welcome to upper elementary orientation 2016-2017 … · homeroom parent – ms. lori crouch ......
TRANSCRIPT
Welcome to
Upper Elementary Orientation 2016-2017 School Year
Classroom Team
Teacher Guide – Ms. Christine Helm
Email: [email protected]
Teacher Guide – Ms. Elizabeth Bruner
Email: [email protected]
Teacher Guide – Ms. Adrienne Alexander
Email: [email protected]
Teacher Guide – Ms. Mary Navarro
Email: [email protected]
Late Day Staff – AlexanderEddy
Email: [email protected]
Homeroom Parent– Ms. Lori Crouch
Email: [email protected]
Arrival & Departure
Arrival time for Upper Elementary students is 8:00.
Between 8:00 and 8:30 is a “slow start” period during
which students will be working independently. Students will
be marked tardy after 8:30.
Tardiness and absence – 4 per quarter
Departure time for Upper Elementary students is 3:30pm.
Students will be working up until the 3:30 end time. Please
do not pick up your children before 3:30pm.
What to Bring/Leave Home
Please see the website for the link to the supply list or see
the Welcome Letter for a link to the list on Amazon.com.
Please leave the following at home
Excessive Jewelry
Electronics
Toys
Cell Phones
Daily Schedule 2016-2017 Time Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
8:00 - 8:30 Community Meeting/ Spanish Advisory Check- In
8:30 - 9:00
Sustainability/ Spanish
Math Geometry
Word Study Grammar
Literature Circle
History/ Geography/ Science Lessons Big Trip Planning
9:00- 9:30
Sustainability Math
Geometry Word Study Grammar
Writer’s Workshop
Sustainability / Spanish
Math Geometry
Word Study Grammar
Writer’s Workshop
Sustainability /
Spanish Math
Geometry Word Study Grammar
Literature Circle
Sustainability/ Art/
End of Week Conference
Birthday Celebrations/ Student Presentations
9:30 - 11:30
11:30 - 11:45 Meditation Class Meeting
11:50 - 12:20 L U N C H
12:30 - 1:30 P.E / Music Recess
1:30 - 2:00 Peace Education Recess Shelf & Cubby Clean
Up Recess
Friday Electives 2:00 - 3:00
Afternoon Lessons/ Work Period
Afternoon Lessons/ Spanish/Work Period
Mid-Week Conference Afternoon Lessons/
Spanish/ Work Period
3:10 - 3:25 Clean Up
3:25 - 3:30 Dismissal/ Curb
Spanish Spanish will be done in the classrooms Music Cadet or Concert Band Cadet or Symphonic Strings Art Mixed groupings Connected to cultural theme of the year Follow up work from curricular areas given by lead teacher P.E. 3 days a week
Specials in Our Environment
Trips & Activities
Field Trips
Going Outs
Big Trip
◦ Timeline is located on our Classroom Page
Parent Volunteer Opportunities: Holiday Pet Care Needed for the Following Days
Fall Break & Columbus Day
Thanksgiving Break
Winter Break
MLK Jr. Day
President’s Day
Spring Break
Good Friday
Summer Break
Community Guidelines Due dates are strictly adhered to.
◦ Reports - throughout the year
◦ Great Lives Fair– week of November 28th
◦ 4th Year ABC Book, 5th Year Autobiography, 6th Year Senior Project- May 16th, 17th & 18th , respectively
Assessments happen yearlong. (Written, project or performance-based) Most written assessments will be sent home by Friday in your child’s lobby folder.
◦ Biweekly- Word Study
◦ End of unit- Grammar, Math Unit, History/Geography, Science
Phone calls- outgoing phone calls are not permitted except for emergency (life or death) situations. If a call is permitted, an adult should pre-empt the conversation before your child comes in the line so it is understood that the call was authorized.
*see UE Expectations and Guidelines on our Classroom page for more information
Dress for Success The purpose of this dress code is to enhance school safety, improve the learning environment, and promote good behavior. Children’s attitudes toward schoolwork and behavior are related to the clothing that they wear. Therefore, we recommend clothing and footwear suitable for a working atmosphere and appropriate weather. Here are the following guidelines for Upper Elementary:
Shoes
Tennis shoes or sturdy, form-fitting shoes are recommended for the school day.
Flip flops are not permitted
Sandals with back straps can be worn
Clothes
Pants and shorts need to fit snuggly at the waist.
Extremely brief shorts and short skirts are not appropriate for school. Mid-thigh length or longer is appropriate.
Any article of clothing or accessory that promotes inappropriate behavior is prohibited
Thin-strapped or tube tops are not permitted
Please make sure your child comes to school on time.
Please attempt to make your child’s medical and dental appointments in the afternoon.
Please refrain from calling or visiting the classroom during our Great Work Period – between 7:30 – 11:00 a.m. Please schedule teacher appointments with the front desk.
Take your child to the library to support the research projects he/she may be working on.
Ensure your child has chores and responsibilities at home.
Please take family vacations during school vacations. We cannot make up the time they may miss.
Experience nature with your child; nature hikes / nature sound mapping / nature journaling.
Allow time for unstructured, imaginative play.
Have your child experience natural logical consequences.
Dr. Dave will continue his Mindful Parenting series. Please check it out!
Parent Partnerships
Home Learning
Time Management & Missing Work
Your child’s weekly work plan will be placed in their backpacks every Friday. The work plan serves as a record-keeping tool for the student, teacher and you as a parent. In your child’s work plan, instructions for unfinished works are written. Be sure to check backpacks at the end of each week!
Unfinished works go home every Wednesday and Friday in your child’s backpack. They need to be turned in the following school day.
Weekly Work Plan Sample ________________ Work Plan for the week of ___________
Goals
Follow Up WORK Mid
Week
HW
End of
Week
HW
Turned in at
(Date)
Teacher Sign
New Practice Readers/
Current Events
Code: Score:
Math Mixed Practice
Code: Score:
Math Facts
Code: Score:
Journal
DOLM
Code: Score:
Non- Negotiables
Writer’s Workshop
Literature Circle
Book Title:
Read:
Do:
Math
Geometry
Grammar
Word Study
History
Geography
Science
Specials Spanish
PE Music
Home Learning
Reading Expectations, Math Facts & Other Opportunities
One of the expectations from the students this year is to read at least 30 minutes each night of the week, including the weekend. It is important to pick books that are at your child’s level of ability as well as a topic/genre that he or she is interested in. Libraries and online sources are quite helpful in aiding you find the right books for your child. Once they find the genre or author that your child is into, they’ll be hooked! Reading not only expands your child’s vocabulary and knowledge; it also makes them interesting conversationalists!
Although your children will be working with our beautiful Montessori math memorization materials during class time, we have found it really helps many children to reinforce these skills at home. There are many ways you can practice math facts with your children. Money, oral practice in the car, songs, mnemonic devices, counting objects, even writing them with foam or shaving cream in the bathtub may help! The idea is to make it fun and use what works for your child.
Take your child to do grocery shopping with you so they learn to work with money, weights and even nutrition!
There are also many sites and games online which may pique your child’s interest. Here’s one that we highly recommend for your child to do daily: Math Facts Master. This app keeps track of your child’s progress well as has the ability to send the progress via email!
Home Learning- Semestral Projects
Upper Elementary has chosen Great Lives Fair as this fall semester’s project. The Great Lives packet will be sent home on the week of August 22nd.
Classroom presentations will begin on Monday, November 28, culminating with an exhibit from 4:30 to 6:00 pm on Thursday, December 1st.
For spring semester, the 4th year students will create their own ABC book, 5th year students will write their Autobiography, and the 6th year students will complete their Senior Project. The packets will be sent home on the week of December 12th.
Each of the grade levels will have separate Author’s Tea on May 16, 17 & 18 respectively to publish their written works.
The work for these projects will be completed at home with parent supervision. There will be lessons given in the classroom to explain the requirements and provide assistance in the process.
Curriculum Expectations
The elementary level is set up to be a spiral curriculum, which eventually spirals into our secondary program. Math:
◦ All new concepts are introduced using materials, and the child is consistently referred back to the materials. Before any pencil and paper is used, the child must be proficient with the materials and have a complete understanding of the concept.
◦ Math facts are taught using different materials ◦ Math is not a grade specific subject. All students, if they have been deemed proficient in a
concept, can move to the next level of difficulty, or to a parallel strand in the math curriculum. ◦ Paper and pencil is very rarely used in the math curriculum in the 6 – 9 classrooms. It is
obviously more prevalent in the 9 – 12 classrooms as the student becomes more abstract in his/her math thinking and rationalizing.
History:
◦ 1st year history rotation: The Timeline of Early Humans ◦ 2nd year history rotation: Ancient Civilizations & Middle Ages ◦ 3rd year history rotation: Colonial America, American History up to the War of 1812, AZ
State
Science: 3 year cycle that will spiral from 6 – 9 up through the secondary program ◦ Year One of Cycle: Botany Studies / Earth Science ◦ Year Two of Cycle: Physical Science/ Evolutionary Chemistry ◦ Year Three of Cycle: Human Biology / Animal Body Functions
Geography:
◦ Year One of Cycle: Advanced Land & Water Forms ◦ Year Two of Cycle: Ancient Civilizations ◦ Year Three of Cycle: US & Arizona Geography
Language: Please note that because the language curriculum is so vast, it will not be put into complete detail in this document. Basic expectations are included here.
9 – 12 year old expectations:
Well constructed sentences
Run-on sentences and sentence fragments
Three paragraph essay – 4th and some 5th year students
Five paragraph essay – 6th and some 5th year students
Students should be well versed in friendly letters, thank you notes, invitations and addressing envelopes – continuing working on these
Business letter format
Types of writing:
Expository to include: informative writing, persuasive writing, and report writing
Narrative to include: fiction writing, journal writing, nonfiction narrative, personal narrative
Note: descriptive writing would be included in both expository and narrative writing
Poetry
Play writing
Mechanics to include: all forms of capitalization, abbreviations, all forms of comma usage, ending marks, possessives, hyphens, parentheses, ellipsis, semicolon, colon, dash, apostrophe, italics
Grammar to include: nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, interjections, conjunctions
Novel studies in both the fall and spring of the school year
Editing: give key lessons then students can edit journals and personal writing. Perfect product expectations would be for letters, research papers, and the like
Word study: homonyms, synonyms, antonyms, root words, Latin-derived
Curriculum Expectations
Time
* Make sure you have analog clocks around the house.
* Buy your child a watch with clear numerals on an analog face.
* Ask your child to tell time to the half hour (younger students) and to the minute (older students.)
* Help your child estimate elapsed time. How long will it take to cook dinner? Use a timer to find out the answer.
Money
* Let your child run a family restaurant with menus and prices. Use real money.
* Have your child make change.
* Take your child shopping and let your child figure out the cost of certain items. How much would three pounds of apples cost if apples are $2.29 per pound?
Fractions
* Cooking is a great way to practice fractions. Your child can follow a recipe using 1/2, 1/4, 1/8 etc.
Nature hikes / nature sound mapping / nature journaling – Many of our children are experiencing a “nature deficit." Anything that gets them out of the house thinking about the beauty and complexity of nature is a worthwhile home learning activity.
Unstructured imaginative play is a missing part in the lives of many of our children. Allowing your child ample time for this activity will help him or her develop critical and creative thinking skills.
Home learning should be meaningful to the child. Cooking, gardening, pet care, chores, family games, anything you and your child do together as a family that is active is valuable Home Learning.
Curriculum Expectations
Conferences
Conference 1 Goal Setting (August/September)
Reflecting on the first few weeks
Setting goals for the year
Conference 2 (November/December)
Progress Report
Mid-term discussion
Conference 3 (April/May)
Progress Report
Re-cap and look ahead
Communication
Montessori Compass
Website- https://desertgardenmontessori.org/parent/classroom-ue/
Emails
◦ Ms. Christine- [email protected]
◦ Ms. Elizabeth- [email protected]
◦ Ms. Adrienne- [email protected]
◦ Ms. Mary- [email protected]
◦ Upper Elementary Team- [email protected]
Phone Calls- 480-496-9833
Person-to-Person- limited after class time
Office Hours- every 3rd Thursday 3:30 – 4:30
Communication
We have separated the Upper Elementary students into groups of varying ages among our lead teachers.
We will respond to non-urgent e-mails within one week.
Please call the front desk to set up appointments with us during our office hours.
Please schedule all conferences with your child's Teacher Advisor.
Upper Elementary Advisory Groups 2016-2017
Ms. Christine Ms. Adrienne Ms. Elizabeth
Addison Ballantyne Tyler Boatman Hayden Corry
Samuel Guston Jake Currier Brycen Crouch
Eliot Jeffries Soul Montano Owen Glass
Jack Lovejoy Nicholas Robinson Trinity Jacobsen
Greta Trimble Elizabeth Webster Max Jameel
Olivia Mathison Nathan Wessel Isabel Kasathsko
Kai Perez Nevaeh Crouch Cole Lammes
Katie Pfund Andrew Harman Lucas Maloney
Aidan Boere Natalie Mendoza Kai Modi
Alena Counihan Emery Meyers Christopher Tinsley
Savanna Hennigh Samuel Otalora Almaz Lee
Taylor Mohr Nicholas Goyen Ella Pfund
Ahmad Mujahed Benjamin Maloney Olivia Hanstedt
Grant Owens Mason Pio
Taylor Smith
Website Resources On our Classroom Page
◦ Daily Schedule
◦ Supply List
◦ Orientation Slide Show UE 2016-2017
◦ UE Curriculum Expectations
◦ UE Scope & Sequence
◦ UE Trips and Activities Calendar
Under Parent Resources
• Parent Handbook 2016- 2017