Welcome
to
LANGUAGE
ARTS FOCUS!
Dear Parents,
Welcome to Mrs. Jennifer Taylor's Language Arts FOCUS
(Fostering Originality, Creativity, Understanding, and Self-Awareness) class! I
am so excited to be working with you and your child this school year! While in
my class, your child will receive the gifted education curriculum plus a
much enriched reading and writing curriculum that will incorporate all the
reading and writing AKS (Academic Knowledge and Skills) for the year. During FOCUS each day, your child will
participate in a very enriched, challenging reading and writing workshop
designed especially for gifted learners.
A personal note!
It is such a pleasure to
be here at Brookwood Elementary School. I live in the Brookwood area with my
husband of twenty years, Robert, my 13 year old son, Brandon, my 8 year old
son, Dylan, and my 3 year old little girl, Lily Claire. I have taught in Gwinnett County for seventeen
years ... one year teaching fourth grade, five years teaching fifth grade, and
now eleven years teaching FOCUS. I attended Oglethorpe University and Mercer
University earning a Bachelors degree in Education, a Bachelors degree in
English, a Masters degree in Education, and an
Ed.S. degree in Education. My emphasis of study in all these degree
programs has been Language Arts/Reading education. I am also certified in
Gifted Education by the state of Georgia. I plan to begin work on my Ph.D. in
Instruction in the future. I am looking forward
to a wonderful year at Brookwood Elementary school with your children!
Daily Schedule & Placement
Your child will attend FOCUS
every day for two hours. The children in
my class were placed in Language Arts FOCUS based on their area of highest
strength according to standardized test scores and/or parent/teacher
recommendation. During daily small group
reading and writing instruction in the regular classroom, your child will leave
to come to FOCUS for a challenging reading and writing workshop.
Learning Themes
I am very excited that our
theme for this year is MEDIEVAL TIMES
which will include hands-on activities, art projects, plays, puppet shows,
research, technology, writing, and LOTS of great books and stories. I will teach all the Reading and Writing AKS
(Academic Knowledge and Skills) through this theme, including comprehension strategies,
figurative language, genre studies, writing workshop, vocabulary, and reading
fluency. Our theme will also tie in both science and social studies AKS for
each grade level. In addition, we have
an independent book study throughout the year based on the Classics. More to come on all this!
Notebooks and Homework
Your child will bring
his/her FOCUS notebook to class each day. I will only ask that certain graded
papers be signed on occasion, and that Friday reading reviews be signed every
week as needed. Your child will also have time each day in FOCUS to write down
assignments or reminders on his/her FOCUS homework assignment sheet. Homework
assignments will be designed to reinforce concepts and skills learned in class
or to provide extra enrichment and challenge. In addition, at various times
during the year, students will be asked to work on long-range projects or book
reports. All assignment and project due dates will be written on the board each
day and will be on the class website.
Any missing assignments can be turned in the next day; however, points
will be deducted for late work. I also
send home reminders about long term due dates and special events on the
website. If you ever have questions
about assignments, please email me anytime!
FOCUS Website
Every month, I will send
home an e-mail with a link to our updated web page. This web page includes information about our
studies, any upcoming reminders or opportunities, requests for volunteer help,
special classroom needs, photos of our projects, and any other information that
is helpful and/or important for gifted students and their families.
Our web page address is:
You can also feel free to
contact me any time at my email address with questions, comments, or to
schedule a conference: Jennifer_Klaas_Taylor@gwinnett.k12.ga.us.
I always love to hear from you and your children and I am more than happy to
answer any questions or help you in any way throughout the year!
Grades
Since your child will
learn the Reading and Writing AKS (Academic Knowledge and Skills) with me
during FOCUS time, I will record your child’s grades in reading, writing,
grammar, and spelling. You will receive midterm grades half way through the
nine week period via the Parent Portal. Your child will not be
responsible for any reading assignments missed in the regular classroom during
FOCUS time.
Taylor Tokens!
Our classroom rules are
the Brookwood Elementary school rules and are posted in the classroom. My
management system for discipline problems is the Brookwood Elementary plan
which includes the following steps: (1) Warning, (2) Time out, (3) Parent phone
call, (4) Time out in the office. I very, very rarely must rely on these
procedures in my classes as your children are so highly motivated,
enthusiastic, and ready to learn!
I also am a strong
believer in rewarding the POSITIVE! In order to encourage and recognize
positive behavior and enthusiasm in our FOCUS classroom, I use a token system.
Students doing a good job in class, working hard, turning in quality
assignments on time, being helpful or kind to others, etc., receive Taylor
Tokens. These tokens can be turned in at the end of each nine weeks for
rewards, such as reading to another class, sitting in the classroom recliner
chair, or, at the top of the list, Mrs.
Taylor baking homemade cookies or purchasing a new, paperback book of
the student's choice! Token prizes are posted on our web site! Additionally, our room has a "Good Job
Jar" filled with small treats for students who are spotted doing a good
job with their work or with others in the class.
Snacks and Water
I do allow the children to
bring HEALTHY snacks to eat in FOCUS. They can eat their snack at any time
during FOCUS as long as it doesn't interfere with our activities. I would
highly recommend they bring water in a water
bottle to class ... new brain research
suggests that drinking water improves the brain's functioning!
FOCUS Supply List
Most needed supplies are already available
in our FOCUS classroom for the children to use each day. However, the list of supplies
needed for the first day of FOCUS is listed on our class web page!
Scholastic Book Orders
Throughout the school
year, I will send home Scholastic book order forms. If you choose to order items from these
forms, simply return them with a check made out to Scholastic. There are usually very good deals, always
free shipping, and it’s a great way to build your child’s own library of books
and keep them reading! Remember this is
an optional opportunity!
Parent Help
In FOCUS, we will do all
sorts of neat activities and projects, therefore, I often need parent help.
Sometimes I need help here at school and other times I can send home items to
be cut out or put together. THANK YOU so
much in advance for your support. You
are a very important part of our class!
Please feel free to email
me or contact me if you have any questions related to the information outlined
in this letter or if you need any other information about Language Arts FOCUS!
I am so excited and honored to be working with you and your child this year and
am so glad your child is in my class. We are going to have the best school
year ever!!! Please complete and return the form on the next page with your
child on the first day of school. Thank
you!
Sincerely,
Jennifer
Klaas-Taylor, Ed.S.
Gifted Language Arts Teacher
Brookwood
Elementary School
PARENT/STUDENT INFORMATION SHEET 2011-2012
Please complete and return
to Mrs. Taylor (FOCUS) ... thank you!
Parent
Name(s):
Student
name/grade:
Student
bus number:
Regular
classroom teacher:
Phone
numbers where you can be reached:
All email
addresses where you would like to receive class emails and updates to our web
page: (please print clearly)