Room 402 is our class.  All of the children are here with me everyday and we have a lot to accomplish so all of us have a say in how things will be handled.  Parental input is always welcomed.

I expect that every child should put forth their best effort and their individual effort will result in improvement.  A positive attitude will provide a pleasant learning environment for everyone.  Grading is based on individual performance and progress toward meeting Easton Area School District’s standards.  I use on-going assessments including daily class work, homework, participation, assessments and projects.

Writing

Writer's notebook is used to write narratives, persuasive, and informational pieces.  Students learn to read texts from a writer's point of view.  For example, they are encouraged to pay attention to the way authors use descriptive language to help the reader visualize what is happening in the stories that they read.  Then they are expected to incorporate descriptive language in their own writing.

Science and Social Studies

Students use science process skills, and interpret data and maps. Children's natural curiosity is the basis for scientific investigation.  We also learn about interdependence among living and non-living.

Metacognition, thinking about your thinking, while reading is one of our main goals and learning about the habits of "good readers" is another.  Some ways to achieve these goals are using the Reading Response Journals at home and in school to share reading experiences - communicate in writing and orally about texts.  Parents can help their children by talking with them about what they are reading.  Ask children to explain the relationships between characters, how the problems are solved in stories and why they think certain events happen.

Developing number sense, and computation skills are essential elements of math.  Students need to apply problem solving strategies.  Describing and comparing geometric figures using appropriate vocabulary is another focus.  Stduents analyze and interpert data and finally learn appropriate units and procedures to measure.  First in Math and FasttMath are used to help students develop fact fluency and problem solving abilities.  Parent can help their children by making them aware of all the math around us.  For example have students estimate grocery bills, have children measure things around the house, ask them what units would be appropriate to measure vaious objects around the house.