Sixth Grade Magnet Middle School Curriculum Meeting

1. Welcome! Sixth Grade Magnet Middle School Curriculum Meeting Wadsworth Magnet School for High Achievers 2014-15

2. Program for Gifted and High Achievers Mission and Goals • The DeKalb County School System’s Program for Gifted has three main goals: • To bring gifted children together to experience a variety of challenging activities • To support teachers in the area of educating gifted children • To educate and support parents of the gifted • The program for gifted mission and goals are provided on the program newsletter. A copy of the Gifted Newsletter can be found at www.gifteddekalb.com

3. Introducing the Sixth Grade Magnet Team • Mrs. Roberts – Social Studies • Mrs. Crosby Guard – Language Arts • Mrs. McNabb – Math • Mrs. Masood – Science • Mrs. Rivera – Spanish All teachers are highly qualified in content specific core areas: Math, Science, Social Studies, ELA/Reading per the state requirement for the middle school level

4. Let’s hear it for the Auxiliary Team • Mr. Coln – Orchestra (Strings) • Coach Mitchell – Physical Education • Ms. Blow – Counselor • Mrs. Hill – Media Specialist • Ms. Blow – Character Education • Mr. Bynum – Art • Mr. Fowler – Bandwww.bandandstrings.com

5. And now . . the Administrative Team • Dr. Crum – Principal • Dr. Jones – Assistant Principal • Ms. Lynch – Secretary • Ms. Jones – Bookkeeper • Ms. Handy – Nurse

6. Grading Scale • 90 – 100 A • 89 – 80 B • 79 – 71 C • 70 D • 69 and below F • See the individual syllabus for each subject. • It is the policy of the DeKalb County School System that students will receive a denotation of “I” (Incomplete) for any missing assignments until student work is completed. Student work must be completed within the prescribed time limit set by the teacher. The maximum point allotment will be 80%. • 45% of students’ grade will come from class work, homework, and class activities and projects.

7. For Your Information • Couriers will be sent every Thursday. • Please check your child’s agenda every day. Check their actual homework with the entry in his/her agenda and you may check homework on teachers’ websites. • Volunteers are always needed in our school and are welcomed! • Navigate through the First Class and Pearson Success accounts with your child. • Please review Infinite Campus for your child’s current grades. It takes a village! Waiting until a progress report is not efficient in remaining current on your child’s progress. • Dates to Remember September 18, 2014: Progress Reports issued September 25, 2014: Parent Conference Evening (Please call the office to make an appointment.) • Please explore each teacher’s webpage using www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/wadsworth

8. Leadership Opportunities • Leadership • Clubs • Peer Mediators • Beta Club officers • Character Club • Safety Patrols • Book Fair personnel • Gentlemen of Quality (GQ)

9. Homework: The School-Home ConnectionParents….we need your help! • One of the main goals of homework is to reinforce and stimulate learning through the school-home connection. • Homework helps our children develop research skills, self discipline, and provide opportunities for reciprocal learning. It is an important extension of in-school opportunities to learn. • One area of concern that your teachers are addressing with our 6th grade population is a lack of follow through with homework. Our students are bright and are capable of homework completion.

10. Homework: The School-Home ConnectionParents….we need your help! • We do need your support. Please check the agenda and teachers’ websites every day. If your student shows you physical evidence of his/her homework, please check the work for accuracy. Parents, please have academic conversations with your child regarding their work and their school day. • If you have questions please e-mail, write a note, or call the teacher and we will respond to your query as soon as possible. We applaud your efforts to support our school and your child in his/her education. It takes a village, and we all are members of that village!

11. What color is that binder? • Spanish – Red • Math – Green/IMN spiral notebook • Science – Blue/IN notebook • Language Arts –White • Social Studies – Black • All notebooks have been organized per the teacher’s specifications. • All class work should be completed in blueor black pen, unless instructions are given to complete the assignment in pencil. • Assignments may be typed and printed. • Tabs for Social Studies: Standards, Essential Questions, Class work, Homework, Notes, Graded Papers

12. Social Studies • Our textbook this year my World Studies, Publisher: Pearson • The website for the textbook is www.SuccessNetPlus.com • Units of Study: Europe, Canada, Latin America and Australia • Standards (see teacher’s website): Geographic Understandings, Government/Civics Understandings, Economic Understandings, Historical Understandings • Projects: Me Bag, Theme/Rubric Project, Brochures, PowerPoint presentations, Flipbooks, Plays, Cruises, Posters, Research • Projects completed individually, with a partner, or in groups. • JA BizTown: A new program being added to our curriculum sponsored by Junior Achievement to support lessons on economic standards.

13. Tutorial • Tutorial is for remediation and/or reinforcement. • Social Studies, Math, Language Arts, Spanish and Science tutorials are available during ELT and on days when students do not have band or strings. • Class Notes and Study Guides posted on class web site • Graded papers reviewed • Additional practice/re-teaching activities and assignments • Revisions requested on failed assignments

14. Math Curriculum • Sixth Grade math Course Description: • The curriculum offers students the opportunity to experience real-world applications, hands-on labs, and interdisciplinary investigations. All students will be actively engaged in developing mathematical understandings in real and relevant contexts through ongoing problem solving, mental math, spiral review, technology, and writing.

15. Math Common Core • Common Core Georgia Performance Standards (CCGPS) for grade 6 (Mathematics) will be taught during this course. Please refer to the Georgia Performance Standards for detailed listings of standards (www.georgiastandards.org) or your child’s interactive math notebook (IMN) pages • Home Enrichment (HE) – Located on Mrs. McNabb’s Webpage. Usually posted by Sunday each week.

16. ELA • Changes Are Coming to ELA! • DeKalb County Public Schools has changed the grading weights which will make up your student’s average. Homework and classwork is 45% of your student’s average, while projects and quizzes could add up to 25%. • What can you do: Make sure that your child does homework! Always check: • Homework (If they say that they did it, make them produce it.) • Agendas (Look for notes home or Pink Slips.) • My website (shscrosbyguard.pbworks.com) • Infinite Campus • If your student has late work, a Pink Slip will be sent home to alert you. You must sign it before I will grade it. Late and missing work will cause your student to fail my class. Make a habit of completing homework on time!

17. ELA Common Core • The state of Georgia has gotten rid of CRCT and is instating Georgia Milestones. The new test emphasizes analysis and the ability to demonstrate how you arrive at a particular answer. • What you can do: Help your student to answer questions completely and to use evidence to support answers. Get to know the standards, which describes the skills that will be needed to understand the test. These are the key standards for the current unit:

18. ELA Common Core • ELACC6RL1: ~ ~Cite ~textual ~evidence ~to ~support ~analysis ~of ~what ~the ~text ~says ~explicitly ~as ~ well ~as ~inferences ~drawn ~from ~the ~text. • ELACC6RL3:~Describe how a particular story’s or drama’s plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves towards a resolution.

19. ELA Common Core • ELACC6W1:~Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence. • a. Introduce claim(s) and organize the reasons and evidence clearly. • b. Support claim(s) with clear reasons and relevant evidence, using credible sources and demonstrating an understanding of the topic or text. • c. Use words, phrases, and clauses to clarify the relationships among claim(s) and reasons. • d. Establish and maintain a formal style. • e. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from the argument presented. • These websites have resources that you can use to help your child practice: • http://schools.nyc.gov/Academics/CommonCoreLibrary/default.htm • http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/category/lesson-plans/academic-skills/

20. Assessment • We participate in all benchmark assessments per the county’s timeline. • Students are given a semester test at the end of each semester. • Daily Learning Assessments: Class work, Homework, Class Discussions, Class Group Work, Individual Activities, Class Projects

21. Home-Connections • Agenda • Phone calls • First Class • Parent conferences • Email • Infinite Campus • Progress Report • Report Card

22. Motto “Tell me and I forget, Show me and I remember, Involve me andI understand.” -Anonymous

23. In Conclusion . . . • Thank you for meeting with us today. • We look forward to working with you and your child this school year. • Don’t forget to sign the agenda daily. • Please e-mail, write notes in the agenda, telephone, contact via Parent Assist, etc to keep an open line of communication. • Have a wonderful day! • Drive safely…