Wake me up in June

zzzzzzzzzzzzzz
MEET MR. CURRY

MR. CURRY, A SAN FRANCISCO NATIVE, HAS BEEN

TEACHING FOR A TOTAL OF 18 YEARS. BEFORE COMING TO
PIEDMONT IN 05-06, HE HAD SPENT 6 YEARS AT VINCI PARK
ELEMENTARY TEACHING 5TH GRADE.
MR. CURRY IS THE PRODUCT OF PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS IN
SAN FRANCISCO. HE GRADUATED WITH BA DEGREES IN HISTORY
AND LIBERAL STUDIES AND A MULTIPLE SUBJECT CREDENTIAL
FROM SAN FRANCISCO STATE.
MR. CURRY BELIEVES THAT AS
AMERICANS, WE HAVE A
RESPONSIBILITY TO BE INFORMED
AND ACTIVE IN PARTICIPATING IN
OUR DEMOCRACY. THAT IS WHY,
EVEN IF WE STRONGLY DISAGREE
WITH OUR LEADERS, WE MUST STILL
PARTICIPATE IN BRINGING ABOUT THE
CHANGE WE WANT. THAT IS JUST
ONE REASON WHY MR. CURRY TRAVELS
TO WASHINGTON D.C. SO OFTEN.

President and Mrs. Bush with Mr. and

Mrs. Curry at the White House.
MEET MR. CURRY
MR. CURRY IS
A BIG GIANTS
AND 49ER FAN
AND HE IS A
“TECHIE”
He has led
workshops at
the district &
County on the
use of
technology in
education.
He also likes
playing with
Photo Shop and
editing photos.
Homeroom
Homeroom is the one place where students
start the day everyday (except for
Thursdays).
Homeroom is designed to give the students a
sense of stability, as the goal is to keep them
in the same homeroom through the end of 8th
grade.
Homeroom is where notices are distributed
and collected.

In Homeroom, students will put together

their portfolio of representative work for
all 3 years at Piedmont Middle School.
Located right along the
information Highway.
Technology is integrated
throughout the Language Arts and
History/Social Studies Curriculum
 The TECH
•On-line ZONE
grade book
•Quiz Lab
•Research/
Presentations for
Social Studies
•Word Processing
MR. CURRY HAS TAKEN ADVANCED COURSES AND
WORKSHOPS IN TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION IN
EDUCATION. HE HOPES TO EARN HIS MASTER’S DEGREE
IN INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY IN THE NEXT FEW
YEARS. HE PARTICIPATED IN AN INTERNSHIP AT
LOCKHEED MARTIN’S SPACE SYSTEMS’ IT DEPARTMENT
(SUMMER 2004).

This past July, he was part

of the Yahoo! Teachers of
Merit program at Yahoo!
Headquarters in Sunnyvale!
EVERY SUMMER IS SPENT IN TAKING PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT COURSES AND EDUCATIONAL TRIPS.
IN SUMMER 2005, HE STUDIED THE US
CONSTITUTION AT GEORGE WASHINGTON’S MOUNT
VERNON.
IN OTHER RECENT YEARS
HE TRAVELLED TO NEA
CONVENTIONS IN NEW
ORLEANS (before Katrina)
WASHINGTON D.C., AND
ORLANDO. IN 2004 HE
TOOK A COURSE ON
SLAVERY AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF
MARYLAND AND HELPED
CREATE A NATIONAL
SCIENCE FOUNDATION
PROJECT ALSO IN DC.
Mr. Curry and his wife, who have been married for 12 years,
love to travel. We have gone on trips to Mexico and Europe,
the Football Hall of Fame in Ohio, Boston, New York,
Washington DC, San Diego, LA and Seattle, as well as Las
Vegas, Lake Tahoe and Yosemite.
To prevent this from
happening,
students have an “at
home” set of books.
Grading
• Students are
expected to turn in all
their work on time.
• Grades will be
corrected and
recorded on
www.MyGradebook.com
usually by Sunday
each week or even the
same day.
Grading
•trimester.
Report Cards sent out at the end of each

•through
Progress reports sent home halfway
each trimester.
•and
Through www.mygradebook.com , parents
students can access grades. Make
sure your email is listed carefully and
submit or resubmit it at Back to School
Night. This is available ONLY in Mr. Curry’s
classes.

Mr. Curry will be only happy to schedule a

conference or discuss your child’s
progress, but NOT at Back To School Night.
Use of Technology in Class
•Appropriate use only
• No Chat nor IM allowed unless
assigned by class
• QuizLab (www.quizlab.com) access
in class or at home, though those with
no home access are given preference.
• E-mail pen pals project with students
from Uganda and Thailand.
• Research for projects
• Power Point presentations and
possibly video “Movies”
• Word Processing of assignments
• Use of software and web-based
educational programs
• Weekly Assignment sheets
The focus of 6th Grade Social
Studies/History is World History with
a focus on the Ancient World.
We will study from Pre-History…
…to the Fall of Rome
We will cover the great World Civilizations and we
will consider their contributions to our world.
Students will do research
projects and some creative
group and individual projects.
A major project will be
to write a drama about
being a time traveler
going to those early
civilizations and
witnessing the ways of
life and events first-
hand. TIME TRAVEL
California State Content
Standard for History/Social
Sciences
6.1 Students describe what
is known through
archaeological studies of the
early physical and cultural
development of humankind
from the Paleolithic era to
the agricultural revolution.
California State Content Standard for History/Social
Sciences
6.2 Students analyze the geographic, political,
economic, religious, and social structures of the early
civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Kush.
California State Content
Standard for History/Social
Sciences
6.3 Students analyze the
geographic, political, economic,
religious, and social structures of
the Ancient Hebrews.
California State Content Standard for
History/Social Sciences
6.4 Students analyze the geographic, political,
economic, religious, and social structures of the
early civilizations of Ancient Greece.
California State Content Standard for
History/Social Sciences
6.5 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic,
religious, and social structures of the early civilizations of
California State Content Standard for
History/Social Sciences
6.6 Students analyze the
geographic, political, economic,
religious, and social structures of
the early civilizations of China.
California State Content Standard for
History/Social Sciences

6.7 Students
analyze the
geographic,
political,
economic,
religious, and
social structures
during the
development of
Rome. Real photo of Mr. and Mrs. Curry at Pompeii
Students will do research
projects and some creative
group and individual
projects.
This week: Cave Art
Since Mr. Curry has taught classes
which have won awards for
multimedia projects, we can look
forward to an awesome experience!
 The focus will be on continuing the
development of phonemic awareness,
reading comprehension and critical
thinking skills.
We will use the Holt Language Arts program. The
Literature book has some outstanding stories and skills
instruction.
Students will be also challenged to read
books at their instructional level but which
also become more challenging as they
progress during the year. Book reports will
be done for each trimester.
The typical weekly expectation is that
students will read the selection,
answer the increasingly more difficult
“Response” questions and write a
minimum 1 paragraph (5 quality
sentences) summary of the selection.
That is followed by taking the
QuizLab test for the selection and
doing any skills practice work that is
assigned. Students are to have a
novel to read every day.
We just started Hatchet, the first of 3
class-wide novels this year.
 State Standards for English/language Arts

Reading
1.0 Word Analysis, Fluency, and Systematic
Vocabulary Development
Phonics-based Spelling and weekly Vocabulary
2.0 Reading Comprehension (Focus on
Informational Materials)
Social Studies Content / Weekly Current Events Activities
3.0 Literary Response and Analysis
Summary and Questions for each story, Book reports
Writing State Standards for English/Language
Arts
1.0 Writing Strategies
2.0 Writing Applications (Genres and Their
Characteristics) Students write narrative, expository,
persuasive, and descriptive texts of at least 500 to 700
words in each genre. Student writing demonstrates a
command of standard American English and the
research, organizational, and drafting strategies
outlined in Writing Standard 1.0.

Writing Genres: Narrative Expository Research

Response to Literature Persuasive

Writing Workshop at the end of Many Chapters in

Literature Book.
Weekly Essays in Language Arts and/or Social
Studies.
We use a very
structured and basic
step-by-step approach
to the writing process,
similar to the Step Up
To Writing used in the
district’s Elementary
Schools.
Written and Oral English Language
Conventions 1.0 Written and Oral English
Language Conventions (grammar)

We use teacher developed

rubrics for assessing
student writing. The state
will test student writing in
7th grade. 6+1 Trait Criterion
2. ideas
3. organization
4. voice
5. word choice
6. sentence fluency
7. conventions
+1presentation
English/Language Arts Standards

Listening and Speaking

1.0 Listening and Speaking Strategies
2.0 Speaking Applications (Genres and Their
Characteristics)
Students will give both small group
and individual oral reports based
on both language Arts and Social
Studies Reports and Projects.
They will be assessed for their
presentations and the students
listening will be accountable for
listening skills.
Check student Binder Reminders regularly
Check student progress on
www.mygradebook.com or request for a
printed copy
(give Mr. Curry the response card)
Contact Mr. Curry whenever you
have a question or concern
email: rdcurry@sjteach.org
Voice Mail: 408-923-1800
ext 4627
Our Class website is at:
www.sjteach.org/27.html
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