WELCOME TO ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS

PERIODS 1 AND 3

Ms. Jaime Brennan

and

Ms. Stephanie Nawrocki

Room 101

A LITTLE ABOUT MS. BRENNAN

• I grew up in a small beach community in NY and moved with my family to AZ my

senior year of high school.

• ASU is from where I earned my degree in elementary education, graduating summa

cum laude. I have an endorsement in English as a Second Language, and Middle

Grades Language Arts 6-8 is an approved area on my certification.

• This is my sixth year at Altadena. I taught fifth grade for 14 years, 10 of which were at

Monte Vista.

• I’ve been in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers twice.

• I was honored to be a nominee for the Educational Mentor of the Year by the

Ahwatukee Foothills News and SRP in 2013.

• I am so excited to be teaching ELA at Altadena again!

LANGUAGE ARTS

• Reading Skills—read it, think it through, understand it

• Pearson’s myPerspectives

• novel studies

• Writing Skills—sentence structure, organization, conventions

• journal—two prompts per week

• one extended writing piece each quarter

• argument, informative/explanatory, narrative

• Vocabulary

• Grammar

PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE

Common Core State Standards for ELA

• clear and consistent standards for teachers, students, and

parents

• relevant, real-world skills to prepare for college and careers

• to prepare students to compete in the global economy

• “I Can” statements, learning goals, and scales

• computer-based assessments

• AzMERIT in the spring

READING SKILLS

• LEXILE

• difficulty of the text is considered

• 6th grade—850 to 1050

• INFORMATIONAL TEXT (nonfiction)

• majority of reading material across core subjects

• LITERARY TEXT (fiction)

• genres, structure of stories, real-life connections, perceptions

UNITS OF STUDYWHOLE-CLASS, SMALL-GROUP, AND INDEPENDENT LEARNING

• QUARTER 1—Childhood

• Essential question: What are some of the challenges and triumphs of growing up?

• QUARTER 2—Imagination

• Essential question: Where can imagination lead?

• QUARTER 3—Exploration

• Essential question: What drives people to explore?

• QUARTER 4—Animal Allies

• Essential question: How can people and animals relate to each other?

COLOR-CODED PARAGRAPHS

• Students will use the color-coded

paragraph to structure the writing of

quality paragraphs containing at least 11

sentences.

• Green—topic and concluding sentences

• Blue—transition

• Yellow—reason/detail/fact

• Pink—examples/explanation

Altadena is a great school. For instance, it is an A+ school. To

become an A+ school, you must fill out an application and be

judged. It is an honor to be designated as such. Furthermore,

they have good food. The variety is greater and the quality is

better than at the elementary schools. They even have a Snack

Shack! Moreover, data proves that Altadena students attain

higher scores than neighboring middle schools. The teachers

are great. They have high standards for the students. In

conclusion, Altadena is a fantastic place to be.

TYPICAL HOMEWORK—YES, EXPECT IT.

• read 30 minutes each night

• writing

• vocabulary/grammar practice

• all homework will be posted on Ms. Brennan’s website

GRADING

• 80% assessments (tests, projects, etc.)

20% practice (homework, classwork, etc.)

• Turn everything in on time.

➢Late homework earns a zero.

➢For each day a project is late, 10% is deducted.

• Advocate for yourself. This is YOUR education. Altadena teachers love it when a

student emails them with a question!

• Please use the StudentVUE or ParentVUE portal on the Kyrene website to check

grades frequently.

OTHER

• school spelling bee

• word games/brainteasers

• friendly competitions in class

• book orders

o The ability to read it does not mean it is developmentally appropriate.

WWW.KYRENE.ORG/ALT

• Class website:

weekly agenda and homework--Please check daily for updates!

literacy links to practice skills

• ParentVUE:

grades, absences, tardies, contact information

• The best way to contact us is through email:

jaimebrennan@kyrene.org

snawrocki@Kyrene.org

**Please write your name and period number in the subject line.

• Join Remind to receive text messages with reminders and updates.

text @a63c33 to 81010

I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO A WONDERFUL YEAR!