6-1 Homeroom Teacher: Mrs. Kathy Phillips-teaches Religion, Spelling, Social Studies, and English
6-2 Homeroom Teacher: Ms. Chris Mangini-teaches Religion, Spelling, Reading, and Math

Sixth grade often proves challenging because of the expanded curriculum and the additional switching of classes. This grade acts as a transition between the lower grades and the Junior High.

GOALS
Our students will:
- follow through to complete all assignments and tasks;
- become independent by carefully following written and oral directions;
- be involved in class and school activities -- participate, participate, participate!
- become self-confident by giving the best effort in all they do.

CLASS SCHEDULE
Our schedule is posted on the board. Classes meet for approximately forty-five minutes each. When students switch classes they need to bring all applicable texts, supplies, and assignments with them. Returning to homeroom for a forgotton item is discouraged as it disturbs the other class already in session.

HOMEWORK POLICY--Ms. Mangini 6-2
Homework is given to review and practice what has been taught during the day. Assignments are announced during each class period. Students are instructed to immediately write them down in their homework planners. It should then be easy for them to pack what they need to take home at the end of the day.

A student has the opportunity to make 100% on a homework assignment by having it complete and turning it in on time. If students do not turn an assignment when it is due, they make a note of it in the Late Homework book. Three of more missed assignments will result in a lowered grade. Partial credit will be given for late homework, but I will not track down a student who is missing assignments. It is the responsibility of the student to bring the completed work to class and sh ow it to me.. Homework assignments comprise 15% of the grade for the quarter. Tests and quizzes make up 75% of the grade and a participation grade accounts for 10%. When a student is absent, a fellow student will fill out a homework sheet for him or her. This sheet may be picked up at the end of the day or the student may obtain it upon his or her return to school. Students are responsible for making up both what they have missed in class as well as assigned homework.

You can help your child succeed in school by providing a quiet place to study and modeling good reading habits. Students who have a variety of reading materials available to them and see their family members reading are successful in school. I also encourage you to help them review for quizzes and tests by giving them practice tests or asking them questions. Our social studies text in particular provides a lot of opportunity for stimulating conversations with your child.

RELIGION
The school has adopted the Silver Burdett and Ginn series as our text. This Is Our Faith focuses on the Old Testament of the Bible. Students will become familiar with the stories of the time before the birth of Jesus. Using these stories and related activities, we will come to better understand and appreciate God�??s creation of our world and ourselves. The chapters include discussion and activities in morality, scripture, doctrine, and prayer. Since we often use the Bible as a resource, all students are required to purchase one through the school at the beginning of the year. The religion notebook, tests, quizzes, and participation comprise the final grade.

(6-2) As part of our community involvement, we will be writing monthly letters to the homebound of St. Anne Parish. Students will submit a rough draft utilizing the the writing process and peer editing accompanied by a final draft due on the last school day of the month. Members of each group will take turns preparing the envelopes and delivering our letters of friendship and compassion.

ENGLISH
We use the Houghton Mifflin series and the accompanying workbook throughout the year. The units alternate between grammar and composition. Heavy emphasis is placed on the eight parts of speech. In composiiton, we learn to write friendly and business letters, descriptive paragraphs, personal narratives, essays, reports, and poetry. Two to three times a week we write entries in our journals. All written work is kept in the students' portfolios. At the end of the year, several pieces of writing will be selected and added to their previous years' work and forwarded to their seventh grade teacher. Tests, quizzes, composition, homework, and participation are all averaged into the final grade.

READING
Our new text, Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes, supports the California Language Arts Standards and Framework. Within the reading domain, students focus on vocabulary development, including word analysis and fluency, comprehension, and literary analysis and response. The text is filled with classics by authors such as Ray Bradbury, Jack London, Rudyard Kipling, and Isaac Asimov. Poetry as well as informational articles and essays, are included as well as many works by contemporary writers.

A variety of resources are used to support your child�??s progress, such as a workbook, graphic organizers to display information, and extension activities to integrate reading with other subjects. This year we will also be reading and listening to a variety of novels, beginning with The Phantom Tollbooth which appears as an adapted play in our texts.

To extend our reading outside of the classroom, the students will present a project on a preapproved book on an assigned date during the quarter. They will have some choice within the genre to choose an accompanying project so that there will be some variety among the student's projects. To support good reading habits, it is helpful to have come quiet time at home for family reading for pleasure.

Grades will be based on class participation, multiple-choice and open-ended tests, projects, and homework.

MATHEMATICS
Our McGraw-Hill mathematics series is organized into five strands: Number Sense; Algebra and Functions; Measurement and Geometry; Statistics, Data Analysis, and Probability; and Mathematical Reasoning. Each chapter includes ample practice for each lesson, spiral review of prior skills, test preparation, quizzes to check progress, a study guide, and a chapter post-test.

If your child does not know the basic math facts for all four operations with ease, I would strongly urge consistent nightly practice in this area. Students weak in their math factgs often have difficulty expressing understanding of concepts in several of the above strands beause they get bogged down in the calculations and are unable to follow a problem requiring several steps.

Nightly homework will be provided through dittos or text and will be corrected the next day. Although not graded, students will earn credit toward their quarterly grade based upon whether or not the assignment is completed on time. Please feel free to assist your child as necessary using the spiral notebook to review examples completed in class. Encourage your child to explain aloud the process by which they arrive at an answer. This strengthens both their understanding and recall.

SOCIAL STUDIES
This year we are very pleased to have a brand new Social Studies series published by Houghton Mifflin. World Geography and Ancient History are used as a base to study the beginnings of human civilizations throughout the world. While we are studying about our past, we reflect on the positive and negative effects our ancestors had upon us. We have many new additions to the series that include electronic tools, videos designed to correlate with the chapters, and personal desk maps with activities. We also have a classroom library that includes many books on ancient cultures. Our new text highly encourages the use of the Internet in specific enrichment assignments. Homework, tests, quizzes, group projects, reports, and participation make up the basis for the students' final grades.

SPELLING
Each week a new set of 20 basic words is introduced. Alphabetizing the word list or dividing the words into syllables may be used as a study tool. Each lesson also has three pages of skill-building exercises to be completed by Thursday morning each week. Beginning with the second quarter we add the challenge word list for each week's test. The unit test is given every Friday.

HOMEWORK POLICY

All assigments are announced by the end of each period. Students are instructed to immediately write them down in their homework note pads. Each student is responsible for taking down the assignment as it is given by the teacher and packing the necessary materials to complete the assignment. I encourage the students to have a wall calendar at home in order to remind themselves of any long term assignments. Most homework assignments are not graded. Exceptions may include reading comprehension exercises and math cumulative reviews. However, I do record the number of incomplete or missing assignments daily for each student. At the end of the quarter this homework grade is factored into their average.

Students who come to class without their completed homewo rk need to write the date, subject, and the name of the assignment on their page in the "Late Homework" booklet. If they complete the assignment and show me your signature on it they may "earn back" five of the ten points that are deducted for late or missing assignments. No additional work is necessary unless it is a recurring problem, in which case they may lose recess or lunch play times.

PROGRESS FOLDERS

Tests or projects are usually returned on Mondays for reading and math and will be entered in the student's record folder. Please review these papers and sign the cover where indicated so I know you are aware of your child's progress. The students have two nights to get their record folders signed so you have a chance to review their work thoroughly. Please don't sign a record folder without examining the corresponding assignment.