Mrs. Courtney Kalinowski

HAVE A GREAT SUMMER!!!!

Here is some information for those of you I might have next year!! See you soon.  

Grade Breakdown
1. Classwork- These activities include but are not limited to questions, charts, visual aids, presentations, cooperative activities, and writing projects. Vocabulary words will be given weekly, and students should study these words daily.
2. Homework- Some activities may be assigned for homework. Assignments must be completed on time. Students should also study and review information each day.
3. Assessments- These include but are not limited to quizzes and tests. All assignments will be completed in black ink or pencil.

Expectations
1. Participate!!
2. Complete all assigned activites, review, and study.
3. When returning from absences, students must inquire about missed assignments.
4. Agendas must be signed each day, and will also be signed by Mrs. Kalinowski.

Organizing Notebook
All students should organize their notebooks in a three ring binder. The notebook should be divided in the following three categories: Vocabulary, Writing, and Reading.

Grammar/Vocabulary

Throughout
the year we will study different aspects of grammar, such as parts of
speech, puncuation, and sentence structure. We will also be using a
new vocabulary program as soon as the school receives the books
sometime in September. Currently, The students are learning frequently
mispelled words. Students should be studying the words every night for
homework.

Writing

This year the children will take the North Carolina State Writing
Assessment. The assessment is administered in the spring and is
usually a prompt based on problem/solution, expository, or
argumentative types of writing. The NC State Writing Assessment
scoring evaluation rubric evaluates the student writing according to
focus, organization, support and elaboration, style, and grammatical
structure.

Reading/Literature

The children will enjoy a variety of reading materials this year. Each quarter we will read a novel, beginning with Seedfolks. The students will also work on reading strategies like summarizing,connecting, prediciting, visualizing, inferring, and more. Last week,the Language Arts teams read short stories focusing on connecting. The classes completed activities cconnecting the stories with personal life experiences.

Warm-ups

Each class period begins with a warm up called Tales of a Four- Eyed Weirdo.
The warm-up involves a grammar mini-lesson. Warm ups are turned in and
are a very important part of each child's classwork/participation grade.

Tests/Projects

Students will be assessed on a variety of tests and projects this year.

Homework

When homework is assigned, it is due the following day. CHECK AGENDAS DAILY!! Late work will be penalized.

Make-up Work

Students are required to make up assignments that are missed while absent.
It is the students responsibility to inquire about missed
assignments. Students are expected to write down assignments in their
agenda and turn in their work.  

Throughout the school year my classroom could use the following supplies:

1) Pencils

2) Colored pencils, markers, and crayons

3) Gluesticks

4) Scissors

5) Anti-bacterial wipes

6) Tissues

7) Pocket folders

8) Highlighters

9) Notebook paper

Southeast Middle School quote for the year is "We Are All in This Together."

It would be a huge help to the teachers if you would make sure your child's notebook is staying organized. I will have random notebook checks during my class. They should have three dividers for me labeled Warm up, Writing, and Reading. We prefer they have only the one three ring binder we asked for during open house. If they have individual composition books items seem to get lost. Thank you for your continued support.