ELA GATE ELA Meredy Smith Presentations tonight at

ELA/ GATE ELA Meredy Smith Presentations tonight at 5: 00, 5: 30, 6: 00 and 6: 30 Best way to contact me: mesmith@kyrene. org 480*541*5901

A little about me. . . ◦ I am starting my 28 th year of teaching, and 25 have been in Kyrene. ◦ I graduated from the University of Nebraska. Go Huskers! ◦ Earned my Masters from Northern Arizona University. ◦ My husband works at Altadena and my girls went through Kyrene. ◦ One daughter is a Junior at DV and my other daughter just graduated from NAU. ◦ I enjoy hiking, traveling, the mountains and the beach. ◦ I coach high jump at DV. ◦ I am all caught up on

Supplies Please pick up a class news page/supply list near the door. I also have some wish list items. ◦ 1 - red composition book ◦ Small sticky notes ◦ Highlighters- green, yellow, pink, blue ◦ Small pair of earbuds

ELA Curriculum Resources ◦ My Perspectives; Pearson ◦ Student editions are consumable ◦ Students can access textbook from home (online) ◦ Select novels for each theme ◦ Unit Themes for each quarter ◦ Childhood ◦ Animal Allies ◦ Exploration ◦ Imagination

Curriculum ◦ Reading, writing, grammar, speaking and listening (we do it all) ◦ Informational and literary reading & writing ◦ defending responses with evidence from the text ◦ Annotation, analyzing text ◦ thinking notes and making connections to other texts, real world, prior knowledge, etc. ◦ Vocabulary using Greek/Latin roots, context clues, academic/content vocabulary (infer, context, defend, etc. ) ◦ Google docs, student email accounts for collaboration

GATE ELA • New curriculum with rigorous extensions to standards with depth and complexity • Reading responses with in-depth evidence • Expected to maintain a “B” average or above • Quicker pacing, active and motivated learner • Independent learning projects and research • Higher level Lexile reading (novels) • • Watson’s Go to Birmingham Freak the Mighty Hero’s Journey Great Books titles (short stories)

Homework Yes, there will be daily homework to practice skills from class. ◦ Read (for enjoyment) ◦ Spelling/vocabulary/grammar practice ◦ Unfinished classwork ◦ Continue writing in journal ◦ Pre-reading of upcoming text ◦ Additional research/writing time for projects ◦ Absent/make-up or missing work

Grading • Students may receive grades for practice classwork and homework. This includes daily “walk-in” work and reflections of learning. (20% of grade) • Larger assignments such as assessments, projects, written response, research, creative writing work will receive more points than daily work. These are considered formal and informal assessments. (80% of grade) • Use the Parent Vue Portal on Kyrene website to check grade and work completion status. Students can check grades via Student Vue with their student number. Contact school office if you need an account.

Best way to reach me: ◦ mesmith@kyrene. org ◦ 480 -541 -5901 ◦ Class website- resource, rubrics, and handouts ◦ Emails- please make sure your contact in Parent Vue is current. This is the contact information I will use. Thanks for coming!