Welcome Back!

Welcome back!  It was a very busy but successful first few days back at school!

Here is a curriculum preview for next week:
*Math- Next week will continue to be a review week of counting money, time, and operations.
*Reading- Our focus for the next few weeks in reading will be on story elements.  We will be using examples of fairy tales and additional stories to help us practice pulling out the story elements.
*L.A.- Students will be receiving their first spelling words and begin to use the Read Naturally program this week.
*S.S. (7/8 only)- We will be spending the next few weeks reviewing/learning map skills.  This includes reading maps, understanding the components of maps, and creating our own maps.

I have attached my parent letter also for your viewing.

Have a wonderful and relaxing Labor Day weekend!

August 28, 2013

Dear Parents,

          Welcome! 

As we begin the 2013-2014 school year, I would like to give an introduction to our curriculum for this year. Within this packet, there are several descriptions of our classroom activities and community outings that we will be taking this year.  I will be sending out a more detailed list of outings with dates, as this is finalized.

          If you have any questions or concerns, do not hesitate to call or email me.  My school phone number is 630-783-5019.  My email address is cnino@ccsd66.org.

          Again, thank you for your time and cooperation.  Our goal is to make your child's school year a positive, rewarding, and enriching educational experience. 

Brief Curriculum Overview

Language Arts/Spelling:

Spelling is an essential skills that receives a great deal of attention during Language Arts.  Each week, students will receive a new spelling list of 10-15 words depending on the week.  Students will be completing a variety of spelling activities in class daily, as well as, practice daily at home.

In Language Arts, students will be completing a 5-questions Daily Oral Language (DOL) “quiz”.  This will be done at the beginning of each class period and will count towards their daily work grade.  We will also be reviewing/learning sentence composition, parts of speech, and writing composition.

Students will also be writing daily journals in their Writers Notebook, similar to last year.  Students will share these journals with the class, as time allows, and as the year progresses, returning to edit their writing.

Reading/Writing:

Students will be reading novels, completing author studies, reading poetry, and more this year. 

There will also be a weekly reading homework assignment, where students will be responsible for reading/logging a book of their choice.  More details about this will be sent home in the beginning of the school year.

Social Studies:7/8^th grade ONLY

(6^th grade Social Studies will be taught by Mrs. Maass)

Our Social Studies curriculum this year will focus on a variety of topics.  We will begin the year briefly discussing technology and how to successfully use it.  We will learn about Ancient Civilizations, Map skills, and American landmarks, cultures, and traditions.

We will also learn utilize current events within the classroom on a weekly basis.  Students will be required to find, read, and bring in a newspaper article to share with the class.  I will be sending home a list of suggested kid-friendly websites that can be used to help find articles.

Mathematics:

This math curriculum is a functional program designed to prepare the students to apply math skills to real-life situations.  Students will be reviewing and learning more about time, money, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

All of these skills learned in the classroom will also be generalized into the community outings and assignments.

 Room 117 Classroom Rules and Behavior Plan

Classroom Rules

1.  Be respectful.

          Use kind words, raise your hand, listen, & get permission before doing.

2.  Be responsible.

Complete your work, stay organized, and clean up after yourself.

3.  Be safe.

Keep your hands/feet to yourself & be cautious!

4.  Be positive.

Smile, laugh, and have fun learning!

Classroom Compass

Each student has a compass on the side of their desk that will serve as their behavior monitoring system.  The categories on the compass include “Smooth Sailing”, “On Course”, “Veering Off Course”, and “Off Course”.  In a collaborative effort between the students and the classroom staff, students will move a clothspin to represent how their day has been in relation to how many warning/reminders they have received from the teacher/staff.  Positive behavior always allows the students to move their clothspins higher on the compass.

During the last period of their day in my classroom, each student is able to receive a 10 minute reward. If their clothspin is on either “Smooth Sailing” or “On Course” the students are to spin the “steering wheel” to earn their prize.  Some rewards include 10 minutes of computer time, 10 minutes of choice time, and others that the students will determine in the first few days of school.

 Community-Based Program

One Thursday of every month, students will have an opportunity to visit a community location.  With each visit, students will go in with a specific learning goal.  We will be preparing for our community trip in the weeks prior to going.  In addition, students will be completing a graded assignment, in class, on the day following the trip.  The monthly locations for our community outings will be announced closer to the date.

Below is a general list of objectives that students will be working toward.

*Display appropriate manners while eating

*Eat in a variety of locations/order and wait for meal

*Managing currency

*Managing time

*Applying units of measurement

*Applying number concepts

*Displaying appropriate social behavior

*Following rules