Welcome TJMS Families Back-to-School Night Ms. Lopez 7th Grade Penguin Team kelly.lopez@apsva.us

A little about me… I am a Special Education teacher with 9 years of classroom teaching experience. This is my third year with Thomas Jefferson. Prior to teaching I worked as an ABA instructor for five years and special education classroom assistant for five years. Helping students grow to their fullest potential is my passion.

What self-contained reading class is... The reading curriculum is designed to improve reading performance. This course is a self-contained special education reading class taught by a special education teacher. Class placement is determined by student need through reading assessments and IEP goals. This reading program focuses on: comprehension, vocabulary, decoding and fluency. What self-contained reading class is...

Methods and Programs used... These reading programs focus on: comprehension, vocabulary, decoding and fluency Orton Gillingham (OG) methodology is an explicit multisensory research based structured language approach for teaching reading and spelling OG breaks reading and spelling down into smaller skills involving letters and sounds Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI) provides fast paced, daily, small-group instruction LLI is a series of systematically designed lessons and original, engaging leveled books sequenced to build a reading vocabulary of high frequency words and lessons provide explicit instruction on comprehension Methods and Programs used...

Instruction and Comprehension Students are given explicit instruction in reading comprehension strategies: including the reading process, and guided practice in applying them Through instruction and practice students become more effective readers of fiction and nonfiction text Students will be expected to keep an interactive notebook with comprehension activities on given reading material Instruction and Comprehension

Class Expectations Class Expectations: Interactive Notebook: Arrive in class prepared with an independent reading book, pencil, binder and iPad (fully charged) Follow teacher instructions Give their very best effort on all their work Treat classmates with kindness and respect Participate actively, ask questions, and self-advocate Interactive Notebook:  Students will keep an interactive notebook in class This will count as 25% of their summative grade Class Expectations

Grading *grades will be posted in StudentVue or ParentVue by Fridays     Grading *grades will be posted in StudentVue or ParentVue by Fridays Grading Scale: Per APS policy: Grades reflect student achievement, not behavior In this course, students will be graded using the terms: O (outstanding) 85% and above, S (satisfactory) 70 – 85%, U (unsatisfactory) below 70%, to communicate student achievement   Formative Assessments For “Practice” Summative Assessment To show Mastery Weight toward grade 50% Reading Log 10% Class work 25% Homework 15% Projects 15% Interactive Notebook 25% Performance Assessments 10% Late Work Policy Assignments are accepted through the end of the unit

Email is the best way to contact me at kelly.lopez@apsva.us School phone number (703) 228-5900 How to contact me…