Post date: Aug 10, 2017 4:48:09 PM
Dear 4th-6th Grade Math & Reading Parents & Students,
Welcome to my first of many “email newsletters”. I will try to send a newsletter every so often to give you insight into what is going on in Honors. A version of these email newsletters will also be posted on my website. Additionally, I plan to use a PRIVATE school Instagram account to post updates from our classes. Keep an eye out for this information.
I can’t wait until Monday! That is the first day of Honors! Yay! We will spend next week (8/14) getting to know each other or hearing about our summers, the procedures of Honors, and taking district benchmarks. These district benchmarks are important because they give me valuable information as to the skills your student still needs to work on as well as what they have mastered at grade level. I use this data in my lesson planning.
Webpage- My website is a valuable tool that your student will want to bookmark for reference. Here is the link:https://sites.google.com/a/pvlearners.net/wilhelm-wizards/
Assignment Calendar- On my website is an assignment calendar for your student to utilize should they need to. It will always be updated with the current assignments and due dates. https://sites.google.com/a/pvlearners.net/wilhelm-wizards/home/homework-calendar
Supplies- There are separate supplies for Honors classes. There were a few mistakes on my supply list and I apologize for any confusion. If you ordered the Edukit, then your supplies are already done for you! Easy!!! If not, I encourage you to utilize this resource next year as it makes it simple for everyone!! Plus, it helps the PTO!!! So if you still need to get supplies for Honors, I have attached the supply list to this email. There has been some confusion regarding the the 2 subject notebooks. If you cannot find them, then I would prefer a 3 subject notebook instead. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.
Classroom Support Fund- If you haven’t paid your HONORS Classroom Support Funds, I would greatly appreciate you making this payment as soon as possible on the PTO website. These funds go directly to the Honors classroom and pay for activities such as literature books, Pi Day supplies, The Stock Market Game, Math Olympiad Competitions, Scholastic Math subscriptions, protractors, and much more. Additionally, there are many programs throughout our school that are supported by our PTO, so please consider making a voluntary donation to the PTO and becoming part of “Team Thunderbird”.
Parent Orientation- I will be having two presentations on Parent Orientation Night for your convenience. You may choose which time works best for you. I will be presenting at 5:00-5:30 and 6:00-6:30. I hope to see you all there as I will give you valuable information about the Honors Program for 2017-2018 school year. If you cannot make it, my presentation will be uploaded to my website on Wednesday for you to peruse.
Google Classroom-In Honors, we actively use Google Classroom. Google Classroom is a learning platform for schools that simplifies creating, distributing and grading assignments in a paperless way. It can also be used as a communication tool between students similar to a blog. I recognize that Google Classroom may be new to some of you; however, your student will slowly become an expert over the next few weeks. I encourage you to sit down with them and have them show you what it looks like and how it works. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.
READING for the Week of 8/21, we will be jumping into our regularly scheduled classes. This means, that I will be introducing many new concepts such as 4 Level, Latin/Greek Roots, Caesar’s English, ReadTheory, literary elements, and the rules of Socratic seminars. We will even have our first Socratic seminar to practice!
Reading Technology- Students are encouraged to use technology to review concepts. Students can use ReadTheory or ixl.com to practice skills. All of the links can be found on my website.
MATH for the Week of 8/21, we will be learning about or reviewing the 8 Mathematical Practices, Number Talks, and Math Olympiad problems as well as our first quarterly project will be assigned. See below but more information to come.
Math Quarterly Projects- The best way to apply concepts and solidify learning is to TEACH! Therefore, every 4th-6th grade students will be required to complete a quarterly math project and present it to their classmates. I will be assigning their first quarterly project the week of 8/21, and all projects are due October 10th. Detailed explanations and rubrics will be distributed to all students, but can also be found on my website.
Math Olympiads- We will be participating in Math Olympiad competitions this year. Periodically, we will be using our knowledge of the 8 Mathematical Practices to solve these challenging problems. The students generally LOVE these challenges as well as the collaboration with their teammates. We will always do one problem a week in class so as to learn and practice the problem solving strategies. These problems and competitions are never graded. When working on a Math Olympiad problem, I always say to try it for about 15 minutes and then let it go.
Math Technology- Students are encouraged to use technology to review concepts. Students can use Front Row, iXL.com, Kahn Academy, or XtraMath to practice skills. All of the links can be found on my website.
Looking forward to a fantastic year!
Anna Wilhelm