WELCOME TO GATE ELA Ms. Jaime Brennan Room 101

About me I grew up in a small beach community in NY and moved to AZ with my family during my senior year of high school. ASU is from where I earned my degree in elementary education, graduating summa cum laude. I have an endorsement in English as a Second Language, and Middle Grades Language Arts 6-8 is an approved area on my certification. This is my fifth 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 computer-based assessments novel studies Writing Skills—sentence structure, organization, conventions one extended writing piece each quarter journal—two prompts per week

QUARTER 4—Modern Technology QUARTER 1—Childhood Essential question: What are some of the challenges and triumphs of growing up? nonfiction narrative The Watsons Go to Birmingham or Peter Pan QUARTER 2—Imagination Essential question: Where can imagination lead? explanatory text, argument, informative presentation, poetry, plays, fictional text Freak the Mighty or Alice in Wonderland QUARTER 3—Exploration Essential question: What drives people to explore? argument essay and speech The Lightning Thief or The Sword and the Circle QUARTER 4—Modern Technology Essential question: How is modern technology helpful and harmful to society? argument essay, debate, solve real-world problems through research and idea development Flush, Dr. Doolittle, White Fang, or Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!

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

Typical homework—YES, EXPECT IT. read 30 minutes each night writing all homework will be posted on my website

GRADES 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. Altadena 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.

www.kyrene.org/alt Class website: ParentVUE: weekly agenda and homework--Please check daily for updates! literacy links to practice skills ParentVUE: grades, absences, tardies, contact information The best way to contact me is through email: jaimebrennan@kyrene.org **Please write your name and period number in the subject line. Join Remind to receive text messages with reminders and updates: periods 2 and 6—text @gateelams to 81010

I am looking forward to a wonderful year!