Ms.

Orrs Newsletter

Dear Families of Room 120,
I would like to take the time to give you a quick
update on my role in room 120 for the upcoming weeks.
I will be starting my lead teaching, with the guidance
of Mrs. Heaton, on Monday, March 17
th
. This will include a
writing unit on persuasive essays. During these two weeks all
of the regular subjects will be connected to the persuasive
writing unit.
Students will work toward writing a five paragraph
essay, beginning with writing a persuasive letter to Mrs. Heaton and me. I will support the students writing
process with many powerful writing tools, as well as a fun color-coded system to keep
paragraphs organized. By the end of this unit, your students will have many tools for
how to write to support an argument.
At home you can support the unit by encouraging your students to form an
opinion based on real evidence, which we will be discussing throughout the unit and I
will be happy to give you more information on this. You can also assist your students in
editing their writing and encouraging them to work hard throughout the entire writing
process. I have seen great things so far in everyones writing in the classroom and I
look forward to seeing what they can accomplish in the next few weeks.
During my lead teaching I will also be teaching a social studies unit to both grades on economics. It
includes creating goods and services out of Play-Doh and convincing their peers to consume their products. I will
be incorporating some of the persuasive writing into reading workshop while also leading guided reading groups
based on a World War II theme. Math will continue like it has with Janet leading 4
th
grade while I lead the 5
th

grade.
Just in case you were wondering if room 120 has a current wish listwe will need Play-Doh for the
economics unit (yikes! Ours dried up), and colored pens (black, green, orange, red, blue, pink and purple) for our
writing. If you can help us out that would be greatly appreciated!
If you have any questions or need to contact me for any reason, you may do so through Mrs. Heaton at
heaton@aaps.k12.mi.us
Sincerely,

Jacqueline Orr
Lead Teaching: March 17
th
- March 31
st

Persuasive Writing Unit: March 19
th
- April
3
rd

Letters
Read-alouds
Grammar
Transitions
Five paragraph essay