I am your teacher, Miss Miller. This is my fifth year teaching young minds at Pansophia Academy. Before becoming a teacher I grew up just outside of a small town called Hubbardston, MI. I helped out on our family farm and learned a lot about how important it is to have fun while still working hard. I try to bring this philosophy into my classroom.

At this point I’m sure there are many mixed emotions about your child being in a multiage classroom. Multiage classrooms focus on teaching students in a cross-grade group as a whole class and emphasizing individual progress through a developmentally appropriate curriculum. We will do some instruction as a whole group, but I will also be doing quite a bit of small group instruction that will be more individualized and grade specific. I want you to be assured that your child will not fall behind and expectations will be achievable. I strongly believe that children in the multiage classroom will walk away more responsible and independent, as well as prepared for the next year. I promise you that I will do everything in my power to ensure that your child succeeds. If at any time you are concerned, please do not hesitate to contact me.

We will be covering a lot of important topics this year and I want you to be as informed as possible so that you are able to help your child at home. Within this letter you will find some information about me, what you should expect your child to be able to do by the end of the year both academically and socially, expectations of your child in school, and how they will be graded.

Daily ScheduleAll times are subject to change.

What Should I expect my child to be learning?

English Language Arts

While using Reading A to Z, i-Ready, Imagine It!, paragraph of the week and various other materials, students will continue to build important reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills. They will think, talk, and write about what they read in variety of texts, such as stories, books, articles, and other sources of information including the Internet. In their writing, students will learn how to develop a topic and strengthen their skills by editing and revising. Activities in these areas will include:

  • Reading stories, including fables and folktales from different cultures, and identifying the lesson or moral of the story
  • Reading texts about history, social studies, or science and identifying the main idea
  • Answering who, what, where, when, why, and how questions about stories and books
  • Describing the reasons that an author gives to support a point
  • Learning and using new words
  • Learning the rules of spoken and written English
  • Participating in class discussions by listening and building on what others are saying
  • Describing in their own words information learned from articles or books read aloud
  • Working together to gather facts and information on a topic
  • Writing about a short series of events and describing actions, thoughts, and feelings
  • Writing about opinions on books using important details and examples to support a position

Mathematics

Through the use of the “Go Math!” resources, iReady, and other materials, students will extend their understanding of place value to the hundreds place. They will use this place value understanding to solve word problems, including those involving length and other units of measure. Students will continue to work on their addition and subtraction skills, quickly and accurately adding and subtracting numbers up through 20 and also working with numbers up through 100. They will also build a foundation for understanding fractions by working with shapes and geometry. Activities in these areas will include:

  • Quickly and accurately adding numbers together that total up to 20 or less or subtracting from numbers up through 20
  • Solving one- or two-step word problems by adding or subtracting numbers up through 100
  • Understanding what the different digits mean in a three-digit number
  • Adding and subtracting three digit numbers
  • Measuring lengths of objects in standard units such as inches and centimeters
  • Solving addition and subtraction word problems involving length
  • Solving problems involving money
  • Breaking up a rectangle into same-size squares
  • Dividing circles and rectangles into halves, thirds, or fourths
  • Solving addition, subtraction, and comparison word problems using information presented in a bar graph
  • Writing equations to represent addition of equal numbers

Science

This year we will be using resources from “Science Fusion.” Students will learn through the use of print, inquiry, and digital experiences. We will be discussing and learning about the following:

  • How scientists investigate questions, use models, tools, and data.
  • The Engineering process and technology
  • Life cycles of plants and animals
  • Ecosystems and how they interact
  • Changes to Earth’s Surfaces
  • People, natural resources, and the conservation of resources
  • The water cycle and weather
  • The Earth and the phases of its Moon
  • Physical properties, states of matter, changes in matter and how we can observe these changes
  • Simple and compound machines and how they work

Social Studies

With guidance from the Calhoun Intermediate School District Collaborative Social Studies Curriculum we will be digging into Michigan’s past in Social Studies. Students will learn about the cardinal directions, regions of Michigan, as well as characteristics of the state we live in. Other topics covered over the year will be:

  • The first people in Michigan
  • How American Indians and settlers adapted to the environment
  • Interactions between American Indians and the First European explorers and settlers
  • Natural Resources in Michigan
  • The role of the Underground Railroad in Michigan
  • Major economic activity in Michigan (such as, agriculture, manufacturing, tourism, etc.)
  • Movement of goods, people, jobs, or information to, from, or within Michigan
  • Timelines
  • Scarcity, opportunity costs, and choices
  • How Michigan’s location and natural resources influenced its economic development
  • Products produced in other countries and consumed by people in Michigan
  • Michigan made products
  • The effect of the Eire Canal
  • Michigan government
  • Rights and Responsibilities of citizenship
  • The purpose of the Michigan Constitution
  • Public issues in Michigan and alternate resolutions
  • Past and current threats to Michigan’s natural resources

Expectations of my child

All elementary students have 3 non-negotiable rules that are school wide and they will be expected to follow daily. These rules are as follows:

  1. No name calling
  2. Keep your hands to yourself
  3. No running unless you are in gym class or on the playground

Along with these non-negotiables, I have a few expectations of the students as well:

Students are expected to be Positive, Productive, Safe, Responsible and Respectful when they come to school each day!

We will treat others kindly, never give up, and will not be afraid to ask questions!

Homework should be turned in on time and completed in pencil.

We will be respectful when using school materials or any materials that do not belong to ourselves.

How will my child be graded?

Students will be evaluated on the Common Core and state mandated grade level standards. Their grades will be based on demonstration of academic skills. Student assignments (in class and homework) will make up 40% of your child’s grade and assessments will be 60%. You will receive progress reports halfway through each quarter, report cards will come home at the end of each quarter, and we will have parent teacher conferences twice a year, in the fall and the spring, to discuss your child’s progress. I am more than happy to provide you with updates on how your child is doing whenever necessary and if you ever have questions, comments, or concerns about your child’s grades, please contact me immediately.

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