Cluster Focus

Our cluster focuses on four questions. 

1. What is it we want all students to learn?
2. How will we know when each student has learned it?
3. How will we respond when a student did not learn it?
4. How will we extend the learning for the students who learned it?

Goals

General Goals:

• Responsibility
• Study Skills
• Skill Fluency
• Increased Reading Fluency
• Enjoyment of Learning

Reading Goals (First Semester):

1. Increase speaking, reading, and writing vocabulary by 5 words each week.
2. Use common prefixes and suffixes to understand the meaning of new words.
3. Use context clues strategies to define new vocabulary words.
4. Use the closed, open, and final e syllable types to read multisyllabic words.
5. Increase sight vocabulary to first 600 words from Dr. Fry's Reading vocabulary list.
6. Use the elements of fiction and nonfiction text to summarize selections and state important facts.
7. Identify author's purpose in fiction and nonfiction text to make inferences and generalizations about the selection read.
8. Read independently for one hour daily (in and out of school) to increase AR level by 4 months.
9. Reach reading fluency rate of at least 112 wpm at fourth grade reading level.
10. Consistently use TAKS test-taking strategies taught in class on all TAKS practices.

Writing Goals (First Semester):

1. Use the Writing Process to create and publish original fiction and nonfiction compositions
2. Be able to write a 5-sentence paragraph
3. Be able to write a 5-paragraph composition
4. Use the elements of fiction and nonfiction narratives in original compositions
5.   Identify and use figurative language in original compositions: dialogue, simile, metaphor, alliteration, and onomatopoeia
6. Be able to revise own and others compositions for focus, organization, word choice, sentence fluency, and voice
7. Be able to edit own and others compositions for spelling of high frequency words and common syllable pattern words, capitalization, punctuation and subject/verb agreement
8. Be able to identify and model the craft of authors' studied such as leads, figurative language, and take-away endings
9. Be able to maintain writing focus for 35 minutes to increase writing fluency and idea development for writing
10. Be able to gather information on a specified topic from a variety of sources, take notes in own words, and write a 5- paragraph report with bibliography of sources