Welcome Parents!Welcome Parents!Welcome Parents!Welcome Parents!

Please feel free to Please feel free to

have a seat.have a seat.

IntroductionExperience:• 12th year of teaching• Master’s Degree in Language, Reading, and Culture, from the

UofA• Endorsed as a reading specialist

My Teaching Goals:• Maintain a safe, well-managed, nurturing and organized

classroom• Inspire students to become life long, inquisitive learners• Prepare all students for 7th grade by meeting state standards

and teaching them responsibility• Differentiate instruction to meet the needs and learning

styles of all students (challenge/modify)

Rules/Behavior• 3 Rules:

– Respect yourself and others at all times (no put downs, shut ups, laughing or rolling eyes at)!

– Always give 100% by believing that “I can and I will.”– YOU are responsible for your materials and homework.

• School Focus: – Be responsible, respectful, and a problem solver

• Consequences:– 1. Warning 2.behavior journal/call home 3. assistant

principal– ZAP (Any missing work = ZAP Room during Lunch)– Pink Slips (3/wk= Tuesday After School Katch-up TASK

or lunch detention – if no HW missing)

Grading

• Standard grading scale:– A+ 100-97– A 96-94– A- 93-90

• Late homework= 60% off (not graded—but must be complete!)

• Late projects= 11% off per day

• Agenda– Students are

expected to write their homework in their agendas on a daily basis• Great tool for

being organized

• Prepares them for their future

• Communication– Email

kmoody@amphi.com– Classroom phone

696-5862 (please no transportation messages)

– Note in agenda

• Website:• http://www.amphi.com/

teachers/kmoody/home.html– Grades online (not

currently working)– Weekly newsletter (my

blog)– Homework calendar– Forms/Handouts

Communication

Writing• Writing: a program that is very concrete and

skills-based – teaches them HOW to write and improve their 6 Traits of Writing– “Teaching Writing: Structure & Style”

• Q1: Basic skills of writing and composing different types of letters

• Q2: Poetry Unit (Poetry Anthology)• Q3: Creative Stories (PhotoStory/Movie Maker or

Picture Book)• Q4: Research Project (combined with Biography

“Documentary” Movie Project in reading class)• Grammar/”Fix It!”

Writing Homework

• Grammar packets (assigned Tuesday due Wednesdays)

• “Fix It!” (a type of DOL practice - prepare for weekly Friday tests)

• Writing projects• Oral Presentations

Social Studies• Newest State Standards (2006)

– All students have a SS book at home.– Geography Unit: Maps (differences, purposes, how

to read them, vocabulary)– Ancient Civilizations:

• Ancient Mesopotamia• Ancient Egypt, India, China, America• Ancient Greek and Roman Civilizations• Medieval Europe and Africa• Renaissance, Reformation, and Enlightenment• Major Religions (tied to their influence on cultures and

civilizations) – geographic origins, founding leaders/teachings,

traditions, customs, and beliefs

How we learn…• Daily Geography QuizGeoBee Challenge

- National Geographic• Textbook Reading• Hands-on Learning (mummies, masks)• Computer Simulations (Decisions,

Decisions)Feudalism• Project-based Learning (6th Graders

Teaching 1st Graders)• Research

Social Studies Homework

• Mapping Activities• Map locations (memorize for quizzes)• Textbook reading assignments• Study for tests (using notes from units

studied) – online support: www.jat.glencoe.com

• Completion of tasks started in class• 5 paragraph Essays (Writing in Content

Areas)M:\Social Studies\Ch. 4 and 5 Greeks\Five Paragraph Essay for the Greeks.doc

ReadingReading: building comprehension strategies and skills• Read Aloud and Book Study (Novels)• Mini skills lessons to improve comprehension

strategies and learn the elements of a different genres– Q1 – Mystery, Realistic Fiction– Q2 – Fantasy, Science Fiction, Poetry (tied to

Poetry Anthology in Writing class)– Q3 – Historical Fiction– Q4 – Biography (tied to Biography “Documentary”

Movie in Writing class)• Focus on Functional Text (lowest area on AIMS)• Continuous vocabulary development through roots

and derivatives

Reading Homework• Root words (2 per week + 8

derivatives) assigned Monday due Thursday (tests every other Thursday)

• Nightly reading – 20 minutes min.• 1 Book Report per quarter (use of

technology and creativity to present their book)

• Fostering creativity and critical thinking skills…

• Students will take each of the following four courses throughout the course of the year, or will be provided the opportunity to receive additional, specialized instruction in a math or language lab.

• Agency: As members of ad "agencies," students learn about methods of communication (e.g., written, oral, and symbolic) by designing billboards and magazine ads, analyzing commercials, and developing entire campaigns for given products, all the while reacting to Fate Cards delivered by the teacher that change their plans.

• BizTown: JA BizTown® encourages students to learn about the free enterprise system by participating in a simulated town. Student experiences vary from working in a bank, a television station, or a retail store, to managing personal finance, writing checks and accounting. Students realize the relationship between what they learn in school and their successful participation in a simulated economy. Field trip on March 17th, 2010…mark your calendars!

• Game Factory: Students work in pairs performing hands-on experiments with spinners, dice, coins and cards to test the probabilities of “loaded” games. The flip of a coin or the roll of the die determines the moves they make as they advance through the course, examining games for fairness. As they find problems, they make modifications and record reasons for their decisions. In the final project, student pairs design their own games and present them with an explanation of their fairness. If time permits, the course will also include instruction in common “strategy” based card and board games.

• Forum: As Greek exiles from the land of Podium, student "families" journey back to their homeland by completing speech—seven different public-speaking experiences—and Family Fate activities. The amount of cargo families take with them is determined by how well they do on pantomimes, word definitions, and listening-skill activities. After studying the elements of speech writing, students write their own presentation, introduction, acceptance, informative, and persuasive speeches, all in different settings. If time permits, the course will also require students to engage in formal debates.

Donations Needed!

• Give “Fundraisers” the boot – not fundraising. Each family is encouraged to make a donation to PTO (this is not AZ tax credit donation, but is still a tax deductible donation).

• PTO money has purchased smartboard software, printer, and supplies for my classroom!

See board out in hallway!

Thanks for coming this

evening!