What's Going on in the Classroom?Below should be everything you need for what is going on in 5th grade regarding classroom updates and curriculum. Please let us know if there is anything else you need!
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Class Calendar
Class Newsletters
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Healthy Snacks
Hello Families!
In lieu of traditional sugary treats associated with parties and celebrations (such as cupcakes, cookies, cake, and ice cream), we are asking families to join us in selecting healthier food options! When sending snacks or treats to school, please provide healthy food and beverage options. Children learn best when they have healthy snacks to help them grow and stay healthy.
A good guideline to follow when determining foods for healthy snacks is to choose foods and beverages that are low in added sugar and fat and are minimally processed. Snacks that are especially good for kids (and adults!) are fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean protein and low-fat dairy as defined by the USDA’s My Plate Food Group recommendations. To help take the guesswork out of defining “healthy” snacks for parents, our teachers have developed a quick reference sheet called Glencairn Healthy Snack Ideas. You can use these specific ideas, or you have the flexibility to create your own snack option using the My Plate food groups as a guide. Visit ChooseMyPlate.gov for more ideas!
As parents and as educators, we have the responsibility to be good role models when it comes to healthy eating. The healthy eating habits our children learn today will provide them with the foundation for lifelong skills. Thank you in advance for supporting our healthy school initiative.
If you have any questions, please contact your child’s teacher. We look forward to working with you to make our school the healthiest it can be so our students can do their best work!
Sincerely,
The Glencairn Staff
In lieu of traditional sugary treats associated with parties and celebrations (such as cupcakes, cookies, cake, and ice cream), we are asking families to join us in selecting healthier food options! When sending snacks or treats to school, please provide healthy food and beverage options. Children learn best when they have healthy snacks to help them grow and stay healthy.
A good guideline to follow when determining foods for healthy snacks is to choose foods and beverages that are low in added sugar and fat and are minimally processed. Snacks that are especially good for kids (and adults!) are fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean protein and low-fat dairy as defined by the USDA’s My Plate Food Group recommendations. To help take the guesswork out of defining “healthy” snacks for parents, our teachers have developed a quick reference sheet called Glencairn Healthy Snack Ideas. You can use these specific ideas, or you have the flexibility to create your own snack option using the My Plate food groups as a guide. Visit ChooseMyPlate.gov for more ideas!
As parents and as educators, we have the responsibility to be good role models when it comes to healthy eating. The healthy eating habits our children learn today will provide them with the foundation for lifelong skills. Thank you in advance for supporting our healthy school initiative.
If you have any questions, please contact your child’s teacher. We look forward to working with you to make our school the healthiest it can be so our students can do their best work!
Sincerely,
The Glencairn Staff
Take Home Binder
The idea behind their daily take home binder is to emphasize their daily responsibilities and goals and keep them organized neatly. This binder is a way for us to push responsibility and organization with middle school right around the corner where each student will more than likely have a binder to track for each class. The binder should be a three-ring binder that students will use every day along with their planner to help develop organizational skills and promote responsibility. Students in this age group are becoming more independent and really need a good organizational foundation to build upon. The binder is also a way of maintaining effective communication between home and school.
What will I find inside the binder?
Important Paper: You will find information in the binder about important subjects such as reading and math, homework, and our specials schedule. Important reference sheets regarding certain subjects, classroom policies, and 5th grade expectations should remain in the binder to reference throughout the school year.
Homework Agenda: Homework will be recorded inside our planners which will be located inside the binder. This planner must be kept in the binder at all times. With our guidance, your child will fill out the homework agenda each day. However, it is their responsibility to make sure it is filled out. Students at the very least will be expected to read about 20 minutes a night. Please make sure to review the planner each and every night for additional homework. Since students will need to refer to it at school, they may not take it out and leave it at home.
Take Home Folder: The Take Home Folder inside the binder is to be used to bring home graded work, important papers, and homework. Please make sure you empty this folder EVERY night. Please review any graded paperwork with your child because we only learn by making mistakes and correcting them. Any homework papers should be completed and returned to the Take Home Folder to be returned to school the following day.
At Home Reading Log: If your child struggles in reading, they may be given a reading log in which they will be required to read and you initial for each night read. Your child’s reading log would be located in the binder and you would be notified if your child will be receiving a reading log. Regardless of having a log or not, I expect my students to read at least 20 minutes a day (at home), 5 days a week/end. Please make sure you complete and initial the reading log each night your child reads if you are given a log. These reading logs would be collected every 2 weeks to make sure all students are being held accountable for their work. Students should accumulate AT LEAST 200 minutes every 2 weeks. It is important to leave the reading log in the binder at all times.
Take Home Binder Rules
*Please do NOT draw or doodle in your binder. Treat it with respect. Take good care of your binder. You will have it all year!
*Use your binder. It is your useful, organizational tool! If you listen and put the papers inside in a neat and orderly fashion, you will be organized.
*Keep it clean. Try not to eat or drink anything near it. Remember, this needs to last the whole school year.
*Bring your binder home with you every night and bring it back to school every morning. When you have completed your homework at home, immediately put it back into your binder.
* Share your binder with your family every day. Go over any homework or returned work with your parent(s). Have your parent(s) check over your planner daily.
* If your binder is lost or misused, the expectation is that you will provide a replacement binder along with its organizational tools used by the classroom. If a replacement can’t be found, I will provide you with one.
What will I find inside the binder?
Important Paper: You will find information in the binder about important subjects such as reading and math, homework, and our specials schedule. Important reference sheets regarding certain subjects, classroom policies, and 5th grade expectations should remain in the binder to reference throughout the school year.
Homework Agenda: Homework will be recorded inside our planners which will be located inside the binder. This planner must be kept in the binder at all times. With our guidance, your child will fill out the homework agenda each day. However, it is their responsibility to make sure it is filled out. Students at the very least will be expected to read about 20 minutes a night. Please make sure to review the planner each and every night for additional homework. Since students will need to refer to it at school, they may not take it out and leave it at home.
Take Home Folder: The Take Home Folder inside the binder is to be used to bring home graded work, important papers, and homework. Please make sure you empty this folder EVERY night. Please review any graded paperwork with your child because we only learn by making mistakes and correcting them. Any homework papers should be completed and returned to the Take Home Folder to be returned to school the following day.
At Home Reading Log: If your child struggles in reading, they may be given a reading log in which they will be required to read and you initial for each night read. Your child’s reading log would be located in the binder and you would be notified if your child will be receiving a reading log. Regardless of having a log or not, I expect my students to read at least 20 minutes a day (at home), 5 days a week/end. Please make sure you complete and initial the reading log each night your child reads if you are given a log. These reading logs would be collected every 2 weeks to make sure all students are being held accountable for their work. Students should accumulate AT LEAST 200 minutes every 2 weeks. It is important to leave the reading log in the binder at all times.
Take Home Binder Rules
*Please do NOT draw or doodle in your binder. Treat it with respect. Take good care of your binder. You will have it all year!
*Use your binder. It is your useful, organizational tool! If you listen and put the papers inside in a neat and orderly fashion, you will be organized.
*Keep it clean. Try not to eat or drink anything near it. Remember, this needs to last the whole school year.
*Bring your binder home with you every night and bring it back to school every morning. When you have completed your homework at home, immediately put it back into your binder.
* Share your binder with your family every day. Go over any homework or returned work with your parent(s). Have your parent(s) check over your planner daily.
* If your binder is lost or misused, the expectation is that you will provide a replacement binder along with its organizational tools used by the classroom. If a replacement can’t be found, I will provide you with one.
Special ScheduleA Day: Music (9:07-9:55)
B Day: Gym (9:07-9:55) C Day: Art (9:07-9:55) Library: Tuesday (2:40-3:10) ***Please make sure your child comes prepared for each special. HomeworkIn fifth grade your students will be receiving homework on a consistent/nightly basis. With that being said, I want you to be aware of the system I use for checking it. If your child brings home a “completed” paper with a star on it, a big smiley face, a stamp of approval, or DT (did together), this means I have checked it or we have done it together and it is complete so please do not send it back. If they bring home something and it says “Redo” then they must fix it, you must initial it, and bring it back the next day. If they bring home something that has neither the star, smiley face, nor a redo, then that means they most likely did not finish their work and need to finish it at home and return it to me. Late homework will be tracked. If a student has something missing you will receive a late homework notice to be signed. We will then communicate and see if a fresh sheet should be provided. This will be discussed with the entire class and I will show them what each symbol or note will look like so they will become familiar with this system this year.
Homework to expect but not limited to – Math most nights, reading 200 minutes every two weeks (20 minutes a night), weekly reading street, and spelling words to practice. Students who forget their homework will be granted the opportunity to complete it here at school during recess if it becomes a chronic problem and that type of alternative needs to be provided. |
Science and Social StudiesScience and social studies will take place Monday through Thursday. Students will be split into two groups (A and B). Group A will see Mr. Cawson for social studies on Monday and Tuesday while group B will see Mrs. Pell for science. The groups will flip for Wednesday and Thursday. Please see the table below. Please note that this can be tweaked depending on scheduling conflicts that happen throughout the year with assemblies and other events (snow days).
Monday Group A Social Studies Group B Science Tuesday Group A Social Studies Group B Science Wednesday Group B Social Studies Group A Science Thursday Group B Social Studies Group A Science Friday Second Step |
Volunteering
I know some of you may want to volunteer within our classroom, and I will greatly appreciate it! First of all, if you do not plan or want to volunteer, that is perfectly okay. If you do, please keep reading.
Helping your child realize the value of education is extremely important. Your presence at school is one way to show your love and encouragement. My mission is to create an educational environment in which students are given the opportunity to reach their full potential while their academic, social, and developmental needs are met. I am looking for volunteers to help me with that task.
The children and I invite you to come to school to volunteer your time and talents on an at need basis for specific time slots assigned. We will value you as a volunteer, and appreciate your dedication to the children as a supportive aide, role model, and mentor.
We know your time is at a premium, but we hope this invitation will empower you to come in and volunteer. Please send the volunteer form back if you are interested with your available days and we will try to work something out. Again, this is an at need basis. An email of expressed interest also works!
If you do volunteer, you will be doing a variety of projects to help us such as cutting paper, taking down and putting up bulletin boards, working with individual or small groups of children, playing learning games, making things for our room, organizing the classroom library, aiding in lessons, facilitating book clubs, or even administering small assessments.
You will be working with all of our students at some point. The students are at many different skill levels and this will be noticed right away. Please remember to respect each child’s privacy just as you would want another parent to respect your child’s privacy.
We look forward to having you join us. If you have any questions, please email me at [email protected].
Helping your child realize the value of education is extremely important. Your presence at school is one way to show your love and encouragement. My mission is to create an educational environment in which students are given the opportunity to reach their full potential while their academic, social, and developmental needs are met. I am looking for volunteers to help me with that task.
The children and I invite you to come to school to volunteer your time and talents on an at need basis for specific time slots assigned. We will value you as a volunteer, and appreciate your dedication to the children as a supportive aide, role model, and mentor.
We know your time is at a premium, but we hope this invitation will empower you to come in and volunteer. Please send the volunteer form back if you are interested with your available days and we will try to work something out. Again, this is an at need basis. An email of expressed interest also works!
If you do volunteer, you will be doing a variety of projects to help us such as cutting paper, taking down and putting up bulletin boards, working with individual or small groups of children, playing learning games, making things for our room, organizing the classroom library, aiding in lessons, facilitating book clubs, or even administering small assessments.
You will be working with all of our students at some point. The students are at many different skill levels and this will be noticed right away. Please remember to respect each child’s privacy just as you would want another parent to respect your child’s privacy.
We look forward to having you join us. If you have any questions, please email me at [email protected].