1. WELCOME TO ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS
Ms. Jaime Brennan
Room 101

2. 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!

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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.

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

15. 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 s them with a question!
Please use the StudentVUE or ParentVUE portal on the Kyrene website to check grades frequently.

16. 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.

17. 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.

18. 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
**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 to 81010
periods 5 and to 81010
PRIDE—text 4ggb2e to 81010

19. I am looking forward to a wonderful year!

20. 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