1. Cheryl Gaca Email: cgaca@mbvm.orgcgaca@mbvm.org Phone:815-933-7758

2. Raise your hand Participate in class discussions Listen to others Show your best work and attitude Turn in your work on time

3. Each child will meet with me to arrive at a goal to strive for each trimester When the goal is met each trimester an A+ will be given in Literature as a test grade. Students can read above level, but not below If goal is not met, a percentage of the points accumulated will be given – Ex. 10 pt. goal=only read 8=80% out of 100 points

4. Students will: read four novels: The Giver, by Lois Lowry and Homecoming, by Cynthia Voigt, Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, and Healing Hands by Gregg and Deborah Lewis read books at an individualized reading level using the Accelerated Reader Program read a book at any level based on the month’s theme define a variety of roots, prefixes and suffixes and apply the information to gain meaning of unknown words in text as well as create new words. Use synonyms and antonyms to express meanings of words Transfer new vocabulary into other contexts Identify and interpret idioms, similes, analogies, and metaphors Analyze words, vocabulary and context clues to determine meanings Use other resources provided by the laptop to clarify meanings of words Recognize figurative language, description and dialogue in text identify plot, setting, character, rising and falling actions, solutions, conflicts, foreshadowing, flashback and symbolism. use skimming to locate information.identify author’s ideas and purposes Demonstrate reading strategies to use when comprehension is unclear. Make connections to real world situations Summarize ideas to make inferences about character traits and motivations Evaluate new information and hypotheses by comparing them to known information and ideas Make generalizations Confirm, reject, and modify predictions based on information in the text Explain and interpret illustrations Interpret information from tables, maps and charts Compare the theme, topic,, and story elements of various stories Identify literary techniques Predict how a story may be different if the author changed a literary element or technique Cite sources and develop a bibliography Identify and analyze primary and secondary sources

5. Students will: apply proper capitalization and punctuation to sentences with emphasis on commas, quotation marks, semicolons identify and use nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, coordinating and subordinating conjunctions prepositional phrases, dependent/independent clauses write using compound and complex sentences, and appropriate transition words/phrases participate in and evaluate the writing process create a narrative, expository, persuasive, research and compare/contrast paper. become a published author Participate in the Illinois Literary Speech Contest

6. Save the date: October 29, 2011 Held at Bourbonnais Upper Grade Center Usually begins at 8:00 A.M. Finished usually around noon Speeches should be memorized by Oct. 1 st Everyone leaves with a 1 st, 2 nd or 3 rd place rating Awards are given out during school hours after contest

7. Church clothes (no t-shirts, jeans, shorts, gym shoes, flip-flops) Everyone comes in the morning (usually around 7:45) Check in with either Mrs. Gaca or Mrs. Darling Visit and cheer classmates on After your child’s performance he/she may leave

8. Practice lines with your child by role playing the other part Set goals for memorizing (2-3 lines a night) Set up practice dates between your child and his/her partner(s) Classrooms here are also available afterschool, just let us know ahead of time

9. Students edit parts to a story checked in class (no grade) Each correction is explained After every 5 spirals are collected Spirals are graded on preciseness of corrections Quiz after every 5 Spiral is a cumulative study guide

10. New class No grades given Meets once a week Students work on any writing assignment from any class Opportunity to get help from a teacher