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CLASSROOM NEWS Welcome to the page where you will find out what's happening in room K-201. Please check back regularly for updates, and important information that affect our classroom. We're soon be off and running with a full load of subjects. It is very important that you encourage your child to do their homework before they go play or watch TV, or they will find themselves becoming overwhelmed with school work, and feel that school is not fun. This is a situation I wish to avoid, as it will benefit no one. I encourage all students to save their work for their end of the year book project in a filing cabinet at school. They may take home any graded work for parents to look at but should bring it back for their files. One way in which I communicate to you the scores of tests/quizzes and thus their cumulative progress on any unit studied, is to require a parent signature for anyone falling below 70%. If a child needs a parent signature, or not, going over mistakes will help each and every student to hopefully see the reasons for their mistakes and give them the opportunity for success the next time they come in contact with similar problems. Thank you in advance for all that you do in the support of your child, the school, and my class. LITERATURE We will be starting Unit 1 in our regular Houghton Mifflin Literature book There are several stories along with workbook pages that students will need to complete as we read each story. Along with each story will be a writing assignment. Each child should do their best to incorporate the 6 Traits of writing into each writing piece. Remember students should consistently receive 3's to be at grade level by the end of the year. WRITE SOURCE Write Source is our new writing adoption from Houghton Mifflin and introduces and reinforces all elements of writing. We will be using this book throughout the year in conjunction with our HM Literature book. SPEECH Speeches will be given throughout the year. A general speech
guide on grading will be given out at the beginning of the program. Each
speech will have an outline to follow with some tips on how to get the best
score or sample topics. The evaluation form is always on the back so you can
see how I grade and what the expectations for our speeches are. There are
eight (8) speeches in all with the following topics. #1 Introductory;
#2 Free Choice; #3 Memorized Poem; #4 Personal Experience; #5 Persuasive; #6
Demonstration; 7# Book Character; and 8# Famous Person. MATH We have a new adoption this year. We will be using Houghton Mifflin (HM) Expressions. We will be starting with Unit 1 and working our way through the strands of the California Framework. SOCIAL STUDIES We will be using the Scott Foresman series called "Our California" this year. This program will go through the history of California. With each lesson, we will be seeing a short video clip outlining the lesson, reading from our book, and doing a worksheet to reinforce the concepts of the lesson. The following session there will be a short 5 question, multiple choice quiz.. This will be the format for the entire book. CALIFORNIA STUDIES WEEKLY Each Thursday (with a few exceptions) we hand out a California Studies Weekly newspaper that students will read independently during the week. On the following Thursday (one week later) we will take a short 12 - 15 question quiz to see if they have understood what they were reading. This independent activity will hopefully prepare your students for independent research. This is a 28 week program. Our 1st newspaper will be handed out on Thursday, August 21st with our first test on Thursday, August 28th. Please have them bring their newspaper to class on test day as they are allowed to use it during the test. Please have your students read and study this newspaper regularly during the week. While this is an open test, it is timed. Relying on looking up all the answers without studying is a recipe for failure. SCIENCE To find out what is happening in Science, please call the Homework Hotline after school at: 484-5621 ext.3501. If you have any questions regarding your child's Science work or grade, Mr. Hall is available before school to talk or can be reached at ext.3502. INDEPENDENT READING PROGRAMS MONTHLY READING
CHALLENGE LOG BOOK REPORTS for MARCH and APRIL Now that our "Book It" and "Reading Olympics" programs are over, we will be starting a new format for reading and book reports. However, our 300+ minute challenge program continues through the end of May. Each child will be required to read one fiction and one non-fiction book, draw a book cover, and write a summary for the book they read. Summaries should be between 3/4 and 2 pages in length. They will then present orally to the class the summary, and turn in their summary paper for a written grade. To see examples of Fiction and Non- Fiction book covers, please follow the links here. Summaries shown on samples are not the proper length, but excerpts. READING OLYMPICS I C.A.R.E. To see when our I C.A.R.E. activity will be for each month, please follow this I C.A.R.E. link. * |
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Mr.
Servetter's Class
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