Mr. Lewis Mrs. Pauluk Mrs. Levanti Mrs. Bedner Welcome to Curriculum Night 2015

 Goal = Lifelong Readers  StoryTown Anthology  Guided Reading – major component  Independent Reading – “Just Right Books”  Comprehension is key  Focus on Skills/Strategies – predicting, questioning, monitoring, visualizing, connecting…  AimsWeb Screenings/Progress Monitoring  Daily 5

 A way of structuring the Literacy Block so every student is independently engaged in meaningful literacy tasks  Research based tasks that will have the biggest impact on student reading and writing achievement and foster children who love to read and write  Explicit whole group instruction then independent practice time to read and write  Meanwhile we provide focused, intense instruction to small groups of students

 Read to Self: Research continually shows that the best way to become a better reader is to practice, practice, practice  Work on Writing: Just like it takes practice to become a better reader, it takes practice to become a better writer  Word Work: Working with spelling and vocabulary words helps children become better spellers and writers  Read to Someone: Helps develop reading fluency and comprehension  Curriculum Connections: Continuation of small group work

 Writer’s Workshop model  Writer’s Notebook  Gathering, Drafting, Editing, Revising, Conferring, Publishing  6 Traits – Ideas, Organization, Fluency, Word Choice, Voice, Conventions (paragraph editing)  Opinion, Expository, Narrative

 Pattern/phonics based core list and 4 th grade high frequency words  West Hartford Core Words – integrated throughout year – 4 th grade list for home  Challenge words given as necessary  Students bring home words each week  Words typically run on 5 day cycles

 Common Core aligned units  Place value, multiplication, division, fractions, geometry  Math centers ◦ Teaching done mostly small group  Flexible grouping  AIMSWeb Screenings  Basic Facts Practice – Very Important – HELP! ◦ XtraMath – Great site for fact practice  Sumdog, Front Row, Tenmarks

 50 States/Geography  Map Skills  Connecticut History and impact of individuals, groups and events on CT history (Mark Twain, Samuel Colt, Nathan Hale, etc.)  Current Events – Scholastic News/Service Learning  Using primary and secondary sources

 Inquiry Based – kids actively engaged, questioning, experimenting, exploring  Lab Report Writing/Note Taking  Ecosystems (3 Field Studies with Westmoor Park)  Sound and Light  Earth Materials  Water Cycle  Health

 Second Step Program – self esteem, empathy, responsibility, respect, problem solving  Healthy Relationships  Nutrition  Internet Safety and Cyberbullying  Substance Abuse Prevention  Disease and Injury Prevention  Bicycle Safety

 Monday – Thursday  Practice, apply, and extend strategies and skills  Provide opportunity to develop independence and responsibility  Expected that students are reading for approximately minutes per night  Study math facts each night  Home Reading Sheet  Weekly Reflection  Students should be able to do independently  Looking for their best effort, but need to know when they don’t understand

 Promethean Board  TurningPoint Clickers  4 student laptops  5 iPads  Typing (Can be done at home)  Research Skills  Laptop Cart  Investment in Technology

 Book Buddies  Room parents ◦ Bedner – Melissa Harhay & Alex Slap ◦ Levanti – Kelly Kelly & Kim Carbone ◦ Lewis – Renee McCue & Amy Sarzen ◦ Pauluk – Kate Yepes & Maritza Liu  Field Trip money  Conference Sign-Up – November 17 – 20 (on back tables)

 Tissues  Band Aids  Ziploc bags (quart and gallon size)