Welcome Back to School

Sixth grade is a year of transition for the students. They will change classes and teachers will expect students to be prepared for class. It is very important that your student learns how to be organized. Students will be allowed to go to their lockers before school, after 3rd hour, and after lunch. It is very important that during these times, they get everything they need for their classes. For example, before school, they get the things for the classes they have first through third hours (whatever they have 1st hour and my class). At the end of my class, I will send the students to their lockers to get everything they need for their classes 4th-lunch. At the end of lunch, they get the items they need for their afternoon classes.

Students are also given more responsiblity to take control of their learning. Teachers will give an assignment and it is up to the students to complete the assignment by the due date. Teachers will not remind students of their assignment (that’s what the agenda books are for). Once the deadline for the assignment has past, teachers will either give a zero or give a late grade. For example, I will always take the work, but if it is late, they cannot earn an A on the assignment.

 

 

Classroom Procedures
I use the Wonders Reading series. This is the same they have had in the elementary level; however, I do use it a bit differently. Instead of workbooks, we do most of the things during class time. For example, instead of completing a grammar workbook page, I will put it on the smart board, and we will complete it together. We will be using Spelling City for our spelling. I do take Spelling City for a grade, so it is important when I give students time to work on it, that they are actually doing that. Students will still have spelling tests; however, I cannot say they will always be on the same day. This is because Wonders is set up for 5 days per lesson and if we don’t have school on a day, then that will change the last day of the lesson. The tests for Wonders will be given online during class. If the student has been in class, participated and paid attention, then they should do fine on the test if they give effort. The test addresses skills learned during the week, so there will not really be anything for them to study. I try (it may not be every week) to post the test as a study guide, so the students who would like to do well have the opportunity to complete the test as a practice test before hand.

We will be writing essays in this class. This year, we will spend a lot of time on their introductory and closing paragraphs. By the time they reach 7th grade, they should be able to write high quality introductions and conclusions.

TEAM

I believe in working as a TEAM.

As part of the idea of students becoming responsible for their learning, students should consult their table mate if they do not understand a question. Also, along with this, we do work as groups a lot. Does this mean they will always work with their best friend or even someone they like. Not necessarily! Part of the learning process is learning how to work with others. Sometimes they will choose a partner, I may assign partners, or it may be a blind draw. I will NOT make changes to groups or to seating arrangements. This is because they need to learn how to get along with everyone. It all goes back to TEAM!

Mrs. Richter and I have worked on creating an accountabilty system for our classes. Students will receive daily points. On Fridays, I will go over the points with the students and then they will sign off on this sheet. I will keep all behavior point sheets. These points will be part of their grade so it is important that the student attends class, participates, and behaves. I have attached a copy of the point sheet, so that you have the opportunity to see how the points are determined.

In addition to this, the school has implemented a new PBIS system. Students will be expected to exhibit positive behavior at all times.

I do not use AR in my classroom. This year, Mrs. Ritcher and I are trying something new. We are having class competitions on the number of books read. Students will read a book, complete a small activity (complete a book talk, book review, book report etc) (teachers will determine which activity quarterly), once we have determine that the student did read the book, they will get to cover a number on our room chart. Whichever class at the end of the quarter (6-8) has read the most books will get a treat. They change and students will know at the beginning of the quarter what they are working toward. It may be a movie day, pizza party, donuts, etc. For a student to participate in the prize, they will have had to have read at least 2 books (more if they are really short books, less if they are huge). I really hope that all students participate.

Daily Reading
Since I limit homework in my class (most days there won’t be any--another reason it is important not to miss!), students are required to complete a daily reading log (yes, these books count toward the class competition). What I ask for is 30 min of reading each night. In my opinion, this should be easy points. They read 30 min, complete their log, and on Mondays I grade the log. The log includes, date, how many minutes they read, title of the book, the pages they read, and 1-2 sentences of what they read. I know not everyone likes to read books. Because of this, on their daily reading, I don’t care if it’s a magazine, newspaper, etc. They just have to record it. It is their responsibility to have it recorded and ready when they walk in the classroom on Monday mornings. Last year, I had a few students who did not do the reading log and those zeros ended up dropping them a letter grade. It’s 7 points a week, with 9 weeks in a quarter, results in 63 points. I have attached a copy of the log also.

I realize that the students have a life outside of school and extra-curricular activities take up a lot of time in the evenings. It is because of this, the reading log will be their only homework most of the time. Occasionally, we will have a packet to complete, but I almost always give class time to complete this. Therefore, if they have homework outside of the reading log, chances are they are losing behavior points because they did not use their class time.

 

Students will need a folder to keep their work in. I recommend the student getting an accordian type folder, to keep papers from all their classes in. That way, they should always have their homework with them.

 

Pencils and pens. All work will be done in pencil in my class. If they turn something in completed in ink, they will receive a zero. I hate seeing work scribbled out, that’s what an eraser is for. The pens will be used for grading only in my room.

 

Earbuds. Since we use spelling city, I highly recommend purchasing earbuds.

 

Notebook. I would like the students to have a notebook that is only used in my class. This way their writing will all be in one place.

 

You may contact me anytime either through email or call me at the school.

If your student is experiencing issues in my class or receives an F or a zero, I wil be contacting you either through a phone call or an email.

 

I am excited to have this class this year and can’t wait to see what all we can accomplish!

Mrs. Carter