Grade 5
2009 - 2010 School Year
Expectations
- My Expectations of Students –Positive, Respectful Attitude, Best Effort, Active Listening!
- Work Habits – Responsibility and Organization
- Student Responsibilities
- 4 Agreements (attached)
- Completing and handing in homework on time
- Bringing in snack and lunch/money
- Instruments and music books
- Returning library books
- Returning notices and Friday Folders
- Care and use of school materials
- Classroom and school wide jobs
- Dressing appropriately for the weather
Nuts and Bolts
- Snacks – no juice please – Water bottles encouraged
- Absences – when your child is absent, in addition to calling the school in the morning, please give your child a note, when he/she returns to school, explaining the absence.
- Buses – Students must ride the same bus everyday. Please provide a note if you plan on picking up your child early or at the end of the day.
- Walkers/Bike Riders – If you sent in the note at the beginning of the year, students can walk home any time……
Homework
- 1 hour nightly, except long term projects
- Planners – sign nightly
- Homework Policy/Homework Alerts
- If student could not complete homework for whatever reason, they will be excused only with a note from the parent (can be in the planner
Tribes
- We focus on creating respectful, cooperative and caring communities in our classrooms where everyone feels safe and valued. Our goal is to have an academic working environment where we all work together to meet common goals. We work through the phases of Inclusion, Influence and Community Building. The 4 Agreements are stressed:
- Attentive Listening
- Mutual Respect,
- Right to Pass,
- Appreciations/No Put Downs
We will be stressing the "8 C's":
- Cooperation
- Collaboration
- Compromise
- Conflict Resolution
- Compassion
- Creativity
- Confidence
- Community
- Students will be practicing expressing their feelings using “I- Messages”
- Finally we are also discussing what effective leadership looks like, sounds like and feels like.
Curricular Areas:
· Skills – organization, note taking, presentation of work (excellence), prioritization, time management, verbal communication, written communication, problem solving, teamwork, character education, self esteem, individuality, responsibility, accountability, conflict resolution
Reading
- Read 30 minutes a night – building good habits and a love for reading
- Stressing Reading Strategies: Making Connections, Questioning, Visualizing and Inferring, Determining Importance, Synthesizing Information, etc.
- Guided Reading – small groups based on reading levels
- Self Selected Reading – D.E.A.R. – Good Fit Books - including Weekly Reading Response
- Literature Circles
Writing
- Expository
- Writing Journals
- Poetry
- All year long, in all the writing we do, we will be focusing on the Eight Traits of Good Writing. They are:
- ideas
- organization
- elaboration
- word choice
- sentence fluency
- voice
- conventions
- presentation
Spelling
– Individualized
Daily Oral Language
– Revising and Editing
Science
· Physical and Chemical Changes
- Forces in Motion
- HLAY – Drugs/First Aid/Safety
- Growth and Development
- Light
- Science Performance Tasks
Social Studies
- U. S. Constitution
- Westward Movement
- Civil War
- Geography – Maps and Globes
- Current Events – TFK
-
Math
- Materials supplied to students (SRB, template, calculator, ruler)
- Math Facts – students should practice/master
- Lots of new material – Few Mastery expectations in 5th grade
Field Trips/Activities
- November – Ct. Capitol Field Trip – U.S. Government
- February – Lewis and Clark Scavenger Hunt – On Campus Activity
- Second Half of Year – 5th Grade Volleyball – Before School
- Spring – Freedom Train Play – University of Hartford – Civil War
- Winter/Spring – High Touch/High Tech – In School Science
Workshops on various topics
- April/May – TE or Two Rivers Visit
- May – Civil War Encampment
- June – Spring Pond – Grade 5 Outing
Band and Orchestra:
Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays
- Individual schedules are posted in the classrooms and students are responsible for knowing their lesson times.
Suggested Supply List:
We provided each student with everything they need including a daily planner, a folder for notices, a ruler, template, calculator, pair of scissors, highlighter, a small container for holding pencils etc, an eraser and a pencil. Here is a list of additional supplies that you might want to purchase. Remember that these are all optional.:
- 7 folders, one for each of the following subjects: Math, Reading, Science, Social Studies, Writing, Spelling and TRIBES.
- additional pencils and erasers
- a glue stick
- a 1 subject notebook - try to get one where you can tear the pages out in a straight line...rough edges make me crazy! :)
- a small set of magic markers - I'll have a class set, you only need to buy some if you want your own set
- a small set of colored pencils - same goes here as with the markers
- 1 pen for correcting
- a compass
- a box of tissue for the classroom would be very much appreciated! Let's stock up now for the winter months! :)
Parent Communication
- Call the school – 648-5020
- X1424 – Caroline Alexander
- X1426 – Allison Ouellette
- X1427 – Rick Czaple
- Email –
- calexander@swindsor.k12.ct.us
- aouellette@swindsor.k12.ct.us
- rczapla@swindsor.k12.ct.us
- Notes in planner
Homework Alerts
- Math Website – www.everydaylearning.com
