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

2. About me
I grew up in a small beach community in NY and moved with my family to AZ 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!

3. Language arts
Reading Skills—read it, think it through, understand it
Pearson’s myPerspectives
novel studies
Writing Skills—sentence structure, organization, conventions
one extended writing piece each quarter
journal—two prompts per week
Grammar

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
computer-based assessments
AzMERIT in the spring

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

6. UNITS OF STUDY whole-class, small-group, and independent learning
QUARTER 1—Childhood
Essential question: What are some of the challenges and triumphs of growing up?
nonfiction narrative
QUARTER 2—Imagination
Essential question: Where can imagination lead?
fictional narrative and Anything but Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin
QUARTER 3—Exploration
Essential question: What drives people to explore?
argument and The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
QUARTER 4—Animal Allies
Essential question: How can people and animals relate to each other?
explanatory essay and Flush by Carl Hiaasen

7. 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

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

10. 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. Altadena 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.

11. 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.

12. 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
**Please write your name and period number in the subject line.
Join Remind to receive text messages with reminders and updates.
periods 1 and to 81010
periods 2 and to 81010

13. I am looking forward to a wonderful year!