My Biography

Welcome! The 2026-2027 school year will be my 14th year as a learning support teacher at Richland. I am graduate from Frostburg State University with a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education and a Master's Degree in Special Education. I am extremely honored to work at Richland Elementary School and look forward to collaborating with you and your child! Feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.
 
IMPORTANT CLASSROOM INFORMATION!
 
SPELLING
Weekly spelling words/homework will be introduced on Fridays for the following week. Spelling Pre-tests will be administered on Thursdays. If a student receives a perfect score during the pre-test, he/she does not need to take the spelling test on Friday. *I take the highest score between the spelling pre-test and spelling test. All spelling homework is due on Friday.
*5th Grade's spelling tests are hand written.
*6th Grade's spelling tests are multiple choice and are taken on the chrome books with Google Classroom. 
 
MATH
We will be working out of the Everyday Math Series. Quizzes and Tests will be announced ahead of time. Each student will receive a study guide that mirrors the assessment. All review games (Kahoot/Blooket/Gimkit) will be posted on Google Classroom to help with studying. These review games contain the EXACT CONTENT on the assessments. Fridays will be utilized for review of basic skills (multi-digit addition/subtraction, counting money, telling time, multiplication/division facts, multi-digit multiplication, long division, etc.)
 
READING/ELA

Some topics that we will cover this year are:

-Literary Genres 

-Fiction

     Characters & their traits, Setting, 4 types of literary conflicts, Plot elements, Theme, Point of

     View, Summarizing, Making inferences, Compare/Contrast, Author's Purpose

-Nonfiction

      Main Idea & Details, Problem & Solution, Cause & Effect, Text Features,

      Compare/Contrast, Sequencing 

-Poetry Terms

-Figurative Language

       Simile, Metaphor, Onomatopoeia, Alliteration, Hyperbole, Oxymoron, Personification

 

Grammar: Parts of a Sentence, Nouns, Pronouns, Verbs, Adjectives, Adverbs, Prepositions

Writing: Narrative, Persuasive, Informative, Opinion, Letter Writing

 

**Reading and Grammar quizzes and tests will be announced ahead of time. Each student will

receive a study guide that mirrors the assessment. All review games (Kahoot/Blooket/Gimkit) will be

posted on Google Classroom to help with studying. These review games contain the EXACT

CONTENT on the assessments.

 

 
 

Posts

September 14-18

5th Grade

Math
Area and Volume
Monday: 1.2 Area of a Rectangle (counting whole and fractional squares)
Tuesday: 1.4 Area of a Rectangle Formula(board game)
Wednesday: 1.5 Introduction to Volume
Thursday: 1.6 Exploring Nonstandard Volume Units
Friday: Multiplication Facts BINGO/Reflex Math
 
Reading
Characterization: Traits
Monday: Individual Reading Testing
Tuesday: Introduce Character Traits (Physical & Personality), Powerpoint & Notes
Wednesday: Character Traits: Task Cards
Thursday: “My Selfie” Character Traits Google Slide
Friday: “My Selfie” Character Traits Google Slide/Read aloud Harry Potter
 
English
Writing a 3 Paragraph Essay
Monday: New Class writing: Revise/Editing Checklist
Tuesday: New Class writing: Type final draft
Wednesday: New Class writing: Type/print final draft
Thursday: Review spelling words, Spelling Pre-Test
Friday: Introduce new spelling words for the following week
 
Spelling Words: Week 2, More Homophones
To practice spelling at home:
Teacher Username: hpapanicolas
Password: Click on the Turtle Picture
Words: pause, paws, allowed, aloud, chews, choose, route, root, bear, bare
 

6th Grade

Math
Data Displays and Number Systems
Monday: 1.1 Statistical Questions
Tuesday: 1.2 Create Dot Plots
Wednesday: 1.3 Mean, Median, Mode, & Range(Raisins Activity)
Thursday: 1.3 Mean, Median, Mode, & Range Day 2(Skittles Activity)
Friday: Multiplication Facts BINGO/Reflex Math
 
Reading
Characterization: Traits
Monday: Individual Reading Testing
Tuesday: Introduce Character Traits (Physical & Personality), Powerpoint & Notes
Wednesday: Character Traits: Task Cards
Thursday: “My Selfie” Character Traits Google Slide
Friday: “My Selfie” Character Traits Google Slide/Read aloud Harry Potter
 
English
Writing a 3 Paragraph Essay
Monday: New Class writing: Revise/Editing Checklist
Tuesday: New Class writing: Type final draft
Wednesday: New Class writing: Type/print final draft
Thursday: Review spelling words, Spelling Pre-Test
Friday: Introduce new spelling words for the following week
 
Spelling Words: Week 2, Long Vowels
To practice spelling at home:
Teacher Username: hpapanicolas
Password: Click on the Turtle Picture
 
Words: theme, quote, gaze, pace, preach, strive, trait, mute, sleeve, roam, strain, frame, league, soak, grease
 
*Spelling Pre-Tests and Tests are multiple choice in 6th Grade.*

September 8-11

No school on Monday, September 7. Happy Labor Day! 😊

5th Grade

Math
Beginning of the Year Review
Tuesday: Multi-digit Multiplication (by 1 digit number)
Wednesday: Multi-digit Multiplication (by 2 digit numbers)
Thursday: Division Facts
Friday: Beginning of the Year Math Review QUIZ (ungraded)
 
Reading
Literary Genres
Tuesday: Review Literary Genres: Pizza Activity 
Wednesday: Genres Gimkit, Study Guide https://www.gimkit.com/join/6a996c92051aadf1f2a11a82 
Thursday: Genres QUIZ
Friday: Read aloud (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)
 
English
Writing a 3 Paragraph Essay
Tuesday: New Class writing: rough draft- body paragraph
Wednesday: New Class writing: rough draft- concluding paragraph
Thursday: Review spelling words, Spelling Pre-Test
Friday: Introduce new spelling words for the following week
 
Spelling Words: Week 1, Homophones
To practice spelling at home:
Teacher Username: hpapanicolas
Password: Click on the Turtle Picture

tail, tale, pain, pane, waist, waste, weight, wait, piece, peace

6th Grade

Math
Beginning of the Year Review
Tuesday: Multi-digit Multiplication (by 1 digit number)
Wednesday: Multi-digit Multiplication (by 2 digit numbers)
Thursday: Long Division
Friday: Beginning of the Year Math Review QUIZ (ungraded)
 
Reading
Literary Genres
Tuesday: Review Literary Genres: Pizza Activity 
Wednesday: Genres Gimkit, Study Guide https://www.gimkit.com/join/6a996c92051aadf1f2a11a82 
Thursday: Genres QUIZ
Friday: Read aloud (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)
 
English
Writing a 3 Paragraph Essay
Tuesday: New Class writing: rough draft- body paragraph
Wednesday: New Class writing: rough draft- concluding paragraph
Thursday: Review spelling words, Spelling Pre-Test
Friday: Introduce new spelling words for the following week
 
Spelling Words: Week 1, Short Vowels
To practice spelling at home:
Teacher Username: hpapanicolas
Password: Click on the Turtle Picture
 
depth, craft, plunge, wreck, sunk, film, strict, bomb, switch, length, prompt, pitch, else, cliff, pledge
 
*Spelling Pre-Tests and Tests are multiple choice in 6th Grade.*
 

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Name
Mrs. Heather Papanicolas
Position
Learning Support Teacher
Email
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