Back to School Night

1. Back to School Night This 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.

2. A little bit about me… • 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

3. 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

4. Some Communication • Tools 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

5. 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!)

6. 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

7. Grade Level Expectations • 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

8. 5th Grade Behavior Plan • 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.

9. Homework • 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

10. Grading Policies • 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

11. Math 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

12. Math Groups • Flexible math grouping • Pre-Assessments • Criteria for math placement • Quarterly pre-test • Differentiated Instruction • Fifth grade SOLs • Enrichment

13. Reading • Students 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

14. Writing 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.

15. Science • 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!

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

17. 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 Proficient B = Proficient C = Intermediate D = Beginning • Progress Indicators • 4 = Advanced Proficient • 3 = Proficient (This is the target for all students) • 2 = Intermediate • 1 = Beginning • = Denotes knowledge or skill not assessed at this time

18. Questions or Comments? • 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! 

19. 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.

20. 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’

21. 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 Conferences Independent 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 appropriate Writing Conference -students will meet with a teacher individually or in a small group to review and edit one of their current writing pieces -focus will be on strong topic sentences, as well as all other writing skills we have worked on throughout the year Cont’

22. 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 they get to the answer – we all think a little differently!) Mad Minute Math – basic facts review – 1 minute to do as many problems as they can Focus Lesson – whole group instruction of current subject – such as Prime/Composite numbers – teacher directed lesson explaining concept Practice – 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