September 14, 2011

Dear Parent/Guardian,

 

  Since middle school is a time of transition, new schedules, an earlier start time, and exciting opportunities, many students struggle to balance these new responsibilities and adventures.  As veteran middle school teachers, we have found several strategies that will help every student on their road to independence.   Please look over the 6^th grade strategies to become familiar with the terminology your student(s) will be using throughout the school year.

 

Email
We love email as a way to stay in touch with parents. As such, it would be terrific if you could send us an email using your preferred email address(es). To keep it simple, please put your child’s name in the subject field, so we can organize the addresses alphabetically. Our email addresses are listed on the cluster homepages listed below. If you don’t have an email address, please return this form with the best phone number to reach you at during the day. Thank you.

The Corey-Foster-Jakel homepage is located at
http://www.franklin.ma.us/auto/schools/horace/grade6/cfj/default.htm

The Langmeyer-Garske-Metrick homepage is located at
http://www.franklin.ma.us/auto/schools/horace/grade6/lgm/default.htm

 

Blue Sheet Review

In our info rich world, it is crucial for students to learn solid, time tested study strategies. We feel the Blue Sheet Review sheet is a quality study tool.

Purpose of the Blue Sheet Review: Help students learn to review key information.

How: Each night they will be asked to review in one of several suggested ways indicated on the reverse side of the BSR sheet.

**This daily review should take place five days a week.

Homework: Each day’s review will count as a homework assignment.

** Parents need to initial each day that their child has completed the assigned BSR sheet.

**Students should not be pestering parents for a signature on the way to school! Franklin traffic requires total parent focus!

Popsicle Sticks

One of the greatest truisms in education is that students learn best when they feel comfortable in their environment. In order to create a quality environment for learning we rely on a positive management system that uses popsicle sticks as means for students to monitor their behavior and earn money for the end of the trimester auction.

* Each student has received three popsicle sticks with his/her name.         * The goal is to hold on to the popsicle sticks until payday.                            * Student wages are based on the number of sticks that each student has at the beginning of each school week.                                                                             * 3 sticks = $20, 2 sticks = $10, 1 stick = $5

Popsicle sticks may be taken away only for behavior issues such as chatting during instruction. Popsicle sticks and cluster cash are not tied to homework completion or academic performance. In order to stay positive, all popsicle sticks that were taken the previous week are returned to their owner at the beginning of each week. Many students will never lose a stick! If a student loses all three popsicle sticks in one week and continues to chat, s/he will be asked to stay after -school. S/he will call to let you know if this occurs. It rarely does. Students should always have their popsicle sticks in their binder, so please feel free to ask to see them as a way to check in.

Auction: At the end of each trimester each cluster will hold an auction. Students will be able to spend their hard-earned cluster cash on many items including items donated by parents. The auctions are always a highlight of the trimester. We will send a letter home as the first auction nears.

Checklist for Success

To start the year, we would ask that every student make it a daily habit to check off each item on the Checklist for Success. By checking off each item before going to bed, your child will absolutely be ready for an easy start to the morning. We will count the parent initials on the bottom of the sheet as a daily homework grade. Given that you are the best judge of your child’s strengths, we ask that you decide how involved you need to be with your child’s use of this checklist. (continued on next page)

Please let us know if you have any concerns or comments related to the Checklist for Success. We feel strongly that good time management and organizational skills are critical to your child’s success. We look forward to working with you as partners in your child’s middle school education.

Time Management Sheet
Whenever we have guests visit to talk with our students about careers, we always hear about the importance of using one’s time wisely. To help students begin to grow more independent in planning their time, we have developed a double-sided time management sheet.  

The week at a glance side of the sheet will be completed on the weekend by the student working with the parent. Many students have several regular after-school activities such as sports, music lessons, religious school, Boy Scouts, as well as unusual events like doctor’s appointments. Knowing what the week looks like in advance will help reduce stress.

The other side, the estimated and actual homework completion sheet, will be completed by students. Students will be asked to estimate how long each assignment will take. After an assignment has been completed, students will write down the actual time it took to complete the specific assignment. This activity will help students prioritize their assignments. In addition, the data will help us monitor the amount of time homework is taking.

This sheet is a major building block in our plan to help your child become an independent and organized student. Good time management skills are critical to success in high school, college, and your child’s career. We appreciate your support.