Mrs. Salceda’s Class What to expect

Your day begins at 8:00 am The first bell will ring at 7:55 Line up at the black-top and wait for the second bell. 8:00 second bell rings Quietly march into the building 8:10 in your seat ready for morning announcements. 8:15 School day begins.

School Supplies Four composition notebooks pencils pencil sharpener markers, crayons, colored pencils, water colors ruler, scissors and scotch tape sticky notes Zip lock baggies, two or three

The GT Curriculum is integrated  The GT Curriculum is integrated! Students will receive the same grade for all three core areas: reading, language arts and social studies. Grades in all three areas will be averaged.  On the report card you will see the same grade for all three subjects.

Grading: Many, but not all, assignments and projects will be graded using a rubric. Students will be provided and have access to rubrics. Parents are encouraged to participate in the student’s project. Parents can help revise and edit, as well as, evaluate the quality of a product before it is turned in. Review the rubric with your child to confirm that all expectations have been met.

The Depth and Complexity Icons are visual prompts designed to help students go beyond surface level understanding of a concept and enhance their ability to think critically.  These critical thinking tools help students dig deeper into a concept (depth) and understand that concept with greater complexity.   In fact, to truly understand something, one must be able to speak the language specific to that topic.   One cannot have a critical understanding of that same topic without knowing the details, rules and patterns associated with it or understanding how it may have changed and the varied perspectives through which it is viewed. As you examine each icon, pay close attention to the design, as it will help to reveal its meaning.   Keep in mind that our goal is not to teach the icons themselves, but rather to utilize them as visual “thinking” tools to help students gain a critical understanding of a topic or concept.

General scope of the 5th grade connections curriculum The GT curriculum is designed to parallel the course curriculum for the fifth grade. The scope is deeper, the pacing is faster and the expectations are higher. During the year we will read twelve novels chosen by the district to help you understand the development and evolution of our county’s history as it parallels your own growth and development. I will read the first novel along with the students in order to model the level of questioning, and the application of depth and complexity and contents imperatives as they respond to the text. You can expect a lot of the reading to be assigned for homework. On the average, I will assign twenty five pages a night; weekend reading is to be expected. This should take the average fifth grader thirty to forty-five minutes. In class students will have the opportunity to discuss and respond to the reading. I will ask them to respond to questions in writing and then open a class discussion based on their observations, connections and questions. Students will take an Accelerated Reader test for each book assigned and grade will be recorded in the grade book.

My Journey Project Students will be asked to make connections between the historical fiction, the study of US. History and their own lives. This is a year long project that will begin sometime in the first nine weeks of school and culminate with a product presentation in May. I will provide outlines, suggestions, writing mini-lessons and writing opportunities in the classroom. We will dedicate a lot of time to writing in the classroom. Writing homework will vary among students. Some students will choose to work on this at home, while others, will use the writing time in class efficiently. Parents need to provide assistance throughout all stages of this project. Each chapter will have several components which will be graded individually. Each chapter will be worth four to five grades.

Excuses? Students are expected to record all assignment in their school calendar. I will provide a general calendar on my school website or other program. Students should have one or two classmate’s phone numbers in case they have questions abut assignments or due dates. The My Journey Project must be completed therefore, I will reward work turned in on time and deduct points on assignments turned in late. Points will be deducted for all assignments turned in late. NO EXCUSES.

Collaborative groups Students will be placed in different collaborative groups every week. It is important that students are prepared to discuss, participate, inquire and work towards achieving class assignment and project objectives. This can only be done successfully if every single student is accountable and takes responsibility for their own academic success. The collaborative group activities are designed to help students learn in an environment that offers opportunities to teach others, to seek answers to questions, to explore certain topics in depth.