Updates from Room 35

Hello Families!

I hope everyone is having a great week! In 5th grade we have been starting to get into some of our routines, like beginning our first unit in Science and starting to fill out our reading log in school and at home. Now that we are starting to get into the swing of things, I wanted to share some important information. Please remember to check our class Google Calendar as I am trying to keep that up-to-date as well.

Homework:
Students are starting to receive homework. They are expected to write in their agenda every day and complete their homework every night. Students will bring home a reading log and need to read and log for 20 minutes every night. Please encourage them to do this! In addition to the reading log, students should be starting to study for science. In lieu of study guides, I will be posting resources to our Google Classroom that could help your child study. These resources may include flashcards, Jeopardy games, or other interactive activities. Studying does not need to happen every night, but coming up with a good routine at home will help them prepare for their tests. Next week, I will start math homework, but remember that it will not be due until the end of each week. Word Study will be starting in a couple of weeks.

DARE:
We got to meet our DARE officer, Deputy Kamps and she introduced the DARE poster challenge. In order to graduate from DARE, ALL students must create a poster on 8 1/2 x 11 white paper (landscape orientation only) that has something to do with Drug Prevention. She gave them lots of examples so your child should know what to do. It should be an original drawing with no tracing, cut-outs, or clipart, and cannot be done by anyone else. The DARE team will pick the best 13 pictures from all LCPS schools and use those to create a 2019-2020 calendar that students will receive at graduation. Students need to have their posters completed and turned in by Tuesday, September 17th. This is required to graduate DARE, but students will not receive a grade on it for my class. They should try to be creative and do their best. Your child can visit Dare.org for information and ideas.

Camp Highroads Permission Slip:
Tomorrow the permission slip for Camp Highroads will be coming home. There will be a letter attached with detailed information about why we go on this field trip, the cost, what students need to bring, and how many chaperones we can take. In order to go on the field trip, the permission slip needs to be returned by Friday, September 20th.

Next Week:
We will finally be starting all of our content across all subject areas. We have already started Science with our first unit on Scientific Investigations. Once we finish that unit, we will move into Social Studies. We will begin our first unit in Math on Wednesday which will be Prime and Composite Numbers. Reading and Writing units will get under way as well, with Interpretation Book Clubs in Reading and starting Personal Narratives in Writing. Students took word study assessments this week to help with grouping, so word study will not begin until the week of the 9th.

Room Parent:
We currently have not had anyone volunteer to be Room Parent. We have 3 planned events that require help planning which is our Fall Party (which will be on Thursday, October 31st), Holidays Around the World (which will be on Thursday, December 19th), and our Valentine's Party (which will be on Friday, February 14th). If you are not wanting to commit to being Room Parent for the whole year, but would be willing to take on one of those events, please let me know. I am willing to help you plan and organize activities as well!

If you have made it all the way to the end of this post, thank you! I am sorry it is so long, but I finally had time to sit down and write it, so there was a lot to cover :-) As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. I look forward to speaking to you soon!

First Day Sucess!

Hello Families!

The first day of fifth grade is officially done! We had an awesome day getting to know each other, learning our classroom expectations, labeling supplies, and enrolling in our Google classroom. It was a busy day! The class was unusually quiet today so I am hoping now that the first day is over, they will be less nervous when they come in tomorrow. (Is it weird that a teacher complains about a quiet class?)

I wanted to share a few updates/reminders to keep  you in the loop:

First Homework Assignment: Students came home with a pink form that needs to be filled out ASAP. It is their emergency dismissal plan. Please try and fill it out tonight so students can return it tomorrow. Don't forget to complete the other paperwork from Open House as well (if you didn't attend, it is in your child's take home folder today). Return and papers in their Take Home folder.

Back to School Presentation: I will attach the back to school powerpoint in an email that will accompany this blog post. Please take a look at it if you couldn't attend and let me know if you have any questions.

Google Calendar: Don't forget to check out our Google Calendar. I will post important information like what week we are in (A or B), when tests are, when homework/assignments are due, etc. Encourage your child to check it as well so they can be more responsible for their learning. You can find our Google Calendar in the Important Dates tab of my blog, or on our class website found here: https://www.lcps.org/Domain/26862

Class Blog: Please make sure you subscribe to our class blog. Starting next week I will only be using my blog to communicate to the whole class. Scroll to the bottom of the homepage and type in your email address in the box. A pop-up will open that you need to complete. **Note** you are not officially subscribed until you confirm your email address through the email send from Feedburner.  There are a lot of email addresses that say they are unverified. 

Class Directory: Please click this link to fill out our class directory. I would love to have an entry for every child: https://forms.gle/e6QN8XEFXYnvK5bS7

Subject Areas: We will be starting some of our new units next week, like Scientific Investigations in Science, Intro to Guided Math, and Intro to Reader's Workshop. Students will also take their word study placement test to help us place them in word study groups. The two days this week are reserved for getting to know each other and our class.

Study Guides: When a new unit is started, I will not immediately send home a study guide. Students should use their subject-area notebook to study their notes. A couple of days before the test, I will send home a fill in the blank study guide for them to complete to help them review for their upcoming test. It will be important for your child to set up a routine that works for them when it comes to studying. As soon as a new unit starts, I will send you an approximate test date. Please note that it could change depending on any unforeseen circumstances.

I believe that is all the information I have to share. Thank you for all returning your first day dismissal forms. It made dismissal a breeze this afternoon! As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.