Ms. Dolan's Website

I have constructed this site to help students, parents/guardians, and other school related persons view what we are learning and how we are learning it.

Class Notes and Class Assignments

Classroom Procedure: This is HOW we learn in class.  Each student is expected to do the following activities each day while practicing respect, participating, encouraging all students, and of course learning in a fun way!  The following procedure is also known as the Balanced Literacy/Workshop Model: 

*When students come into class, they are to sit down in their assigned seat, copy the AIM, Word(s) of the Day and they DO NOW from the board.

* After they copy those items, they are to complete the DO NOW Activity. 

*Students are given 5-15 minutes to complete the DO NOW Activity and have their AIM, WORDS and DO NOW on paper.

*When the time is up, the class is asked to read over the AIM and WORDS as a whole.  Next, the class is asked to share their answers aloud from the DO NOW Activity.

*The next step is to copy down our MINI-LESSON or class notes from the board.  While students are copying, the teacher will lecture and explain the class notes (reading skills/strategies, vocabulary, writing skills/strategies, literary terms, devices, etc.)

*When the lecture is complete and notes are copied, the teacher will present the MODEL time to the class.  This gives the student an opportunity to SEE/HEAR/TRY the skill or strategy we learned on this day as a whole group. 

*The teacher shows the students how to master this skill/strategy in a step by step method.

*Next, the teacher will allow students to TRY-IT on their own.  This is the TRY-IT portion of the class.

*Students will work in small groups or individually to master the skill/strategy.  This is also referred to as ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT.

*While students are working, teacher confers with groups or individual students, giving advice and help.

*Lastly, student and teacher come back as a large group to SHARE their discoveries. 

*In the end, we explain the homework, check for understanding and make sure each student is able to answer the AIM we wrote down in the beginning of the period.

*We also make it a habit to read in class, whether as a whole group, small groups, or individually. 

*We make sure to read and write each and every day!

Projects/Reports/Testing Information

*Reports/Essays are expects to be typed in ONLY: Size 12, Times New Roman Font, Double Spaced, Black Ink, and on computer paper.

*All quizzes, tests, etc. are announced ahead of time.

Homeworks