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5C Class Handbook 2007-2008
Welcome to fifth grade! I am excited to have the opportunity to work with, teach, and learn from your child every day for the next nine months. This guide has been created to help you understand some of the routines, procedures, and goals of fifth grade. Please keep this throughout the year as it will answer many of your questions. Additional information will come through the newsletters that are sent every other week. The Northpoint Handbook is another good resource as it contains more detailed information about our school.
Your fifth grader will be the best resource for questions about our class. Trust them! The best way to contact me is through my e-mail at cooperdm@unit5.org or at school 663-4669. A class website will be up and running soon.
Contents Assignment Books 3 Attendance 2 Behavior-Discipline 2 Birthdays 6 Book Orders 6 Buddy Class 6 Conferences 6 Communication 5 Curriculum 6-8 Daily Schedule 5 Gadgets and Stuff 6 Grading 4 Homework 3 Late Assignments 4 Makeup Work 3 Philosophy 2 Report Cards and Progress Reports 4 Snacks 6 Supplies 6 Tardiness 2 Technology 5 Textbooks 5
The greatest gifts
you can give children are the roots of responsibility and the wings of
independence. – Dr. Denis Waitley I believe that every student has a right to learn each day and can succeed in fifth grade. It should be the goal of students, parents, and teachers to provide the means to help make that learning happen. My role is one of a guide for helping students learn ways to find, use, and manage information to be successful in life.
Students should feel valued, respected, and safe in order for learning to take place. My classroom climate sets the tone for what can be accomplished. I will challenge your child to take risks and discover new things while providing a safety net that will not allow students to fail. I am committed to curriculum integration, providing for multiple intelligences, authentic teaching, and authentic assessment in order to meet students’ needs. Everyone will succeed, but in different ways and at different paces. Northpoint’s motto is Learning for Life; I want each of my students to realize the power of that phrase.
Behavior/Discipline My goal is for the students and me to create a classroom environment that encourages mutual respect and cooperation and provides opportunities for students to make choices regarding their behavior. Our classroom uses the following guidelines for behavior.
v We respect one another. v We value learning. v We’re a hands free school. v We are accountable for our learning v We expect excellence.
These guidelines are the same as the Northpoint Be a Champion plan. A clipboard follows the students to each class in order to maintain consistency. Students are allowed four checks a day with ascending consequences as follows:
1st check – warning by teacher 2nd check – conference with teacher 3rd check – loss of recess, parents notified 4th check – principal’s office
Attendance It is very important that your healthy child be in school each day. Please make every effort to have your child in school on time each morning. Much of what we do occurs in class with a hands-on environment. Our time in class cannot be replicated. I can get paper/pencil assignments ready, but cannot recreate the learning that occurs during class time. If your child is sick, he or she needs to be home. Please follow the fever free for twenty-four hours policy.
Tardiness We promptly start each day at 8:15. Students who walk in late do not start the day with the right attitude needed to learn. We begin the day with warm ups to get our brains active. Please help your child be ready to go each morning.
Make-up Work When your child is absent, I record assignments missed on a sheet placed at his/her desk. Students have twice the number of days they were gone to make up the work. For example, if two days are missed, they will have four days to get the missed work turned in. After that time, the work is considered late. It is the student’s responsibility to turn in the make-up work. Please keep in mind that it is impossible to recreate a day in class. Much of what we do is not a textbook/worksheet type of activity that can be sent home. Some activities just cannot be made up. Chronic absences affect learning and success. The following is Northpoint policy as stated in the handbook: If a student misses one or two days of school, he/she due will receive make up work upon return to school, and an appropriate due date will be determined. For extended emergencies/illness, a parent may call the office in the morning of the third day of absence to request make-up work. The following morning, make-up work will be available for parent pick-up in the main office. Extended illness may require homebound tutoring. Every effort should be made to schedule vacations that do not conflict with school attendance. Due to the dynamic nature of the teaching/learning process, lesson plans and classroom focus may shift, therefore, assignments cannot accurately be determined in advance. Upon return to school, students will receive make-up work and an appropriate date. Homework Homework is part of the learning process and should help learning, not hinder it. Your child should not have more than 30-40 minutes (average) a day of homework. It is my goal to use every minute of class time during the day. I give time to begin each task so that I am available to provide assistance. If your child uses that work time wisely and asks questions in class as needed, they will rarely have those 30-40 minutes of work to take home. I would prefer students spend time each night reading a book, correcting assignments, or reviewing concepts we are studying. I feel that family time is very important. If your child is consistently spending large amounts of time on homework, it is likely they are not using work time wisely or seeking help from me when needed. Please let me know if this becomes a concern. I feel strongly that fifth graders learn to manage their time, set goals, and work with a deadline.
Assignment Books Fifth graders are required to use an assignment book. When an assignment is given, students are to write it in the appropriate space. If the assignment is completed in class, they will check it off. If no assignment is given, they will record that. Students may add what took place in class that day, but that is not required. At the beginning of the year I will check each assignment book before students leave. As the year progresses it is the student’s responsibility to make sure the assignment book is complete. The assignment book should come home each evening for your review. I encourage students to take work home, even if it is complete, so that you may see what we have been doing and students can double-check it.
Late Assignments When an assignment is late or missing a late assignment slip will be sent home to be signed and returned with the work. Any late assignment will be lowered one letter grade for each day it is late, unless a valid excuse is given. Please don’t hesitate to send me a note if a problem is encountered with an assignment. We go over our assignment books together before leaving each day. Grading Fifth grade follows the standard Unit 5 grading scale as listed below. I believe that if your child puts forth a good effort and completes the work, they should rarely receive a grade below a C on any given task. If a student receives a D or F on an assignment, it may be corrected and returned within two days. I will average the two grades for a new score. One week’s notice will be given for all tests. Study guides will be provided for social studies. We will highlight pages in our math journal for review for math tests. Basically, the only way to fail in 5C is to not do the work or not put forth the effort needed. I do not grade every assignment as I use summative assessment, not formative. For example, students receive credit for completing a practice activity while learning to add mixed numbers, but do not receive a grade until several practice activities are completed.
Report Cards and Progress Reports Report cards are sent home at the end of each trimester (twelve weeks). Grades for all subjects are included on one page. Your child will receive a grade in library skills/technology for the first time this year. Please be sure to sign and return the insert card. You may keep the report card and all other papers in the envelope.
Progress reports are sent midway through each trimester as needed. Unit 5’s policy is that progress reports are required for D or F grades. I also send them if I feel a student has dropped in effort. Your child is welcome to check grades with me if there is a concern. Access by parents and students will be available this year to the Skyward student management system around the first of November. You will be able to check your student’s progress in reading, writing, spelling, math, science, and social studies with the parent access.
Please remember that report cards and progress reports are one glimpse of a child’s progress. Straight As are not the standard, though they may be a personal goal. The important thing is that your child is progressing, learning, growing, and maturing. If those things are happening, and they are meeting or exceeding expectations, then they are where they need to be! Please encourage best effort and celebrate successes.
Communication I believe that honest and open communication from the beginning can help prevent and solve a lot of problems. I welcome your comments, questions, and concerns. A newsletter will be sent every other week. I am in the process of creating a new website for 5C which will be linked from the staff page of the Northpoint website. I check my e-mail regularly and will respond as soon as possible.
Technology Technology has a big role in our classroom. Students will use the Microsoft Office 2003 programs Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Publisher. Each student will have a file to maintain an electronic portfolio. Many times students will ask me to e-mail home the document they are working on as an attachment. That gives them additional practice with their skills.
Textbooks Your child has a textbook for math, reading, social studies, and science. There are two consumable math journals in addition to the hardback Student Reference Book. Students are encouraged to take the Student Reference Book home each night they have a math assignment. Any book may be taken home as long as it is returned the following school day. Our textbooks are a good resource; however there will be times when we are using other resources or activities that do not require the use of the text. We may be using primary sources, authentic activities, or other secondary sources.
Daily Schedule I have my class for math, reading, and science. They go to Ms. Grulke for writing/spelling and social studies. We follow this general schedule each day:
Morning Writing/Spelling Social Studies Science Reading Lunch/Recess – 12:15-1:05 Afternoon Math Specials PE – daily 1:15-1:45 Music – Wednesday 11:15 – 11:40 & Friday 11:40-12:05 Art – Monday 10:15 – 10:45 IMC – Tuesday 11:40 – 12:15 Band/Orchestra – Wednesday 9:00 – 9:25
Gadgets No toys or electronic equipment is allowed in the classroom unless given specific permission by me. This includes trading cards, video games, desk decorations, i-Pods, etc… If it is not part of our school supplies, please keep it at home. Thank you! We just don’t have the room or time for these distractions.
Conferences You may sign up for a conference during Curriculum Night. The day set for conferences is Friday, October 26. I will be available before and after school that week for fifteen-minute conferences. If that would work better for you, please let me know a day and time and we will make other plans.
Birthdays It is a new policy at Northpoint to not allow birthday treats in the classroom. There are numerous food allergies and liability issues that have led us to this policy.
Snacks We have a four-hour morning that is often constant academic work. We try to stop around 10:15 for a short snack/bathroom break/silent reading time. Your child can bring a quick, healthy snack for this time and enjoy it while having some down time to read a book of his/her choice.
Book Orders Book orders will come home periodically. If you are interested in ordering, fill out the order forms and send a check payable to the appropriate book club. Please, do not send cash as I cannot send that in the mail. I like to have a four-day turnaround on the orders so I can promptly place the order and receive it.
Second Grade Buddies We are buddies with Mr. Erickson’s second graders. We will meet every other week for about half an hour to participate in a variety of activities. This is a great experience for the fifth graders as they become the role models for the younger students. The fifth graders get to become the teacher as we read, write, play math games and more.
Supplies Please double check the supply list to make sure your student has the materials needed. Scissors, rulers, tissues, pencils, and paper tend to be items that we use frequently and may need to be replenished during the year.
Curriculum
Reading We will use the basal anthology, a variety of novels, and primary source documents in reading. Students are expected to have a book or two at their desk to read during silent reading time. Fifth graders learn skills to become critical readers and thinkers. Word analysis skills and vocabulary strategies are emphasized to help build comprehension. Often our novels will focus on a time period we are studying in social studies to help us connect to content area reading as found in our social studies text. We will use research skills to gather information, organize it, and present it in an effective manner. From the beginning we will learn to cite sources used and to put information in our own words. These lifelong skills will help avoid plagiarism, a concept all fifth graders need to understand.
Math Students have two consumable math journals and a hardback student reference book. Our math curriculum is designed to guide students to become mathematical thinkers Your child will explore, learn and practice mathematics in a range of settings including whole class, small groups, partners and individually. They will learn to work cooperatively and independently as they solve problems based on real-life situations. A variety of games are used to reinforce concepts and increase mental math skills. Our curriculum includes the following content:
Math boxes and study links are used for assignments. Math boxes provide the spiraling review of skills. We have a practice page, not taken as a grade, and a partner page, which is graded. The practice page includes pages in the Student Reference Book (SRB) to use for help. Study links are used for independent practice on the focus concepts of the day’s lesson. Social Studies Many different resources are used in fifth grade as we study United States history. Our text, primary source documents, multimedia, and simulations are few of the resources we will explore. Students will understand events, individuals, and movements that shaped our country’s history. We will explore the responsibilities of a good citizen and the development of America’s political ideas and traditions. It is the goal to have students apply their critical thinking skills to analyze and interpret the many areas of social studies. Students become part of the story as they are active participants in the learning process. The year is divided into the following themes: v Native Americans and Exploration v Colonial America v The American Revolution v Early Government v Westward Movement v The Civil War v Twentieth Century Science Our new science curriculum is closely aligned with the Illinois Learning Standards. It will provide us with the opportunity to explore many interesting areas while meeting district and state curricular expectations. The program is built on three levels of inquiry. All three engage students in activities that build a strong science foundation and help them develop a full understanding of the inquiry process. The first level, directed inquiry, provides opportunities for me to direct the activity while the students learn process skills and follow directions. The second level, guided inquiry, incorporates teacher guided activities with students taking more ownership of the inquiry process. The final level, full inquiry, allows the students to take the lead in conducting the experiment while I facilitate the inquiry process. Another new and exciting component of this series is the online portion. You will have access to the textbook and other features of the program online. This will be a wonderful tool for you and your child to utilize this year. There are many topics that will be covered this year so the time spent on each is limited. This will give the students more exposure to a wider variety of topics involved in science. Our units include the following: Unit A: Life Science Classifying Organisms Cells to Systems Human Body Systems Plants
Unit B: Earth Science Earth’s Changing Surface Matter and Its Properties Changes in Matter Forces in Motion
Unit C: Physical Science Changing Forms of Energy Electricity
Unit D: Space and Technology Stars and Galaxies Earth in Space Technology in our Lives
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