken home some information that was passed out during BSN.  I will attach the information here so that it is easier to read than on the handout. If there are any questions regarding this information please let me know!

Here is what was discussed last evening:

Daily Classroom Schedule
9:05-9:30 ………………………Enter(late bell 9:20), Morning Work

9:30-9:50……………………….Read Aloud

9:50-10:35……………………..Reading Workshop:

(Ind. Reading, Strategy Groups, Conferences, Computers)

10:35-10:50……………………Message Time Plus, Centers

10:55-11:35……………………Specials (See below for rotation)

11:35-12:20……………………Writer’s Workshop:

(Independent Writing, Conferences)

12:20-1:05……………………..Recess/Lunch

1:05-1:20……………………….Word Study

1:20-2:30……………………….Math Workshop

2:30-3:05……………………….Science or Social Studies

3:05-3:30……………………….Health/P.E.

3:30-3:40……………………….Prepare for dismissal

Specials Rotation

Day 1- Music                                        Day 4- Spanish

Day 2- Library                                       Day 5- Computers

Day 3- Phys. Ed. (Wear sneakers!)       Day 6- Art

Grading:
Students will be graded in all subjects using the district

grading policy (attached in your packet).

Homework:
Monday through Thursday students will have Spelling, Math, and Reading or writing homework. Homework will be checked every day. If it is to be graded, I will let students know ahead of time. I do not give lunch detention for missing homework; it will effect their homework grade and they will have to complete it over the weekend. If students are absent they will have the same number of days to complete missing work. If you know your child will be absent, I can prepare work to do at home.

Behavior:
Students will be expected to follow the Mennies Code of Conduct and school rules as well. I will communicate via agenda primarily, and I like to take care of problems immediately. On Fridays, you will receive a Class Dojo behavior report. This report will show how many points they received during the week for positive behaviors as well as how many points they lost for negative behaviors. This should be signed and returned on Monday.

We will no longer use the Harcourt Anthology to read a story each week. This will be replaced with Reading Workshop which allows students to develop reading skills while working with text at their independent level. Students will have reading and writing conferences, as well as strategy groups. Each week students will read independently, read with a partner, use computer programs, and participate in read-alouds.

Writing will be done in units of study and students will learn a new skill or strategy each day. Rubrics will be used to grade writing. Also students will be writing in personal journals at home. There are now guidelines in the front of every journal as to what is expected. The purpose of these journals is to help develop writing skills as well as allowing students to have a resource for ideas in class.

Spelling is being replaced with Word Study. Students will spend their time looking at spelling patterns within words and learn how and when they are used. Each week they will be given a pretest which will determine if they receive the regular word list or the challenge word list. They will study 10 words for homework. On Friday they will be tested on their 10 words plus 10 words they have not studied which have the same spelling patterns (to show if they mastered the pattern, not just memorized words). They will also study 5 high frequency words that they must use in a sentence on their test.

Students will be doing a lot of projects this year. Some will be in school and some at home. You will not receive many worksheets for grades. I like to use assessments and projects that show student mastery of skills.



Also on the sidebar that says "Helpful Links" I will link to websites that students and parents may use during the school year to assist with homework and other issues.

I hope this is helpful for everyone and that I will see a lot of traffic on our blog! Have a wonderful evening.

And They're Off!!

    The school year has begun and we are already working towards making it "A Record Breaking Year".  Now that our Room 16 families will be joining this blog, I wanted to extend another welcome! Throughout the year you can check in as I will post homework, projects, pictures of events, helpful items, and class news.  I encourage our families to leave comments if you have anything to add or questions about a post.  Please keep all comments positive and related to the post topic.
    There are many curriculum changes this year, and we have a lot of hard work ahead of us.  My hope is that every student's learning does not stop at the classroom door, but continues on at home. Feel free to send me an email or write in your child's agenda if you have any concerns or questions.  I hope to see everyone at Back to School night on Monday Sept. 10th (6:45-8:00). Until then...