Welcome to Room 7
Helen B. Sellers,
Proprietor
Background
• Teaching 4th and 5th grade at Killam for 12
years
• Bachelors in History from
Providence College
• Masters in Arts of Teaching from
Simmons College
Fifth gradethe new frontier
• Students do switch classes
• Room 7 will be their home base for Social
Studies, Reading, Writing, Language Arts
• Room 6, JoEllen McGinnity, for Science
• Room 9, Maureen Gilman, for Math to
start- with the possibility of flexible
grouping between Mrs. Gilman and Mr.
Clemons in the coming months
Snack!
• HEALTHY- one wet, one dry (utensils)
• Snack will travel, but not until their second
switch around 10 (issues in the past with too
many orange cheese coated hands at 8:30)
• Nothing too complicated to eat, easy to transport
as they will switch with them
• Nut free/tree-nut free due to switching
• Birthdays- no food, open to creative ways of
celebrating, just check with me
Homework
• 50-60 minutes a night, except for Friday (district average for 5th
grade)
• Math every night
• Social Studies and Science on certain nights
• Reading at least 25 minutes a night
• Literary Letter Wiki every other week
• Important to keep up with book log
• Book talks starting in October- at home project, more information to
follow- different then fourth grade
• If your child is ill, then homework can very easily be made up upon
their return. If there is an extended illness, then please contact us to
arrange something so that they don’t fall too far behind.
• Your child is responsible for seeking worked they missed from their
“other” teachers. i.e. If your child is absent on a Tuesday and returns
on Wednesday, they should see the teachers to see what should be
done for Thursday
Organization
• Binders-a new organizational system that will carry over
into middle school
• Specific tabbed sections for all hole punched papers
• Please don’t throw anything away!
• Teachers will work to make sure that unnecessary
papers are removed from binder
• All homework should be written down in
agenda/homework planner every night
• Good to encourage students to check off assignments
when completed
• Not necessary to check over students’ homework every
night, but you may want to ask to see what was written
down and that it was completed
CUGAR/Oops Notes!
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
CUGAR- Catch Up Get Ahead Read
Wednesdays from 12-12:30
Meet with teachers, seek help
Oops notes
Signed by you and returned
Reflected in report card
Too many Oops notes- we move to a different
system
Language Arts
• Guided Reading taught through various chapter books
and magazines
• Whole class lessons will introduce….
• Using Daily 5 and CAFÉ model throughout Killam this
year
• Also content area reading of non-fiction in Social Studies
and Science
• Continuation of John Collins writing program with
emphasis on finding voice and refining longer pieces
• John Collins folders remain in school
Literary Letters Wiki
• Students are always expected to be doing independent
reading
• Literary Letters are a wonderful way for students to show
me their thoughts, feelings, and understandings of their
independent reading
• They will write a letter every other week that will be typed
into our class wiki- http://room7isreading.wikispaces.com
• On the week they aren’t writing me a letter, they will be
particpating in a discussion question on the wiki with
their classmates
• They must maintain their book log at the top of their wiki
page.
• If they are reading books at their level, then they should
be completing a book every couple weeks.
M.C.B.A.
Massachusetts Children’s Book Award
• Probably familiar with it from 4th grade
• List of 25 books that are developed through Salem
State College
• They are meant to be a low 4th to a high 6th grade
reading level
• Students must read 5 in order to vote for the one
that wins, and be part of our celebration in early
March
• Students have many ways to access these books. I
own all of them and we have them here at our school
library. Our school library and the Reading Public
Library will also have ones that can be accessed on
CD.
Vocabulary
• Wordly Wise Vocabulary program from last year
continues. Each lesson covers two weeks.
There will be a test every other Friday.
• Expectation that certain pages will be completed
every week- sometimes as homework,
sometimes as part of guided reading menu
• Continued changes to the Spelling curriculum.
More info to follow- will most probably not look
like traditional lists that you’ve seen in the past.
Social Studies
• Survey course of early American History
from pre-Columbian North America to the
foundation of the New Republic
• Essentially- Exploration, Colonization,
Revolution, Constitution
• Use of text book, History Alive! lessons,
additional resources
• See students binder for framework
standards
Book Order
• Trying online Scholastic Ordering this year
• Less paper, use of credit cards over
checks
• Look for code-DPL2H when book order
comes home
Room Parents/Chaperones
• Room 7’s room parent help is pretty low
maintenance
• Will occasionally call upon you, but there may be
other P.T.O. responsibilities or support asked for
• If you are interested, please send me an
email!
• Make sure that you fill out C.O.R.I. check if you
are interested in being a chaperone
• Two field trips this year- Science trip to
Merrimack River in two weeks, Social Studies
trip to Boston in Spring
Conferences/Report Cards
• 5th grade teachers schedule conferences differently as to
accommodate parents wishing to meet with multiple
teachers
• Complicated by the fact that we are moving to Standards
Based report card this year- which will look very different
then what you have seen in the past
• Students assessed on whether they Exceed, Meet, are
Progressing towards, or Beginning to develop
• Conference date district wide is Friday, Nov. 18th
• With the report card will be a menu of options about who
you want or need to meet with at that time
• We ask that everyone be understanding as we try to
accommodate many different family’s needs
“E” does not equal “A”
“M” does not equal “B”, etc.
Will be an adjustment for all of us!!!!
Contacting a teacher
• If you have any questions, please feel free
to email any member of the team
• hsellers@reading.k12.ma.us
• Email is a great quick way to get a hold of
me and to get an answer to a question
• 781-944-7831 x107 is this classroom
• Important messages should still go
through the office