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Dear Families,

Hello, I am Ms. Jasztal, and I am your child's Reading, Social Studies, and Science teacher for the 2006-2007 school year. I am planning for this to be an enriching and exciting experience for your child. My intentions for your child more than anything else are to feel valued and welcomed, acquire pertinent reading skills, and be prepared for annual assessments. When your child leaves my classroom, he or she should feel confident and prepared for fifth grade.

I hold very high expectations for every single student who steps through the doors of my classroom, yet they are expectations that your son or daughter can very easily meet.

Academic Expectations

Your son or daughter needs to come prepared to class every day, with his or her reading binder and any homework that may have been assigned the night before.

I expect your child to exert his or her full effort into his/her classwork. I know when each student is not exerting his or her full effort, so a note will be sent home immediately when I realize that your child is not exerting that degree of effort.

Families should work as teams with their children. I hope for each student to practice his or her reading skills at home through homework assignments and also for pleasurable reading.

Mondays are binder day for you to check over assigned work from over the past week and read notes on your child's reading progress. I expect your child to deliver ANYTHING sent home for you to sign or look over.

Personal Expectations

When in reading group, your child should ALWAYS value the opinions of his or her team members/classmates. Your child needs to treat each person in his or her team the way he or she desires to be treated.

Above all, I expect your child to be respectful so he or she can develop rapport with every individual in the classroom.

Reading Binders
Your child's 2-inch reading binder will be extremely important this coming school year. It will be split into five sections and will include a folder in the back that will hold graded work from the previous week. Here are the five sections of the binder-

Tribal Council- This section is dedicated to any work assigned in teacher/student group. I call these groups "Tribal Councils". These assignments will be personalized to the group's needs. There will be 3-4 other students in your child's small group.

Ms. Jasztal's Reading Journey- This section will hold reading-related technology assignments your child has completed in my classroom.

Reading Scouts- These are non-technology related assignments your child has completed with his or her assigned group members.

Million-Dollar Word Dictionary- Your child will work on developing his or her own dictionary/thesaurus this year.

Parent/Teacher Communications and Assessments- Your child will have a calendar and periodic notes written in his or her binder. Your child will also have Blast Off Reading, FCAT practice, and other assessments where I will tell you about your child's progress.

I expect parents to come in at least for one activity the class will be completing this year, whether it is in Reading, Social Studies, and Science.

Thank you for your cooperation and consideration! I hope this is a very fulfilling year for your child. I encourage you to keep in touch throughout the year.

Sincerely,
Ms. Jasztal

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VERY IMPORTANT-

Our Weekly Small Group Reading Schedule [Microsoft Word file]

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EXTRA NOTE- Here are the books I plan on using in tribal council meetings and for the whole group this year. You may purchase them to add to your son or daughter's reading library. Some of the books will be read entirely. Some will be used for a few chapters to teach a skill.

My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George will be used to teach the genre of adventure stories and main idea. Certain or all chapters will be read.

Oonawassee Summer by Melissa Forney will be used to teach about the skill of predicting. This book will be read entirely.

Whole Group- Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia McLachlan will be used to teach the genre of historical fiction and about themes within stories. This book wilk be read entirely.

The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau will be used to teach symbolism. This book will be read entirely.

The Giver by Lois Lowry will be used to teach cause and effect. Only a few pages will be referenced.

Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech will be used to teach about character traits and actions. Depending on the tribal council, different chapters will be read.