WELCOME TO ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS Ms. Jaime Brennan Room 101

About me I grew up in a small beach community in NY. My family moved to AZ my senior year of high school. ASU is from where I earned my degree in elementary education, graduating summa cum laude. This is my fourth year at Altadena. I taught fifth grade for 14 years, 10 of which were at Monte Vista. I’ve been in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers twice. I was honored to be a nominee for the Educational Mentor of the Year by the Ahwatukee Foothills News and SRP in 2013. I am so excited to be teaching ELA at Altadena again!

Language arts Reading Skills—read it, think it through, understand it Pearson’s myPerspectives—new resource adoption novel studies Writing Skills—sentence structure, organization, conventions at least one extended writing piece each quarter journal—two prompts per week Grammar Vocabulary/Spelling

Preparing for the future Common Core State Standards for ELA Clear and consistent standards for teachers, students, and parents Relevant, real-world skills to prepare for college and careers To prepare students to compete in the global economy “I Can” statements, learning goals, and scales AzMERIT in the spring

Reading skills SHARED INQUIRY Shared Inquiry is an active and collaborative search for answers to questions of meaning about a text. It is a research-supported method of learning that promotes deeper thinking through reading, discussion, and writing. It always involves interpretive questions (questions that have more than one answer that can be supported by the text), close reading, collaboration, and reflective and critical thinking.

READING SKILLS (CONTINUED) LEXILE difficulty of the text is considered 6th grade—850 to 1050 INFORMATIONAL TEXT majority of reading material across core subjects LITERARY TEXT genres, structure of stories, real-life connections, perceptions

Common core reading Key Ideas and Details Read closely—cite specific textual evidence; make logical inferences Determine theme and analyze development; summarize Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact Craft and Structure Technical, connotative and figurative meanings Analyze structure Point of view and purpose Integration of Knowledge and Ideas Integrate and evaluate content Delineate and evaluate claims Analyze two or more texts

Writing skills Written Responses to Text Citing evidence Writing Applications Arguments to support claims with relevant evidence Informative/Explanatory Narrative (real and imagined) Research Literary Responses

Common core writing Text Types and Purposes Support claims using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence Informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately Narratives to develop real or imagined experiences Production and Distribution of Writing Produce clear and coherent writing appropriate to task Develop and strengthen writing Use technology to produce/publish Research to Build and Present Knowledge Conduct short and long research Gather relevant information from multiple sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each and avoid plagiarism Draw evidence from texts to support analysis, reflection, and research

COLOR-CODED PARAGRAPHS Students will use the color-coded paragraph to structure the writing of quality paragraphs containing at least 11 sentences. Green—topic and concluding sentences Blue—transition Yellow—reason/detail/fact Pink—examples/explanation

Common core—speaking and listening Comprehension and Collaboration Prepare for and participate in conversations and collaborations Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats Evaluate points of view, reasoning, and use of evidence Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas Listeners can follow the line of reasoning; the organization, development, and style are appropriate Use digital media and visual displays of data Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and communicative tasks

Common core—language Conventions of Standard English Grammar and usage when writing or speaking Capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing Knowledge of Learning Understand how language functions in different contexts Vocabulary Acquisition and Use Context clues, analyzing meaningful word parts, and consulting general and specialized reference materials Figurative language, word relationships, and nuances General academic and domain-specific words and phrases

Typical homework—YES, EXPECT IT. Read 30 minutes each night Writing Spelling/vocabulary practice Grammar practice Unfinished class work All homework will be posted on the 6B website

grading 80% assessments (tests, projects, etc.) 20% practice (homework, classwork, etc.) Turn everything in on time. Late homework earns a zero. For each day a project is late, 10% is deducted. Advocate for yourself. This is YOUR education. The 6B teachers love it when a student emails them with a question! Please use the StudentVUE or ParentVUE portal on the Kyrene website to check grades frequently.

other School spelling bee Word games/brainteasers Friendly competitions in class Book orders—The ability to read it does not mean it is developmentally appropriate. Our class code for online Scholastic orders is GL76X.

supplies 3-subject notebook (college-ruled) pocket folder with brads ream of college-ruled notebook paper highlighters (yellow, pink, green, and blue) dry erase marker and a sock to use as an eraser red pen #2 pencils—wooden is preferred If you could come prepared on Thursday, it would be greatly appreciated.

www.kyrene.org/alt 6B team website: ParentVUE: weekly agenda and homework--Please check daily for updates! ParentVUE: grades, absences/tardies, contact information Class website—Jaime Brennan: links to practice ELA skills The best way to contact me is through email: jaimebrennan@kyrene.org **Please write your child’s name and period number in the subject line. Join Remind to receive text messages with reminders and updates. periods 1 and 2—text @32g69f to 81010 periods 5 and 6—text @b8h7gd to 81010 PRIDE—text 4ggb2e to 81010

I am looking forward to a wonderful year!

Gifted Pathways english LANGUAGE ARTS HOW IS IT DIFFERENT? Higher levels of questioning Degree of assistance, support, and structure Complexity of processes, resources, and products Rate of instructional pacing Concrete to more abstract Challenge the views of the author and discrepancies between texts Vocabulary—Wordly Wise