What to Expect in Class

What to Expect in Mr. Brandreth's Class (For Students and Parents!!!)

Daily Routines:

Having a consistent set of routines and expectations allows students to become comfortable in a classroom learning setting. When students come into class each morning, they are able to look at the "Daily Schedule" to see what activities are taking place that day.

My class is once again in one of the portables this year, between Mrs. Sheahan's Grade 6 class and Mrs. Rivers' Grade 6 class in the other portable. Portable life is great!  We have quick and easy access to getting outside during nutrition breaks and for fresh-air body breaks. 

Students are not to come into the portable until the bell rings for entry, just as in other years when students wait outside. In the case of inclement weather, the students in Mr. Brandreth's, Mrs. Rivers', and Mrs. Sheahan's classes will go straight into the school and wait in the hallway until the entry bell rings.

Here are some of our daily routines:

1. Completing the daily cursive/printed statement in your cursive notebook. I encourage students to really try to write in cursive to develop this skill as it is now back in the language curriculum. This daily activity is a great way to practice (and improve) your cursive writing. It is amazing to see how much students' cursive writing improves over the course of the school year. If students do find it too frustrating or difficult, they are able to print the statement in their book rather than write it in cursive (there will be opportunities during our spelling units and other times to practice our cursive).

2. Completing the morning math problem underneath his/her cursive statement. This problem could be a follow-up question to current material studied in class, or it could be a review of previous concepts to further reinforce that work from earlier in the school year.

3. After the cursive statement has been completed, there will usually be about 5-10 minutes of independent work time for students to complete any unfinished work, or they can be reading silently at their desks. We will then take up the morning math problem together.

4. Read Aloud: Each day, I will read from a novel that I think that the students will enjoy. It is a great way to model good reading strategies, generate discussion around the topics in the book by sharing predictions, experiences, or connections. Usually there is a reading response that the students are responsbile for completing. Sometimes we will follow up with a movie of the book once it is done and do a compare and contrast between the book and movie. 

Homework:

I am a firm believer in allowing students time in class to complete assigned work after a lesson. Most importantly, it allows students time to practice the concepts taught, and also a chance to ask for assistance if needed. This also allows me an opportunity to work in smaller-group instruction once the lesson is done and independent work time has begun.

With that being said though, if students do not use their time effectively or are off-task, they will be required to complete the activity for homework. If they do not complete it at home by the due-date, they may be required to spend some time at nutrition break or a choice period at the end of the day on Fridays to complete their unfinished work. 

There will also be occasional projects and activities that will need to be completed at home. But for the most part, day-to-day activities can be completed in class, provided students use their time productively.

Math Quizzes:

As a way to improve student recall of math facts, every other week there will be a timed quiz based on multiplication (12 x 12) facts.  Students will be able to track their progress and improvement over the course of the school year. This will help them in many areas of math such as 2-digit by 2-digit multiplication, long division, in addition to being a very good everyday skill. 

Seating Changes:

For this coming year, we are starting off in rows. Students have been assigned in roughly alphabetical order to begin the year. After the first week, we will switch up the seating arrangements so students have a chance to sit beside a friend. After that, I make seating changes once a month. When doing so, I have the students submit a list of classmates that they feel that they would work well with, and I do my best to make sure they have at least one of those students in their table group. 

September Call-Home:You can expect a call home from me before the end of September. I like to make this call as a "check-in" with parents to see how the year has started and to provide an opportunity to ask any questions of myself or share information that you think it is good for me to know.