Parent Night – Fall 2014

We’re heading in the right direction…

WELCOME to Mrs. Trummel’s Class! home.d47.org/hus/eatrummel

Mrs. Trummel – The Fast Facts

• 27th year at Husmann Elementary• 34.5 years of full time teaching• Taught in rural Tampico, IL and near Boston, MA• B.S from the University of Illinois• M.S. from Northern Illinois University• 72 credit hours past my Master’s Degree• I’ve taught both Science and Social Studies

methods courses at NIU for about 10 years

And…• I have worked in a program called “Family Summits” (formerly

Conservation Summits) for over 30 years/summers. I directed the Big Backyard Program, and now I most commonly teach children/adults of all ages through “rambles” as a naturalist leading hikes.

• Swedish exchange program

• “A to Z Literacy” in Zambia

• I’ve taught in classrooms around the U.S. and the world: New Zealand, Tasmania (Australia), Sweden, Italy, Africa, Belgium, United Kingdom

• TEA, ANDRILL, and now WISSARD

We are a TEAM!• I believe the home/school connection is

essential; let’s work together!• Check your child’s assignment notebook every

night; provide a time and place for homework• Read “Friday Notes” carefully each week• Ask questions; 815.477.4477 (home phone)• Don’t procrastinate on projects!• Photographs of your child…

General Information

• Academics: If a child forgets their homework, they do not call home. You will be notified (by note) about a late or missing assignment. If they are a “frequent flyer” then we’ll be having a conference.

• Homework: Reading 20-30 minutes per night, and there could be another 30 minutes of homework, depending on the week, tests, projects, etc. Purpose: to reinforce and extend class work. (D47 guideline is 10 minutes/grade)

Standards and Grading• District #47 has established standards for each

grade level for Reading, Writing, and Math• Evaluation of student progress is supported by

district-wide rubrics and benchmarks• Grades: I am looking at the following…– Progress: How much students have gained from their

learning experience– Product: What students know (culminating

demonstrations of learning such as assessments, projects, reports)

– Process: How students make their learning gains (effort, class participation, learner characteristics)

Curriculum Notes• Our daily schedule (included in folder)– Science and/or Social Studies– “SMART time” / interventions; T, W, Th– Math– Specials (Art, Music, PE, STEM, LMC)– Lunch/recess– Literacy time (which includes Reading, Writing,

Spelling, read-aloud books, WEB conferences and/or projects, literacy stations, computer/iPad work, silent reading, public speaking)

Science

• Habitats

Earth MaterialsMinerals and rocks, volcanoes, Antarctic geoscience and scientists on the job!

Magnetism and Electricity

Environments: plants and how they grow; biomes of the world

Social Studies

Math** Study Links will come home on a regular basis. Do not tear them out, leave them IN the book.

** Please DO TEAR OUT the Parent Letters and answers to the problems.

**KNOW THE FACTS!

** You have online support on the Everyday Math site; log on and help your child practice.

Literacy – Reading: Journeys, Making Meaning and Guided Reading Groups

• Comprehension Strategies– Retelling– Using schema/making connections– Visualizing– Wondering/questioning– Making inferences– Determining important ideas– Understanding text structure– Summarizing– synthesizing

Journeys and CCSS

• Units of Study created to increase the level of rigor in our classrooms. Our assessments will look at “end of the year” benchmarks; room for growth in all students. The “bar” has been raised higher to meet the higher Illinois State Standards.

• Balanced Literacy approach: guided reading, read-alouds, stations, independent reading, etc.

• Anthology of text

• Text complexity

• Increase reading of informational text

• Academic vocabulary (social, literature-based, and content-specific language)

Guided Reading Groups and Stations

• While I’m meeting with guided reading groups, students will work on stations and writing assignments.

Literacy – Traits Writing•Ideas•Organization•Voice•Word choice•Sentence fluency•Conventions•Presentation/finishing or publishing our work

•Increase writing from sources: argumentative, informative/expository, less emphasis on narrative

Literacy – Spelling• Mini lessons• Assessments to measure progress• Practice at home to increase success with high

priority and high frequency words; please sign your child’s booklet 4x per cycle/list

Literacy – Public Speaking

Special Events/Activities

• Geobears• Halloween Biography unit• International Luncheon• Technology and Communication• WISSARD• Iditarod sled race in Alaska• Classroom Camp-In

Reminders• Birthday treats (food) are no longer allowed. Students can bring in

a favor such as a pencil for their classmates, a book for our class library, or a game for the class. One game we could use multiples of is “Bananagrams.”

• If you email me, I might not see it right away, because we are teaching or using our computers for other purposes throughout the day. Please be patient.

• Discipline: Notes will go home if there is continued inappropriate behavior. A conference will be requested if problems persist. Class reward: Mr. Potato Head. We start each day with 10 points.

Let’s have a FANTASTIC year!