Dear Parents,
Welcome to Science, Language Arts and the 2015 -16 school year! It's going to be a year filled with learning and fun! I feel blessed to be able to work with the students at Scott in the areas of reading, writing and science. I can honestly say that being on team 6A is my dream job, as I am teaching my passions. How many people actually look forward to going to work each day? I consider myself
VERY lucky! :)
My website will be a valuable resource for you this year and as I grow in my understanding of the curriculum, the website will grow as well. The website should be able to answer any questions you have, provide links to all the websites we use in class, and fill you in on our daily schedule in the event that your child is absent. I am working on including a calendar that will keep you up to date on daily homework assignments and special events so thanks for being patient while I work with my team to set this up. If you haven't had a chance to check it out yet, please take a minute to peruse it. You can find my website at the following address:
http://mrdanleysscottstars.weebly.com/
Reading is an important part of your child's education in 6th grade. Research shows that students who are avid readers in middle school and high school, excel in the areas of fluency,vocabulary development and comprehension... and, listen to this parents, avid readers also
score 34 points higher on the ACT than non-readers (think college scholarships!) Students will be expected to come to class with a personal reading book daily. Many of the daily lessons will revolve around the titles being read by the students. Please help me in emphasizing the importance of reading and encouraging your child to read at least 20-30 minutes a day.
Here is a link to a screencast which will guide you through accessing your child’s nightly homework if needed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxqjwLGcaB4. We may or not be needing to access this but here are instructions "Just in case!"
Students can expect to have homework Monday through Thursday and it should take no longer than 20 minutes per evening to
complete. I will discuss this in more detail with your child and at Curriculum night.
My fellow reading teachers have great resources and are teaching me how to use the website to keep you up to date. Please forgive me if I miss something or have not updated the website, an email to my LPS address is a quick way to contact me and clarify any questions you may have that have not been updated or addressed on the website. [email protected]
Science is a passion of mine and I will be leading the Scott Science Olympiad team this year. We have a great group and have room to add new scientists, come see me if you are interested in getting more information.
I am what you would call late bloomer to loving science having discovered how amazing it is during science methods classes in undergrad at UNL and have really gotten hooked since being the “science guy” at Cavett years ago. My goal is to leave your children understanding more about the world around them and helping them realize that science can be lots of fun!
As some of you may have been told by your kids, I will be hosting a Minecraft class at Scott as well. The club is evolving to meet the needs of the kids and UNL minecraft leader, Ji Guo and I are working to create a model for other schools/teachers to use for more minecraft clubs in the future!
I LOVE clubs and am looking into the possibility of EV3 robotics and another using technology. Once school settles down a bit, I will be sending out information about all the club possibilities. Look for things to start after Labor Day.
Finally, be on the lookout for emails from me... I plan on sending them out periodically to keep you informed on what we are up to! Much like yourself, I have children of my own and this is a demanding time of year. Most of my out of school planning and preparation happens early in the morning and later in the evening. Fall sports are in full swing, and I have 3 boys that are busy with soccer and two that are playing football as well. Two boys are in High School at LSW, Max (a senior) and Parker ( a freshman) and a third, Cooper, that is a sophomore at LSE. My wife of 22 years (Merry) is busy at Celerion, but we both know our primary jobs of taxi driver, short order cook and sports spectator is what consumes most of our free time! Love the many hats and know all too well that this time is to be cherished as it will be gone before we know it!
Again, I'm looking forward to a fantastic year! Thanks so much for sharing your child with me!
Mark Danley