WELCOME TO ELA and Social Studies

Mrs. McGuire/Orange Team

SO WHAT ARE WE DOING THIS YEAR?

This year should be fun for all of us as there will be something for everyone’s interests in class this year. In ELA, we will be reading short stories, poetry, novels, memoirs and more. You will also be writing. For those of you that are not fond of this, I hope to make the type of writing you do at least a little bit interesting. We will also be improving our skills in vocabulary, grammar and punctuation. I know this is not always the favorite part of many students’ English classes, so I will try to make it fun. Throughout the year, there are many interesting projects and activities that sixth grade students will complete in ELA.

In social studies, you will be learning about ancient civilizations. Our studies will take us from Ancient Mesopotamia to Ancient Rome and Greece. You will learn how people lived, worked and learned during those eras. You will also learn about how geography impacted the lives of these people. You will better your skills in map reading and in understanding graphs. Like ELA, throughout the year, there will be interesting projects and activities that will help you learn.

So much of your work this year, will be on your iPad. Readings, homework and writing assignments may be completed and submitted through the iPad. IWe will explore these great tools we have at our fingertips with the Ipad. As the year progresses, you will be amazed how invaluable your iPad is.

OK- Let’s try and answer some of your questions about these classes.

HOMEWORK

§  WILL I HAVE HOMEWORK? You betcha! Come on, it’s not that bad. Homework reinforces all that we are learning in class. It helps us practice skills learned in class.

§  Here’s how it will work.

v  Mon- Thursday – You will have homework of some sort.

§  HOW IS HOMEWORK GRADED?

v  Homework will be graded by a √+,√and √-.

√+ = 25 points

√ = 20 points

√- = 15 points

v  Each week your totals (Mon-Thurs.) will be added for a weekly homework grade I enter to your grades.

§  WHAT IF I FORGET MY HOMEWORK?

v  You may be bring it in the following day for a √-.

v  I will not accept homework after the second day I assigned it.

v  If several homework assignments are missed in a term, an email will go home to parents.

§  IT SAYS MON-THURSDAY HOMEWORK. YAHOO!! LOOKS LIKE WE DON’T HAVE HOMEWORK DURING THE WEEKEND.

v  Well, not really because you may have some long term writing or projects you will need to work on during a weekend.

v  You will need to plan your time on these large projects.

§  WHERE DO I FIND OUT ABOUT HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS?

v  You can look on the board. Homework will be noted daily.

v  You can also look on the class website. It will be posted there, too.

OK, NOW THE SERIOUS STUFF- HOW DOES MRS. MCGUIRE GRADE?

GRADING

§  HOW ARE THE GRADES GIVEN?

v  Everything is graded with a number percentage, like 95% or 75%.

§  DO DIFFERENT THINGS COUNT MORE THAN OTHERS?

Yes, this is the “value” of each of the different types of grades.

ELA
VOCABULARY AND GRAMMAR / 20%
READING COMPREHENSION ASSESSMENTS / 20%
HOMEWORK / 15%
CLASSWORK / 15%
WRITING AND LONG TERM PROJECT / 25%
AR QUIZZES / 5%
TOTAL / 100%
SOCIAL STUDIES
QUIZZES / 30%
TESTS AND PROJECTS / 40%
HOMEWORK / 15%
CLASSWORK / 15%

I hope this answered some of your questions about ELA and social studies. If you aren’t sure of something or you are still curious about something we may be doing this year, now is the time to ask.