1. Mrs. Allison King Daniel Pratt Elementary School

2.  I will instruct your students in the subjects of Reading, English, Writing, and Spelling.  I practice an “I do, we do, you do” teaching style. Students will be confident in the skills they learn, yet will be considerably challenged. Organization and responsibility are very important in this class!  Students will be held to high expectations for academics and behavior. Frequent academic or behavior problems that affect learning will be brought to the parents.  This class will be a challenging one. Please help me in making sure students are on top of their assignments and homework. The most successful students have great parents and teachers working together!  Daily requirements:  All class supplies (homework grade will be reduced if student isn’t prepared)  A positive attitude  A desire to learn

3.  Grading will be on a percentage system for each subject. Percentages are as follows: Reading: 50% Daily 50% Tests Language Arts (Grammar, Spelling, Writing): 50% Daily 50% Tests  Graded papers will be sent home weekly in Thursday folders.  Please watch for progress reports once every nine weeks. These must be signed and returned. Grades are posted weekly on STI.

4.  The Reading curriculum will primarily be comprised of 2 main parts: Textbook stories and Novel studies. Textbook: Students will be exposed to one textbook story each week. We will read the story at the beginning of the week and learn the story vocabulary. Students will also focus on one comprehension skill each week as well. Skill tests will be given each Friday that will assess the week’s skill and vocabulary. This test does NOT test the textbook story. Novel studies: I hope to complete 8 grade-level novel units this school year, and will mostly be completed in literature circles through small groups. I will also read great children’s novels aloud daily to students. Most reading grades this year will be generated from the novel units. Some novel units are supplied by the school library, some I have sets of in class, and some will need to be purchased by you. The following are the novels I plan to engage your students in this year: Bud, not Buddy (S)Bridge to Terabithia (T) Maniac Magee (S)Frindle (T) The Breadwinner (P)Daniel’s Story (S) Shiloh (P)

5.  Students will also be required to keep weekly reading logs. I require 30 minutes per day of independent reading, 15 of which we will complete in class. Students will complete the other 15 minutes at home, and a parent should sign the reading log daily to account for this time.  Students will have one book report each nine weeks.  We will also study additional units from time to time that break from the books. These activities are extensions of standards and include things like Reader’s Theater.  My goal is for your child to LOVE reading and learning by engaging them in meaningful text and activities.

6.  I have a personal passion for proper grammar, and the fundamentals for that will be exercised daily in class.  Instruction and assignments in English will include those in both Grammar and Writing.  Grammar will be guided by the textbook and taught in units. (Nouns, Verbs, etc.) Lessons will be taught, reinforced and practiced for two days and when all lessons in a unit are finished the unit will be tested.  Writing units are designed by me and will be more in-depth projects that go through all the steps of the writing process. Projects range anywhere from 5 paragraph narratives on immigration to shorter persuasive letters and expository recipe projects. We will study 4 modes of writing in 5 th grade.  I also plan to complete a book publishing project this year.  Students will also complete a daily language practice each day as a “bell- ringer” that will be taken for a grade each nine weeks.  Journal writing will be done daily, and graded once each nine weeks.

7.  Spelling words each week are derived from our reading series. These are posted in the chart in our classroom throughout the week, and students will have them on a list provided to them.  Spelling word lists will be sent home at the beginning of each nine weeks. Please keep this list handy and review words with your student daily.  Pretests will be given on Wednesday. This test entails the words only. Students scoring a 100 on this test will be exempt from the test on Friday, will be labeled a “Star Speller”, and will be granted that score for the week. Those who do not, will take a dictation sentence test on Friday.  Additionally, students will have a 1 page work assignment each week that allows them to practice their words. These will be en out on given out on Mondays, and be due on Fridays of each week for students’ weekly daily grade.

8.  Most work for my class will be completed in class. I believe, especially in Language Arts, that students learn best in an in-class setting. As long as students complete what they should in class, homework will be minimal.  Students will encounter homework in Reading through their Reading logs, and in English as follow-up assignments to in-class lessons. Each week, Spelling homework will consist of completing their generalization work assignment and contract activities. Expect approximately 30 minutes of homework per night for this class. If students fail to complete homework, their nine weeks homework grade will be lowered 10 points for each missing assignment.  Classwork & Homework assignments are uploaded each week to my page on the school website: http://www.dpeseagles.com/

9.  It is crucial that students be in class each day that it is possible. This class covers a lot of material each day and it can be difficult for students to catch up when they miss. Serious illnesses are understandable, but please try to schedule routine doctor visits for afterschool hours, if possible.  Students will be required to make-up all work missed in class after an excused absence. Students have 3 days to get work in following their return to school, and will be responsible for getting their make-up work from the make-up work file. Afterwards, the assignment will be recorded as a zero.

10.  Allison King: 5 th Grade Language Arts allison.king@acboe.net (334) 361-6400  The best way to reach me is through e-mail. Please feel free to contact me at any time. I believe that students are most successful when teachers and parents work together.  Parents are invited to visit our class at any time.

11. Thank you for being here! I look forward to working and learning with your wonderful children this year! “ Your child will learn something everyday in this class. Some days they will bring it home in their hands. Some days they will bring it home in their heads. Other days, they will bring home what they learned in their hearts.” - Mary Engel