PLE Mrs. Dunlap - Info & Policies

Daily / Weekly Items:

Cell Phones: I understand that cell phones are an important tool in everyone's daily life. However, in the classroom, they become a major distraction. Students will place cell phones in a bin inside the classroom at the start of the day, and will not be given access to them until dismissal at 4:00 PM. If you nseed to get a message to your student during the day, please call the main office and have the message delivered that way.
Smart Watches: Smart watches are viewed as a safety feature for some families. Smartwatches are allowed at school only with appropriate use. No messages should be sent or received during school hours. For privacy reasons, no audio or visual monitoring through a smartwatch will be allowed. Failure to follow school guidelines on smart watches will result in student’s losing the privilege to carry or use this type of device.
ClassBank: Our classroom reward & accountability system promotes positive behaviors and financial independence as students learn to earn, save, and spend classroom dollars. Starting in September, students will have assigned classroom jobs for which they will earn a weekly paycheck. Similar to the real world, in addition to income, students will also have financial obligations in the form of rent (their desk), and utilities (computer and wi-fi). There will be opportunities to earn extra money in the form of bonuses for exceptional behavior and other good deeds; likewise, they may incur fines for failure to perform their classroom job, or behaviors that are out of line from the PLE Habits of Character. They will be responsible for balancing their account in order to have funds available to purchase items in the classroom store.
Water Bottles: Hydration is important! Please make sure your child comes to school each day with a leak-proof water bottle, containing only water. Students are not permitted to have flavor additions, alternative water drinks (coconut water, etc) or soda/energy drinks in the classroom - all of these stain our classroom carpets (spills happen daily). Students will be given opportunities during the day to refill their water bottles.
Snacks: There will be a daily working snack time. Students will be given 10 minutes during class time to have their snack, while working. Please send a healthy snack to school with your student. We ask that no candy be sent to school for snack time. Due to the severe allergies in our classroom, make sure that snacks do not contain peanuts or tree nuts.
Backpacks & Supplies: Students are expected to carry a backpack to and from school each day. They should store their binder and pencil pouch in their backpack at the end of the day to take home. This ensures that homework and other necessary resources are readily available to complete their assignments. Other supplies (spiral notebooks, math workbook, computers, etc.) will remain in the classroom.
Thursday Folders: Each week, your child will bring home a folder provided by the school. It will contain flyers from school, PTO info, class information, graded work etc. Please go through this every week and send back the empty folder the following day.
We are a peanut and tree nut aware classroom! Please help us protect our CREW; do not bring foods into the classroom which contain these allergens.

Arrival

School starts at 9:05 AM.
Before arriving in the classroom each day, students should complete the "5 B's of Arrival"
- Breakfast: Student's first stop should be the cafeteria for breakfast, if applicable.
- Bathroom: Following breakfast, students should stop by the restroom if needed to take care of business to avoid classroom disruptions.
- Water Bottle: Arrive to class with a filled water bottle (water only, with no additives).
- Backpack: Students should remove all necessary supplies, binder, lunchbox, snack, water bottle, phone, etc. and hang their backpack on the hook. All of these items should be taken home at the end of the day.
- Look at the Board: Students should look at the whiteboard for any instructions, schedule changes, or other important information for the day.
Arrive to Class Prepared: Students should arrive to class each day, with the following supplies in hand:
- Binder
- Any assignments/homework to turn in or work on during class
- Pencil Pouch/Box
- Charged Computer
- Independent Reading Novel

Homework

One of our goals in 6th grade is to prepare your child to enter middle & high school, where homework is a regular/nightly responsibility. Accordingly, your child will have daily homework this year to help them practice the various skills associated with homework: time management, prioritization, organization, independence and topic/lesson review.

Clever Access from home (Access point for i-Ready, Khan Academy, and many other school applications)

Username: Lastname(first initial)(middle initial)@s.dcsdk12.org

Occasionally there is a number after the middle initial

Example: stairscd@s.dcsdk12.org or stairscd1@s.dcsdk12.org

Password: Dcsd(6 digit lunch number), Example: Dcsd234432

Late Work Policy

Students are responsible for knowing what assignments are due, and when. Late work will be accepted with the following conditions:

Late work should be turned in as soon as possible following the due date, with an "Assignment Accountability" form
All assignments and homework for a unit must be turned in before that unit's final test or project due date
A percentage of the score may be deducted per day late, except for excused absences.
Excessive missing assignments may result in additional consequences..

Absences

If your child will be absent for more than 3 days, please notify us as soon as possible, as well as the office. Because most schoolwork requires teacher instruction, there are some lessons and activities that cannot be made up or given in advance of the absence. We recommend the student read their independent novels while they are absent, and work on building math fluency (multiplication facts 0-12, compute with fractions and decimals quickly and accurately).

Plagiarism

All work submitted must be original and created by the individual submitting it. Plagiarism—including copying text, ideas, or work from others without proper credit—is strictly prohibited. The use of AI tools (such as ChatGPT or others) must be disclosed and appropriately cited if they contribute to the final product. Any instances of plagiarism or undisclosed AI-generated content may result in removal of the content and further action as appropriate. We are committed to fostering a culture of integrity and respect for intellectual property.

Toys and Fidgets

Toys are not allowed at school. They get lost, stolen, and/or broken and many times they contain gooey substances that stain classroom carpets and furniture. If your child brings a toy, I will ask them to put it in their backpack and not bring them back. This includes pop-its, squish balls, slime/putty, stuffed animals, etc. If toys continue to come in to the classroom, they will be confiscated and a parent/guardian will have to claim them from the school office.

When utilized correctly, fidgets can be a great tool to promote focus; however, they have become a major distraction to learning over the past few years. Students often use them as toys, which is not the intended purpose of the device. Therefore, fidgets will not be allowed in the classroom. Our administration supports us in this policy. Unless your child has a legal document such as an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) or 504 that directly specifies the use of a fidget as a modification to support academic achievement, fidgets will not be allowed and are expected to stay home.

Birthdays

We love celebrating birthdays in class! Unless your student declines, we will automatically recognize your student's birthday on or around their special day. If you would like to send something special, I ask that you communicate with me, in advance, what you would like to do. Please know that we cannot have any peanuts, tree nuts in our classroom as we have severe allergies to these foods in our CREW!

Dismissal

PLE will continue to use PikMyKid for dismissal.
If there is a one-time change to your child's normal schedule - please call the office before 3:30 PM so that they can let your child and I know ASAP.
If there is a permanent change, you can email myself and the office so we can update the records for end-of-day dismissal routines.
If dismissal is changed for weather, you will be notified through the various district communications and someone listed in your child's emergency contacts will be required to pick up and sign out your child in the classroom.

What We Study in 6th Grade at PLE:

Math: We use the enVisions program in 6th Grade, with supportting activities from iReady Math and Khan Academy. Students will make regular use of the skills they have already learned, using rational numbers (decimals and fractions) which mirror real-world situations more closely. Much of the 6th grade curriculum is about applying skills to real-world complex problems instead of computation drills. We will focus on breaking word problems apart to determine the best approach and modeling the situation in various ways, before working towards a solution.
- - Topic 1: Rational Numbers
  - Topic 2: Integers & the Coordinate Plane
  - Topic 3: Numeric and Algebraic Expressions
  - Topic 4: Equations and Inequalities
  - Topic 5: Ratio and Rate
  - Topic 6: Percent
  - Topic 7: Area/Surface Area and Volume
  - Topic 8: Data & Statistics
Literacy: Benchmark Advance will be a centering focus for the literacy instruction in 6th grade. Students work through science and social studies lenses to analyze and evaluate key ideas, details, author's craft, and text structures of fiction and non-fiction text. Students work in narrative and expository writing genres that include autobiographical incident, persuasive, and argumentative essays.
- - Unit 1: Relationships In Nature (Non-Fiction)
  - Unit 2: Characters at Crossroads (Fiction)
  - Unit 3: Beyond Democracy (Non-Fiction)
  - Unit 4: The Reader's Perspective (Fiction)
  - Unit 5: Technology in the 21st Century (Non-Fiction)
  - Unit 6: Legendary Journeys (Fiction)
  - Unit 7: Achievements of Ancient Cultures (Non-Fiction)
Science: We explore three main units of science: Physical Science - structure of matter, characteristics of chemical reactions, physical and chemical properties, changes in energy, and heat and matter. Life Science - competition in ecosystems, organism interactions in ecosystems, relationships in ecosystems, flow of energy in ecosystems, and ecosystem biodiversity. Earth Science - The Water Cycle.
Social Studies: We explore Ancient Civilizations and the 5 Themes of Geography. We also investigate various perspectives in building social understanding and Civic efficacy and dive into the beginnings of Economic understanding.