Dana Curriculum Night

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Welcome!

• Dana Curriculum Night
• September 24, 2009

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Tonights Topics

• General Information about Dana Middle School
• Dana Resources/Support Services
• Digital Tools in the Classroom
• Parent Involvement
• Special Events
• Language Arts Standards/Grading/Projects

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General Information

• Danas Mission Statement
• Policies Procedures Student Planner

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Project Lightspeed

• Point Loma Cluster Focus
• Digital Classrooms
• Weblockers for Every Student
• ParentConnection
• Website http//danamiddle.com

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The Pyramid of Success

• The Personal Best
• Poise Just be yourself
• Confidence You must believe in yourself if you
  expect others to believe in you
• Fitness Act, eat and think right
• Skill Practice makes perfect Team Spirit Be
  eager to help your team
• Self-Control Control yourself so others won't
  have to
• Alertness What you learn after you know it all
  is what counts

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The Pyramid of Success (continued)

• Action Be quick, but don't hurry
• Determination Slow and steady gets you ready
• Hard work Failing to prepare is preparing to
  fail
• Friendship To make friends, be a friend
• Loyalty Be trustworthy
• Cooperation Be more interested in finding the
  best way, not in having your way
• Enthusiasm Make each day special

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Resources /Support Services

• Counseling Guidance Center with Two Full-Time
  Counselors
• Nurse (Tu, W, Th, F)
• Full-Time Certificated Librarian
• Full-Time Library Technician
• 3 Education Specialists
• 1 EL Resource Teacher

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Parent Involvement

• Teacher/Parent Partnership
  
• Dana Association Meetings
• Volunteer at Dana (Room Parents, Bake Sales,
  Special Events)
• School Site Council (SSC)
• Keep Informed of your childs progress through
  Parent Connect letter home by end of September
• and the Dana website
• http//www.danamiddle.com

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Special Events

• Camp Palomar Overnight Adventure for 6th Graders
• Band and Orchestra Concerts
• Dramatic Performances
• ASB Reward Assemblies
• ASB School Spirit Days
• Jog-a-Thon in October
• Band / Orchestra trips to Disneyland Knotts
  Berry Farm
• San Jose/San Francisco Trip for 6th Graders
• Variety Show
• Bake Sales
• Two Scholastic Book Fairs
• Yearbook
• 6th Grade Field Day
• Book Club

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English Language Arts

• Training kids to be readers, writers and thinkers
  

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The Strands of Language Arts

• Reading
• Writing
• Word Study
• Listening and speaking

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Instructional Priorities

• All students read fluently and accurately, and
  comprehend complex narrative and expository texts
  
• All students critically evaluate what they read
• All students communicate ideas and information
  orally and in writing
• All students explain and apply knowledge of how
  language and words work

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What to expect this year
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Students will exploreNarrative Text

• In our exploration, we will
• Read fictional texts
• Read from a variety of genres
• Discuss an authors specific purpose
• Identify problem and resolution
• Evaluate characters
• Understand themes
• Recognize literary devices, and
• Write narratives

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Students will exploreExpository Text

• In our exploration we will
• Read feature articles
• Learn about text features
• Learn about text organization
• Discern main ideas
• Evaluate evidence, and
• Write feature articles

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Students will exploreExpository Text

• In our exploration we will read
• persuasive text and
• Discern main ideas
• Evaluate evidence
• Explore how facts, inferences, and opinions are
  different
• Write persuasive letters and essays

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Students will explore How Language Works

• In our exploration we will
• Use word origins to determine the meaning of
  unknown words
• Understand and explain frequently used synonyms,
  antonyms, and homographs
• Use roots and affixes to analyze the meaning of
  complex words
• Understand and explain figurative language of
  words used in context

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Students will develop Listening and Speaking
Skills

• Students will
• Present a point of view and use literary devices
  in an oral narrative
• Orally justify conclusions made in feature
  articles and persuasive texts
• Support a persuasive position in an oral
  presentation

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6th GradeSocial StudiesAncient Civilizations
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What do our students learn in 6th grade social
studies?

• Early Humans
• Mesopotamia
• Egypt
• Kush and Nok
• China
• India
• Israel
• Greece
• Rome
• Holt Ancient Civilizations
• Online Textbook (also linked on Dana library
  homepage)

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6th Grade Social Studies Academic Standards

• Our 6th grade students will analyze the following
  structures of these ancient civilizations
• Economics
• Geography
• Politics
• Religion
• Society and Culture
• Science and Technology

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Early Humans

• Hunters and Gatherers
• The Stone Age
• The Ice Man
• Migration

Mesopotamia

• The Fertile Crescent
• Sumer Invention of writing
• Assyria Military tactics
• Babylonia Hammurabi

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Ancient Egypt

• The role of the Nile river in the development of
  the Egyptian civilization
• How the first pharaoh unified Egypt
• Discovery of the Rosetta stone, which lead to the
  understanding of Egypts past

Kush and Nok

• The relationship between Nubia
• and Egypt
• The aspects of culture that Kush
• borrowed from Egypt and passed
• on to other civilizations
• The importance of technology
• and the Nok people

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Ancient India

• Harappan Civilization
• Life in Mohenjo-Daro
• Hinduism and Buddhism

Ancient China

• Chinas First Emperor
• The Great Wall
• The Terra Cotta Army
• Confucius

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Ancient Israel

• How the Jordan River affected the way that
  ancient Israel developed
• The problems the geography created for the people
  who lived in Israel, and what advantages the
  geography provided
• What citizens accept if they live under a code of
  laws, and what they receive in return

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Ancient Greece

• Compare and contrast Sparta and Athens
• The Dark Age of Greece
• The Golden Age of Greece
• Alexander the Great
• Democracy vs. Representative Democracy

Ancient Rome

• The legend of Romulus and Remus
• Government
• The Pax Romana
• The collapse of the western Roman
• empire

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6th GradeMathematics
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6th Grade Mathematics Academic Standards

• Students will master, compute, and solve problems
  using the four arithmetic operations with whole
  numbers and positive and negative fractions,
  decimals, and integers
• Students will apply their knowledge to statistics
  and probability
• Students will analyze and process data and show a
  conceptual understanding with ratios,
  proportions, and percents
• Students will learn and utilize the formulas for
  pi, circumference and area
• Students will use variables and solve one-step
  linear equations

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So, is this going to be on the test?

• Decimals and Integers
• Exponents, Factors, and Fractions
• Operations With Fractions
• Equations
• Ratios, Rates, and Proportions
• Percents
• Geometry
• Measurement
• Patterns and Rules
• Displaying and Analyzing Data
• Using Probability

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Pearson Prentice Hall

• Online Textbook
• Link from Dana library home page, or
• PHSchool.com
• Enter web code found in textbook
• Features
• Lessons you can review, take a quiz, or check if
  youve mastered the California Standards
• Homework Video Tutor
• GO for Help
• Review key mathematical vocabulary
• Check Skills Youll Need

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Problem Solving Strategies

• Draw a Picture
• Look for a Pattern
• Systematic Guess and Check
• Act It Out
• Make a Table
• Work a Simpler Problem
• Work Backward
• Write an Equation

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How can parents help?

• Make sure students attend school every day
• Make sure students come to school prepared with
  the necessary tools and completed assignments
• Make sure your child gets plenty of sleep
• Encourage your child to do their best every day

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Contact Us

• 619.225.3897 x1176 - Mr. Rossi
• x1175 - Mrs. Hause
• email mrossi2_at_sandi.net
• dhause_at_sand.net
• Please honor instructional time by calling the
  classroom before or after school