Western Middle School - Mrs. Scholten - Beginning Year Parent Packet

Daily Schedule

6^th Grade

7:35 a.m Warning Bell

7:40 - 9:05 a.m. Block 1

9:10 - 10:36 a.m. Block 2

10:40 - 11:28 a.m. Activity/Band

11:28 - 11:58 a.m. Lunch

12:02 - 1:05 p.m. Sixth Hour

1:10 - 2:10 p.m. Seventh Hour

2:10-2:34 p.m. Advisory

Welcome to sixth grade at Western Middle school! This is my fifth year teaching 6^th grade and I am very excited to be your child’s Language Arts and Social Studies teacher. Additionally, I will have students for advisory at the end of the school day. It is my goal to make learning fun and exciting for your child and to provide a safe, caring and productive learning environment.

This year your child will be using technology as a daily part of their classroom experience. Part of the classroom structure will be set up into “centers” where students will actively participate in various activities through our classroom computer lab and small groups. Additionally, learning will take place through whole class instruction as well as independent work. I believe that student success is based on a variety of ways to learn. This is a new adventure for your sixth grader and I believe that if we all work together, we will have an awesome year!

Sixth grade provides a wonderful opportunity for your child to continue to grow in responsibility. Each student will receive a student planner which they will need to have with them daily. Your child will be held accountable for keeping track of their daily work and important dates. This planner will also be used for keeping track of students’ tardiness, absences, and hall passes. Students will be required to have their planner signed by a parent at the end of every week. Additionally, students will take home their “Friday Folder” each Friday (containing graded work from that week). This folder also needs to be signed by a parent and returned on Monday so that Mr. Page and I know you have seen your child’s progress. The student planners and “Friday Folders” are a very effective way for students to stay organized, parents to see their child’s progress, as well as keep the communication lines open. Late assignments will not be accepted after two weeks and the grade will drop one letter grade. Your child’s grades and assignments may be viewed on Western School District's website (www.westernschools.org) through PIV (Parent Internet Viewer). Please feel free to visit our classroom webpage which can also be found on the District’s Home Page under Teacher Websites.

I believe that communication between the parent, student and teacher is key to every student’s success. I look forward to having a WONDERFUL year with your child. Please feel free to contact me by phone at 841-8364 or by e-mail at scholten@westernschools.org.

The Language Arts class is set up for a longer block of time. During this block, students will be engaged in reading and writing through our book called Quest, which is packed full of many wonderful stories. As part of the Language Arts program, your child will be reading and responding to literature, learning and applying reading strategies, journal writing, silent reading, and participating in grammar, spelling and writing activities.

Because of the “center” based structure, students will be able to work on their reading skills in a smaller group setting. Our Language Arts Curriculum also includes four excellent novels to be read throughout the year. Aside from these classroom novels, your child needs to have a “novel of choice” for reading at home and during silent reading times in class. Students will have many opportunities to find a great book to read through our classroom library, Scholastic Book orders, and weekly visits to the Middle School library.

In addition to our reading program, your child will also be writing a great deal! This year, Western School District has implemented the Collins Education Writing Program. This is a wonderful program that uses strategies to help ALL students feel successful, challenged, and encouraged in their writing. The best way for children to improve in their writing skills is to write on a daily basis. Through this, your child will realize that writing is not only assigned in Language Arts class, but in Social Studies, Math, Science, and even some elective classes! You will be hearing lots more about this exciting new writing program as the year goes on.

The Social Studies class will consist of cooperative learning lessons and projects that will help students to get in touch with the past. Students will start off the year with a World Regions/Map Project. Other projects will focus on Egypt, Economics, and World Wars. The content covered in this class also includes geography, ancient history, up through World War II. The Core Democratic Values are also part of the sixth grade curriculum. In sixth grade, students are challenged to learn how these values not only define our country, but how to apply them to real life. In Social Studies, there will also be times when students are using technology to enhance their learning in a particular part of history.

During the Advisory period, each sixth grader will be in their homeroom. At this time, students will watch announcements, participate in team building activities, and discuss middle school issues. Advisory will also be used to check student planners and will include times when students may work on homework or silent read.

Guidelines for Mr. Page & Mrs. Scholten’s Classrooms

It is extremely important that our guidelines are followed to ensure a quality learning environment for all students. Every day, students make choices—and these choices have consequences. We will be creating our own guidelines for our classroom so that students will have ownership throughout the school year. However, there are some guidelines that Mr. Page and Mrs. Scholten would like you to be aware of to help make this a great year for all of us:

1. Please come to class on time and prepared: This means that you enter the classroom on time and have all of your materials such as books, folders, notebooks, pencils, etc.

If your classroom behavior or choices that you make are disrupting the learning environment, the following consequences that will apply:

2^nd Time – Time out – A “Behavior Improvement Plan” will be written for reflecting on your choice and discussed with parents and teacher. Plans are signed by a parent and brought back to school the following day. (If the “Behavior Improvement Plan” is not signed and returned the next day…the student will receive a lunch detention.)