September 4, 2013

Dear Parents/Guardians: After a relaxing two-month break, a new school year has snuck up on us! I am confident that this will be a busy, exciting, and successful year for both your child and me. I would like to take this opportunity to share with you some of the upcoming units for this month, as well as some of our classroom routines and procedures. Classes and Units This year, your child will have a variety of teachers taking responsibility for his or her education as a part of our collaborative approach to students learning. These teachers, and their subjects, are: Mr. Hearn Band (New to students schedule this year; replaces Music) Mrs. Kitch Arts Education (Visual Art, Dance, and Drama) Miss Senyk Character Education Ms. Molaro Social Studies Miss Hough Science Miss Schmelinsky Health I will be teaching the remaining subjects, namely Language Arts, Math, French, and Physical Education. I regularly post updates on our current units of study on our classroom blog (discussed later in this letter), but please feel free to visit the curriculum at any time to gain a better understanding of what your child is learning by following this link: https://www.edonline.sk.ca/webapps/moe-curriculum-BBLEARN/index.jsp?lang=en Joining us for the first four months of the school year is Miss Jenna Kulyk. She is a teacher intern from the University of Regina. She will be teaching one subject initially, gradually increasing her teaching load until she has assumed all of the duties of the classroom teacher (me) near November. She comes highly qualified and I am so excited to have her share her fresh teaching ideas and strategies with our class. Math Our first unit of study in Math will focus on place value (outcome N6.1). Throughout this (and every) unit, a combination of teaching approaches and learning strategies will be employed using math pods. Math pods allow students to work (individually and in groups) with manipulatives, technology, and a traditional paper and pencil. They also offer me a chance to

work closely with a small group of students, making teaching more effective while increasing the opportunity for questioning from students. Central to Math this year will be problem solving. It will be integrated into all units of study and serve as a basis for many of our lessons. While all problem solving strategies will be reviewed, our focal point will be using the strategy of working backwards. Also key to our Math program this year will be a daily five-minute session of mental math. Students will learn strategies that will enable them to calculate equations quickly and easily in their heads. Language Arts Language Arts consumes a significant portion of our timetable and will be taught each day. We are beginning the year with a unit on Messages. This will take us right through October, when we will begin implementing a practice called The Daily Five. The Daily Five is a way of organizing the Language Arts curriculum into five primary categories: Read to Self Read to Someone Listen to Reading Word Work (will include spelling strategies, learning about parts of speech, etc.) Work on Writing (will develop the creative writing process while honing grammar use and editing skills)

Once independence in these areas has been established, Guided Reading will begin. In small, levelled reading groups, students will work with me (or another teacher) on further developing their reading skills and comprehension strategies. We follow the First Steps program at our school, which allows for much of the instruction in the above-mentioned areas to be individualized and targeted to each students needs. One shining example of this will be students spelling lists. Every other Monday, each student will go through a process of choosing his or her own spelling words to learn over a course of two weeks. At the end of these two weeks (usually on a Friday), students will be tested on their words, so please help your child practise them at home. Home Reading In order to help your child grow as a reader and to reinforce the importance of reading every day, I ask that he or she read at least 15 to 20 minutes each night. At the beginning of every month, a reading log will be sent home on which to record what is read (and for how long). These are always due back on the first day of the following month. A mark will be assigned and used when calculating report card marks. Remember: reading doesnt have to be limited to just

books, but may include magazines, comics, newspapers, cook books, classroom blogs ... just about anything. Please see the Home Reading Expectations handout for additional information. Book Reports Students will be expected to complete approximately five book reports this year. No time will be allotted during class for these homework projects, but sufficient time will be given before they are asked to be turned in (usually close to two months). Your child should be selecting a book that is at his or her level of reading. Any time spent reading this book at home may be counted towards his or her home reading. The first book report will be sent out next week. Homework I understand that sometimes the homework load can seem to pile up, especially when coupled with 20 minutes of nightly reading and home assignments. Other times, personal circumstances and situations make it difficult to complete any homework. If you find that your child cannot complete his or her homework for a valid reason, please let me know with a note in his or her agenda. I try to only assign what I think is a fair amount of work to be completed in the allotted class time. If it turns out that your child is bringing unfinished work home, it may be attributed to him or her not using class time wisely. Any other time I assign homework, a fair due date will be set that allows ample time for its completion. Any homework that is not brought in on time (without a valid reason signed by a parent) will be documented. Recess or after school time will then be used to complete the work. Discipline and No Excuses! Policy We have one simple rule in Room 600: respect that everyone has the right to learn. Any behaviour that is taking away a peers right to learn (i.e. speaking off -topic, poking a neighbour, etc.) will not be tolerated. Should a student choose not to follow this rule, the following course of action will be taken (assuming behaviour persists or escalates): 1. The student will receive a verbal warning. 2. The student will fill out a yellow slip identifying and correcting their behaviour. 3. The student will fill out a red slip that involves meeting the teacher to discuss their behaviour and a suitable consequence at recess. These slips will be sent home. 4. I will phone home to discuss the behaviour directly with parents. 5. The student will be removed from the classroom and meet with the principal to discuss their options.

Additionally, we have all taken a no excuses pledge in our classroom. As a class, we have discussed what constitutes an excuse and have agreed that we will not let an excuse stand inbetween us and our path to success. Please ask your child to share with you what that means to him/her. The no excuses policy is followed in all classrooms at Davison School. Water Bottles & Snack Since I am always thirsty throughout the day, I can imagine how thirsty the students are after running around at recess, lunch, and during Phys. Ed. To eliminate always having to leave the room for a drink, I encourage your child to bring a water bottle to school if he or she desires. At 10:55, we will take ten minutes to have a snack break. Snacks that are brought to school must be nutritional and are highly encouraged. Our mornings are very intensive, consisting primarily of Language Arts and Math. The mid-morning break helps to rejuvenate the students for the last stretch of work before lunch. Parent Involvement & Agendas Parent involvement is crucial to having a successful school year. Thank you in advance for all youll be doing to help your child with homework. Throughout the year I will be in contact with you and sometimes looking for parent volunteers. I extend an open invitation to you to visit our classroom at any time our door is always open! Agendas are a primary form of daily communication so please make a point of reading and initialling your childs agenda each night. The students record important reminders each day and I check for notes from you each morning. Our Blog In an increasingly technological world, you have to expect some changes. One of our divisionwide initiatives is to go paperless. With the exception of this newsletter, I will no longer be sending a paper copy of any newsletters or notes. Instead, they will be posted to our classroom blog, which can be found by following this link: http://davison600.blogspot.com/ Our blog will serve as a primary source of classroom information. Daily blog posts will contain agenda messages and occasional pictures and updates of what we are covering in class. Among other things, you will also find a calendar there that contains important due dates and school events. Please check the blog on a regular basis.

Contact Information For those of you who are Internet addicts as I am, emailing is a great way to get in touch with me. My email address is currently blechner@mail.gssd.ca, but will be changing in a couple of weeks to brandy.lechner@gssd.ca (please watch the blog posts for updates on this transition). You can also email me directly from our class blog should you misplace the above address. Alternatively, you can reach me by phone at work (728-3955) or on my cell (730-6154), and yes, texting is fine . If it is possible to contact you by email, and for the purposes of sending memos and notes not posted on the blog, please provide your preferred email address on the form at the bottom of this page and return it to me. Again, we are hoping to go as paperless as possible so please help us make a difference. I look forward to meeting you at our open house at 7:00 p.m. on September 25! I will have exciting information to share with you on a new student marking system accessible from your very own home. Yours in Education,

Mrs. Brandy Lechner & Miss Jenna Kulyk

(Detach and Return) _____ You may contact me via email _____________________________ Name ____________________________________ Email Address

_____ I do not have Internet and will need a paper copy of all correspondence.

Thank You!