Warren Street Elementary
Sixth Grade RRRRINGS IN A NEW SCHOOL YEAR
Frequently Asked Questions
How will my child get the reading support they need with only 45 minutes of reading every day?
- Actually, your child will be gaining 150 minutes of instructional time in the areas of reading and ELA per week. There will be TWO classes that provide this instruction a READING class and an ELA class. The NYS ELA standards will be split into two different curriculums/classes.
- Currently sixth grade students receive 300 minutes of Reading/ELA instruction per week. In the 2018-2019 school year they will receive 450 minutes between the two classes.
How is my child going to carry all of his/her books from class to class?!?
- Each subject area teacher will be keeping MOST materials for that class IN THE CLASSROOM. We envision students traveling ONLY with their agendas, purple folders, and a pencil. Book bags will be kept in cubbies in their homeroom.
Will my child get lost?!?
- All students will spend the month of September learning about our new transitions and will be practicing their schedule with their homeroom teacher and classmates. This will ensure comfort and readiness before traveling independently.
- Students will have two minutes to travel between classes, but will only need to go a few feet to move between most classrooms.
- Sixth grade classes are contained to mainly one hallway.
- All teachers will be monitoring the hallways during all transition times.
How will my child build important and nurturing relationships with his/her teacher when they are seeing five different teachers a day for only 45 minutes a day?
- Students will have homeroom teachers to start and end the day with. They will also check in with them in the middle of each day at lunch time.
- Teachers will have “team meetings” that involve ALL teachers who work with your child. Students’ individual needs, personalities, strengths, and weaknesses will all be discussed.
- Teachers will find ways to build relationships that nurture the students in all of their classes. In the beginning of the year, “Getting to Know You” surveys will be shared amongst all teachers at the grade level.
How does this benefit my child?
- Students will have a teacher in each subject that is an EXPERT in his/her subject matter/standards.
- Sometimes students have personalities that conflict with other students or teachers in their classes. This will allow students to experience other groupings throughout the day that may better suit their personality and learning style.
- STUDENTS CAN MOVE every 45 minutes! Often students in grade 6 struggle to stay seated. This will give their bodies a chance to get up and move. *Brain research supports this!
- Students are gaining 15 extra minutes in their Phys. Ed and Music classes. They are gaining five extra minutes in their Art classes.
- Students who are disappointed when split from a close friend, MAY have the opportunity to be in one or two classes with that friend. Just because they are in different homerooms DOES NOT mean that they will be separated all day as they were before.
Isn’t this like a middle school?
- Some of the components that are beneficial to a middle school are being incorporated into this plan.
- Multiple teachers (We already DO this! Most students currently in grades 4, 5 and 6 travel to three or more teachers)
- However, we are maintaining most elementary school aspects. We will continue to focus on character education, have assemblies, recess time with friends and other activities, such as AR and Olweus (our anti-bullying program).
Who will I contact if I need to speak with my child’s “teacher”?
- This will be a new concept for all of us! We will be using the REMIND APP to contact parents regarding important information, upcoming tests, school reminders, and exciting happenings.
- You can always use traditional ways (e-mail, phone calls) to contact the school at any time. We will be sending clear information as to who to contact if there is a certain subject of concern.
- Permission slips, excuses, fundraising money, notes about dismissal, etc will all be turned in to your child’s homeroom teacher.
When will my child receive his/her “schedule”?
- Your child will get a traditional letter over the summer telling them who their homeroom teacher is. They will also receive a TEAM BROCHURE introducing the teachers and staff in sixth grade.
- When they arrive to school in September, they will get their full schedule from their homeroom teacher. The schedule will then reviewed and practiced. Students will start traveling to their classes as soon as their teachers feel they are ready.
How will my child keep up with the homework load of five classes?
- Teachers will work together to ensure that the amount of homework being given on a DAILY basis is not overwhelming to the students.
- Teachers will communicate their homework and testing schedules to each other, so that parents and students are aware of upcoming test dates.