Welcome students, parents & guardians!
This is going to be a new and exciting year for everyone at Woodbury, and I truly hope to make your child’s time here memorable and rewarding. I love reading and writing, and I’m passionate about what I teach. Over the course of the year, I hope your child enjoys the road to becoming a better reader and writer in my class!
In English Language Arts, we will expose students to Narrative, Information, and Argument Writing. Additionally, we will work with two EngageNY reading units, and both incorporate listening, viewing, and speaking assessments as well as written responses to reading. Starting off the year, we will begin with a new and exciting reading unit on mythology, which will have students reading The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan; by the end of the unit, students will be creatively writing their own myths!
The structure of our class will follow reading and writing workshop models, which should provide a similar learning experience to how students have been taught in the past. At home, please read; adults and kids should read for pleasure regularly (reading is fun and can even make for a great family activity!). Please be aware that I am asking my students to read at least one-hour minimum per week at home.
Regarding my grading policy, I will utilize an 80/20 plan. 80% of a student’s grade will come from summative assessments, which include final copy writing assignments, end of unit assessments, etc. With such a high percentage of a final grade placed on summative assessments, students scoring below a “C” can retake and/or resubmit for an improved grade. The remaining 20% of a student’s grade will come from formative assessments, which include quizzes, practice classwork and homework.
As far as supplies go, many of the required supplies have already been provided. A three-ring binder and a two-subject notebook (currently on back-order) will be available to each student, but please be sure that your child brings in plenty of pencils! Students will write often in their journals, and several drafts will be brought through the writing process to final copy. Students are encouraged to type final copies of work, if possible, and they can even submit many assignments via Google Classroom rather than print out their work at home. Eventually students will also have access to Google Docs, which makes it possible to work on an assignment in school and continue working over the cloud on it from home. By the end of the 1st quarter, students should have a school Google Docs and Classroom account, if they have not previously been set up with one at the elementary school.
Communication between school and home is a definite key for success. Please visit the Bears team website at http://sau57.org/woodbury/bears – Bookmark and visit often, as homework and specific class information will be updated daily. Also, the district website at http://www.sau57.org has many valuable resources, including the Infinite Campus Parent Portal and many great resources made available through the Woodbury library.
We’re about to embark on a path yet traveled, and I am real excited to see where this school year takes us. Please come talk to me or shoot me an e- mail if you have any questions or concerns. I’m here for you and your child!
Enjoy your school year,
Mr. Damian Millas
6th Grade English Language Arts
Woodbury Middle School
Phone: (603) 893-7055 ext. 3107
E-mail: dmillas@sau57.org
Bears Team Website: http://sau57.org/woodbury/bears
Red Class Google Classroom: https://classroom.google.com/c/NTU1NTQ3ODgzM1pa
Yellow Class Google Classroom: https://classroom.google.com/c/NTU1NTUwOTI2MFpa
Blue Class Google Classroom: https://classroom.google.com/c/NTU1NTU0Njc4MVpa
Purple Class Google Classroom: https://classroom.google.com/c/NTU1NTY1MjQ5M1pa