Our classroom has 17 students total for the 2019/2020 school year.  Below you will find information on each subject.  As always, please do not hesitate to contact me at any time with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Educationally yours,

Mrs. Lindsey Miller
millerl@dearbornschools.org

Math: Last year the district began a new math program called Eureka Math. This program is a research based curriculum, which directly links to our Common Core State Standards. The flow of Eureka math will be slightly different in our classroom than in others, due to the fact that I have two curriculums to teach. I will utilize a math workshop approach during our math block. This will allow me to meet in small group with both sets of children in order to have direct instruction time for each lesson. I will be creating a volunteer sign up for anyone who is interested in coming in to help with math centers. Once we get the routines down, I may not need help, however in the beginning of the year another adult helping guide the children that I am not directly working with will be very beneficial.

I have posted the Eureka Math website under our Class Links. Please feel free to look around and ask any questions you may happen upon.

Reading: We use the Daily Five/C.A.F.E. program.  This is an excellent literacy resource that the entire district follows. The Daily Five is a management system, where the children are able to pick “rounds” throughout our literacy block. The rounds are: Read to Self, Read to Someone, Work on Writing, Word Work, and Listen to Reading. While the majority of students work independently in their rounds, the remaining students meet with me in small group to work on their specific literacy needs (C.A.F.E=Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency, Expand Vocabulary). I have linked the Daily Five website under our Class Links.

Book Bags and Reading Calendar: Once the school year gets going, I will be sending home a Book Bag and Reading Calendar with your child. When we are going to get started with these items, I will include information as to what I expect, but generally speaking your child should be reading from his/her book bag every single night for 10-15 minutes a night.

**It is important to remember that reading and literacy looks different for each individual child. Some students are able to read at higher levels than others, some may be better at writing than others, and some may need extra, individual instruction above and beyond what others receive.

Read by Third Grade Law Information: As some of you may know, in 2016 Michigan passed a law that states all children will be proficient in reading by the end of their third grade year. With this new mandate, the district has had to take proactive measures to do their best at ensuring Dearborn students will reach their reading goal. Below I have listed some general information. I have also posted a FAQ link provided by the Michigan Department of Education to help you understand the law a little better if interested.

• The law states that if children are one or more grade levels behind in reading by the end of third grade, they may be retained.
• It also states that in order to help a child become more proficient in reading, the district is required to provide extra support to those students who are not reading at grade level.
• If your child is not reading at grade level, Dearborn has put in place a parent/teacher contract that will be discussed at conferences in November. The contract will go over all of the interventions that the teacher, parent, and student will do in order to try and reach grade level.

Scholastic Book Club: I utilize the Scholastic Book Reading Club, which is so great! The more books our class orders, the more books I get to add to our classroom library. You can order books at any time, but I will not place the order until the end of each month. I have to place the order as one entire order so we can receive the classroom points. It is so easy to do online! You just enter in your credit card information, the books will get shipped to me at school (once I have submitted the end of the month order), and I will send them home with your student. In the past, I have had parents secretly order books for holidays and birthdays, which I LOVE, and I will find a way to get them home to you without your child knowing. If you do not want to order online, you can always write a check out to Scholastic or to myself and I will place the order for you online. Our classroom code will always be: PQDZF I have a page dedicated to Scholastic at the top of our home page, which gives the code and website for you to easily access.

Writing: We use the Writer’s Workshop framework in class.  I provide heavy support during writing throughout the entire year in order to strengthen their writing skills. We will learn and practice three writing genres numerous times throughout the year; narrative writing, opinion writing, and informational writing. Note: This writing time is different from the Work on Writing round the students complete during the Daily 5. Work on Writing is a time for free write and journaling. Writer’s Workshop is a time for direct and explicit instruction.

Spelling-First Grade: Each week your student will be given five pattern words and five Dolch sight words to study.  Every Monday, we will take a spelling pretest with new Dolch words and pattern words. Please be mindful of the pattern of the week.  On Friday’s final test, I will give them five additional pattern words to see if the student can recognize and use the pattern. This practice is district mandated.

After the first card marking, I start to differentiate the spelling words for children when necessary. If your child has been consistently receiving 95-100% each week on the Monday pretest, I will assign him/her different words to study that week. I will attach a letter explaining further when we reach that point in the year.

Spelling-Kindergarten: At the beginning of the year, I will have kindergarten follow along with first grade practicing the pattern with us. The exposure is helpful. Kindergarten will be responsible for learning sight words, just as first grade is. I will need to learn each child individually to see what spelling is going to look like for that child. Kindergarten is not required to take spelling tests until much later in the year, however if your child is ready, I will start earlier.

Spelling-both grades: Under “Class Links” I have listed a website that shows all 220 words students should know by third grade to help with studying at home. Utilize the list at home as often as necessary.

Science: Dearborn follows the Next Generation Science Standards. In first grade, the students will learn topics in three main units-Unit 1: Light and Sound, Unit 2: Space Systems: Patterns and Cycles, and Unit 3: Animals and Plant Life. In kindergarten, the students will have lessons on Forces & Interactions: Pushes and Pulls, Weather & Climate, and Relationships in Ecosystems. We use Mystery Science as our resource to teach science. In our classroom, all of the children will be participating in each science lesson. It will be a great review for first grade to listen to the kindergarten topics from last year and it will be beneficial for kindergarten to be introduced to first grade material to help them succeed next year.

Social Studies: Dearborn follows the MC3 Social Studies curriculum. In first grade, we will cover the following units, not necessarily in numerical order. Unit 1: What is A Family? Unit 2: How Do We Get What We Need and Want? Unit 3: How Do We Learn About Places? Unit 4: How Do We Learn About the Past? Unit 5: How Do We Get Along?

In kindergarten, we will cover the following units: How Do I Get Along With Others?, How Do I Get What I Need and Want?, Who Am I?, and Where Am I?

Leader in Me: We are a Leader in Me school, which is a whole school transformation process. You will see different activities come home, but mostly I will post weekly on my blog about the information we have learned in class for the week. I will always have a Leader in Me section for you to carry skills and activities over into home. The Leader in Me, “teaches 21st century leadership and life skills to students and creates a culture of student empowerment based on the idea that every child can be a leader.” (theleaderinme.org)