Welcome to 5^th Grade!

2008-2009

The Catholic education philosophy identifies that each student is capable of learning. To achieve this, I integrate the teaching of life skills and provide a fun, safe, comfortable environment that supports individual instruction and nurtures critical thinking development, increased self-assurance, and a desire to learn.

Mrs. Joannie Anthony

St. Lawrence the Martyr School

Santa Clara, CA

email: janthony@saintlawrence.org

Weeks of Jun 8-11:

1.    Important News

2.    Current Week’s Homework     

Items of Interest

3.    Homework Policy

4.    Absence/Vacation

5.    Birthdays

6.    Classroom Management

7.    Curriculum

8.    Expectations of Students

9.    Forms

10. Grading/PowerSchool Codes/ITBS Test Scores

11. In-Class Work

12. Nutrition/Recess Snacks

13. Parent Volunteers

14. Prayers

15. Quizzes/Projects

16. Reading Tips

17. Rubrics

18. 5^th Grade School Supplies

19. Websites of Interest

20. Wednesday Envelopes

21. Weekly Schedule

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Important News

Safety Patrol/Flag:

The following students are assigned to Safety Patrol for this week:  Kirsten C., Jared, Annika, Pierre, Evan, and Peter.  Please ensure that your child is here by 7:40 a.m. and that he/she has his/her badge.   Our 5^th grade team is teaching 4^th grade students who “shadow” on both morning and afternoon shifts.

Flag – The following students are assigned for Flag duty:  Joshua, Nicolas, and Augie. Please ensure that your child is here by 7:50 a.m.

4^th and 5^th grade Academic Challenge

Thank you to all the parents who helped as proctors for the Academic Challenge and with the lunch.  We could have not have had such a successful event without your support. Kudos go to Mrs. Hall for planning such a great picnic!  Thank you! Thank you!  I was impressed with our students in being sensitive to and helping the 4^th grade students on their teams to participate in the challenge.  The 4^th graders really enjoyed it!

Classroom Clean Up

Please have your child bring in a shopping bag for Wednesday, so they can clean out their desks. Their portfolios will also go home with them. I will be keeping samples of student work as evidence for our school WCEA/WASC accreditation.

Appreciation lunch with SCPD Officers Jensen and Black

Officers Bruce Jensen and Deanna Black will be eating lunch with our class this Tuesday at 11:15 a.m.  Your student can bring their lunch from home or get hot lunch.  We will also have a veggie tray and ice cream.  We want to say “thank you” to both SCPD officers for their support of our class for DARE and Safety Patrol.  The students will also make “thank you” cards to give to each officer.

Report Cards

Students will receive their report cards on Thursday, our last day of school.

Summer Reading

Summer reading packets will go home this week. Please ensure that your child reads during the summer!

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Dear 5^th Grade Parents/Guardians,

     Thank you for a wonderful year.  It is amazing to see how the students have matured, both academically and socially.  I will miss their creative, artistic, musical, and humorous talents!  Each day brought challenges and opportunities that pushed us to reach our highest potential.  I wish the students continued success as they move on to become St. Lawrence Middle School students!  Wow!

     May God continue to bless you and your families!

Warm regards,

Mrs. Anthony

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Current Week’s Homework

Please note that the assignment written on a given day is due on the following day.

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Mon – June 8

Social Studies read pg 514-519, 522-531

Writing: finish “thank you” cards for Officers Black and Jensen

Tues – June 9

Homework

Social Studies read pg 540-547, 568-574   

• Bring in shopping bag to clean out desk

Wed – June 10

Thurs – June 11

Last day of school!   Yipee!  Have a wonderful summer!

Congratulations – you are now a St. Lawrence Middle School Student! J

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Homework Policy

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·         Based on diocesan guidelines, homework is approximately 45-60 minutes. Your student should be prepared to review homework daily.

·         Please check with your student, as well as this website, every night for your student’s assignments.

·         Students are to do their homework to the best of their ability. Homework is worth 15% of your student’s overall grade.

·         Homework is assigned on Monday – Thursday and includes nightly spelling, and reading of social studies, science, or religion.  Students should also be prepared for quizzes and weekly spelling tests.  Math homework is assigned Monday – Friday.

·         Periodically students are assigned to give an oral presentation to the class (book report, recite a poem, share a personal experience, etc.). The assignments for the oral presentation will be listed on the website.

·         All homework assignments are to be completed and turned in on the day they are due for full credit. If NOT turned in, the student is expected to complete and return the homework on the second day for partial credit.  Any homework not completed will receive 0 points towards the homework grade.

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Absence/Vacation

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·         It is important that you arrange trips and vacations during regularly scheduled holidays.  If you plan on going on vacation, your student will be responsible for any make-up work he/she has missed.

·         If your student must be away from school for a special reason please notify me and the office in advance. Frequent or numerous absences from school may result in a recommendation for retention.

·         If your student is absent due to an illness, make-up work must be completed and submitted with a reasonable timeframe, usually one day for each day of absence. Homework assignments can also be found on this website.  

·         A student must have a written excuse, or a doctor’s note to be excused from the missed work and to make up a test or quiz that he or she may have missed.

·         No credit is given for late assignments without an excused absence or emergency.

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Birthdays

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·         To celebrate your student’s birthday you can send a gift-wrapped game, book, or puzzle to school for the birthday student to give to the class.

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Classroom Management

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Each student is responsible for his/her own behavior.  Our classroom community goal is to positively reinforce good behavior and to emulate the teachings of Jesus. Rules for proper behavior have been discussed by the class. All of the students understand the type of behavior expected from them and are aware of the rewards/consequences for individual, as well as class behavior. Please also refer to the Parent-Student Handbook regarding the Diocesan policy on discipline in the school.

Classroom Rules

·         Respect self, others, school property

·         Respect the speaker—listen carefully (use class hand signals to speak)

·         Be responsible.

·         Do your best.

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Consequences for Breaking the Rules

To promote positive behavior, we use a behavior book in our classroom. The first time a student writes a check next to his/her name in the behavior book for a discipline infraction is considered a warning. This is a way to distract the student from any negative behavior and give him/her the chance to re-focus quickly.

If the student checks the behavior book twice in one day, this gives the student a chance to think about his/her action and decide what he/she needs to do to re-focus his/her attention. In addition, a time-out on the bench at recess gives the student time to reflect on his/her conduct.

If the student receives a third check in one day, the student will write a letter of apology to the class identifying what the misbehavior was and how he/she will change his/her behavior to eliminate further distractions to the class.  This letter must then be signed by a parent/guardian and returned the next day. If a student receives three checks in a single day for more than two days in a week, that student will receive detention for interfering with the learning of the student and/or other students.

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Referral to Principal

If a student commits a major offense such as fighting, intentional destruction of property, foul language, overtly cheating, etc., they will be sent to the office immediately for intervention by the Principal.

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Detention

Detention can be assigned based on the severity or habitual behavior of a student.  Detention will be served on an assigned Thursday morning at 7:00 am in the room determined by Mr. Phil Dolan, Vice Principal of the Middle School.

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Parent/Teacher Conference

Habitual behavior problems that do not improve with encouragement and reward systems are dealt with on an individual basis, which always includes parent involvement.

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Individual Rewards for Citizenship

In addition to positive phone calls, emails, or praise notes sent home, a student can earn:

·         No Homework Pass—students who have attained two consecutive weeks of no check marks in the Behavior Log earn a “No Homework Pass” (can not be used for reading/writing homework)

·         Student “teacher” Ticket — students who participate in class and are willing to explain/demonstrate a lesson concept to the class will achieve a “teacher ticket”. Students will accumulate “teacher tickets” and redeem them for “free time/independent study time” throughout the year.

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Curriculum

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Our 5^th grade course of study is based on the academic standards set forth by the Diocese of San Jose as well as the California Department of Education. You can access these standards at http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/

Book Reports – to see the different Book Report Literature Response activities, click here.

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Expectation of Students

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·         All students are expected to come to school ready to learn. This not only means that they have a good night’s sleep and a healthy breakfast, but also that they have all the materials they need to do their work.

·         Please check with your student that he/she has the daily homework and materials needed for the day; we ultimately want the students to be responsible, but at this age they still need adult help occasionally with staying organized.

·         Please ensure that your student is here to start at 7:59 a.m. to participate in the school opening prayers and assembly.  If a student comes in tardy, ultimately she/he feels rushed and this impacts your student’s ability to focus and concentrate.

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Forms

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2008 Back to School Night Packet

Book Report Literature Response Ideas

Field Trip Permission Slip

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Grading/

PowerSchool

Codes

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Grades

Grades are recorded as letter grades (A, A-, B+, B, etc.) as identified on the Diocese of San Jose Grades 4-8 Report Card.

The assessment numeric grade for each letter grade is as follows:

A = 100-96     B- = 84-82      D+ = 69-67

A- = 95-92      C+ = 81-78    D = 66-64

B+ = 91-89     C = 77-74       D- = 63-60

B = 88-85       C- = 73-70     F = Below 60

PowerSchool Codes

The following codes will help you in understanding your student’s grade codes:

U = Ungraded (I haven't graded the assignment yet, or the assignment was returned for rework)

INC = Incomplete (0 points) (The student handed in incomplete work)

M = Missing (0 points)

AB = Absent (0 points)

EX = Excused

RE = Redo Assignment

If a number or assignment is in blue, click on it and you will see comments regarding the grade

ITBS Test Scores

If you did not attend the PTG meeting this week where Mrs. Murphy handed out the individual scores and explained how they work, you can pick them up in the office. The scores are consistent with what we discussed during the parent teacher conference.

Just a few notes to remember when reviewing your child’s scores:

·         We use this information as a benchmark to evaluate the student’s progress from year to year.

·         The information is presented in PERCENTILE not percentages. A percentile is NOT the same as a letter grade, i.e. 95% = A. The percentile shows your student’s rank compared to 5^th graders across the nation. Our expectation is that each student be in the gray area around the 50th percentile, which is in the average range.   

·         If your child is in the < 30th percentile range (in reading or math) they are receiving extra help in class, and your emphasis at home should be in helping in these specific areas as well.

·         On the other hand, if your child is in the 90^th+ percentile range, they are being challenged in class to reach their potential!

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In-Class Work

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Each student is expected to do his/her own work to the best of his/her ability (effort, neatness, completeness)—if a student fails to complete in-class work, it will become homework.  All in-class work and homework includes student name and student id#. In-class work is considered class participation and is worth 15% of your student’s overall grade.

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Nutrition/

Recess Snacks

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·         Do not pack “fast food” lunches for your student – make sure your student has fiber, vegetables, and fruit!

·         Pack a healthy snack for morning recess – your student needs “food for thought”

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Parent Volunteers

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Please contact Mrs. Anthony janthony@saintlawrence.org if you are interested in assisting our class with the following volunteer opportunities

·         Reading groups/One-on-One Reading

·         Field trip chaperones

·         Bulletin boards

·         Assembly of online reading books

·         Copying of papers

·         Scholastic Book Orders – order management

·         Filing

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Prayers

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Catholic Traditional Prayers – Each 5^th grade student within the Diocese of San Jose is required to know and understand our Catholic Traditional Prayers.  Please ensure that your student can recite them. The students will receive a weekly assessment of the prayers.  Check the nightly homework to see which prayer is assigned for the week. The prayers include: 

·         Sign of the Cross

·         Hail Mary

·         Glory Be

·         Apostles Creed

·         Grace Before Meals

·         Grace After Meals

·         Our Father

·         Act of Contrition

·         Hail Holy Queen

·         Prayer of St. Francis

·         Morning Offering

·         Act of Faith

·         Act of Hope

·         Act of Charity

·         Come Holy Spirit

·         Angelus

·         Angel of God

·         The Canticle of Mary, the Magnificat

·         The Five Joyful Mysteries

·         The Five Sorrowful Mysteries

·         The Five Glorious Mysteries

·         The Five Luminous Mysteries

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Quizzes/Projects

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Quizzes will generally be given once to twice a week and cover content read the night before for homework or covered in the previous day’s lesson.  Projects provide opportunities for the students to apply and extend their learning beyond standard assessments. These projects are to be worked on both in class and at home to give the student time to do the necessary research.

Quizzes/Projects are worth 25% of your student’s overall grade.

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Reading Tips

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One of the most important activities you can do with your student is to continue to read aloud with him/her. Even though your student may be an independent reader, reading to your student is very important to:

·  Model fluency and expression for challenging texts

·  Share the enjoyment of reading, which can lead to rich discussions about literature or information

·  Expand your student’s vocabulary by reading challenging words that he/she might just skim over when reading on her own

The second most helpful thing you can do with your student is to listen to him/her read. As your student is reading to you, make it a practice to pause frequently to:

·  Monitor your student’s fluency (pace, accuracy of words)

·  Clarify anything confusing in the text

·  Make connections (to himself/herself, other texts or the world)

·  Ask questions about the characters, author or plot

·  Make predictions about what might happen next

·  Comment on what he/she is reading

Also, at different times of the day (not just when reading) make it a point to discuss vocabulary and use increasingly sophisticated and descriptive words, model dictionary use (by looking up words yourself which you do not know), and discuss meanings of prefixes, suffixes and root words, so that your student begins to understand units of meaning within words, (such as un-controll-able).  Reading the newspaper together is an excellent way to improve your student’s word skills!

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Rubrics

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·         Rubrics will be used when grading assignments. This ensures a more objective and homogeneous grading process, especially when grading written assignments, oral presentations, and projects.

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Fifth Grade Supplies List 2008-2009

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Students are to bring all supplies the first day of school.

·  3 folders with pockets (different colors/designs)

·  1 large (white) eraser

·  2 doz (12) #2 pencils

·  1 pair of scissors (5 inches with a sharp point)

·  1 box of crayons(not larger than 48 count)

·  1 set of 1

·  0 standard-size washable markers (not fine point)

·  1 box of colored pencils

·  3 glues sticks (not bottles)

·  1 school box (approx. 5” x 8”)

·  5 red pencils or red ball point pens(for correcting)

·  2 spiral-bound college-ruled notebooks (70 to 100 pages)

·  2 black or dark blue ball-point pens

·  3 highlighters (1 each: yellow, green, pink)

·  1 pencil sharpener with container for shavings

·  1 12-inch/30.5cm ruler (with inches and centimeters)

·  1 protractor

·  1 student compass

·  1 3-ring binder (1/2”)

·  1-2 pks. of standard-rule (not college-rule) binder paper (8 ½” x 11”)

·  2 packages of index cards (unlined)

·  1 pocket Thesaurus

·  1 sheet of poster board – any color (to make portfolios)

·  1 large boxes of Kleenex tissues

·  2 containers of wet wipes/baby wipes

·  1 roll of paper towels

** Please label all possible items with student’s name.

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Websites of Interest

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Elementary Science Website

http://www.quia.com/pages/stlawrenceelemsci.html

This site is hosted by Mrs. Michelle Varnau, our elementary school science specialist and has information on the science lab experiments we do in class, as well as information on recycling.

Science - Solar System unit:

NASA kids information:
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/index.html

NASA's Space Place for kids activities
http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/

Solar System Simulator to view different perspectives and positions
http://space.jpl.nasa.gov/

Elementary Discovery Education website, Mrs. Varnau has created a student account at:
www.discoveryeducation.com
username: SLspartan5
PW: space

How to Write an Essay describes the eight basic rules of how to write an essay; lists the various steps of the writing process, like brainstorming and final drafts; and differentiates between formal and informal writing. This streaming video resource, part of the Learn360 streaming service, is divided into three chapters that can be viewed individually.

 http://www.clrn.org/search/details.cfm?elrid=6834

Write It!

Share in the success of writing by helping your student to publish his/her writing. When your student’s writing is published in a children's book, your student will be on the way to becoming a lifelong writer and author. Check out these options for publishing student work:

Stone Soup:  http://www.stonesoup.com/

CyberKids:  http://www.cyberkids.com/

Write It: http://teacher.scholastic.com/writeit/fiction/

Math Playground

http://www.mathplayground.com/index.html

Learn how to solve math through math games, word problems, logic puzzles, and math videos.

Samples of Student Writing

http://www.thewritesource.com/models.htm

Sometimes it is useful to print out an essay that shows the writing style you are trying to teach. This site not only groups writing samples by grade level but also by type. Includes Writing About Literature (Personal Response) Personal Narrative, Report Writing, and Poetry Writing.

Level: 5-8

Types of Land in the United States

http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/typesofland/typesofland.html

Uses a map to introduce types of land including deserts, mountains and plains.

Wednesday Envelopes

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·         Please take time to read the contents of the large, brown envelope, it contains important information. Take out the contents and send the envelope back to school the very next day.

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Weekly Schedule

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5^th Grade Weekly Schedule 2008-2009 (with 2:00 pm Wednesdays)

5^th Grade Weekly Schedule 2008-2009 (with 12:30pm Wednesdays)

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