Mrs. Kaufman
5th Grade
Room 205
Fifty Nifty States Notebook
This year, each student will create a “Fifty Nifty” States Notebook. This will be a year-long project. In order to make sure that the project is completed before the end of the school year, I have created a pacing guide to assist your child in keeping on track.
I am encouraging the students to be as creative as they would like with this project! Every 2 pages of the notebook will contain information about a state. Information must include the state’s capital, the abbreviation of the state, and when the state entered the union. Other information will include various state symbols, i.e. state flower, state bird, state flag, etc., as well as fun facts. Fun facts are fun information such as: North Dakota grows more sunflowers than any other state. Students may include pictures (either drawn or printed from the internet) about the state. They must have at least three (3) state symbols and three (3) fun facts. When they are finished with a particular state, they will need to find it on the map (on the inside front cover of the notebook), and color it in using a colored pencil.
I will be checking the notebook each month. Students will have some time to work on the notebook in class, however, some of the work will need to be completed at home. Please make sure that your child includes this work into their weekly homework routine. The final due date for the notebook will beJune 5, 2017.
The monthly grade for this project will be based on the following criteria:
ü Pacing (how well students are keeping with the pacing guide)
ü Completion (all required information is present)
ü Neatness (this includes spelling)
ü Creativity J
Monthly checks will be worth 20 points. These notebooks are a major part of each trimester grade!
Pacing Guide
Because there are 36 academic weeks between August 22 and June 5, 2017 students will be required to complete more than one state per week.
States studied
States will be assigned in the order they gained statehood. Ex. The fist 4 states being graded will be Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
Monthly Grading Dates Total number of states completed
September 30 4
October 28 10
November 15 (end of trimester 1) 16 Quiz on these 16 states
December 16 19
January 23 25
February 17 30
March 6 (end of trimester 2) 33 Quiz on these 17 new states
March 31 35
April 28 42
May 26 47
June 5 - Final Due Date 50 Test on all 50 states
If you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to contact me! J
Cynthia Kaufman
619-956-5575
cynthia.kaufman@santeesd,net
Fifty Nifty Notebook