I am a constructivist teacher. I believe that teaching and learning is not simply filling empty heads with information. Your children come to school with amazing competencies and expertise already. I view my job as helping them create knowledge through their experiences. As such, while I am definitely the teacher and the guide to the curriculum, the students will build their understanding through educational experiences tied to the real world and their lives. This allows the children to take ownership of their learning as they grow as scholars.

I have taught both in Elementary and Middle Schools and I know the curriculum of both fifth and sixth grade inside and out. The benefit of this is that I know very well what your child will be expected to know and do next year. Because of this, I describe by classroom as "Middle School Light". They will still have the benefit of a teacher with them throughout the year who will know them, advocate for them, and lovingly push them in their learning, but will also have the experience of being more responsible an autonomous. In my experience, this will serve the children very well when they enter Middle School next year.

There are only about 17 skills that students need to read and comprehend well. We will explore these skills at several times during the year. Each time we work with one of these skills, we will work at a deeper level. Essentially, the first time we work with them we will be working at the literal or inferential level and move into analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.  This year we will use the Benchmark Advance ELA program.  I will supplement and deepen the curriculum throughout the year to ensure that the students are learning what they need to learn to be successful. Eventually, as we move into deeper levels of thinking, we will use short stories from the Junior Great Books program as well as reading novels.

For math we are using the Ready math curriculum. This year will focus mainly on understanding Base10 through manipulating whole numbers, fractions, and decimal fractions with multiplication and division. We will dabble in geometry, conversion of measurements, and graphing as well.  As with the reading curriculum, I will supplement the math program with games, writing, and exploratory activities throughout the year.

For science we are using an on-line program called "Mystery Science" and for social studies we are using two different books. The first, "History Alive", is your basic history book. The second, "We the People", is an in-depth look at the constitution. The science will cover life science, physical science, and space science. Social studies will cover the Indigenous populations of North America, exploration and colonization, the colonial period, founding documents and the Revolutionary War, and government and the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. Again, I will supplement the on-line program to ensure rigor and depth of learning. 

This year we have five pull-outs for your kiddos. They will have PE, Art, Music, Technology, and Library. 

We have several field trips in fifth grade. Every year we go to the Sandia Mountains to hike and do citizen science. We will go to a Philharmonic concert and possible an opera performance (We used to do this every year but it has been spotty since the pandemic. I'm not sure if this will happen this year or not). We also have a end of the year field trip to Main Event. This is a celebration for your children completing their elementary education and it is always a popular trip.

I can always be reached by email. I will get back to you as soon as possible. Please feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns. 

I know this will be a great year and I am excited to work with your children.

Best,

Dr. Kendall Taylor