Great Start to the Year

Welcome to the 2015/2016 school year.  Over the past week and a half we have spent some time developing our community on the 5/6 Wizard wing, and one focus we have emphasized is developing our community group norms.  In my class we developed and solidified the following 6 norms to be used on the Wizard team.

1. Take responsibility.  Have self control/discipline.  Be prepared and on time.
2. Communicate in a positive way and have patience.  
3. Agree and disagree respectfully.  
4. Be considerate and respect others and materials.
5. Encourage and help others
6. Cooperate and use teamwork while working with others.

Through the process of developing and setting these norms over 40 students placed the first norm above (self discipline) as a priority for themselves and their classmates.  Over the course of the year we consistently refer to these norms as expectations on our team, and these expectations would be a great way to have a positive conversation with your child.

The 5th grade classes will be using the Investigations curriculum this year, and will be starting with a focus on factors and multiples.  We will then move into working with area and multiplication.

The 6th grade groups will be using the Connected Mathematics 3 Program, and will also be starting with a focus on factors and multiples, after which they will move into analyzing these concepts with a deeper focus on number theory and relationships.  

I'll use this blog to communicate curriculum, expectations, as well as online tools and resources you can use with your child.  If you have any questions the best way to get in touch with me is at eeley@wwsu.org.

Have a great long weekend.

-Eric