Welcome to Mr. Zaccaro's Class!

What an exciting year ahead of us. We have a brand new high tech building, fantastic administration, great students, and enthusiastic teachers.  Communications is very important to our team, so this will be a another great way for you to keep informed about general team policies and current happenings in science, language, and reading. I have also included links that you might be interested in, and for tests I will include flashcards. You can also check out the calendar for up coming events.  Please feel free to e-mail me with any questions or concerns and I will get back to you as soon as I can.  I'm really looking forward to working with you!

Mr. Z

Science

In science we will be studying the structure of matter, envoronmental sciences, weather, and how technology affects our lives. Throughout the year we will be learning about the scientific method and conducting several experiments based on this method.  Science should be fun and informative, explaing the world around us.

Below is how you will be graded in science.

Tests - will be worth 2 grades.

Quizzes - will be worth 1 grade.

Classwork / Homework - will be averaged and worth 1 grade.

Lab Reports - will be worth 1 grade.

Projects - will be worth 1 grade.

*On the day before a test we will always play a review game in class and there will always be extra help before or after school.  Also, flashcards will be posted on this site to help you study for each test.

 Language Arts

In language we will try to develope our writing skills through Daily Oral Language sentences, journal entries, weekly spelling sentences, vocabulary, creative stories, and expository writing prompts.

Daily Oral Language sentences will be used to learn and develop language rules. Two DOL sentences will be discussed and corrected each day, then handed in to be graded on Friday.

Journals will be used to develop a daily routine of writing. Entries should be expressed clearly and in a thoughtful way. Although spelling and grammar will not be corrected, we hope to see improvements based on DOL rules learned each day.

Spelling will take on more of a proof reading approach. Sentences will be dictated to the class and the students will attempt to write each sentence correctly.  Then a copy of these sentences will be given to the students to self correct and then write the misspelled words ten times each.  These self corrected papers will be graded and returned the next day.  Students will then be given those same sentences as a test containing 25 misspelled words which the students must identify and spell correctly.

For vocabulary will introduce 12 new words a month, with a test at the end of the month. Students will do various activities to familiarize themselves with each word, and they will earn a reward each time they use or see these words in their daily activities.

The major part of the language grade will be the various pieces of writing we will be working on throughout the year which will include expository and persuasive prompts, narritive essays, letter writing, and poetry. 

The following are the major areas that will make up your language grade:

Daily Oral Language - Sentences should be corrected each night and handed in on Friday's to be graded.

Journals - Entries are written daily and graded once a week, on designated days. Full page entries will earn and A.

Spelling- Pretests are given on Mondays and are self corrected. Misspelled words are written 10X each and handed in on Tuesdays. Tests are on Fridays.

Vocabulary - Twelve words will be introduced and discussed each month with test at the end of the month.

Written Assignments - There will be several written assignments throughout the year and they will be a major portion of the language grade. The following will be some of the written assignments this year: autobiographies, several persuasive writing prompts, creative stories, hero essays, and poetry.

Reading

In reading, we will read and discuss award winning novels with an emphasis on critical thinking and comprehension. The three major novels we will be reading this year are Bridge to Terribithiaq, The Cay, and Julie of the Wolves. Interest in reading for pleasure will be a major goal on our team this year. There are so many benifits to this activity. You see correct grammer and spelling, you increase you reading rate, and you learn about the world in an enjoyable way. Please try to read at least 30 minutes each night from a fiction book of your choice. If you conference at home, on a piece of paper simply have a parent write the title of the book, the number of pages, and their signature signifying you did a good job retelling the main ideas of the book. I would like to thank parents in advance for all of your efforts in encouraging your child to read for pleasure.  I hope with your encouragement they will continue to read throughout their lives.

The following are the major areas that will make up the reading grade:

Independent Reading - will be 20% of the reading grade.  Goals for the amount of pages read and conferenced on will be set each marking periond.

Comprehension- will be 80% of the reading grade. Weekly comprehension activities will be given on novels or short stories that will be read as a class.