Parent Night – Fall 2014

1. Parent Night – Fall 2014 We’re heading in the right direction… WELCOME to Mrs. Trummel’s Class! home.d47.org/hus/eatrummel

2. Mrs. Trummel – The Fast Facts • 27th year at Husmann Elementary • 34.5 years of full time teaching • Taught in rural Tampico, IL and near Boston, MA • B.S from the University of Illinois • M.S. from Northern Illinois University • 72 credit hours past my Master’s Degree • I’ve taught both Science and Social Studies methods courses at NIU for about 10 years

3. And… • I have worked in a program called “Family Summits” (formerly Conservation Summits) for over 30 years/summers. I directed the Big Backyard Program, and now I most commonly teach children/adults of all ages through “rambles” as a naturalist leading hikes. • Swedish exchange program • “A to Z Literacy” in Zambia • I’ve taught in classrooms around the U.S. and the world: New Zealand, Tasmania (Australia), Sweden, Italy, Africa, Belgium, United Kingdom • TEA, ANDRILL, and now WISSARD

4. We are a TEAM! • I believe the home/school connection is essential; let’s work together! • Check your child’s assignment notebook every night; provide a time and place for homework • Read “Friday Notes” carefully each week • Ask questions; 815.477.4477 (home phone) • Don’t procrastinate on projects! • Photographs of your child…

5. General Information • Academics: If a child forgets their homework, they do not call home. You will be notified (by note) about a late or missing assignment. If they are a “frequent flyer” then we’ll be having a conference. • Homework: Reading 20-30 minutes per night, and there could be another 30 minutes of homework, depending on the week, tests, projects, etc. Purpose: to reinforce and extend class work. (D47 guideline is 10 minutes/grade)

6. Standards and Grading • District #47 has established standards for each grade level for Reading, Writing, and Math • Evaluation of student progress is supported by district-wide rubrics and benchmarks • Grades: I am looking at the following… • Progress: How much students have gained from their learning experience • Product: What students know (culminating demonstrations of learning such as assessments, projects, reports) • Process: How students make their learning gains (effort, class participation, learner characteristics)

7. Curriculum Notes • Our daily schedule (included in folder) • Science and/or Social Studies • “SMART time” / interventions; T, W, Th • Math • Specials (Art, Music, PE, STEM, LMC) • Lunch/recess • Literacy time (which includes Reading, Writing, Spelling, read-aloud books, WEB conferences and/or projects, literacy stations, computer/iPad work, silent reading, public speaking)

8. Science • Habitats

10. Earth Materials Minerals and rocks, volcanoes, Antarctic geoscience and scientists on the job!

11. Magnetism and Electricity

12. Environments: plants and how they grow; biomes of the world

13. Social Studies

14. Math ** Study Links will come home on a regular basis. Do not tear them out, leave them IN the book. ** Please DO TEAR OUT the Parent Letters and answers to the problems. **KNOW THE FACTS! ** You have online support on the Everyday Math site; log on and help your child practice.

15. Literacy – Reading: Journeys, Making Meaning and Guided Reading Groups • Comprehension Strategies • Retelling • Using schema/making connections • Visualizing • Wondering/questioning • Making inferences • Determining important ideas • Understanding text structure • Summarizing • synthesizing

16. Journeys and CCSS • Units of Study created to increase the level of rigor in our classrooms. Our assessments will look at “end of the year” benchmarks; room for growth in all students. The “bar” has been raised higher to meet the higher Illinois State Standards. • Balanced Literacy approach: guided reading, read-alouds, stations, independent reading, etc.

17. Anthology of text • Text complexity • Increase reading of informational text • Academic vocabulary (social, literature-based, and content-specific language)

18. Guided Reading Groups and Stations • While I’m meeting with guided reading groups, students will work on stations and writing assignments.

19. Literacy – Traits Writing • Ideas • Organization • Voice • Word choice • Sentence fluency • Conventions • Presentation/finishing or publishing our work • Increase writing from sources: argumentative, informative/expository, less emphasis on narrative

20. Literacy – Spelling • Mini lessons • Assessments to measure progress • Practice at home to increase success with high priority and high frequency words; please sign your child’s booklet 4x per cycle/list

21. Literacy – Public Speaking

22. Special Events/Activities • Geobears • Halloween Biography unit • International Luncheon • Technology and Communication • WISSARD • Iditarod sled race in Alaska • Classroom Camp-In

24. Reminders • Birthday treats (food) are no longer allowed. Students can bring in a favor such as a pencil for their classmates, a book for our class library, or a game for the class. One game we could use multiples of is “Bananagrams.” • If you email me, I might not see it right away, because we are teaching or using our computers for other purposes throughout the day. Please be patient. • Discipline: Notes will go home if there is continued inappropriate behavior. A conference will be requested if problems persist. Class reward: Mr. Potato Head. We start each day with 10 points.

25. Let’s have a FANTASTIC year!