Back to School NightThis is the Power Point that I shared on back to school night. There are a few minor changes. I took out our class codes

for Edmodo and Remind 101 because they are not for public access. I added a few pages at the end w/ some lesson examples and some answers to questions from parents.

Some Actual “Forgot my homework” excuses…

•I just saw it on the New York Times Bestsellers List, so that means someone stole it. •I had better things to do. •I didn't do it because I didn't want to add to my teacher's heavy workload. •I accidentally divided by zero and my paper burst into flames. •I hired a paper writing company and they did it in Chinese.

•Born and raised in the area. Went to Fairfax County Public Schools. Graduated from Madison High School•Undergrad at VA Tech – Family and Child Development – Early Childhood Education (Pre-K through 5th grade)•Grad School at George Mason – Curriculum and Instruction – Gifted Education•Taught in Fairfax – 2nd and 3rd grade for 5 years•Taught and ran my own preschool for 3 years

A little bit about me…

•Married to Rob – we met at Tech•3 kiddos – Robbie, Freshman at Champe – Lauren, 7th grader at Mercer – Ryan, 2nd grader here at Pinebrook •I love teaching. Have known that I was going to be a teacher since I was about seven•I believe every child can learn and reach their full potential with the proper guidance•I believe that I need to continue my education and be reflective in my work in order to be the best I can be for my students•I love my dogs, taking pictures, sitting on the beach, gardening, cooking and M&Ms

Some CommunicationTools I Will Be Using:

•Edmodo – Go to edmodo.com•Remind 101 – text messaging• Please e/m me for our

class codes for these!

•My Pinebrook website

Odds and Ends•Snack – lunch is very late, please send in a snack for your child!

•What is Resource? – Short time at end of day for writing down homework, finishing up class work, time for me to talk to individual kids, and packing up

•Conferences – Please sign up on Sign Up Genius

•DARE – Drug Abuse Resistance Education - 10 lessons throughout year

•Field Trips – first it to Camp Highroads next month

•Volunteers – Would like to have assignments to you by next week

•Donating to our Class – will post on website – now we could use:-Post it notes-Clip boards (your child can have their own - or you can donate a few to class!)-Books (I’m still building my 5th grade library!)

A look at all of our Teachers!!!•We have lots of teachers in our classroom every week.• Mrs. Moore• Mrs. Stripling• Mrs. Santi• Mrs. Matthews• Mrs. Clark

•Our specialists are:• Mrs. Ross – Guidance• Mrs. Quintero – FLES• Mr. McPherson – P.E.• Mrs. Hoffmaster – Music• Mrs. Johnson – Art• Mrs. Higgins – Library

• Students will be prepared for all classes everyday– Students may not call home for homework

• Students will produce quality work at all times• Students will show respect for everyone that

they come in contact with• Students will respect classmates’ learning by

remaining seated quietly during instruction and raising hands to ask questions

• Be positive role models for younger students

Grade Level Expectations

• Students are given a 30 minute recess period daily. If students do not follow 5th grade expectations they may miss recess.

• Each classroom teacher will have their own behavior plan.

• Students demonstrating good character will be invited to participate in extra activities.

5th Grade Behavior Plan

• Agenda • Parental Support• Nightly Reading• Science Facts of the Week*

*I will not be sending this home.

•Nightly

•Students are expected to complete homework in a timely manner and will be responsible for making up any missing assignments

Homework

• Students will be assessed in a variety of ways on a daily basis.

• Three primary forms of assessment are:– Diagnostic- not graded/used to assess knowledge of

concepts– Formative- not counted toward quarter grades/used

to check for understanding – Summative- graded/ counts toward quarter grade

Grading Policies

The text for math is Scott Foresman / Addison Wesley . This is a spiral curriculum where concepts are either introduced, reinforced, expanded, or investigated.

• Numeration (Number Sense, Numerical Operations)

• Measurement• Geometry• Data Analysis• Algebra• Problem Solving

Math

Math Groups

• Flexible math grouping• Pre-Assessments• Criteria for math placement• Quarterly pre-test

• Differentiated Instruction• Fifth grade SOLs• Enrichment

ReadingStudents will participate in Reading Workshop which is a method that uses a combination of mini-lessons, independent reading time, and individual conferences to inspire and motivate students. Some skills that will be taught during the year include:

•Predictions•Context Clues•Discussion Questions•Connections•Illustrations•Summaries•Presentations

Students will participate in Writing Workshop, similar to reading workshop.

Instruction will focus on the following:

• Expository• Persuasive• Narrative• Descriptive

Grammar will be reviewed on a daily basis through both morning work and mini lessons.

Students will also have occasional handwriting practice homework.

Writing

• Changing Earth• Ocean Environment• Cells and Organization of Living Things• States of Matter• Light and Sound• Science Fair

Experiments and hands-on investigations are incorporated into each unit!

Science

Social StudiesRegions of the United States•Map Skills•Geography•Landforms•Environment•People•History•Economy/Resources

Report Cards• Students will be marked in the content areas of Reading,

Writing, Mathematics, Social Science and Science using the following Grading Key and Progress Indicators:

Grading Key

A = Advanced ProficientB = ProficientC = IntermediateD = Beginning

Progress Indicators

4 = Advanced Proficient3 = Proficient (This is the target for all students)2 = Intermediate1 = Beginning

• = Denotes knowledge or skill not assessed at this time

•Check Pinebrook’s 5th grade webpage for newsletters and important dates.•You can reach us by phone or email. We will get back to you as soon as possible!•School Phone: 703-957-4325•5th Grade Team E-mails are online•If you have specific questions or comments please leave them on an index card for me. I’ll be in touch soon!

Questions or Comments?

Homework

Homework will never be e-mailed directly to you or the students (unless you ask me to e-mail you something in particular.

Homework is always posted on a chart in the front of the classroom – students are required to write their assignments in their agendas.

I will post their assignments on my Pinebrook web page – it will look like what they have written in their agendas.

Online or digital assignments will only require that the students have access to a computer. An example might be – “Type your word study words 3 times. You may print them out, e-mail them to me, or post them on Edmodo.”

Again – I will NOT e-mail homework assignments. All of the students do not have e-mail accounts, and that would make their homework your homework!

I hope that helps some.

What does a typical Reading/Writing/Math Lesson look like? Some examples.

Reading:Whole Group Lesson – Making Predictions

-develop a list of question or interesting facts that you have learned so far in your book, then write 3 things that you think might happen later in the story based on your facts and questions, explain your predictions

Independent Reading Time/Small Group Conferences-Independent Reading - students read silently, while reading they might have a small assignment that they are to be working on as they read, such as writing down difficult or interesting words that they come across while reading – these will then be used in a later whole group lesson or in their Small Group Conference-Small Group Conference – students will meet with the teacher to read their book and to discuss a particular aspect of their book (such as predictions)Some books will be chosen independently and some books will be assigned (similar to a typical “reading group”

Cont’

What does a typical Reading/Writing/Math Lesson look like? Some examples.

Writing - Whole Group Lesson – Writing Topic Sentences

-students will be given an incomplete paragraph and will be required to write a topic sentence for it – we will discuss how to write a strong topic sentence, students will share examples

Independent Writing/Writing ConferencesIndependent Writing-students will work on individual writing – this may be a topic chosen by the teacher or may be a topic they have chosen to write on-they will be required to highlight their topic sentence and edit it to make it stronger or more appropriateWriting Conference-students will meet with a teacher individually or in a small group to reviewand edit one of their current writing pieces-focus will be on strong topic sentences, as wellas all other writing skills we have worked on throughout the year

Cont’

What does a typical Reading/Writing/Math Lesson look like? Some examples.

Math (this is for my math class)Problem of the Day – students will solve our Problem of the Day

answers and strategies will be shared (these are not just word problems – it might be a division problem – but students will share the different ways theyget to the answer – we all think a little differently!)

Mad Minute Math – basic facts review – 1 minute to do as many problems as they canFocus Lesson – whole group instruction of current subject – such as Prime/Composite

numbers – teacher directed lesson explaining conceptPractice – this may be done in a variety of ways – games, hands on activities with math

manipulatives, answering questions from their math book, etc.Ticket Out – 1 question/math problem students do independently used to assess if

they understand the day’s concept