Back to School Night Info

Writing

Informal
informal will be done in class; the kids will not be concerned about grammar, spelling, etc.

Formal: 
5 Paragraph Essay
Intro: hook, general statements that will very essay to essay and a clear, concise thesis statement
Body Paragraphs: 3 all together; each will need 3+ supporting details
Conclusion: 3-5 sentence and the thesis statement must be restated, and they will end essay with one of the many ways we will go over in class

Transitions
Must ID them in all graded assignments (highlight, circle, bold)

Spicy Taco Words
Must ID them in all graded writing assignments (highlight, circle, bold)

The transitions and spicy taco words have to be identified DIFFERENTLY

All graded assignments need to be double spaced typed; when I grade them, if I circle something, that is just saying I found a transition; if I double underline something, that means I found a spicy taco word (great word style)


Reading
Short stories and novels
Grades will be based on graded homework and tests

Vocab Workshop
www.vocabtest.com is a great site to prepare for the tests

Spelling (6th grade only)
We will try to do a new unit about every 10 days

Grammar
Textbook will be used in school
Workbook will be assigned for homework

Rubrics
If your child "Meets my Expectations" (score of a 3), he or she will never get a perfect score; your child has to go above and beyond and "Exceed my Expectations" (to get a score of a 4)

Grading on FACTS

Writing will be based on Writing Assignments at 70% and Grammar (and Spelling for 6th grade only) at 30%

Reading will be based on Reading at 60% and Vocab Workshop at 40%


Homework

It will be posted in the classroom so the kids have to get in the habit of copying it down; I won't rewrite stuff say after day; for example, I will only post a test and its due date once.  Homework will also be posted on Google Classroom on a Google Doc

Miscellaneous

Please contact me first with any concerns, whether they are minor/trivial or major; I will do my best to address it.

Banish Boring Words is a GREAT book to purchase for your child; it should be less than $10.00 on Amazon; it is published by Scholastic