Welcome to First Grade CATS Mrs. Gearhart & Mrs. Kamper 2014-2015

1. Welcome to First Grade CATS Mrs. Gearhart & Mrs. Kamper 2014-2015

2. Your CATS Teachers are… • Mrs. Kamper • Experience • 13 years teaching • Undergraduate degree in Early Childhood Development and Marketing • Master’s Degree in Elementary Education with a Reading Endorsement • Family • Married with 3 children • 4-year old twins (Gwendolyn and David) • 2-year old son (Sammy) • Pet turtle?

3. Your CATS Teachers are… Mrs. Gearhart 13 years teaching 6 years with academically talented students Graduate of University of New Mexico Gifted Endorsement

4. CATS students are . . . • Often perfectionists and idealists • Asynchronous • Sequential or spatial • Problem solvers • “Tell me, I forget, show me, I remember, Involve me, I understand.” -Carl Orff

5. CATS Curriculum • Encourages students to apply critical-thinking skillsand to become self- directed learners. It incorporates the regular curriculum but differs in content, process, product, pacing, and environment.

6. CATS Curriculum Goals I: Acceleration II: Integration III: Inquiry and Motivation IV: Critical Thinking V: Communication and Collaboration

7. Math • Place Value and Number sense • 2 and 3 Digit Addition w/wout regrouping • 2 and 3 digit Subtraction w/wout regrouping • Measurement • Money • Time to the minute • Multiplication • Word Problems throughout • *Facts

8. Depth of Knowledge: Math Students Will: • Make sense of problems and persevere • Reason abstractly and quantitatively • Model with mathematics • Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning • Come up with multiple solutions • Use different mathematical strategies to solve a problem

9. Language Arts • 6+1 Writing • Conventions, sentence fluency, organization, voice, word choice, ideas, presentation • Writer’s Workshop • Reader’s Workshop • Junior Great; Houghton Mifflin, Literature Studies • Words Their Way

10. Science • Digestive, Respiratory, and Circulatory Systems • Inventors and their Inventions • Laws of Motion • States of Matter • Plants and Animals • Earth Materials • Objects in the Sky

11. Social Studies • American History: Exploration and Colonization • Government & Roles of Citizenship • American Symbols and Monuments • Ancient Civilizations

12. Grades

13. Grades 5 4 3 2 1

14. What does CATS look like? • Whole Group • Small Group • Individual Work

15. How does it happen? Math & Reading Learning Groups • 2 per teacher • Based on strengths and weaknesses identified through pre-assessment Science & Social Studies • Design Squad • Project Based Learning • Group, individual, and whole class activities

16. Classroom Routines & Expectations • Expectations – Nature of CATS • Class Store • Snack / Snack Stash • Arrival / Dismissal • Communication (REMIND; FB; email) • Daily Folder / Parent Communication

17. Communication gearhart.leslie@cusd80.com kamper.elizabeth@cusd80.com Front Office: (480) 812-6100 Website: http://www.cusd80.com//Domain/5534

18. Tax Credit Q & A Q: Who can donate? A: Any Arizona tax payer. This includes… • Family • Friends • Any Community Members • Aunts and Uncles

19. Fun Stuff • Class Parties • Birthdays • Field Trips • Audubon • Idea Museum • IMAX/ Play • Me Stew/Talent Share • Room Parent

20. “Curiosity is the engine of achievement.” – Sir Ken Robinson