1. Room 41 Kristi Smith

2.  Excited to be teaching 6 th grade again  Reading/writing skills stressed  Prediction, summarizing, inference, main idea, critical thinking, etc…  Teach skills through short stories, novels, independent reading books, literature book  Writing – Step Up to Writing and Six Traits

3.  SBAC = Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium  Practiced SBAC field test two years ago and took first official assessment last year  Similar to MSP with a few new skills  Skills for SBAC also skills for high school and beyond

4.  Various assignments  Different skills/different months  Some quizzes, projects on books  This month, any book/own choosing is fine  Going to library next week  Kids should have a book to read at all times, but not a specific amount of time required each week (as might have been in elementary school)

5.  Research showing vocabulary vital part of reading and comprehension  5 strands of reading instruction – vocabulary is one of those  30 words every two weeks (approximately) – focus on root words, suffixes, prefixes, common and academic words  Flashcards, practice in class, online review games, practice at home/in car, etc.

6.  CRITICAL part of English  Compilation of daily work  Graded every 3-4 weeks, on average  Best organization method I’ve found yet  Allows you to look at work and student improvement over the year  No textbook for language arts this year so spiral filled with important information

7.  http://www.teacherweb.com/WA/Jefferson MiddleSchool/MrsSmith,6thGradeBlock/ http://www.teacherweb.com/WA/Jefferson MiddleSchool/MrsSmith,6thGradeBlock/  Link to website above – get there off the Jefferson Home Page  All students will be using this and know how to get to webpage as well  Helpful to know upcoming events, assignments, use review tools, etc.  Copies of vocabulary lists and other assignments often uploaded

8.  Skyward updated often --- late work sometimes takes a few days  Progress reports – two times a quarter, perhaps more often  In the first two weeks, students will get their own Skyward passwords

9.  Skyward is great, but after the fact  Mrs. Smith’s website – proactive  The BEST way to know what kids are doing day to day is through my website or student calendar  6 th graders learning organization – good way to stay ahead of assignments and tests

10.  Monday through Thursday/Friday in library  All subjects – not only math  Boys and Girls Club offers some homework help for the first ½ hour after school  This year, hope to have teachers rotate in library for extra help  I’m available most mornings and after school, but often have meetings --- kids should check with me when possible to be sure I will be in my room

11.  Email is ksmith@osd.wednet.eduksmith@osd.wednet.edu  Email quickest way to contact me…check each day at school and sometimes at home  Call 596-3200 if need to talk to me  Conferences are welcome – usually set up by Mrs. Cusack so all teachers can meet with you at once – you don’t have to come here 6 times  Call or email if any questions or concerns  *If you did not already receive an email from me, please let me know so we can get your correct email in Skyward. I send out updates through Skyward frequently.