Parents, you are an important part of your child's success.
I spent some time at the beginning of the school year helping your child become aware of his or her primary learning style, briefly discussing study skills, and stressing the value of using their agendas and binders with divider tabs for organization.
Ultimately, your child needs to take responsibility to come to class prepared, to be an active learner, and to take ownership for their learning.
I take my responsibilities to your child seriously, and I expect him or her in turn, to make responsible choices in class that will help and not hinder his or her success, nor that of classmates. Each student needs to bring their best effort.
I believe it can be useful for you to know how this course is structured: We open our class with a Warmup activity where students make daily entries into a composition book that will relate to either a quick review on material previously covered, or doing a pre-assessment, or providing background information when introducing new content. Our instructional formats vary- sometimes whole-group, sometimes small-group instruction, sometimes doing one-on-one progress-monitoring. There are independent work periods when students are asked to work quietly individually or in small groups that focus on various literacy skills practice, vocabulary development, response to literature, literature analysis, or computer stations. We also go to Computer Lab where students utilize the ThinkCERCA program provided by the District to develop critical reading skills and to practice constructed responses to help them be better prepared for the increased rigor of new Milestones testing and mandated Common Core. In this program, students are provided with various non-fiction text passages across disciplines to appeal to a wide range of interests and abilities. Your child is offered differentiated lessons, based on their ability levels, and receiving strategic instruction to strengthen inferential skills and overall comprehension.
We have a classroom library, and students are free to take books out of classroom for choice reading. It is strongly recommended that they read nightly at home at least 20 minutes. There is a strong correlation in growth.
We have recently covered text features, text structures, characterization in the short story The Lottery, and soon will begin reading the novel Divergent.
We will generally test on current content, most often on Fridays. I have a strictly enforced policy of maintaining "Testing Mode" during an assessment - meaning a zero is automatically given if some one talks or creates disruption to others trying to test. If your child misses a test due to an excused absence, it is his or her responsibility to see me before or after class, on the day they return, to make arrangements to make up missed work.
I can be available some mornings and afternoons by appointment. If your child wants extra help, have them make arrangements in advance.
Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns. Looking forward to a successful year! Mrs. Hedstrom