Welcome to Hadley Middle School Curriculum Night Mrs. Donna Murphy Room 211 S Team

S Team Members Mrs. Elizabeth Hitzeman Mrs. Debbie Kuhny Ms Kelly Klosak Mrs. Camille Hicks Mrs. Laurie Moroz

Philosophy of our Class Teach less and Teach it better Learn how to solve problems Prove It. Show me the evidence Produce your best Professional Product-always! Everyone starts with an “A”. It’s up to you to keep it! Teamwork is always better! Know your kids! Excite them anyway you can. You are part of a Global Community Make 6 th Grade Memorable! I will believe only 50% of what they say about you, if you only believe 50% of what they say about me!

Core Curriculum Teacher Checklist Lead High-Level, Text Based Discussions Focus on Process, Not Just Content Create Assignments for a Real Audience that Serve a Real Purpose Teach Argument Based on Evidence, Not Persuasion Increase Text Complexity

What Does It All Mean? Worksheets, multiple choice, and true/false questions will be minimal Written essay type answers using evidence from the text will be greatly increased Higher level reading material will be the norm Student centered collaborative classes Several research/cited papers a year Less material covered, but covered in depth Different types of homework and less grades in the gradebook

READING What We Will Read 1.Novels- Where the Red Fern Grows Number the Stars 2.Textbook-Storytown 3.R.E.A.D. & Jr. Scholastic Magazines 4.Informational text from many outside sources 5. Online sources of related text Skills-Writing 1.Literary Elements of Fictional Writing 2.Author Techniques-symbolism, personification, simile/metaphor, humor 3.Using chronological order to organize informational research 4.Evaluation of credible sources/web sites to synthesize info 5.Our overriding question all year will be, “Can you prove it? How do you know?” 6.Forming an educated opinion using evidence

Social Studies Geography location, location, location Modern Day How does yesterday affect today? Ancient Cultures Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Inca (SA), China, and Aborigine (Australia)

Homework Policy Students are expected to hand in their best product We use black or blue pen We use clean notebook paper (not from a spiral) Cursive writing will be awarded extra credit Turn work in on time and complete which means when collected in class Students will have two days after returning from an illness to complete graded work I will be happy to give full credit to all work that follows these guidelines

Homework-continued We are happy to accept any work dropped off in the office, but it will not receive full credit It will be graded as a “late” assignment starting at 10 points off (team policy) We are hoping to promote personal responsibility and organization with the team/school policies WEEKENDS-I do not assign HW-it’s family time I would ask that you have your child read the paper over the weekend…..ask lots of questions!

Contact Information Homework Hotline can be found on the Homer 33C website (click on my name-left hand column) Phone: (direct line to my room) Phone calls will be returned during 8 th period each day during my plan (1:30-2:00)