Hello parents,
I hope that you and your families had a wonderful winter break. I was so happy to start the new year and come back to the classroom.
We are in week six of the semester. So far in English Foundations, we have started a Novel Study. We are currently reading Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage.
Here is a quick Synopsis of our story:
"Rising sixth grader Miss Moses LoBeau lives in the small town of Tupelo Landing, NC, where everyone's business is fair game and no secret is sacred. She washed ashore in a hurricane eleven years ago, and she's been making waves ever since. Although Mo hopes someday to find her "upstream mother," she's found a home with the Colonel--a café owner with a forgotten past of his own--and Miss Lana, the fabulous café hostess. She will protect those she loves with every bit of her strong will and tough attitude. So when a lawman comes to town asking about a murder, Mo and her best friend, Dale Earnhardt Johnson III, set out to uncover the truth in hopes of saving the only family Mo has ever known."
In class, we will be listening to the story and working on building vocabulary and comprehension skills. The workbook that follows the novel will be completed in class and will count towards each student's grade under the category of classwork/homework. We will also have section quizzes as we progress through the novel and a comprehensive test once we have completed the novel.
Another portion of the class is dedicated to building skills to help students read and understand nonfiction texts. We will work on how to find the main idea of the text, find key details, and find the author's purpose.
All of this work will help each student build the skills necessary to make progress towards their IEP goals. This class will also help each student where they are at and build them up from there.
Grading
This class's grading is broken down into 4 parts
Classwork: students are required to complete specific assignments in class. This is workbook practice from our novel study or skill-building practice for nonfiction text.
Test/Quiz: students will be taking quizzes to show their learning and understanding of the novel. They will also take quizzes to show mastery of the concepts being taught. They will have a comprehensive Test over Three Times Lucky once we have finished the story.
Weekly Participation: This category holds the most weight in their grade. Each day, based on the student's behavior, attempted work completion, and effort, they can earn put to 20 points each day. They rate how their day went at the end of each class period. The teacher reserves the right to change a student's grade to reflect the student's honest performance in class on any given day. The teacher will conference with the student when this happens to explain how the student can change things for the next day to earn all 20 points.
Writing: Each day the students start the class period by completing a bell ringer. They are tasked to watch and write a response to a video. Each video has a quote of the day. Tyler, the video creator, will share the quote and share his thoughts on the quote and why it has impacted his life. Students are asked to write the quote, write their thoughts on the quote, write some notes from the video, indicated if they liked the quote, and indicate if they agreed with Tyler's thoughts. Students will also be assigned small writing projects from time to time. They will receive explicit instruction on the expectation for the final copy of the project. They will receive feedback and have opportunities to improve their writing before turning in a final.
Schoology
This is the time of year where students can become sick. In order to accommodate students that have missed class, the work will also be available to them through Schoology. Audio recording of the story is also available through Schoology. If the student does not have access to a computer or wifi at home, please reach out and let me know. I can prepare physical copies of the work for them to complete at home.
Late Policy
If a student is absent due to illness, they will have the number of days that they missed plus one to complete the work without a late penalty. After those days, the student can face up to a 10% loss of points due to turning the assignment in late.
Test/Quizzes
Tests and quizzes will also be available for students to take online. I will unlock the test/quiz once the student is ready to take it.
Questions or Concerns
If you or your student has any questions or concerns, please reach out to me. I am more than willing to answer those questions and concerns. I know that I cannot fix something if I do not know it is broken. I believe in open commuication. Please do not hesitate to reach out.
email: schapman@ sd251.org
phone: (208)745-6674 ext 3130
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