Back-To-School Night:
Mrs. Lyons’s Class
“We are continuous learners who are responsible, caring citizens in a
global community.”
Agenda for Our Evening Together
• Brief Introduction
• Philosophy of
Education
– Mindset
• 5th Grade Policies
• Specific Classroom
Procedures
• 5th Grade Curriculum
Who is Mrs. Lyons?
• 18th year teaching 5th grade at Seth
Paine
• Masters (+60) in Education
Why I teach what & how I do…
My thoughts on education
Beliefs About Teaching
Teachers…
• are coaches…
• Need to be data-driven, but kid-centered
• Must be willing to advocate for their students- no
matter what
• are just one part of a communication triangle
(“it takes a village”)
• should be continuous learners (summer work)
• must provide instruction in various learning
modalities
• should be excited about learning & to inspire
others to love learning
Beliefs About Learners
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Every child is unique, has value, and deserves to learn and
grow
•
Must learn that the secret to success = hard work,
effort, & purposeful practice
•
Mistakes are crucial to learning & development ;
students must be encouraged to take risks & not be
afraid of failing
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Must believe that they “can” (Growth Mindset)
Mistakes are GREAT Learning
Experiences!
Please help your child by teaching them to:
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Recognize when they have made a mistake
Recognize that EVERYONE makes mistakes and that we
remember best those lessons learned through making a
mistake
Take accountability for their mistake “with grace”
Move on by creating a plan to not repeat the mistake
FAMOUS FAILURES
Fixed
Mindset
Growth
Mindset
5th Grade Policies:
Discipline, Homework, &
Grading
Discipline Policy
Designed to allow students to take
accountability for their actions and give them
the chance to make it right before involving
parents.
1. Verbal Warning(s)
2. GREEN SLIP- between teacher & student
3. YELLOW SLIP- between teacher, parent, &
student
4. RED SLIP- between teacher, parent, student, &
principal
Changes That Drive Our In-Class
1.
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Procedures & Methods
Common Core Curriculum
http://www.isbe.state.il.us/common_core/default.htm
common objectives for learning
measuring/comparing growth is more accurate
increases rigor, complexity, & demands higher-level
thinking skills (analyze & synthesize)
• Depth vs. breadth
2. More Challenging & “Higher Stakes” testing
• PARCC Testing (April)
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– Complex, lengthier texts, comparing over multiple texts, higher level
thinking skills; explaining how & why
MAP (September and April) results do impact 6th grade
placement
Homework Philosophy
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To be good at anything requires practice.
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Assess students formally and informally to identify
areas of strengths & areas that need improvement.
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Our focus for “homework” is: improve skills, improve
target areas, practice for mastery
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1 hour a day; weekends relatively “off”
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NOT intended to negatively impact family time
(create routine & contact teacher when needed.)
Homework & Grading Explained
Please refer to the blue hand out
Assignment Book
– Filled out daily & NOT signed by
teacher or parent (to start) unless
needed
– Last 10-15 minutes every day to
allow for adjustments to be made
– On overhead
– In RED, assignments due tomorrow
– In BLACK, long-term work
– Printable copies for students who
are out of room
Grade Reports
Be “in the know” the whole year through…NO
surprises!
1. Every other week
2. Some assignments take longer to grade & will
be on next grade report
3. Be sure to return it signed, feel free to make
copies
Sample Grade Report
Sample Missing Assignment Sheet
Band & Orchestra
• We VALUE music education
• Band/Orchestra are electives and pull
students from instruction time.
• Rotating schedule
• Student responsibility to:
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ask questions
get clarification
find out what they missed
Complete all missed work (same day for
homework)
How our classroom functions:
Classroom Logistics
Organization & Homework Turn-in
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Check in Procedure-homework is turned in after we go over and
discuss during each subject
–
practice for MSN
–
organizational skills
–
collection process allows for no papers lost (HANDED RIGHT TO
ME.)
Grading/ Feedback on Work- Many things graded together. Others
returned to students right away, and put in “Home/school” folder OR
sent via Friday Folders. (SOME EXCEPTIONS- practice needed for
active study)
Expandable file- helps keep “working” papers in organized manner
Friday Folders
1.
2.
3.
4.
A great way to touch-base with your child and
assess their progress…
All graded work comes home at one time
You keep news/flyers; send back to school all STAMPED
work on Mondays.
Sit down with your child to review . (5-10 minutes)
Grade reports every other week (compare!)
-grade reports
-missing assignment reports
Weekly Email Update
Keep up with what we’ve been up to & upcoming
events
1. Please DO read! (pretty please?!)
2. Expect each Friday
-except for short weeks & rare occasions
-Check your spam settings
3. Do not “reply all”, start a
new thread
What We Teach:
Fifth Grade Curriculum
5th Grade Technology
Passwords to all online books & resources will be
inside front cover of child’s assignment
notebook.
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Google Docs, spreadsheets, forms
Webquests, online research,
Online games, practice sites,
Spellingcity.com, Mobymax, Newsela
Reading
Designed to equip students with the specific
strategies each of them needs to make them
great readers
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NEW CURRICULUM uses readers workshop model
CARS Tests & Individual Assessment
Fountas & Pinnell
Daily Five & C.A.F.E.
Independent Reading
• MobyMax, MAP Reading “target work” ,&
individualized practice
Mathematics
• ORIGO MATH SERIES
– No text book, workbook only
– Spiral curriculum
• YOUR CHILD NEEDS TO KNOW HIS/HER FACTS!
– Please login to Moby Max to check out how he/she is
doing with facts
• 5th Grade team does flexible grouping within the
classroom and teaches via whole group and
small group instruction. May try other
strategies throughout the year!
Spelling/Vocabulary
WORDS THEIR WAY
• Designed to help kids spell the most frequently
used words & build new vocabulary
– Words expected to be spelled correctly in daily writing
– Regular spelling lists
• Monday new words
• Friday TEST
• Retests occur on Monday
VOCABULARY
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Root words, prefixes, suffixes
Curricular vocab – spellingcity.com
Writing
• The Write Source
• Narrative, Expository, Persuasive District
Writing Assessments
• Writer’s Workshop
• Online component to WRITE TRAITS(games to
earn points for creating avatar)
• C.C.P’s (Capitals, Complete Sentences,
Punctuation) & other covered skills are
expected in daily writing
– Help your child double-check his/her
work!
Social Studies
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Revolutionary War – October 16
Westward Expansion
Civil War
Online textbook
Simulations & webquests, etc.
Science
• National Geographic
• Online component & hands-on
experiments
• Weather & Earth Science
• Animal Adaptations &TAFT Preparation
– Taft Parent Information Night as we get
closer!
• Force & Motion
• Human Health & Development
Contact Me
• Email is preferred (easier to get to
throughout the day)
• Call anytime (will get back to you a.s.a.p.)
• If there are changes to afterschool
transportation- call OFFICE
• WEBSITE
Before You Leave…
• Please write to your child about something you
learned and are excited for this school year.
• Leave me a sticky note on your child’s desk if
you have a questions.
• Sign Up for Parent-Teacher Conference is
ONLINE - Sign-up Genius
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR COMING!!!
THIS IS GOING TO BE AN AWESOME YEAR!