WELCOME TO 5TH GRADE

Mrs. Maranto

August 25, 2016

Welcome to fifth grade! I am looking forward to working with your child this year. This packet is to serve as an overview of what your child will be experiencing in fifth grade this year. This guide should help you get a better idea of what the daily procedures and expectations are for your child. My goal is to help your child reach his/her full potential and have a successful school year.

Expectations and Procedures

The Three B’s:

Be Respectful

Be Responsible

Be Safe

P.B.I.S (Positive Behavior Intervention Supports) is a district wide initiative designed to provide a unified and positive learning environment for all students. The district has created the “Three B’s” to help students remember the positive behaviors needed for academic success. Our classroom rules, consequences, and rewards have been designed to help support these goals and help your child grow both academically and emotionally.

Rules

  1. Listen Carefully.
  2. Follow Directions.
  3. Work Quietly. Do not disturb others who are working.
  4. Respect others. Be kind with your words and actions.
  5. Respect school and personal property.
  6. Work and play safely.

Consequences

1. Verbal Warning

2. Behavior slip placed on desk

3. Behavior slip moved to student pocket

4.Three Behavior slips moved to pocket in one week results in a minor infraction(student will sit out from intramurals).

**After three minor infractions a student will be referred to the assistant principal.

5. Major behavior infraction ~ sent to principal

Rewards:*Positive Recognition of good behavior

*Individual PAWS to be used at PAWMART

*Weekly rewards for clean pockets.

* Class Paws

Homework

*Homework will be given daily. It is the student’s responsibility to record assignments in the assignment notebook each day. At the beginning of the year I check assignment notebooks daily. As the year goes on I only check the notebooks of students who may need extra support in that area. If you feel there is a need for me to check your child’s notebook regularly, please notify me as soon as possible. I post upcoming tests and projects on the school’s web-site each week at

LATE ASSIGNMENTS

*A notice of the missing assignment will be sent home for a parent or guardian’s signature. Your child will have the option to go to lunch study hall to complete the assignment. The signed notice is due along with the completed assignment the next day.

*Assignments turned in one day late will receive a 10% grade reduction.

*Assignments turned in two or more days late are marked as a zero in the grade book.

If your child is struggling with an assignment, please initial or sign the problem(s) your child is having difficulty with so that I know that he/she attempted to complete the assignment and I can review the concept with him/her.

Repeated Late Assignments

A child who accumulates 3 missing/late assignments in one quarter will receive a minor infractions and sent to lunch detention. Three minors will result in an after school detention and academic assistance. If a student has no missing/late assignments or behavior infractions for the month, he/she will earn a late pass to be used for 1 assignment in 1 subject area.

ACADEMICS

It is important for each child to do his/her best work at all times. However, we need to remember that children learn at different rates and have different learning styles. Therefore, I try to differentiate my instruction to meet your child’s needs. As a results,students within the same class may be working on different skills and have different assignments according to their needs.

Grading Scale:

100 – 90 A

89 – 80 B

79 – 70 C

69 – 60 D

59 – 0 F

District Assessment Policy

Formative Assessments - Recorded as feedback in PowerSchool; not calculated toward a quarterly report card grade.

Summative Assessments - Recorded in PowerSchool; calculated in the quarterly report card grade.

*You may view your child’s grades on his/her Power School account. I update my Power School grade book weekly.

CURRICULUM

Math:During class your child will participate in independent, small group, and whole group activities. Our curriculum covers whole number computation, decimals, fractions, and place value.

We begin each math class with Daily Math. This is five word problems designed to help students practice and apply the skills we are learning in class to real life situations. We will practice multiplication and division math facts at school and the children will be tested over those facts periodically. However, your child will benefit from additional practice at home. Concepts related to fractions are much easier to learn if you have a good number sense and can quickly recall math facts.

Your child will have math homework each night.

Reading/Language Arts: In reading your child will further develop his/her comprehension, vocabulary, phonics, and oral reading skills. The curriculum is designed to help your child develop the higher level comprehension skills necessary for content area reading.

Your child will write everyday day in my class. We begin each day with Daily Oral Language and journal writing. In addition to that, twice each month your child will work on a formal writing assignment. These assignments will be completed primarily in class. However, your child may have to write or type the final copy at home.

Handwriting: Students will receive daily cursive writing instruction and have homework to practice with each day. I ask that parents review their child’s handwriting homework to check for accuracy and sign the assignment before it is returned to school.

Spelling: Each reading lesson has a spelling unit built into it. Therefore we may not have a spelling test each week. When we start a new reading lesson the spelling pretest will be on Monday with the posttest that Friday.

Science: Our curriculum includes concepts related to Life Science, Earth Science, and Physical Science. These concepts will be developed through hands-on activities and science labs.

Social Studies: The students will study American History from Colonial America to the Civil War.

Communication

Please, feel free to contact me anytime throughout the school year at: (815) 464-2285 or e-mail me at .

The district web-site, where you will see links to fifth grade teachers, can be found at I will post a weekly newsletter on my teacher page. The newsletter will contain information about the skills we are covering each week, homework assignments, tests dates, after school help times, and upcoming events. Please check the web-site as often as possible to keep updated on events at Walker. Contact me if you do not have internet access or would like a hard copy of my weekly newsletter and I willsend a copy home with your child each week.

Acknowledgement of Mrs. Maranto’s Rules and Procedures

Parent(s) or Guardian(s)

Please discuss the above information with your child, then sign and date below. If you have any questions or concerns that arise during the course of the school year, please do not hesitate to contact me. By keeping the means of communication open, together, we can assure that your child will have a successful school year.

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Print Student’s Name

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Parent(s)/Guardian(s) SignatureDate

Student

I strongly believe that communication is key. If you have any questions regarding my class please talk to me as soon as possible. I am here to help you succeed in my class and in school. Feel free to ask me any questions or state any concerns.

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Student SignatureDate