5th Grade Welcome Information
Parents,
We had a great start to school last week and I had an absolute blast with your kids! They’re such a cute bunch of kids and they’re being great sports about having to wear masks, wash hands, social distance, etc…
We covered lots of procedures and information last week and the kids are doing a great job of remembering, but I thought I’d also pass the information on to you all as well.
Reading Logs: A new reading log will be sent home each Monday. Students are to read a minimum of 20 minutes per night, fill out the information and paragraph on the reading log, and return it the next morning to be checked by Mrs. Sherratt. Once I’ve checked the reading log, I’ll hand it back and students will put it away to take home each afternoon. Students will continue to bring the reading log back and forth each day. Every Monday I will keep the previous week’s log and hand out a new log.
Math: Students were able to access the online Google Classroom last week and should be able to make their way around the ThinkCentral site if they need some extra video help or practice time. This (along with the other online classrooms) could also be helpful if your child is absent and would like to access the site to complete the day’s assignment.
Spelling: Please watch for a new spelling list to come home each Monday. If your child needs to take some extra time to practice spelling, they should schedule that into their daily routine. They can even take a couple minutes off of their reading minutes to practice spelling if they’d like to.
Attendance: Attendance is an important part to the student’s education. This helps a student keep current on assignments, check work and participate in class discussions. There are many school experiences that cannot be duplicated or sent home. When a student is absent it is their responsibility to get missed work. (I am more than happy to explain it to them.) It is helpful if you have a friend take it home or have a parent come in and pick it up the day your child is absent. Of course you’ll want to follow the Covid-19 guidelines for keeping students home if they are symptomatic.
School begins at 8:50: Students should plan to arrive between 8:35-8:45. (Please do NOT come earlier.) School ends at 3:30, except on Wednesdays when we end at 1:30. During the two weeks that we hold parent conferences school ends EVERY day at 2:30. Upon arriving at school students should go directly to their classroom unless eating breakfast or paying lunch money. When students finish in the lunchroom they go immediately to class. Students will have a bell work assignment to work on each morning when arriving at school. This is extremely difficult to make up if a student is late for school.
Lunch: Our lunch this year is from 11:30-12:15. It is helpful to pay for lunch monthly or weekly before school. Lunch is $2.50, breakfast is $1.50 and milk is $.35. If your child will be eating school lunch and has any food restrictions, the lunch nutrition manager will need to be informed. We will have a few opportunities for students to be lunch workers during the year for one week time periods. Please make sure to sign the permission slip for this.
Most assignments can be completed at school. Exceptions would be math (especially when we get to long division etc.), nightly reading, studying times tables and a few projects that will be assigned during the year. ANY work that is not completed during class can and should be taken home to finish. Assignments need to be turned in on time. A study hall is held during our afternoon break time on Tuesday and Thursday. Students who come to school unprepared with any assignments are required to attend study hall.
There will be a few assignments during the year that will require your help at home. Math homework is fairly common. Students will make a volcano (if we can figure this out with our new Covid-19 standards) at home. Science Day is in the spring and we do a Famous American’s program in May, where students dress as a famous American and participate in a play. We will give plenty of notice in our newsletters about any of these upcoming projects and when they are due.
PROGRESS PRINTOUTS: COME HOME AND OUR NEWSLETTER WILL BE POSTED ON THE BLOG, TWICE A MONTH. These require a parent signature. Make up work must be turned in before the next printout (2 weeks.) Students know daily what assignments are due and which, if any, have not been turned in. We also have Worker’s Holiday activities at mid-term and at the end of each term for students who are not missing ANY work and have an 80% or higher average (also dependent on how well we can social distance, etc). Some activities may be read-a-thons, dress-up days, kickball games, movies, etc. Some of these activities may require us to ask for small donations to cover the cost.
Classroom Rules: The classroom rules are set up so that each student will have the best opportunity for learning. Students can be recognized for good behavior by verbal praise, receiving a certificate, getting treats/rewards, or by earning extra privileges. We have a class reward system where we earn class activities as well. Consequences for misbehavior can be conferences with students and/or parents/principal, loss of free time, or missing certain activities. Our school has a Wellness Room to assist students in achieving success in the regular classroom. (A student will not be placed, long term, in this program unless parents have been notified.)
Rotations: On our fifth-grade team we each teach some subjects, which means that your child may be receiving instructions from all the fifth grade teachers. During the Orchestra time, on Tuesday and Thursday at 1:30, the remaining students are placed in three groups. They attend different classes on a rotating schedule (Not likely to happen this year do to Covid-19). The classes are taught by the fifth grade teachers. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR ORCHESTRA STUDENTS TO HAVE INSTRUMENTS HERE ON TUESDAY AND THURSDAY! Students must commit to orchestra for the entire year. Orchestra will require practicing, but the benefits will be great!
Reading Revolution: We have a fifth grade reading incentive program called READING REVOLUTION, where students can be awarded Judicial, Congressional, or Presidential awards at the end of the year. Students will need to read one book from each of the eight genres plus four books, to earn Judicial. Two books a quarter are “required for credit.” If you will help your child (and we will also) choose the different genres for this, every child can earn the Judicial award just by doing the required reading plus four additional books. In order to receive the highest level, Freedom Award, a student would need to complete 30 books, which is about one book every 1-2 weeks. Students will complete a book report form for each completed book and parents sign it. This can’t be done in just the last month of school but must be worked on all year long. Battle of the Books reading counts towards Reading Revolution. We will have our 5th grade Battle of the Books in May. Be sure to do book reports on your Battle Books. Students need to do more than the “required” book reports in order to earn the Reading Revolution award.
Extras: We go to a PE specialist once a week on Wednesday. Our MUSIC specialist will come to our class once a week on Fridays and the ART specialist will come to our class twice a week on Monday and Friday. We will use Chromebooks and have the librarian come to our classroom on Mondays this year. We also have a science specialist who will teach each class twice a month.
E-Sginatures, PowerSchool, School Calendar, and Class Blog: ***PLEASE check the school web-site http://south.ironk12.org/South/Home.html to look at the school calendar and the BLOG with fifth grade information. You also have access to check your child’s grades online. YOU WILL BE ABLE TO ELECTRONICALLY SIGN YOUR CHILD’S SAFE SCHOOLS, COMPUTER PERMISSION, FIELD TRIPS, ETC.. BY GOING TO SOUTH’S HOME PAGE AND SCROLL DOWN AND CLICK ON THE How to access and electronically sign our computer…
Thanks so much for letting me spend my days teaching each of your amazing kids! If you ever have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Mrs. Sherratt
435-586-2850
