Sixth Grade Back to School Night

2. Sixth GradeBack to School Night

3. DAILY SCHEDULE

4. COOL!Community of Outstanding Leaders Monday – What compliment can you give to someone else? Tuesday – What is something specific you can do to help others? Wednesday – What do you find interesting occurring in the “outside” world? Thursday – What is something exciting going on your life?

5. WOW!Working on the Work Monday – Thursday students will either be engaged in a thirty minute study hall where they can study for tests and complete homework assignments OR they will be in a small group setting with one of the four classroom teachers in the Learning Lab. Attendance to the Learning Lab can either be by student request, parent request, or teacher request. Friday is reserved for weekly recess.

6. Absences • For excused absences, students have two school days to make up work for each day absent. • Call a classmate if the student wants assignments or books to come home; missed work is usually placed in student’s school mailbox. • Students who have been absent should check Schoolnotes before returning to school; on the day of return, students should check their mailboxes and see their teachers prior to the morning bell! • Make-up work requiring teacher assistance may be worked on before or after schoolor during WOW! Check with the teacher ahead of time to be sure he/she is available.

7. Graded papers: Graded papers come home for parents to see every couple of weeks. Please sign the cover sheet and return the papers the next day. Test Calendar: No more than two major tests or assignments will be given/due on the same day. Mailboxes: Information to go home, including make-up work, is placed in the students’ homeroom mailboxes.

8. Digital Devices • Students are under the same guidelines with personal digital devices as they are when using computers and other digital devices at school. The Technology Usage Policy that all students and parents sign each year applies to, but is not limited to, all digital devices, storage devices/media, and digital content. Students are subject to disciplinary action for misuse of personal devices. Students are expected to use digital devices only for reading and academic purposes.

9. Dress Code • Students must come to school wearing tennis shoes for FOAC or PE. There will be no time to change shoes during the school day. • For field trips, students will be asked to wear khakis and collared shirts for boys and dresses or skirts for girls. Shoes may be changed on field trip days only.

10. INCLEMENT WEATHER • Every “walker” student should have a “rainy day plan.” • Prediction of severe weather may prompt WARN system notification of early dismissal. • In the event that dangerous or potentially dangerous weather conditions are actually present at the time that school is normally dismissed, the school principal may strongly request that students remain in school until such conditions are no longer present; under such conditions, only parents or guardians may check students out from school.

11. F.O.A.C.Fair Oaks Adventure Curriculum • Much thought and preparation have gone into creating the FOAC lists. Any changes should be made on the basis of extreme conflicts. Changes will have to occur through mutually agreed-upon “swaps.” Once parents have confirmed the swap, please communicate the changes via email to Leslie Batts. Remember, in order to ensure the full value of the FOAC experience, campout weekends should be treated as a scheduling priority. • The deadline for any changes is Monday, August 26th.

12. Mountain Brook City Schools Foundation! • Technology (sound enhancement systems, classroom response systems, laptops, document cameras) • Professional Development (130,000 hrs) • Library Enhancement (5,000 library books, software, supplies, and magazines) Gifts from 1995–2013 total $4,757,450

13. Sixth Grade Social StudiesU.S. History 1880s - present “If you want to understand today, you have to search yesterday.”  ~Pearl Buck

14. About Mrs. Fuentes MBHS graduate 16th year teaching 7th year at Cherokee Bend Previously taught Language Arts in 6th grade I truly believe, “The brain that does the work is the brain that learns.”

15. Course Description This year our course of study will follow Alabama state guidelines for both Social Studies and Language Arts. Language Arts instruction will focus on expository, or nonfiction reading and writing, in the content area of Social Studies. Within the scope and sequence for our study of U.S. History, we will investigate the historical development of the United States as a political, cultural, and economic entity. In addition to studying the details of major events, we will look at the impact of geography, migration patterns, reform movements and scientific advances on our changing society. An emphasis will be placed on the relationship between past and current events. In addition to our textbooks, we will use outside resources including the internet, library reference material, newspapers and periodicals, and historical fiction.

16. Units of Study – First Semester Rapid Change   2nd Industrial Revolution/Inventions Progressive Reformers Immigration World War I Growing Pains Roaring Twenties Harlem Renaissance Great Depression Dust Bowl The New Deal

17. Units of Study – Second Semester Building Walls World War II Cold War Tearing Down Walls Cultural/Social Change Civil Rights Vietnam Fall of Communism War on Poverty 9/11 Gulf War

18. Social Studies Grades • Homework 5 points • Quizzes 10-50 points • Current Events 50 points • Interactive Notebook 100 points • Unit Tests 100 points • Projects 100 points

19. “Professor Johnston often said that if you didn't know history, you didn't know anything.  You were a leaf that didn't know it was part of a tree.” ~Michael Crichton

20. About Mrs. Hunt • I graduated from Auburn University. • I received my Masters in education from UAB. • This is my 18th year in education. • My favorite movie is Midnight in Paris. • My favorite book is Tongues of Flame. Quote:“ So please, oh PLEASE, we beg, we pray, Go throw your TV set away, And in its place you can install, A lovely bookshelf on the wall." — Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

21. How much does your child read daily?

23. Literacy Statistics(Argument for Becoming a Lifelong Reader) 32% of Alabama’s of high school graduates who enter college require remedial reading help. 16% of the general population in Alabama are functionally illiterate. 32% of Americans ages 18-24 reported reading NO books for pleasure in 2002. $2,000,000,000.00 was spent each year on students who repeat a grade because they have reading problems. 44,000,000 adults in the United States can’t read well enough to read a simple story to a child.

24. 4 Basic Elements in Learning Any Language • Listening • Speaking • Reading • Writing “Each of these elements builds upon the knowledge of the last until we can express ourselves eloquently in our writing and thereby demonstrate mastery. Whenever one or more of the basic elements to learning language are lacking- listening or speaking- the reading and the writing suffers.” -blog- The Little House in the Tumbleweeds

25. What Your Child Will Learn in Reading and Language Arts Class Reading Students will: • Read a variety of texts • Learn to read deeply and analytically for subtext and understanding • Broaden their reading experiences by working with multiple genres • Explore and have choice in creative class projects based on text read in class • Continue to develop their vocabulary knowledge through robust instruction

26. Continued English Students will: • Study forms of writing including narrative, expository, persuasive, argument, and creative writing • Study grammar and apply concepts learned in class in student writing • Learn and practice research skills • Learn and practice public speaking skills • Use the writing process

27. Workshop Model • Mini-Lesson- focused topic or skill • Independent Reading/Writing Time- time to practice skill using books of students’ choice and time for writing • Individual and Small Group Work- conferring time • Sharing Time/Closing Conversations- sharing skills and strategies, something learned as readers and writers

28. What Parents Can Do to Help Their Child Become Lifelong Readers and Writers • Be a role model. • Show your children you value reading. • Establish routines. • Communicate in writing. (keeping a journal, writing letters, emails, family webpage) • Visit libraries and bookstores. • Read ALOUD to your child often!!

29. Reading Grades • Unit tests and quizzes • Vocabulary quizzes • Independent reading responses • Reader’s Notebook • Novel tests • Projects

30. English Grades • Essays • Unit tests • Skill quizzes • Writer’s Notebook • Current events • Grammar homework

31. 6th grade Science Catastrophic Events and Earth in Space

32. About Mrs. Batts • 9th year teaching • Taught 3rd grade at CBS for the past 8 years • Assistant softball coach at MBHS “Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.” -Socrates

33. Units of Study- First Semester • Science safety • Scientific method • Longitude and Latitude • Weather • Reading a map • forecasting • Continent study • Geography • Biomes • Catastrophic events/natural disasters

34. Units of Study-Second Semester • Water biomes • Freshwater • Oceans • Earth in Space • Phases of the moon • Solar system

35. Science Grades • Tests/Research • Quizzes • Lab Reports • Projects • Daily classwork

36. “Equipped with his five senses, man explores the universe around him and calls the adventure Science.”-Edwin Powell Hubble

37. Sixth Grade Mathematics There is something I don’t understand about Algebra: It has been around for thousands of years, yet no one has ever found out what the value of “X” and “Y” really is.

38. About Mr. Haller • 10th Year Teaching • 8th Year @ Cherokee Bend • Learning needs to be enjoyable. I love to have fun, but in the classroom, we must WORK HARD TO PLAY HARD. • Communication: I’ll be sending the parents 6th grade information via e-mails throughout the year. • Working together …everything we do is for your children, the students. If there’s ever a problem, please let me know.

39. Sixth Grade Mathematics A BIG Welcome to Carnegie Learning Middle School Series & MATHia Software Please check out my website for links to Carnegie Learning and MATHia • Research-based • Standards-based…including Common Core! • Student-centered • Collaborative & Cooperative • Blended, utilizing consumable textbooks and amazing computer software

40. Problem Solving…A quick example…I will need a volunteer! Johnny Manziel received 2 quarters and 5 pennies for signing autographs. How much money does Johnny have? 55 cents

41. Problem Solving…A quick example…I will need a volunteer! I have 5 coins in my pocket worth exactly 55 cents, what are these coins? ~ Any difference?

42. Sixth Grade Mathematics Carnegie Learning Middle School Series -Course 1 • Multiples, Primes, and Composites • Prime Factorization • Fractions • Decimals • Ratios • Percents • Introduction to Expressions • Algebraic Expressions • Inequalities and Equations • Integers • The Cartesian Coordinate Plane • Units of Measure • Area • Introduction to The Third Dimension • Collecting and Displaying Data • Analyzing and Interpreting Data

43. What If I Need Help in Math? • ASK Questions…ASK for help. • Continuous goal of molding self-reliant learners! Advocate for their own learning. • WOW! Time • Moodlerooms • Learning Logs – Math Notes

44. Math Routines & Activities • Warm Ups – daily; varied concepts & skills; Math Minutes • Cooperative & Collaborative Student Centered Learning for the Day – four days a week; new or continued from prior day; student-centered learning at its best, fostering student participation, cooperation, and collaboration; mostly hands-on • MATHia – one day a week computer software program. Students can also access the program at home and work at one’s own pace. • New Homework Assignment – daily; to be written in agenda • WOW!...Working On the Work! – 30 minute time period set aside four days a week for additional support, extensions/challenges, make-up work, silent reading, and silent study hall. • Computer Labs – 40 minute Special once a week that will include many computer activities; several of these will be related to Math including BrainPOPs and a variety of Math Games.

45. Grading

46. Math Homework • Assignments should be written into agenda. • Assignments will also be posted on Schoolnotes. • Assignments will also be posted in Moodlerooms and this is where notes and some of the homework will be available for printing. • HW should be done in pencil…neat, legible, and organized.

47. Three Important Math Resources • Mr. Haller’s Website– important links, tutorials, information, etc. • Schoolnotes – daily record of what happened in class and what’s for homework • Moodlerooms – another reference to all homework assignments and the place from which to print off homework and notes

48. Moodlerooms…

49. Our 6th Grade goal this school year is to create self-reliant 21st Century Learners. • The 4C’s: • Contribute • Create • Collaborate • Connect