Teachers Mrs. MeadeMr. Tinker

Ms. O’ConnorMrs. Rantz

Social Curriculum The Responsive Classroom Approach

• The social curriculum is as important as the academic curriculum.• How children learn is as important as what they learn; process

and content go hand in hand.• There is a specific set of social skills that children need to learn

and practice in order to be successful academically and socially: cooperation, assertion, responsibility, empathy, and self-control (CARES).

• Knowing the children and families we teach – individually, culturally, and developmentally – is as important as knowing the content we teach.

• How we, the adults at school, work together is as important as our individual competence: lasting change begins with adult community.

Social Curriculum The Responsive Classroom ApproachTeaching Practices

Morning Meeting: A daily routine that builds community, creates a positive climate for learning, and reinforces academic and social skills.

Rules and Logical Consequences: A clear and consistent approach to discipline that fosters responsibility and self-control.

Classroom Organization: Strategies for arranging materials, furniture, and displays to encourage independence, promote caring, and maximize learning.

Guided Discovery: A format for introducing materials that encourages inquiry, heightens interest, and teaches care of the school environment.

Academic Choice: An approach to giving children choices in their learning that helps them become invested, self-motivated learners.

Reaching Out to Parents/Guardians: Ideas for involving parents or guardians as true partners in their children’s education.

Discipline in the Responsive ClassroomLooking towards autonomy: to function

independently without constant adult control or direct supervision.

Discipline in the Responsive Classroom is both proactive and reactive.Proactively, we work with children to create,

teach, and practice classroom rules.Reactively, we use logical consequences to

help children regain control, make amends, and get back on track when they forget or choose not to take care of themselves or each other.

Logical Consequences“You break it – you fix it”

Loss of Privilege Time-out

The Great Body Shop

• Promotes•critical thinking•self advocacy•Resilience•decision making

•Comprehensive, cross curricular social health program•Substance abuse•Violence prevention (bullying)•Personal health and well-being•Community safety

Researched based reading program

Combines both literature and content area Non-fiction passages.

Units are based on a unit theme or “Big Idea” to increase and build comprehension.

Instruction based on 5 priority skills in reading: fluency, phonics, Phonemic awareness, comprehension and vocabulary.

Leveled readers to students to access information at their specific level.

WritingEssential to Know

We write across all areasStrive to master skills and conventionsFollow a process over timeWe integrate the Six-Traits with John Collins

Writing - The Collins Writing Program Designed to simultaneously improve

students' thinking and writing skills Develops thinking skills through Five Types

of WritingType One: WRITING GETS IDEAS ON PAPERTYPE TWO: RESPOND CORRECTLYTYPE THREE: EDIT FOR FOCUS

CORRECTION AREASTYPE FOUR: EDIT FOR FOCUS

CORRECTION AREASTYPE FIVE: PUBLISH

Math – ENVISIONMake Sense of problem –Solving and Make Sense of problem –Solving and

Persevere Persevere Aligned with the Common Core Aligned with the Common Core Balanced Instruction Balanced Instruction Eight Standards for Mathematical PracticeEight Standards for Mathematical Practice Home/School ConnectionHome/School ConnectionAppropriate Use of TechnologyAppropriate Use of Technology

Math Facts In mathematics, we are about to begin the unit on multiplication.

In addition to our class work, you will have nightly math fact homework. As a way of measuring your progress, you will also have math fact tests on a regular basis. For each term, the goal is for you to be able to complete 50 problems in 90 seconds. The grading will be as follows for each term:

50 Correct 440 – 49 Correct 330-39 Correct 229 or fewer correct 1

Term 1: Multiplication Facts 1-10 Term 2. Multiplication Facts 1-12 Term 3: Division Term 4: Multiplication/division mix

You will need to take on the responsibility of practicing your math facts at home in order to commit your facts to memory

ScienceStrandsStrands Curriculum Curriculum

StructureStructureConcepts and Concepts and

SkillsSkills

LifeLife Overarching Overarching Guiding questionsGuiding questions

Identifying and Identifying and conceptualizing conceptualizing key vocabularykey vocabulary

EarthEarth Essential questionsEssential questions Targeting skills to Targeting skills to process knowledgeprocess knowledge

PhysicalPhysical Directed Inquiry Directed Inquiry Experiments and Experiments and discoveriesdiscoveries

TechnologyTechnology Study GuidesStudy Guides Applying Applying knowledge through knowledge through

written languagewritten language

Life scienceClassification of plants

Energy from plantsAdaptations and reproduction of plants

Earth Science

Water cycle and weather

Physical ScienceProperties of Matter

HeatElectricity and Magnetism

Sound and LightSimple Machines

Social StudiesAmerican GovernmentImmigrationGeography

Regions Location / Place Human / Environment Interaction Movement Canada and Mexico