1. Ms. March Mrs. Jewell Mrs. Stefani

2.  The Illinois State Board of Education has adopted new Math and English language Arts standards for k-12 education know as the New Illinois Learning Standards incorporating the Common Core. A little more about Common Core…  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s0rRk9sER0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s0rRk9sER0 The six instructional shifts are within CCSS for Deeper learning (Rigor)  Increase reading of informational text.  Text Complexity  Academic vocabulary  Text-based Answers--Dive deeper, close reading  Increase writing from sources--a variety of writing and not as much narrative.  Literacy instruction in all Content Areas--Integrating language arts and social studies.

3.  Journal Response—We begin each day with a journal response based on a quote or video that supports the theme of the term or curriculum. It is a quick write that allows students to form an opinion and reflect on that opinion. Let’s practice. What is the theme or central idea of the video-- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z7gDsSKUmU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z7gDsSKUmU  Read Aloud—a daily read aloud is incorporated into the curriculum and is used to model reading strategies and to work on skills and strategies that support the curriculum. Our first read aloud is The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton.

4.  D47 has implemented a new literacy curriculum that supports the state’s New Learning Standards. This reading curriculum provides rigorous text and a variation of text that students have the opportunity to grapple with and “close” read.

5.  Students will be writing in the themes we have with our curriculum this year.  They will have six papers this year as opposed to the eight of last year.  Students will be assessed using the literacy rubric provided with the new curriculum.

7.  Inquiry based instruction--Providing students with the opportunity to develop their own questions and ideas about a certain topic and then class time to find those answers. Groups will be created by student interest or teacher discretion where students will work together to create a presentation that will be presented in front of the class. In essence, students are teaching their peers about a topic that interests him or her so he or she will take ownership and interest in the learning process. Topics to be covered…  Immigration  WWI  Roaring 20’s  The Great Depression  WWII  Civil Rights  Current Events  Formative and summative assessments will be used to assess student work.

8.  This year conferences will be run differently than in the past  Conferences will be led by your child and will be “Open house” style  This provides the opportunity for students to discuss with you their successes, MAP scores, share work samples, and future goals  Look for more information in October

9.  Three categories of grades:  Assessments (may include labs, projects, final writing pieces) - end of a unit/topic; assessment of learning  Class Work (may include labs, quizzes) - everything leading up to the final assessment  Homework - to be completed only outside the classroom  Weighting Breakdown: Assessments 80% Classwork - 15% Homework - 5%  Homework:  Statement of Importance  Research indicates that schools in which homework is routinely assigned and assessed tend to have higher achieving students. Homework fosters student achievement, independence, and responsibility and serves as a vital link between school and home.

10. Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) For Reading and Mathematics to be taken in the fall, winter, and spring MAP creates a personalized assessment by adapting to each student's learning level. Teachers will have assessment data--and essential information about what each student knows and is ready to learn in 24 hrs. Summative end-of-year PARCC Assessment This year instead of ISATs students will be taking the PARCC Assessment. PARCC will replace the ISAT assessment in Illinois. The new assessment adds new elements to the old multiple-choice format and allows for a better measure of students' skills and abilities. Using technology-enhanced items and various other innovations, students will get the chance to better showcase their skills.

11.  Ms. March: DLMarch@d47.orgDLMarch@d47.org  Mrs. Jewell: TLJewell@d47.orgTLJewell@d47.org  Mrs. Stefani: BAStefani@d47.orgBAStefani@d47.org  Phone: (815) 459-9210 (voicemail only)  Teacher websites can be found at the RBMS homepage under “Teacher Webs” http://www.d47schools.org/rbm/ http://www.d47schools.org/rbm/