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Question 1

Answer 1
Why Can't My Child Skip the 20 Minutes of Nightly Reading? Student A reads 20 minutes, five nights of every week. Student B reads only 4 minutes a night...or not at all! Step 1: Multiply minutes a night x 5 times each week. Student A: 20 minutes x 5 times a week = 100 min./week Student B: 4 minutes x 5 times a week = 20 minutes/week Step 2: Multiply minutes/week x 4 weeks each month. Student A: 400 minutes a month Student B: 80 minutes a month Step 3: Multiply minutes a month x 9 school months Student A reads 3600 minutes in a school year. Student B reads 720 minutes in a school year. Student A practices reading the equivalent of ten whole school days a year. Student B gets the equivalent of only two school days of reading practice. By the end of 6th grade if Student A and Student B maintain these same reading habits, Student A will have read the equivalent of 60 whole school days. Student B will have read the equivalent of only 12 school days. One would expect the gap of information retained will have widened considerably and so, undoubtedly, will school performance. Here are some questions to ponder: Which student would you expect to read better? Which student would you expect to know more? Which student would you expect to write better? Which student would you expect to have a better vocabulary? Which student would you expect to be more successful in school...and in life? If daily reading begins in infancy, by the time the child is five years old, he or she has been fed roughly 900 hours of brain food! Reduce that experience to just 30 minutes a week and the child's hungry mind loses 770 hours of nursery rhymes, fairy tales, and stories. A kindergarten student who has not been read aloud to could enter school with less than 60 hours of literacy nutrition. No teacher, no matter how talented, can make up for those lost hours of mental nourishment. Therefore... 30 minutes daily: 900 hours 30 minutes weekly: 130 hours Less than 30 minutes weekly: 60 hours [Source: U.S. Dept. of Education, American Reads Challenge. (1999). "Start Early, Finish Strong: How to Help Every Child Become a Reader." Washington, D.C.}
Question 2

Answer 2
Your child's spelling program may be different from what you've come to expect as "spelling." Instead of weekly lists of words to memorize, this program emphasizes the learning of important words, not for a Friday Test, but for a lifetime of spelling in the real world - that is, spelling correctly in writing. This lifelong spelling ability grows over time. It grows through skills instruction (phonics, word origins, spelling rules, usage, etc.), through your child's everyday writing, and through word study on specific words your child has not yet mastered. You can extend this teaching into your home. To help your child spell and use essential words: Sentences written on the weekly report can be proofread. You may see papers for proofreading come home. You see, your child will be expected to spell some words correctly all the time to meet the minimum requirement for spelling in everyday writing. These words are called Priority Words. We will call them "No Excuse Words" in class. They are the words that occur most frequently in writing. As your child proofreads for these words, s/he will practice the skills for proofreading any word. This list will grow throughout the year. Let's make your child's spelling growth a team effort - you, your child, and all of us here at school. We can work together to make your child a speller!
Question 3

Answer 3
Third Grade Priority Words "No Excuse Words" a, about, all, an, and, are, as, at, be, but, by, can, do, each, for, from, had, have, he,his, how, I, if in, is, it, many, not, of, on, one, or, out, said, she, that, the, their, them, then, there, they, this, to, too,, two, up, was, we, were, what, when, which, will, with, you, your
Question 4

Answer 4
We believe our class should show…… Respect Look and listen to the speaker. Keep your ears open because then you can hear important things. Talk nicely. Be quiet. Walk instead of running. Tell the truth. Keep your hands and feet to yourself. Use polite words and manners. Respect school supplies and property. Responsibility Do your homework. Keep your desk organized. Control your own actions. Use the restroom at the appropriate times. Relationships Work together with others nicely. Admit when you are wrong and apologize like you mean it. Treat other people the way you want to be treated.
Question 5

Answer 5
We will use logical consequences for behavior choices. Positive behavior choices will be rewarded with tangible and intangible rewards. Our class will use a class meeting agenda to brainstorm related, respectful and reasonable solutions and consequences for both good and bad choices. Our class will use a book to record individual problems and solutions. Students that continue to break class/school rules and disregard the learning of others students may be referred to the office for further discipline.
Question 6

Answer 6
You may provide a simple snack for your child’s birthday. Most parents provide cupcakes or cookies. I do not have a cutting tool at school, so please have your snack ready to serve. Napkins are appreciated if you send something messy. We will enjoy these treats outside during our recess time. Please make it simple. Summer birthdays can be celebrated during May. Invitations: Please note East Side’s policy. Invitations to private parties may NOT be distributed at school. A phone and address list will be shared so you may call or mail out invitations.
Question 7

Answer 7
Student lunches are $1.60 (this includes a milk). Additional milk or juice is $0.65. Adult lunches are $2.50. Lunches may be prepaid by weeks, months, semesters, or the year. You may pay for lunches at www.mealpay.com. Have you ever watched a group of second graders eat lunch? Most will start with the dessert and play with the rest. If you are concerned with ensuring your child eat the healthy parts of their lunch, you may want to let the cafeteria know you do not want money spent on the sweets and junk foods. Write a note stating so, and I’ll get it to our cafeteria manager. **School policy: If your child is going to eat at school, they MUST have money. There are no charges allowed anymore. If they do not have money, their lunch will consist of a cheese sandwich or peanut butter & jelly.
Question 8

Answer 8
This year we will be having lunch at 12:42. Because we have a late lunch, we will be eating snack in our room at around 8:50. Please send in a healthy snack (fruit, vegetables, pretzels, crackers, healthy yogurt, healthy granola bar, etc.) for your child to have daily. Be mindful of crumbly and messy foods. Please no sugary or chocolate snacks. Your child is more than welcome to have a water bottle (no juice) on their desk. To prevent major spills, I request that they only have a bottle with a spout. Bottles with twist off caps cause spills and will be sent home. Your child will be able to use the drinking fountain if they do not have an appropriate water bottle. Please do not send bottles from the freezer. The water condensation makes a big mess on students’ desks.
Question 9

Answer 9
Tennis shoes with wheels are not to be worn. This is an East Side rule. The wheels must be removed at home!
Question 10

Answer 10
Please note that for safety reasons, I cannot send your child home a different way than is posted in the classroom unless your child has a note stating the change. Please send a note in with your child EACH TIME they have a change. They should put their note in the "Notes From Home" basket on my desk. This is a school policy.
Question 11

Answer 11
You will need to enter our class name and password at www.scholastic.com/parentordering. Make your selections, pay with a credit card and I will send home the books when they arrive. Most orders will come within 7-10 business days from the due date for the book order.
Question 12

Answer 12
Mini Lesson: 15 Minutes Each Reading Workshop session will begin with a mini lesson that lasts approximately 10-15 minutes. Each mini lesson will focus on a reading strategy. I will teach a few strategies of great consequence in depth over time. Activity Time/Independent Reading: 40 Minutes Students might: • read independently and practice and apply the skill from our mini-lesson. • meet with Reading Partners-Partners set up meeting times to discuss a text that they have chosen to read simultaneously • write in Talk Back Notebooks to show their understanding of a strategy and respond to their reading The teacher might: • meet with a small group for a lesson based on student needs • conference with students to practice a reading strategy and/or to assess student progress. Sharing: 15 Minutes Students will be asked to show how they’ve applied the reading strategy. During this time the class might: • Meet as a whole group to refer back to the mini-lesson and think further • Meet together to think about and respond to questions such as: What did you learn about reading today? What did you learn about yourself as a reader? • Meet in small groups to have a quick chat about how the reading is going
Question 13

Answer 13
Connections Children make personal connections with the text by using their schema (background knowledge). There are three main types of connections we make while reading text. Text-to-Self (T-S) refers to connections made between the text and the reader's personal experience. Text-to-Text (T-T) refers to connections made between a text being read to a text that was previously read. Text-to-World (T-W) refers to connections made between a text being read and something that occurs in the world. Mental Images Mental images or visualizing is when the reader creates an image in their mind from the text. It is like a movie unfolding in their mind as they read. These images help readers engage with text in ways that make it personal and memorable. Readers build, revise and change their images as they continue to read. Inferring The reader uses what they know (schema) and what they read in the text to make a conclusion, prediction, and form unique interpretations of text. Inferring is often referred to as “reading between the lines.” Inferring may include forming a best guess using evidence -- context clues, picture clues, etc. and finding meaning of unknown words Determining Importance People are bombarded daily with information. Knowing the purpose for reading helps determine what’s important. This is used mainly with nonfiction reading. The reader has to determine the difference between what they need to know and what is just interesting. Questioning Thoughtful readers ask themselves questions before, during, and after they read to help them understand the text. They realize not all of their questions will be answered by the text. Questions help students clarify and deepen understanding of the text they are reading. There are four key types of questions: "Right there" questions (text explicit). These are literal questions where the answer is in the text itself. ? "Think and search" questions (text implicit). The answer is implicit in the text but the student must synthesize, infer, or summarize to find the answer. Think and search questions tend to be more open-ended without set answers.? "Reader and author" questions (text implicit or experience-based). The answer needs the reader to combine his or her own experiences with what the text states, i.e., the knowledge presented by the author. ? "On my own" questions (text implicit or experience-based). The reader needs to generate the answer from his or her prior knowledge. The reader may not need to read the text to answer, but the answer would certainly be shaped differently after reading the text. Synthesis Synthesis is like throwing a rock into a pond. First there is a splash, and then the water ripples out, making little waves that get bigger and bigger. Basically, you are putting all the strategies together and doing something with it. Your thinking evolves as you encounter new information, and the meaning gets bigger and bigger. When you synthesize, your mind is changing, your ideas are changing, and your thinking is changing. Connections Children make personal connections with the text by using their schema (background knowledge). There are three main types of connections we make while reading text. Text-to-Self (T-S) refers to connections made between the text and the reader's personal experience. Text-to-Text (T-T) refers to connections made between a text being read to a text that was previously read. Text-to-World (T-W) refers to connections made between a text being read and something that occurs in the world. Mental Images Mental images or visualizing is when the reader creates an image in their mind from the text. It is like a movie unfolding in their mind as they read. These images help readers engage with text in ways that make it personal and memorable. Readers build, revise and change their images as they continue to read. Inferring The reader uses what they know (schema) and what they read in the text to make a conclusion, prediction, and form unique interpretations of text. Inferring is often referred to as “reading between the lines.” Inferring may include forming a best guess using evidence -- context clues, picture clues, etc. and finding meaning of unknown words Determining Importance People are bombarded daily with information. Knowing the purpose for reading helps determine what’s important. This is used mainly with nonfiction reading. The reader has to determine the difference between what they need to know and what is just interesting. Questioning Thoughtful readers ask themselves questions before, during, and after they read to help them understand the text. They realize not all of their questions will be answered by the text. Questions help students clarify and deepen understanding of the text they are reading. There are four key types of questions: "Right there" questions (text explicit). These are literal questions where the answer is in the text itself. ? "Think and search" questions (text implicit). The answer is implicit in the text but the student must synthesize, infer, or summarize to find the answer. Think and search questions tend to be more open-ended without set answers.? "Reader and author" questions (text implicit or experience-based). The answer needs the reader to combine his or her own experiences with what the text states, i.e., the knowledge presented by the author. ? "On my own" questions (text implicit or experience-based). The reader needs to generate the answer from his or her prior knowledge. The reader may not need to read the text to answer, but the answer would certainly be shaped differently after reading the text. Synthesis Synthesis is like throwing a rock into a pond. First there is a splash, and then the water ripples out, making little waves that get bigger and bigger. Basically, you are putting all the strategies together and doing something with it. Your thinking evolves as you encounter new information, and the meaning gets bigger and bigger. When you synthesize, your mind is changing, your ideas are changing, and your thinking is changing. Connections Children make personal connections with the text by using their schema (background knowledge). There are three main types of connections we make while reading text. Text-to-Self (T-S) refers to connections made between the text and the reader's personal experience. Text-to-Text (T-T) refers to connections made between a text being read to a text that was previously read. Text-to-World (T-W) refers to connections made between a text being read and something that occurs in the world. Mental Images Mental images or visualizing is when the reader creates an image in their mind from the text. It is like a movie unfolding in their mind as they read. These images help readers engage with text in ways that make it personal and memorable. Readers build, revise and change their images as they continue to read. Inferring The reader uses what they know (schema) and what they read in the text to make a conclusion, prediction, and form unique interpretations of text. Inferring is often referred to as “reading between the lines.” Inferring may include forming a best guess using evidence -- context clues, picture clues, etc. and finding meaning of unknown words Determining Importance People are bombarded daily with information. Knowing the purpose for reading helps determine what’s important. This is used mainly with nonfiction reading. The reader has to determine the difference between what they need to know and what is just interesting. Questioning Thoughtful readers ask themselves questions before, during, and after they read to help them understand the text. They realize not all of their questions will be answered by the text. Questions help students clarify and deepen understanding of the text they are reading. There are four key types of questions: "Right there" questions (text explicit). These are literal questions where the answer is in the text itself. ? "Think and search" questions (text implicit). The answer is implicit in the text but the student must synthesize, infer, or summarize to find the answer. Think and search questions tend to be more open-ended without set answers.? "Reader and author" questions (text implicit or experience-based). The answer needs the reader to combine his or her own experiences with what the text states, i.e., the knowledge presented by the author. ? "On my own" questions (text implicit or experience-based). The reader needs to generate the answer from his or her prior knowledge. The reader may not need to read the text to answer, but the answer would certainly be shaped differently after reading the text. Synthesis Synthesis is like throwing a rock into a pond. First there is a splash, and then the water ripples out, making little waves that get bigger and bigger. Basically, you are putting all the strategies together and doing something with it. Your thinking evolves as you encounter new information, and the meaning gets bigger and bigger. When you synthesize, your mind is changing, your ideas are changing, and your thinking is changing. Connections Children make personal connections with the text by using their schema (background knowledge). There are three main types of connections we make while reading text. Text-to-Self (T-S) refers to connections made between the text and the reader's personal experience. Text-to-Text (T-T) refers to connections made between a text being read to a text that was previously read. Text-to-World (T-W) refers to connections made between a text being read and something that occurs in the world. Mental Images Mental images or visualizing is when the reader creates an image in their mind from the text. It is like a movie unfolding in their mind as they read. These images help readers engage with text in ways that make it personal and memorable. Readers build, revise and change their images as they continue to read. Inferring The reader uses what they know (schema) and what they read in the text to make a conclusion, prediction, and form unique interpretations of text. Inferring is often referred to as “reading between the lines.” Inferring may include forming a best guess using evidence -- context clues, picture clues, etc. and finding meaning of unknown words Determining Importance People are bombarded daily with information. Knowing the purpose for reading helps determine what’s important. This is used mainly with nonfiction reading. The reader has to determine the difference between what they need to know and what is just interesting. Questioning Thoughtful readers ask themselves questions before, during, and after they read to help them understand the text. They realize not all of their questions will be answered by the text. Questions help students clarify and deepen understanding of the text they are reading. There are four key types of questions: "Right there" questions (text explicit). These are literal questions where the answer is in the text itself. ? "Think and search" questions (text implicit). The answer is implicit in the text but the student must synthesize, infer, or summarize to find the answer. Think and search questions tend to be more open-ended without set answers.? "Reader and author" questions (text implicit or experience-based). The answer needs the reader to combine his or her own experiences with what the text states, i.e., the knowledge presented by the author. ? "On my own" questions (text implicit or experience-based). The reader needs to generate the answer from his or her prior knowledge. The reader may not need to read the text to answer, but the answer would certainly be shaped differently after reading the text. Synthesis Synthesis is like throwing a rock into a pond. First there is a splash, and then the water ripples out, making little waves that get bigger and bigger. Basically, you are putting all the strategies together and doing something with it. Your thinking evolves as you encounter new information, and the meaning gets bigger and bigger. When you synthesize, your mind is changing, your ideas are changing, and your thinking is changing. Connections Children make personal connections with the text by using their schema (background knowledge). There are three main types of connections we make while reading text. Text-to-Self (T-S) refers to connections made between the text and the reader's personal experience. Text-to-Text (T-T) refers to connections made between a text being read to a text that was previously read. Text-to-World (T-W) refers to connections made between a text being read and something that occurs in the world. Mental Images Mental images or visualizing is when the reader creates an image in their mind from the text. It is like a movie unfolding in their mind as they read. These images help readers engage with text in ways that make it personal and memorable. Readers build, revise and change their images as they continue to read. Inferring The reader uses what they know (schema) and what they read in the text to make a conclusion, prediction, and form unique interpretations of text. Inferring is often referred to as “reading between the lines.” Inferring may include forming a best guess using evidence -- context clues, picture clues, etc. and finding meaning of unknown words Determining Importance People are bombarded daily with information. Knowing the purpose for reading helps determine what’s important. This is used mainly with nonfiction reading. The reader has to determine the difference between what they need to know and what is just interesting. Questioning Thoughtful readers ask themselves questions before, during, and after they read to help them understand the text. They realize not all of their questions will be answered by the text. Questions help students clarify and deepen understanding of the text they are reading. There are four key types of questions: "Right there" questions (text explicit). These are literal questions where the answer is in the text itself. ? "Think and search" questions (text implicit). The answer is implicit in the text but the student must synthesize, infer, or summarize to find the answer. Think and search questions tend to be more open-ended without set answers.? "Reader and author" questions (text implicit or experience-based). The answer needs the reader to combine his or her own experiences with what the text states, i.e., the knowledge presented by the author. ? "On my own" questions (text implicit or experience-based). The reader needs to generate the answer from his or her prior knowledge. The reader may not need to read the text to answer, but the answer would certainly be shaped differently after reading the text. Synthesis Synthesis is like throwing a rock into a pond. First there is a splash, and then the water ripples out, making little waves that get bigger and bigger. Basically, you are putting all the strategies together and doing something with it. Your thinking evolves as you encounter new information, and the meaning gets bigger and bigger. When you synthesize, your mind is changing, your ideas are changing, and your thinking is changing.
Question 14

Answer 14
Grades 3-5 • Grade levels will work to create common summative assessments that will be used to determine a student’s grade. All other class work / homework are formative assessments; therefore, they will not “count” in determining the grade for the report card. Completion of formative assessments, however, will be reflected in the Effort area of the report card. • Formative assessments are designed to help students improve and are not used to determine a student’s performance level. They provide practice for students and are used to help guide instruction for students. They are not used to determine the Performance Levels on the report card. “They are assessments for learning.” • Summative assessments are designed to measure student achievement and are used to determine performance levels. New evidence replaces old evidence when it is clear a student knows or can do something today that he could not do previously. Summative Assessments that are given at the end of a nine week period are also used to guide instruction for the upcoming nine weeks. Skills are often spiraled throughout the yearly report card. “They are assessments of learning”. • Summative Assessments will be marked with a stamp to communicate to parents that they will be used as part of the 9-week measure of performance on the report card.
Question 15

Answer 15
E - 90-100% G- 80-89% S - 70-79% N - 69% or below O- 85% or above S- 70-84% N - 69% or below
Question 16

Answer 16
Each student is given a planner which is to be used daily to record homework, quizzes, tests and other important information. Each student is EXPECTED and REQUIRED to fill it out daily, take it home, have a parent/guardian sign it,and bring it back to school the next day. It is your child's reponsibility to ask a parent to sign their planner.
Question 17

Answer 17
Each Friday your child will be writing you a letter about their week. At first they will use their best d'nealian handwriting. As we learn more cursive, they will use that to show off their learning. You are asked to write back to them over the weekend using cursive. This will help our kids learn to read cursive!
Question 18

Answer 18

Question 19

Answer 19

Question 20

Answer 20

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