5th Grade Humanities

Joanna Drusin

About Me• This is my 9th year teaching in the NYC Public

School system• Previously, I taught at the Bergen Upper School in

Prospect Heights for one year and then NEST + m for seven.

• At NEST + m I taught 6th grade ELA to 150 students.

About Me• I’m very excited, as you can imagine, to work

with only 84 students and get to know them as readers and writers.

• I love creating art, and have taken a number of painting, sewing and collage courses in the past few years.

About Me

• I’m a native New Yorker (I grew up in Manhattan)

• I have a deep love for the outdoors—camping, hiking, gardening. I worked on an organic farm in CT a few years ago and loved that experience

About Me

• I love to travel. My husband is also a teacher and we’ve had wonderful adventures in Thailand, Alaska, Italy, Costa Rica and biking on the Pacific Coast Highway!

Justin Weinblatt

• Justin is the Humanities TA and will be working with all 5th and 6th graders this year.

About YOU

• I would love to learn more about you! If you didn’t get a chance to fill-out my online survey (emailed on 9/19), please complete it within the next few days. I have only received 41 responses out of 84!

• Let me know if you didn’t receive that online survey and I’ll send it to you personally! (Be sure to leave me your email address at some point tonight)

About YOU

• If you have any questions now or as I go through the presentation, please write them on an index card along with your name and email address. I will do my best to answer questions at the end.

Humanities Curriculum• This year, I will see each 5th grade class for 6 class

periods a week. They will have 9 periods each week, total:

Sustained reading and Library/Book Club time have been built into their schedule at other times in the week, which allows us to cover more content in my class period.

• We have also moved the classroom library into the three homerooms, so students have daily access to a library.

What will Humanties look like?

• Humanities will be a place where students will develop their skills in reading, writing, speaking and listening, as well as Social Studies content.

• We will be reading both fiction and nonfiction and writing in a variety of genres.

Here is a basic overview of the curriculum:

Major Assignments or Activities

September

• Developing stamina as writers• Starting a daily practice of 30 minutes of daily writing

in Writers’ Notebooks• Building our community norms and establishing

routines we will use all year

October • Start of our first read-aloud, Tuck Everlasting, from which we will practice identifying, discussing and evaluating many fictional elements.

• This will also be a time to practice class discussion norms and we will hold a Socratic Seminar

• We will embark on our first inquiry unit as we study and write both pure and personal essays

Here is a basic overview of the curriculum:

Major Assignments or Activities

November- December

• Our nonfiction unit will provide an opportunity to look closely at the way that NF is organized, the range of topics and the reading skills we need to read NF successfully.

• We will also work on writing two essays during this unit and will study the essay genre as well as the differences between a personal and pure essay.

• During this unit we will also look closely at human rights issues, both current and historical. Students will have a chance to practice researching and analyzing sources.

• December will also bring an opportunity to study language systems. We will look closely at grammar and punctuation.

Major Assignments or Activities

January--February

• Inquiry teams will research a specific time period and ultimately create a multi-media presentation

• As we study Historical Fiction, inquiry teams will closely read a variety of HF texts

• Our shared reading text will be Number the Stars, by Lois Lowry

• The Human Rights unit will continue with ongoing research

March • Our Test Sophistication unit will help students strategize through problems and work independently.

• Students will draft Literary Essays and look at ways to synthesize their text analysis in coherent and fluid writing

• We will study the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and apply it to first-person narrative accounts of human rights violations.

Major Assignments or Activities

April • We will meet in book clubs and challenge each other to provide text evidence for our theories

• In our inquiry study of Commentary, we will study the genre and publish our own Commentary pieces

• We will study the structure of the US Government including the three branches and the differences between the local, state and federal branches

May--June

• We will study activists from different periods in American history who expressed themselves through poetry and song. Students will write their own pieces in multiple genres.

• We will extend our study of US Government and apply it to a study and analysis of current events

• 5th grade trip to Washington, D.C.

Grading Policy• Students will be assessed throughout the year

and we will focus on their reading, writing, speaking, listening and language skills.

• The most significant assignments will be more heavily weighted, especially published pieces and in-class quizzes.

• Students will also have daily homework in their Writers’ Notebooks and occasionally other additional assignments. Students will also be responsible for participating in class discussions and group work.

Humanities Curriculum: Writing• Many students struggle with writing. Many others who

enjoy writing, struggle with meaningful and thorough revision.

• We will spend a lot of time doing writing this year, and I hope to impart the message that it is a process—and requires patience.

• It has been my experience that by reading excellent writers and emulating their style, students try new things and take wonderful risks in their writing.

• I am very excited to use Google Drive as a platform through which I can give students individualized feedback and through which they will eventually work in writing partnerships to help each other grow as writers!

Daily Reading!

• While I am not requiring 30 minutes of daily reading (as there already is an assigned 30 minutes of writing in WNB), I would strongly suggest that your child always has a book and makes time to read.

Daily Reading!

• Please remind your child to keep his/her reading log updated, so I can monitor his/her progress and make helpful suggestions

• While we will NOT be placing any public emphasis on reading levels (nor will you see that information on PR’s), I will be working with a few other teachers to continue monitoring students’ reading levels in order to help steer them toward great books.

Scholastic Book Orders• Since over 80 students share the 5th grade library, we’re always

looking for book donations. Every time a parent places an online order, we receive money towards books.

• Here are two ways to order:• 1) Fill out the paper form and send it in with a check made out to

Scholastic. (NO CASH, PLEASE!)• 2) Order online at Scholastic.• On the parent page, click the “REGISTER” button under “First time

here,” then register for your own user name and password. • When prompted, enter the one-time activation code code

(L8LBM). This code ensures that your orders are sent to our class. I will deliver the books in class, as soon as they arrive (1-2 weeks)

Ways to contribute to our class:• I would love parents, especially those who are

involved in publishing, to speak to the class about their writing process, especially demonstrating the transition from drafting to publishing

• Amazon.com wish list: I’ve created a list of books which students would like in our classroom and supplies which we can use. I’ve posted that link on our BSI class page. Thank you for your help!

• Thanks for joining me tonight! I look forward to meeting each of you.

• I am going to take a few questions and then this presentation will be starting again from the beginning!