Welcome to Language Arts

Holly Bauknecht
Thurmont Middle School
holly.bauknecht@fcps.org
240-236-5100 ext. 65174
http://hlbauknecht.weebly.com

I warmly welcome you to ELA! Together we will spend the 2017-2018 year cultivating our
reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills. We will work with challenging informational and literary
texts to develop lifelong reading comprehension abilities. Students will write argumentative,
informative, and narrative pieces. Instruction will also include word study and language usage. The
goal of this course is to help students improve as readers and communicators in order to prepare them
for success throughout their lives.

Behavior Expectations:
As a positive behavior intervention school, Thurmont Middle School will implement the ROAR
(Respect, Ownership, Accountability, and Readiness) program.The program is meant to reinforce the
positive behaviors of students doing what is expected of them as well as reinforcing students who need
extra support to reach the school-wide expectations of respect, ownership, accountability, and
readiness. Our Gateway to Success period has become a weekly home base where students will learn
specific ways of how to be more successful by implementing our ROAR program. Positive school
attendance, which is a vital key to academic achievement, will be encouraged.

The following steps are taken when proper behavior is not being displayed:

1. Warning
2. Behavior Reflection Sheet (Parent contact is made.)
3. Detention (Parent contact is made.)
4. Office Referral (Parent Contact is made.)

Parent Communication

A students success depends on teamwork. Parents, teachers and students must all work together to
achieve. I am a firm believer in calling home to celebrate successes as well as to discuss concerns. It is
highly recommended that you monitor your childs progress and completion of assignments. You
should expect to see grade reports regularly, as they are given to the student frequently throughout
each term. Your input is critical in helping your child have a successful year in LA, so please contact me
with any questions or concerns you have. I will endeavor to return your call or email within 24 hours.

Homework

Homework for class will be posted on the board and to Google Classroom daily. Students are
responsible for recording their homework assignments in their agendas. Assignments need to be
completed and returned by the assigned due date. Directions for how to access Google Classroom will
be mailed home the first week of school. Our Google Classroom code is: ________________________
Grading

Grades are to be representative of your childs performance and achievement, therefore students
need to complete all assignments to best of their ability so that their grades are truly a reflection of
what they know and are able to do. Students will be evaluated in three different categories:

Homework: 10%
Formative Assessments: 40%
Summative Assessments: 50%

Missing/Late Work

Students are expected to complete assignments by the due date given. If assignments are not turned in
on the due date, they may turn it in one day late and will receive a 10% reduction on the credit that
they could have earned for the assignment. If a student does not complete an assignment within one
day of the due date they will receive a failing grade for the activity.

Tutoring

Tutoring will be offered during the school day during Panther Time. I will sign students up to come to
my room, but it is their responsibility to attend and come prepared to work. Students may also ask me
to sign them up on their own if they feel that they are having trouble.

One of the key components to success in improving reading skills is taking the time to read all types of
text. This year students are participating in a reading challenge, with genre requirements that will
expose students to different types of texts. Students will be given time in class to read texts of their
choosing and should always come to class with a book for such purpose. Studies show that reading at
home has a significant impact upon reading achievement, vocabulary growth, and reading fluency. You
can stay involved in your childs reading experience by asking questions about what they are reading
and playing a role in their book selection. Teachers, the media specialist, the literacy specialist, and
peers will act as guides in pairing students with books that meet your childs needs and interests. Your
child will have regular access to the TMS library to select reading materials. If you and your child
decide that a book is not a good fit, please encourage your child to return the book and work with me
to find a better option. Encouraging your child to read at home as often as possible will ensure
maximum growth in fluency and comprehension.

In closing, I am looking forward to many new and exciting learning adventures with your child. I
hope to see you at the scheduled events planned throughout the year. Stay in touch with your child,
the school and me for a successful year. Thank you for your support!
Sincerely,
Holly Bauknecht
Please complete the attached portion of this letter with your child and have him/her return it to school
tomorrow. I will review this information to learn more about your child as well as keep this
information sheet for my records so that I have a way to contact you.

RETURN TO MRS. BAUKNECHT

Your First Task: Please review the welcome letter with your parent. Then sign and return this
portion of the letter. Keep the previous page at home in a handy place for reference.

Student Name (please neatly print):

______________________________________________________________________________

Parent/Guardian Name(s) (please neatly print):

Parents/Guardian Phone Number: (Please star which phone number you prefer for contact.)

HOME:___________________________________________________________

CELL:____________________________________________________________

WORK:___________________________________________________________

Email address I can use to contact you:

______________________________________________________________________________

I have read and understand the policies and procedures for this course.

Parent signature_________________________________________________________

Student signature________________________________________________________

Please answer the questions below to provide me with some insight so that I can
properly accommodate your child.

Does your child have computer access at home? _____Yes _____No

Does your child have internet access at home? _____Yes _____No
Does your child have a device (phone, tablet, etc.) that they will bring to school for
learning purposes? _____Yes _____No